Have you ever bought a wig or lace frontal that just refuses to blend with your skin? No matter how much makeup you put on that lace, it still screams “screen door” on your forehead and part?
That’s how bad lace or incorrect lace technique can ruin your entire wig wearing experience.
I mean… even celebrities can’t escape from bad lace blend once in a while…
Of course, your hairstylist’s skill can play a major part in how good your install looks, but even the most skilled hairstylist still can’t save a “bad lace”.
If you are tired of ordering lace front wigs from vendors only to get lace that’s too dark or too white, you can keep reading this article to learn the different types of lace in the market for wigs. At the end of this blog, we will also give our recommendation for the best type of lace!
Not every single lace front wig has the same lace
There are many types of lace in the human hair weaves market. Choosing the right type of lace will make your install look so natural like the hair is growing out of your scalp. At the end of the day, other people shouldn’t be able to tell that you are wearing a lace front wig. And the truth is, sometimes a wig has 100% amazing human hair, but if the lace isn’t the best, your install still won’t look realistic.
Beauty supply lace – avoid at all cost
Beauty supply store has a bad reputation for always selling low-quality products.
If you have tried a lace front wig in a beauty supply store, you will see that not only the hair is usually synthetic and stiff, the lace itself also looks too thick and very much like plastic.
This type of lace will not blend at all and would come with a very fake hairline.
Swiss lace – most common for human hair wigs
Swiss lace is the most common type of lace for human hair wigs, lace frontals, closures, etc. Before Covid-19 shut down, 95% of lace for human hair wigs was produced in North Korea. Nowadays, most Swiss lace is produced in China just like how 95% of human hair extensions, wigs, frontals, closures all come from China.
In 2020, Swiss lace’s price has raised significantly compared to before Covid-19’s. But it is still the most popular type of lace that luxury human hair brands like to sell.
Swiss lace is a lot thinner than beauty supply lace and the lace grids are not as tight making it more comfortable on your skin. It’s also less harsh and won’t scratch your scalp. Swiss lace comes in many colors so you need to know how to choose the right type of Swiss lace when you shop for a lace front wig.
Brown Swiss Lace – Good for dark to medium skin tones
Brown lace is the most common type of lace that you can find from vendors on Aliexpress who specifically sell human hair wigs to black women. There are different levels of brown lace: dark brown-medium brown-light brown. The most common type is medium brown since it’s in the middle range and can work with more people.
Brown lace is great for darker skin tones, and sometimes medium brown skin tones. The tricky part is, different manufacturer’s brown lace also come in slightly different shades, meaning that one factory’s brown lace can be significantly darker than another factory’s.
When you shop lace front wig and see “medium brown lace”, be careful because if you happen to receive a lace that’s darker than your complexion, no matter how well you bleach the hair knots and use makeup, there will be a “dark edge” around your hairline.
So now, what if you need a lighter lace?
Maybe you don’t even know if your skin is considered dark or medium or even light?
Here comes our next option: transparent lace
Transparent lace – Best for medium brown, light skin. Can be tinted to blend with dark skin tones
Transparent lace is still within the Swiss lace family. Meaning that the thickness and the grid size should be about the same as brown lace. Transparent lace is not “transparent”, it is just a lighter version of brown lace.
We love transparent lace because it virtually blends almost close to invisible for all skin tones. Transparent lace frontals especially work well for medium brown to light skin. It even works well for white skin.
If you have dark skin, your hairstylist can use the correct shade of lace tint and make-up to make it blend seamlessly. Some people say that transparent lace may leave an ashy tone on dark-skinned women. Lace tint and make-up can definitely resolve this issue. It’s even better than getting a brown lace because you can use lace tint to tint the lace to your exact skin color.
If you are not sure if your skin is considered dark or light, you should choose the lighter transparent lace because it is guaranteed to work. Remember, a lighter-colored lace is like a white canvas. You can tint it to any darker color. But you can’t tint a dark lace to a lighter color.
HD lace – thinnest lace in the market, but expensive and high maintenance
HD lace is also called ultra-fine thin Swiss lace. This type of lace is the thinnest in the market and virtually blends with any medium brown, light brown, and white skin. This type of lace is invisible from as close as 2 feet away if applied correctly.
If you have very dark skin, HD lace can still work very well for you with proper lace tint. In fact, if you have very dark skin, you will most likely have to tint most lace front wigs.
What many people don’t know is that even HD lace comes in different shades, usually light ivory and white. Both shades work well for light-skinned customers because the lace itself is already very thin and easy to blend.
The downside of HD lace is that it is usually more expensive than Swiss lace and can rip easily. Due to its delicacy, HD lace also doesn’t last as long as Swiss lace and would need to be replaced after each install.
Even though HD lace is many celebrities’ favorite for red carpet and photoshoots, but for regular hair lovers like you and me who need our install to last at a minimum budget, HD lace may be a bit pricy.
If you are a busy person who doesn’t have time to frequently visit your hairstylist, or if you prefer longevity of the products that you invest hard-earned money for, you should consider brown lace or transparent lace instead.
If you want to rock your best looks at all time like a celebrity, then HD lace will be your great option!
One thing to know is that if you are white, it’s still better to choose HD lace for the most realistic result.
Conclusion
For the best value for your money, our pick is definitely transparent lace front wigs. For almost the same budget for an affordable brown lace front wig, transparent lace guarantees versatility for almost anyone to have a seamless install.
HD lace and Swiss brown lace each have their perks with certain limitations. It’s up to you to choose what works the best for you.
Next time when you shop for a wig or frontal, you will be able to pick the best choice!