Sunday 5 January 2014

Wig Review: Introducing - OWigs PS010-S

"I have wanted to get my hands on a full lace glue-less unit for about 2 years.  So, this year I was ready for Black Friday when it rolled around!!"





After watching this video by Buttaripple countless times, and contacting the wonderfully helpful Ebony over at Longing4Length, I jumped on the discount code like a tramp on chips in order to snap up my first glue-less full lace unit from OWigs!


I have a feeling this is going to be a rather lengthy review because I really want to show you all the steps I went through to make this unit my own.  At the moment I don't post YouTube videos so I want to provide as much information on this unit as I can.

So, make yourself nice and comfy – or just skip to the pictures if you don’t want to read about me going on and on about a wig!




Brand: OWigs
Style: PS010-S
Colour: #1
Hair Type: 100% Human Hair
Texture: Silky
Hair Length:  14 inches
Cap Construction: Glue-less Lace Unit
Cap Colour: Medium Brown
Cap Size: 2
Price: £155 inclusive of shipping





Ordering Process, Shipping & Customer Service

I found the OWigs website very easy to navigate. After selecting the unit I wanted to purchase and specifications I required, I hit the ‘pay now’ button then sat back and worried about whether my unit would ever arrive! I wondered if I would become one of those wig purchasing horror stories we've probably all heard about....

I needn’t have worried, within minutes I had received an email from OWigs confirming my order, which I then double checked to make sure all was as expected.  The following day, I received an email from OWigs querying the colour of the unit I had ordered. Prior to ordering the unit I had sent OWigs an email on their website and had mentioned wanting a colour 1B. Although they hadn’t responded to my email prior to me placing the order, they were on the ball enough to;

a) notice that I was the same person

b) take the time to contact me to ensure that I had picked the right colour on my order.

I was impressed by their diligence and emailed them back requesting the unit in a colour #1.  When requesting the colour of the unit I also asked the OWigs representative to be mindful of the lace and try not to get any colour on the lace. They assured me that due care and attention would be taken to avoid this.  

[My reason for choosing a colour #1 is that my previous experience with lace wigs is that the colour lightened progressively with each wash. As I plan to have this PS010-s as my everyday unit, I figured that it would be getting washed quite alot therefore, starting off with the hair as dark as possible would be the best course of action.]

Everything went well with my order and I am very pleased with the unit I received.



Here she is.  These images show the PS010-s unit straight out of the packaging with the netting removed. No brushing or fluffing has taken place and the lace has not been cut at this stage.


It took a few days to process my order, I think this was due to it being a weekend and the colour I requested.  However, shipping was fast and my unit arrived within 10 days which I was very happy with.


From my personal experience, I think OWigs have very good Customer Service. I experienced no issues whatsoever and had encountered no difficulties due to a language barrier purchasing from a Chinese vendor. The whole process worked seamlessly.

The only difficulty I had during the whole ordering process was in connection with how to apply the Black Friday discount code. I discovered that this is done after logging into Paypal. Unfortunately the unit I purchased was not included in the Black Friday discount promotion so I didn’t make a saving on this occasion, but there is always next time!


My Thoughts On The Unit – PS0110-s

Cap Construction
The cap is very nicely made. There are three combs in the cap to keep it securely in place, one at the top (crown) and two at the sides (temples). There is not a comb in the back, but there are adjustable straps at the nape which ensures that the unit has a snug fit.

The hairline has realistic dips and curves to mimic a natural hairline. However, as my hairline is a little low and irregular, not to mention quite unruly at the moment [I am currently 23 weeks post relaxer] I have found it difficult to get the two to play extra nicely together as I don't tend to use brushes or edge taming products.


This is what the cap looks like with the lace still attached.


After measuring my head I opted for size 2 cap. I think this might be a little large so my next unit will most likely be a custom unit so I can specifiy the cap size to fit me perfectly.


The Hair

I chose the silky option for the hair texture which comes as standard on this stock wig. I am impressed by the way the hair looks and feels. To me, this hair on this unit feels and looks similar to virgin Indian / Malaysian hair.  The hair flows beautifully and is an absolute breeze to comb or brush using a wig brush.  There is a sheen to the hair but my experience with shiny units is that over time they lose some of their luster.

Most of my pictures were taken with flash so the unit appears shinier than it does in real life.  I have added a couple of images to show the hair in natural light.


These pictures show me preparing to cut the lace off the unit.  With my human hair units I always clip the hair back so as to avoid cutting the baby hairs by mistake when removing the excess lace.


This is the unit after having the excess lace removed.  I am wearing a skintone wig cap underneath.  Please excuse my fuzzy wisdom hairs peeking out, they really wanted to be in the picture!  As you can see, the unit has a horrible 'camel head' hump and an unflattering parting line so I wanted to fix those before I wore the unit outside the house.
 
I wet the hair with a little warm water and then repositioned the parting before tying down the unit with this head wrap and covered with a scarf for 45 minutes.



It didn't take long for the hair to air dry.  This is what it looked like after removing the scarf and brushing with a wig brush. I then lightly layered the sides to frame my face using my hair cutting scissors.

This hair holds a curl well, however wearing the hair curly at this length is not really my personal style so I am happy to just flat iron it and bump the fringe a little sometimes.  I'll save the curling for my longer units.

I picked the silky textured hair as opposed to the more realistic yaki texture, as I wanted a unit which is;

a) easy to maintain on a daily basis,
b) doesn’t require flat-ironing before curling
c) can possibly get away with not being flat-ironed at all!

I got exactly what I wanted with the silky texture, which actually dries bone straight (quickly!) with no frizz or kinks. A light pass with the flat iron after air drying is all that is needed to style this unit, remembering to spritz the hair with heat protectant first to prolong the health of the hair.




This is what the OWigs PS010-s unit looked after I gave it a quick going over with the flat iron to style it.   I was very pleased that this process got rid of that awful looking hump!  This cluster of  pictures were taken with no flash to show the luster of the hair more accurately.



 



For these pictures I removed the hair grips from the temples.   This made the unit lift slightly from my hairline.  I have since done away with the grips and converted this unit to using the elastic band method which I much prefer to using hair grips.


I think the knots may have been slightly bleached on this unit, although I am not sure. There does however, appear to be a demarcation line at the base of the unit along the lace at the front which is lighter than the length and ends of the hair.  This could either be from bleaching the knots or not dying the hair close enough to the lace. I plan to remedy this with some Clairol Root Touch Up in the future.  I have changed the location of the parting to the opposite side which looks much better so this isn’t really an issue.   All of these pictures for this first impressions review were taken when the parting was on the original side so as you can see, the demarcation line that I mentioned is not really noticeable.  I do love that there are zero visible grey hairs in this unit, I always find it a little off-putting to purchase hair which ends up having more grey hairs than I do.....!





This unit is very lightweight and can be parted anywhere on the cap. The density of the hair in this unit is perfect for me. My own hair is not thick nor is it full so when I am wearing this I do not feel self-conscious about the amount of hair I have on my head. The density and styling of the wig make it a very comfortable and believable unit to wear.   I will probably end up cutting this hair at some point into a long bob as worn in the YouTube video which prompted me to purchase this unit, but that probably won't happen until 6 months to a years time.



A quick shot to show the full length of the unit which is 14 inches long.


After wearing this unit every day for a week, I am pleased to say that have noticed zero shedding and no tangling.  She is very wearable both with and without hair left out.  My preference at this point in time is not to leave out any hair whatsoever!

I do have to tame a few flyaways at the crown of the unit but this is easily done using a quick squirt of hairspray onto the hands and then smoothing the area which I want to lay flat.





Washing & Customising The Unit
The hair didn’t smell badly when I opened the packaging therefore, I had no reservations about trying her on straight away. It might be worth noting that after wearing her for a day or so I did notice a slight chemical smell which I am guessing was the dye.

I’m pleased to say that I was easily able to get rid of this by shampooing and conditioning the unit a week later using a mild shampoo solution and following up with Tresemé Naturals conditioner.  I then air dried her on a mannequin head and I am pleased to say that the feint smell dissipated and the unit still looks great! She washed incredibly well with no tangles and only slight shedding. I noticed some colour run off during the washing process but the unit still looks a gorgeous shade of natural black and the lace has not been darkened by the dye.





The glue-less cap means that this unit can be worn without the application of glue around the perimeter. Using the combs in the unit helps to keep her securely in place. As my hair is either twisted or braided underneath and I always wear a wig cap, using the combs is pretty much impossible. As I mentioned above on one of the above photos, I was using hair grips at the temples of the unit to keep the ear tabs down and the top flat but I didn’t like doing this since it's easy to forget to add them! I have since opted to customize the unit using the elastic band method. This works perfectly as it keeps the front of the unit flat and the sides down. This means I do not need to wear (or forget to wear) hair grips which personally I think saves my edges from excess manipulation and tension.

 

 



I am very happy with this unit so far. Obviously I have only worn the unit for a week, the real test will be in a few months time as this unit is going to be worked hard seeing as it will be my go-to style for the coming months. I will be back with an update on how well the wig is wearing in relation to both the hair and the cap construction.






This unit was purchased with my own money and has not been provided for review.

Ciao 4 Now
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13 comments

  1. Wow!
    This wig looks really natural, and you hooked it up nicely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Britt
    Thanks!

    I really wanted it to look more natural as it will be my every day wig so I'll be wearing it to work etc.

    It took a bit of work but I think that's to be expected for a stock unit. I love it!

    Thanks for commenting. :)

    T

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks GREAT! Really natural, and I think a really nice length, especially for an every day unit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @S

    Thanks so much!!

    I'm seriously considering cutting this into a bob really soon. I do love it though :)

    Thanks for commenting!

    T

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi,

    I just discovered your blog and love the quirky way in which your write. Thanks for the detail.
    I also wanted to ask how this unit has been holding up and if you have had any excessive shedding?

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Anonymous
    Thanks for your kind words!!

    I am pleased to report that this unit is holding up perfectly. I've experienced minimal to no shedding and zero tangling.

    I have cut the hair into a long bob (there are a couple of pictures on my Facebook page) and I love the unit even more now.

    I've washed the unit many times (usually cowshed weekly or bi-weekly) and think the colour has lightened slightly but not much.

    I'm really impressed with this unit! I have it on today and the curls I put in a week and a half ago are still nice and wavy without the help of hairspray.

    Thanks for commenting!
    T

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you so much for the quick response. I absolutely appreciate it as I live in Sweden and I am a wiggy as I don't have access to many options in terms of black hair care so I must improvise. It really help to find someone such as yourself who is able to give honest & informative advice as most of these " youtube guru" are simply un-reliable and I need to find an everyday wig but due to the shedding they generally last 2 months.
    I am going to give this company a try so again thank you. You are a doll.

    xoxo Ava

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Doll. So I ordered a wig from this owigs.com site and received a confirmation email from another company rpgwigs that my order was being process. So I responded that I didn't know it was RPG wigs that I was ordering from but that since the order was already placed as long as I received a quality unit I would be happy. No response. Fast forward to Wednesday, I emailed asking for a tracking number, still no response. I have decided to take the matter up with Paypal since I haven't heard a word back from them. Hopefully I get my money back soon as its one thing to order a custom unit and an in-stock unit, but at the very least acknowledge my email but nothing to this date so lets see what happens.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Anonymous
    I'm so sorry you're having problems with your order. Also, apologies for not seeing your message sooner - my mobile phone died last week and deleted everything when it reset to factory settings :( I've only just set up my email accounts on my iPhone.

    I just checked my Paypal and emails as I remembered the RPG Show name appearing when I placed my order. In Paypal my order for OWigs mentions RPG Show as the email address linked to the PayPal account. My RPG Show order mentions a different RPG Show email address. Both arrived safely and both issued confirmation emails. Has the money debited your account and do you have an order confirmation number on your OWigs account?

    When I placed my order I got a confirmation email from OWigs and had no problems.

    Email me (simhair@hotmail.co.uk) or send me a message on Facebook (Simply Into My NAILS or Simply Into My HAIR) and I'll give you the contact details I have so you can chase them up.

    T

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi, and thanks so much for the information on OWigs. I'm debating right now whether to purchase one of their wigs (in-stock wig) or not. But after reading your review, I am more inclined to purchase. Would you please explain the elastic band method for holding down the front and sides? Looking at your photos, I'm not exactly sure how the unit would be worn with the band. I presume the elastic band would be at the back of your head, down toward the nape? An explanation would be much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Marjorie Karimi

    I discovered the elastic band method on
    YouTube whilst watching videos on how to wear full lace wigs without glueing them down. There are lots of tutorials on line showing how to do it.

    You add a length of dressmakers elastic (preferably black) and about an inch wide, to the area near each of the ear tabs of the unit. You stitch this onto the lace.

    To put the unit on, you line up the front of the unit with your hairline, slip the elastic over the top of your head so the elastic sits at the nape and then pull the rest if the back section of the unit down to your nape, covering the elastic band.

    My ealastic tends to loosen after two or three washes. When this happens I cut one side carefully from the ear tab, cut off a about a centimetre of the elastic and then stitch it back down to the ear tab which tightens up the unit.

    I hope this helps.

    T

    ReplyDelete
  12. The wig looks really good on you! I've been toying with the idea of getting a glueless cap wig so I really appreciate this review.

    ReplyDelete

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