The collection of ten Inamorata fingerwave wigs will be available for sale at Inamorata online shop this Sunday at…
LAUNCH TIME IN DIFFERENT TIME ZONES:
5 PM Sunday 10th of March in New York, USA
2 PM Sunday 10th of March in San Francisco, USA
10 PM Sunday 10th of March, in London, UK
11 PM Sunday 10th of March, in Paris, France.
7 AM Monday 11th of March, Japan
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The collection consists of nine fingerwave wigs made of authentic human hair (precurled natural black) and one synthetic fibre wig (precurled purple colour). Note that this collection has an allergen warning of cat dander, because I made the wigs while baby sitting my friend's cats.
*Inamorata wigs also fit Popovy, Deva Dolls, Ficon, Tender Creations and other similar size art dolls (see my YouTube for a video of Popovy trying on Inamorata wigs).
Whole collection can be viewed on Flickr, so you can pick your favourite before the sale begins!
MAKING OF THE COLLECTION
I have admired fingerwave hairstyles for decades, but always found the style too challenging, and frankly intimidating, to attempt to create myself. Over the years I was able to first make fingerwaves in human scale, but the miniaturisation still evaded me. PattaArt has been known for their gorgeous signature fingerwave style doll wigs for decades and I have redirected customers to Patta every time I got asked to make one. I own 3 of them myself in different colours. After watching endless tutorials and testing many materials, I finally made some progress! By no means are these wigs as impeccable as Patta's, but I am still very proud of them! I also made sure to make my wigs recognisably different and experimented with many looks.
I definitely do not feel confident to make any tutorials on fingerwave styles, but I want to share my notes from my process of trial and error. I don't have much technical advice yet to share (except to keep a bowl of water near to have your fingers and tool moist), so I will mostly concentrate on materials and tools.
Gel
I used Got2BGlued Spiking Glue for starters and when I ran out and could not find more I tried GATSBY Super Hard styling gel. I think Got2BGlued had a better hold but is stickier and white like Elmer's Glue. GATSBY is easier to work with and more forgiving for fixing mistakes by adding water to it. Got2BGlued also has a tendency to dry white when over applied and I since was making black wigs, GATSBY's clear colourless look was better suited for this project.
Start with moist hair and really permeate it with gel. Like crazy amount of gel. Brush in, add more and style into waves using silicone or metal tools. Toothpicks snatch the hair so avoid them. I pinned the curls in place with sewing pins (see reel on Instagram) and let dry overnight. I often had to set the curls several times before I was happy with them, but for that I just sprayed or soaked the gelled up curls in water to soften them, added fresh gel and tried again.
Some people on Instagram have recommended using glue, varnish, and even UV resin instead of the gel. My materials are limited by sensitivity to scents so experiment ahead and please let me know if these work! I was thinking that using gloss varnish spray instead of a hairspray for a final layer might work, but then again I don't want to waterproof the wig in case it needs repairs. I noticed that a curl over the ear of a doll can easily be crunched when putting the wig on and then the gel gets kind of powderised and looses it's hold. It is easily fix with a soft toothbrush and a bit of water (like shown in this reel). The white powder disappears and some of the hold of the gel is restored. It's also easy to ass a bit more gel to fix the curl. If it was sealed the repairs could not be done but the spray would not protect it from the damage. Using UV resin could work to make a hard helmet of hair, but in that case, the hard curls could scratch the faceup. Also, why use hair to start with? 3D printing a hard helmet or using putty would be much less work than styling real hair.
Fiber
The fiber needs to be quite stiff and curled. I've tested alpaca, but it doesn't hold curls well and I ended up with a mess. It gets stuck on every tool and I wasn't able to get a sleek surface. It is simply too fine and soft. Mohair is a bit better at holding curls but as soon as I applied the gel it smoothed out the heat curls. Synthetic saran hair with 8mm curl worked for a 50's Hollywood Glamour style, but I could only get the curls to work at the ends of the hair. The curls easily unravel even after tons of gel and hairspray, so I recommend hand stitching the curls in place with matching colour yarn in few crucial spots. I finally found the solution in human hair extensions curled to the tightest "kinky curly" style. The quality of hair was too coarse and thick for other doll wigs, so I tried it for fingerwaves and was astonished to see it worked!
I still ended up with many flyaway hairs (as you can see on this reel) and I found it easiest to just cut them off one by one. Careful not to pull on them though as you might break the curls and just lift up more hairs. Cut close and add gel to tidy up. You can do the same if there is an individual hair out of place on the surface, just lift it out with a needle, spray a bit of water on the spot, gently brush a bit with a soft toothbrush and add a bit of gel.
There is a lot of room for improvement, but I'm still really happy with this collection. Especially the side ponytail wigs were a fun to make because I'm obsessed with art nouveau whiplash curves. I am happiest when I am experimenting with something new, problem solving and learning as a go along. I will be accepting commission orders for fingerwave wigs in the future and added it to the Hard Cap Wigs custom order item in my shop. Fingerwaves are tier 5 (250usd) due to the days of labour that goes into them.
Models and Glass Skin
The dolls modelling the wigs are OOAK Inamorata 2 Shanis, Zen and Akech. I didn't name them yet because of the experimental faceup technique. I am not sure of the durability of the painting yet and need to see if it chips or scratches off easier than a regular faceup. Their glossy makeup was inspired by the glass skin looks by Pat McGrath's runways makeup for Maison Margiela by John Galliano. I usually prefer matte or shimmery looks, but it was exciting to try a new technique to achieve this trendy look. I used Mr. Super Clear UV Cut Glossy sealant spray and an extra layer of UV resin applied with a makeup sponge to layer enough wet shine on their faces. If the faceup is stable the dolls will be for sale. You can contact me if interested in one of them.
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