Pro’s & Con’s of Wearing Wigs for Black Women

Black women have been criticized for decades for wearing wigs and weaves, and many of these negative comments come from our own community.  In the natural hair era, weaves are becoming less common and more criticized, yet, wigs are becoming more and more acceptable as black women, particularly millennials are boldly wearing wigs as a “trendy” hairstyle or even as part of our basic black hair care regimen.   But wearing a wig hasn’t always been about following a new trend.  There are so many reasons sisters decide to wear a wig.  Those reasons can include: to cover up hair loss; while transitioning your hair; as a protective hairstyle; for versatility; to save time, money, or just plain convenient.

A Historical Look at Wigs in the Black Community

Wigs have become much more popular over the past few years with celebrities such as Zendaya, Nicki Manaj and Beyonce shamelessly rocking trendy wig styles from straight, to bobs, to naturally curly looking wigs. Wigs have evolved over time to include frontals and full lace wigs that look very natural. But wigs have been around since virtually the ancient times.

In early Egyptian times, our people wore wigs with human hair, palm leaf fibers and sometimes wool.  Worn by both men and women, wigs were a sign of stature and rank as well as religious piety.  It also served to protect our scalp from the harsh hot sun. It has been reported in fact that our people were the creators of the wig.  Using natural ingredients such as resin and beeswax to keep the wig in place, Egyptians wore wigs on the top and to blend with their natural hair.

Fast forward to the 21^st century, wigs made a comeback in the 1950’s and allowed black women to style their hair free of heat. Using chemical relaxers was a lengthy and painful experience, so wigs gave black women the option to achieve diverse styles and the ability to conform to a more European look.

By the 1990’s pixie cuts and braids rose in popularity as wigs fell out of fashion. Black women also enjoyed wearing their hair “bone-straight.” Just as people thought wigs were a hair trend of the past, it resurfaced again by the mid-2000’s with the introduction of the lace front wig. It is a natural and more versatile looking option to the traditional “wiggy” looking wig from previous decades.

Types Of Wigs for Black Women: Synthetic Hair vs, Human Hair Wigs

Synthetic Hair Wigs

Advances in technology have been beneficial in the look and feel of synthetic hair. High quality modern synthetic wigs are now designed to make it difficult to tell if the wig is human hair or synthetic.

PROS: Synthetic hair requires little maintenance because it can be worn right out of the box with little or no styling at all.  The modern day technology of the synthetic fiber contains a memory component that helps it to achieve its curls, waves and volume and therefore the hair can bounce back to its original style with very little effort. It’s also cheaper and more durable than human hair.

CONS:  The flip side of wearing synthetic wigs is its lack of versatility.  Most synthetic wigs are less durable than human hair because it cannot be styled in many ways like human hair.  In fact, you cannot apply heat to synthetic hair, with the exception of a few heat friendly synthetic wigs on the market.

Note, synthetic wigs typically last 4 – 6 months, and heat-friendly wigs last for a shorter period of time, usually 2 – 3 months.

Human Hair Wigs:

PROS: The biggest benefit of wearing human hair wigs is its natural look and feel.  Unlike synthetic wigs, human hair wigs feel softer and have more natural movement and shine. It also is very versatile and can withstand heated styling tools such as hot combs, blow dryers and flat irons.  The versatility allows for human hair wigs to be cut, colored and styled the way you want.  If cared for properly human hair wigs can last up to a year or longer.

CONS: The cost to purchase human hair wigs is much higher than a synthetic wig.  Human hair wigs also require much more maintenance as you will need to wash, condition and style it more frequently.

Most human hair wigs come from China, Europe, Indonesia or India. 

Overall, if cost is not a factor in your decision to select a human hair wig versus a synthetic wig, human hair is your best choice.  Another factor to consider is the affects of the processing technique on the quality of the hair.  There are many chemicals used to sanitize the hair which tend to strip away the natural hair color causing it to produce different colors and curl patterns.  These harsh chemicals may result in changes to the integrity of the hair based on the methodology used.