Lace wigs: What exactly are they?

Well, growing up I always thought old women who were balding wore wigs and not young people. Young women wore weaving and phony pony's if they wanted some extra length added to their tresses. Well, when I was transitioning I opted to look into the possibility of wearing them when I didn't feel like doing my hair. I was still shy about it but when I went into my local beauty supply store (BSS) there were numerous styles available. Not just those short curly wigs my grandmother wears. In fact most of the styles were reminiscent of Beyonce, Ciara and Ms. Keyshia. So I bought a couple...or five. (lol) Still was uncomfortable so I didn't really wear them too much during my transition. When i BC'd I still didn't decide to hide under them because I love my natural hair. Well after months of the same wash n gos, twists, braids, I got bored with my hair. Absolutely bored! Me, still being scared to add heat decided to maybe try the wigs again, but something was wrong. They were just too...wiggy. You would think I either had a wig on or at least as full sew in or quick weave, which is just a homemade wig. i soon was surfing the web and searching on youtube and discovered lace front wigs. I wanted one so bad! But the ones that kept popping up on Google were full lace wigs costing anywhere from $300 to thousands of dollars. full lace wigs are usually made of human hair: Remy (virgin) Indian or Malaysian hair. The lace goes around the perimeter of the head and usually has to be glued or taped down. The lace is either french or swiss which is soft, durable and flexible. It can come in a variety of skin colors to match your needs. In the middle is comprised of a stretch lace in which the hair is threaded into it strand by strand. Because of this lace wigs have to be hand made and therefore are more costly because of labor. I am not rich and having two kids so I was not ready to spend that much on fake hair. So I then looked into lace front wigs. Lace front wigs have lace usually stretching from one ear to the other and the lace parting goes back from 1 inch to maybe the middle of the head depending on the make and cost. The hair on lace fronts are usually synthetic. These can range anywhere from $30 to $100 dollars. I would definitely not spend anymore than that on a synthetic lace front wig. Even though most lace fronts are synthetic there are some that offer human hair lace fronts like Misswigs.com. The famous YouTube wig guru muffinsismylovers aka April just did a review on a human hair lace front. Lace fronts usually contain combs and adjustable straps so that there is no need for gluing or taping them down. However, for extra security a little tape is okay! Since I have a small head my favorite brand is Sensationnel because it has a tight fit. Another brand that has great style is Freetress Equal, however, the fit isn't that great and I do have to use tape with this particular brand. All in all I have had the best experiences with lace fronts. I haven't had the pleasure to try out full lace wigs but I hope to soon. If you have any other questions please comment and ask and I will do a part two post.