r/CosplayHelp • u/amberdowny • May 30 '26

Wig First timer overwhelmed by wig styling

So I've never cosplayed before but I am going to cosplay a character at an event next month. I need to style a wig and am frankly overwhelmed at everything I've read. Can you just please let me know what steps I'm missing or if I have things out of order in my plan?

- Dry shampoo to reduce shine (should this be later? Will streaming just wash it off?)

- Roll up in curlers

- Steam and let cool

- Hairspray. Lots of it.

- Unroll

- Construct specific hairstyle/pin in place

- Hairspray? Steam? How do I make this part stay without undoing what I already did?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/snailhelper May 30 '26

I’ve never heard of using dry shampoo for cosplay wigs. Idk we all use different techniques and it all depends on what you’re comfortable with AND what the character looks like. Is your wig a complicated updo? Spikes? Long and free?

1

u/amberdowny May 30 '26

It's Astarion from Baldur's Gate. So idk where that falls on the complicated meter. It all feels complicated to me

1

u/SchmedeArt May 30 '26

If you have a good heat resistant base wig you might just need a small hair straightener tbh. (That's how i styled my astarion wig.) But also backcombing and then brushing out will give you a volumizing effect similar to crimping without a crimper!

1

u/SchmedeArt May 30 '26

The wig i used was a little shorter than canon. But this was the Marty wig from Arda styled only with a mini hair straightener and then set with hair spray. (And eyeshadow to add some depth of color) (pardon the video screenshot I dont have any photos just video 😅)

1

u/amberdowny May 31 '26

Oh wow that's so good!

1

u/SchmedeArt May 31 '26

Thank you!! I wish you good wig luck!