Paula: [00:00:00] Hello, hello, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Chatting with the Experts. With me, Paula Okonneh, the host where I speak with amazing women from Africa, from the Caribbean, and in the diaspora. These women are professionals and they are successful entrepreneurs and they share my mission, which is to educate, to inspire and empower women globally. Today is gonna be a fun, fun episode. We are talking about wigs and the title of the show is Wigs Deconstructed. My guest who will be joining me in a few minutes says, you know, ooh. She’s like, let’s learn all about wigs.
And I’ll tell you her story, which is wrapped up with her bio. She started after she had the worst hair experience in her life. She said a colorist completely destroyed her wig, leaving it over-bleached, fried, and [00:01:00] then ghosted her with zero help or even an apology. She was so annoyed and had no clue on how to fix it. So the thing is, she’d always been obsessed with, she says obsessed, that’s not my word. She’s always been obsessed with beauty and loves everything about getting ready and looking good, and she always looks good.
So instead of just being mad about her hair, she decided she would figure it out herself. So she dove head first into learning everything about hair extensions, about coloring, layering. Basically, she became a total hair nerd. So what started as her just trying to save her own hair, turned into something bigger when she realized how many women also go through the same thing. So her business, Mane By Niro, is all about helping people. Women in particular, look amazing with whatever they’re working [00:02:00] with. So there’s no gatekeeping, no complicated stuff, just good wigs and extension for women who want to look and feel their best. And with that, I mean, wasn’t that an amazing story? I wanna welcome Orinayo Ayodele to Chatting with the Experts.
Orin, what a story that was. Oh my gosh. When I read it, I was tickled, but at the same time I said, wow, you know, this is what has launched, made you become the entrepreneur. That now what you wanna share with people the backstory, the good wigs, the bad wigs, and everything that they used to know about wigs, right?
Orinayo: Yes, everything that there is, I have been a victim of bad wigs. I now sell good wigs, everything in between. So I’ve been on the journey that lots of women also have when they’re looking to buy a wig.
Paula: Well, [00:03:00] with real transparency, I want you all to know that this wig is from her. I’ve never been a hair person. She’s always been a hair person. And I’ve known her since she was five. And she said to me, auntie, I’ve known you like all my life. Yeah. Like my daughter. And so when I was having, well, one of my many bad hair days, I thought, why am I not patronizing my, I’ll call her my niece for this. I need to get something good. And she sent me this. And that’s what I wear now. Doesn’t it look good? Orin, you have to say yes.
Orinayo: Yes, of course. I mean, of course I think it looks good, but yes, I think it really flattens your skin tone as well.
Paula: Thank you. Thank you. You did a fantastic job. So we are gonna be talking about wigs, glueless wigs, custom colored wigs, raw hair, all the things that I don’t know. And I’ve been learning from her and I still don’t know it, but I thought, wow, if I don’t know it, there may be so many people like me and so many other women like me who [00:04:00] don’t have a clue about wigs. So I’m turning it over to you. What is a glueless wig? Orin?
Orinayo: So this is a glueless wig, for example. So whenever people wear wigs, a lot of times they think they have to glue it down or they have to spray it down so that their wig will stay on the head and it won’t fly off. But I make all of my wigs custom to a customer’s head size. And then I also have a band in the wigs so that you can also tighten it or loosen it however you want. So this is a completely glueless wig. If you see, like, if I lift it up and then. You can see the lace also blends well with my skin tone because
Paula: mm-hmm.
Orinayo: I actually like to keep a little bit more of the lace on my wig when I cut the excess lace off. It makes it look a bit realistic and I also always tint the lace, but it always starts with great HD lace though some people are like, [00:05:00] oh, but you can see my lace. It’s probably because you bought a wig with not good HD lace, and that was like one of my missions is that lots of people are busy. I’m busy, I have the nine to five, I have a business. I don’t always have time to, you know, to do the spray, the glue, the melt band, all of the things. So I need lace that I can just put on the couch, put on my head and be good to go. So that’s why I was in search of like really amazing HD lace and that’s how I came up with this. And I found a vendor and we’ve been set since.
Paula: Alright. HD lace. So there’s lace and there’s HD lace, and they’re all in between. I mean, wow. Again, another lesson. What is HD lace? Is it a special type of lace?
Orinayo: So HD lace, if I take one of my wigs with the lace still on, is the thinnest lace that you’re going to get when it comes to a closure or frontal.
Paula: Okay.
Orinayo: There’s also transparent lace, which tends to be a bit wider and a bit thicker. [00:06:00] So HD lace, all types of lace has its pros and cons. So HD lace is the thinnest, so it’s going to melt the most with your skin tone, but it can be fragile. But when I say it’s fragile, like if you’re just like tugging your wig by the lace, you’re likely to, like tear the lace, but I haven’t really had issues with tearing the lace. But I also, like my wigs are investments, so I take the time to really take care of them. So when I put on my wigs, I can also just show you.
Paula: Pls do.
Orinayo: but I always start putting on, like if I take it off, I always start from the back. So this will the elastic band I was talking about. Mm-hmm. So I always start with putting my wig on from the back.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: And then I can adjust it. I hold it by the hair, not the lace, because once again, the lace is fragile and that is how, so if you have really good HD lace, you’re able to like actually see [00:07:00] and have it melt into your skin.
Paula: Oh, okay. I need to, yes, let people see that I am looking and like wow. Wow.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: It melts into your skin. Okay. Okay. So melting it into your skin. So you have to color it a bit though so that it matches your skin tone.
Orinayo: Yeah, so what I typically use is a lace tint mousse. You can use a lace tint spray. Some people like foundation, but think about it like when you put foundation on your like skin, it does add like a layer to your skin. That’s just what foundation is. So when you put that on your lace, you are adding an additional layer to the lace so it can sort of look bulky. So I highly recommend that if you want to tint your lace, you use specific lace tinting products. So lace tint mousse, or lace tint spray is what I would highly suggest.[00:08:00]
Paula: I’m writing all of this down because I have never heard of it. Lace tint mousse and spray. So not foundation.
Orinayo: Yes. So if you really want your lace to melt well and you don’t want excess fabric or like excess products in your hair, use lace tint mousse or lace tint spray.
Paula: Okay, so there’s something, before you took off the wig, you talked about your edge. I’m not gonna show you my edge because I don’t know how to, any of what she said. I got the wig and my niece living with me help me do it. So you said something about the side. What is, you said you keep some of the lace to the side?
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: Is that what you’re saying?
Orinayo: So some of the like excess lace.
Paula: So if you can see, okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna pin you one second.
Orinayo: So keep talking. Alright, go ahead. Okay. So where you see my hairline actually starts, the hair actually starts here, but I keep the lace, [00:09:00] like I keep a little bit of lace. So that there is, you can have the excess fabric. So when, if you think about your own hair, like if you were to look at your hairline, it like, sort of like goes like up and down and it like transitions from your skin to your hair.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: So that is sort of the purpose of the lace. You don’t want it to be just like a straight transition from here to your hairline.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: So the lace is sort of like an extension of your skin and where your hair is, because sometimes your hair is not, like, grows directly from there. So I think that is a trick most people tend to skip, is that they cut exactly where the hairline is. But next time if you get a wig, just cut a little in front of the hairline and it will blend seamlessly.
Paula: So that means I need to get another wig from you?
Yes, I think so.
Oh, I need to get another wig out. We talk about it offline, what color that wig should be. I really enjoy [00:10:00] this one. Ooh, I never thought I would like long. How many inches is this? 20?
Orinayo: I think it was 18 or 20. I can’t remember.
Paula: Okay. Okay.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: When I say I have no clue about hair, this has been of not knowing anything over here. I have depended upon stylists and other people ’cause hair is not my thing. Other things, I like technology, but not hair. I like hair but I don’t know how to do it. Alright, so, okay. HD lace. Yes. Lace tint, mousse and spray and, oh, I know something, something about plucking. You have to pluck.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: You pluck the hair or you pluck the hairline of the wig? What do you do?
Orinayo: So you actually pluck some of the hair out of the hairline. So whenever you get a wig from like a vendor that I would get the wig from the vendor, it’s going to look like this.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: This is actually a little plucked already. Sometimes [00:11:00] it will be a little fuller, so you just want to like going back to our natural hairline, it’s not fully dense all in one area, so you just want it to sort of mimic the hairline. Sometimes it’s dense in some areas, it’s a bit sparse in others, so you just want it to sort of mimic the natural hairline. I prefer a fuller hairline, so I don’t pluck my hairline that much. Some people really, really like plucking their hairline. There’s been a new trend like the Lagos hairline, the rig hairline, but for me, you pluck a lot of hair out of your closure or frontal, you are either going to have to get a new closure every time you want to install it.
And those are definitely not glueless if you’re doing the Lagos or rig hairline or you’re gonna have to ventilate it all the time. So I say, pluck lightly. And the hair, like of course like hair naturally sheds anyway, so the hair from the hairline will also shed. But yes, as I said, I like a [00:12:00] fuller hairline.
Paula: Okay. Pluck lightly. I’ll get a new wig. Gonna get a new wig. We are gonna come on Zoom and you’re gonna show me. Okay. And my niece who helps me so. Well, she’s great at this.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: How to do this.
Orinayo: I can always, like when I send out the wigs, I can pluck it for you. I can cut the lace off. All of the things that, like being a small business, you can really customize the wig to each customer. So yeah.
Paula: Okay, so you can customize ’cause I sent you all my head measurements so you have that.
Orinayo: Yes. And then most of my wigs are made with a sewing machine. Some people like prefer hand sew, so they can also just type it in on my website. I would prefer a hand sew wig, but if you don’t request, they’re automatically machine-made.
Paula: Uh. So you can request whether it should be handmade or machine-made.
Orinayo: Exactly.
Paula: And the, okay, so explain the handmade is more customized than the machine-made, [00:13:00] obviously, right?
Orinayo: Not necessarily. So it was.
Paula: I’m learning again.
Orinayo: So it is all about like the measurements you take beforehand. Some people say that like hand sewn wigs, they fit better.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: Some people say machine sewn. So it really is like a preference thing. And then also if you know how to sew, you can make a hand sewn wig like that is, but you also have to sort of, it’s a learning curve to learn how to make a wig on a sewing machine.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: But it really is like, I have hand sew wigs, I have machine-made wigs. It is all a preference things. The most important part is getting a wig cap that is actually the size of your head. So the one of the most important. Measurements that you will take is your circumference. So most people’s circumference is either 21, 22, 23. Of course you have smaller than that, you have bigger than that. And the average size is 22. So I have wig heads for each head size, but then I will put the wig [00:14:00] cap on and then I will use the measurements from each wig head.
Paula: Okay, so now you guys. This aunty doesn’t know anything about hair. No, you said wig cap. I thought it was the one that I ordered on Amazon. That’s not the wig cap you’re talking about now when you’re talking about 21, 22, 23 or you’re talking about wig cap that you actually saw the hair onto. Is that what you’re referring to?
Orinayo: Oh, they’re they actually are both wig caps.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: So, there are sort of the HD wig cap. That is what you typically wear under your wig.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: And then the black mesh cap is usually what wigs are made on.
Paula: Ah.
Orinayo: Mm-hmm.
Paula: Told you I’m learning. So there’s a black mesh cap that we use for making the wigs, and then there’s the wig cap that we buy commercially from Amazon or wherever a beauty store.
Orinayo: You can buy wig caps as well on Amazon. And then if you really wanna get into wig caps, you can get a [00:15:00] mesh wig caps, you can get dome caps. You can have ventilated caps. So it’s just a whole thing like if I show you. So I also have like half wigs and so I want my half wigs to mimic like sew-ins, quick weaves and everything. So I actually use a ventilated cap for these. And so this is what a ventilated cap actually will look like.
Paula: Okay.
Orinayo: So it is, , you can see right there. So it’s very light, very breathable. So it really does help like mimic the sew-in quick weave look, and then all the half wigs don’t have lace, so it’s just clip it in and then you can leave your front hair out. And so you get sew-in, quick weave, but for a fraction of the time spent installing.
Paula: Okay, now I pinned you so that they could see, you know, what you were just demonstrating. Another question, I’m gonna, what is a half wig? Is this a whole wig?
Orinayo: Yeah, so this is a lace wig, so it has lace on it, but a half wig [00:16:00] has like, so when you have a lace wig, you have the lace and you have the bundles.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: So a half wig just has the bundles. Oh, so it’s just the bundles that are part of this half wig. So there’s the new trend. It’s not a new trend because all trends are coming back, but a lot of people are now getting more into the natural look. They want to move away from lace. They don’t want to like, have to take all the time to customize the lace and they want leave out. For me, I don’t like sleeping in wigs. I don’t like sleeping with anything on my hair, and so I really also like the look of leave out, but I don’t want to sewing in my head because of the tension. I don’t wanna quick weave because of the glue. So half wigs are really the best option. So I get to get that bundle look. I get a very, I guess leave out very little of my leave out so I can fake a [00:17:00] sewing look and then gonna take the wig off at night when I go to sleep.
Paula: So you’re talking now, oh my gosh. Oh, hey. A wig 101. This is one, not even 101, 001. You’re talking about, you said to take the wig off at that people sleep with their wigs.
Orinayo: Yes. Especially if they have glued their frontal or closure on, they definitely sleep with their wigs.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: Okay.
Paula: Said, this is for me. 0 0 1, not 1 0 1. Alright, so we’ve learned about glueless wigs. Let’s talk about raw hair.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: So there’s raw hair. Can raw hair be human hair and also synthetic hair. Do you have raw hair that’s synthetic?
Orinayo: No. So there’s all sorts. There’s so much terminology now that like what [00:18:00] one thing used to mean doesn’t mean anything now. So,
Paula: mm-hmm.
Orinayo: There’s really two classifications of hair, either human hair or synthetic hair. Synthetic hair is made from plastic. And then there is human hair. It can either be raw hair or virgin hair and virgin hair also, the virgin used to mean raw, but now virgin means processed. So when you think about it, but raw means like unprocessed hair. So cut straight from a donor’s head. That is what raw hair means.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: So just like if somebody cut hair off of your head, your hair is raw. And then like, let’s say somebody cut hair off my head and cut hair off of yours and then put it in a machine to mix them up together so that they could be the same sort of quality. That would be virgin hair. So virgin hair is still human hair. It’s just from multiple donors taken [00:19:00] through a process. And there’s nothing wrong with virgin hair, but because I custom color a lot of my wigs and then it’s takes better to custom colors. And then also raw hair does tend to last much longer than virgin hair because if you’ve already processed the hair, then it shortens the lifespan. And then also virgin hair can mean lower hair. So essentially that is like if you go into a salon and all the hair that has fallen from people’s head throughout the day, then people can take that machine, take all that hair, put in a machine cuticle and make it cuticle aligned, and then also sell that.
So if you ever see someone selling cheap human hair and a lot of Amazon wigs, a lot of Ali Express wigs are floor hair. So it is floor that’s been gathered from multiple, multiple donors put in like a bleach acid bath to strip the cuticles, cuticle, critically aligned. So technically you are getting human hair, [00:20:00] but that hair is not good quality because the hair would’ve been in all sorts of places and everything.
So, I highly recommend not buying hair from Amazon or Ali Express. I know sometimes people are on a budget, but it actually works out cheaper in the long run to just buy one high quality hair or wig than constantly having to rebuy on Amazon or Ali Express.
Paula: Oh my gosh. I’m looking like this floor hair, hair that you know when you go to the salon, people all types of hair. People have dandruff, people have all sorts of other hair. You know, your hair depends on how you take care of your hair. That’s what they’re using for the virgin process hair. Yuck.
Orinayo: Yes. But everything comes at a cost. So if you want cheap hair, that’s often what your hair is from.
Paula: So it may even be, I guess everything has its pros and cons, and the synthetic one is [00:21:00] plastic.
Orinayo: Yes.
Paula: You said that’s not floor hair at all, but it has its own, I guess cons is the, tell me a bit about that.
Orinayo: So I have never really worn synthetic hair, so I actually am not an expert on that.
Paula: Okay.
Orinayo: But I mean, synthetic hair has its place that if you want a style, that style is going to remain that style for as long as the synthetic hair lasts. Whether that’s six months, whether that’s a year, that’s great because like oftentimes with like raw hair, because it’s raw, you’re constantly having to style it ’cause it’s somebody’s real hair. Like nobody’s hair stays curly all the time. Nobody’s hair stays bone straight. So synthetic hair, you’re able, if you get a curly wig, it is going to be curly until you can’t wear it anymore.
But also because it’s synthetic, the ends start rubbing together, it becomes very dry and tangled. So once again, you [00:22:00] can’t have a synthetic wig. I don’t think you can have a synthetic wig for longer than a year, but some people do. But if you want to just like try out color or style very quickly, then sure, get a synthetic wig. But I don’t believe in those.
Paula: Now I know this, I’m gonna stick with raw hair because the,
Orinayo: yeah.
Paula: Virgin one, it’s, to me, this is my opinion. It’s yuckier to me. The thing that is floor hair. Yuckier. And then the synthetic one. Hmm. Sometimes you don’t know what other chemicals have been in that, so. Hmm.
Orinayo: That is true.
Paula: So talking about color, because you mentioned that if you want you in your opinion, and you said you’re not expert in synthetic hair, but like if you wanna play around with color, so that may be a good option. I guess it’s cheaper to, let’s talk about custom colored wigs because I know that’s, this is custom colored. I sent you colors that I want, not colors. I sent just [00:23:00] style and I said I wanted to match my skin tone and I got this. Beautiful.
Orinayo: Yeah.
Paula: Beautiful wig. Talk to us about that.
Orinayo: Yes. So, I actually spent most of last year taking like coloring classes, layering classes styling classes because it was really important that you can learn a lot of things via like, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, but actually learning from a professional, there’s just not gonna be anything like that. And for me this business is not a get money quickly. It’s really investing the time, and I want all of my customers and anybody who buys wigs for me to know that I invest my time and my money learning how to custom color wigs. And so for me that includes learning about highlights, balayage what?
Bleach is good. What developer? What goes with what different undertones, skin tones and everything. And then [00:24:00] also what are like really high quality toners that will, , preserve the hair, but also like reflect and keep the hair and the shininess and everything. So that is all that goes into custom colors. So it’s not just slapping bleach on the hair and then waiting for it to get to this like blonde that you can think of. It is also placement on the wigs. So like if somebody has their hair down, will the like highlights fall in the right place? Will they have a money piece, which is like the bright blonde? I can also change to one of my custom colored wigs.
Paula: Please do while you’re doing that. Yep.
Orinayo: So this one is, I believe that like golden tones look amazing on everyone. So this is my golden niro wig and I will put it on. So once again, putting it from the, this is also another one where, as you can see the fabric I kept. And this is, so this is the money piece I was talking about. And [00:25:00] then also the roots of the wig are brown, and then they transition to this golden color. So also. Knowing where to place the roots money piece highlight so that it looks well blended. So you want to, your hair should always look well blended. I shouldn’t see any, like, chunky lines. I shouldn’t see where the roots end and then the color starts. Like everything should just be one seamless look.
Paula: Ooh, this is nice. This is really nice. Do you have another one you can show us? You, I know you are wearing the black one. This one is, yes.
Orinayo: And then I also, this one is pinned, but I also just wanna show you how, like, if you’re really going for the like baba room, this is like my, like chocolate, but this is how I pin curl it. And if I want to have like bangs with volume, I will leave it in rollers, pin it up. So [00:26:00] yes, that is what I do, the wig, first wig I was wearing was jet black. This is blonde, that is brown. I tend to stick to the like warmer browns, blonde, jet black. So yes, that is where I really focus on with my, Mane by Niro.
Paula: Wow.
This is a class and a half. Woo, you said, aha. I took a note here. What is the money piece? You talked about money piece and you showed it with this. You demonstrated it.
Orinayo: Okay.
Paula: What does that mean? So you can see.
Orinayo: You see how this piece is brighter than the rest of the hair?
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Orinayo: Like this specifically, like just So the money piece is just like the two front pieces in your wig that are brighter than everywhere else. So it’s just adds like a little pop of, so you can see like it goes from. The money piece to the, like, what the rest of the hair looks like. So the money piece typically looks a bit different [00:27:00] than what the rest of the hair is. And it’s probably the like brightest part of the hair just like pops in your face.
Paula: So that’s where the money comes in. Money.
Orinayo: Yeah. Yes, the money piece. Yeah.
Paula: I love this allegory. Okay folks. Ooh, you know, we have people waiting in the audience to ask question, but this is also gonna be on YouTube. So for someone who’s not in the audience and is viewing this, I’m sure if they’re like me, they’re learning so much, they may be, how do I get in touch with this amazing young lady? How can people get in touch with you?
Orinayo: You can pretty much find me anywhere. So you can go on my website manebyniro.com. I have a signature collection, so these already wigs with the colors that I designed, but also if you don’t see a color that you want, you can always fill out my form. Which is like design a wig and then we can go back and forth, talk about your inspiration style and everything. You can email me at [00:28:00] info@manebyniro and manebyniro is M-A-N-E-B-Y-N-I-R-O.com. You can also find me on Instagram and TikTok Mane By Niro.
Paula: I’ll drop all of this in the chat so that people who are in the audience can actually get it. So, and reach out to you, whether by, on Instagram, TikTok, email or or go to your website.
Orinayo: Yeah.
Paula: Wow. I can’t believe you’ve been speaking almost 30 minutes. And so for those of you who are in the audience, well, you can ask me questions that or ask Orin questions that I haven’t asked her. But if you wanna be a guest on the show, reach out to me on my website, which is chattingwiththeexperts.com. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. Just look for Paula Okonneh, on LinkedIn. I’m on Instagram and my handle there is at [00:29:00] chat_experts_podcast. I’m also on Facebook. It’s taken me a while. I’ve said so, so many other episodes that Facebook and I were not friends. I’m gradually getting there and I have a YouTube channel, which is Chatting with the Experts. You can please subscribe to us there and we all, every week. Every week I have a new episode out on YouTube and now we are going to open up the floor to all of you who joined us so that all the questions that this lady here didn’t ask you can ask Orin because she is amazing. Thank you Orin, for saying yes. When I reached out to you that I noticed. Yes. Thank you for saying yes. You could have said, no, auntie, this is not for me. But you said, of course, those were your words, and I was like, yes, I can get to learn and share what you have, what you know with my [00:30:00] audience. Thank you again.
Orinayo: Thank you.