00:00Oh, I'm so scared that it'll look bad.
00:01Not because, like, the hair is gonna be done bad,
00:04but because it's just gonna look bad on me.
00:06And I think I need to rework that mindset.
00:10Hi, I'm Yaya, and today I'm getting
00:12an Icy Blonde wig installment.
00:14I have never done real color before.
00:16I do one, which is, like, jet black,
00:19or one B, which is natural black,
00:21or, like, sometimes I'm feeling spicy,
00:23and I do a two, which is a brown.
00:25Hair is definitely connected to self-confidence for me.
00:27If I am not, you know, feeling great,
00:31or, like, you know, wanting to do stuff,
00:33like, it'll show.
00:35I'm leveling up because it's 2021,
00:37and the world is opening back up.
00:39Things are happening.
00:40Growing up, it was definitely, like, you know,
00:41traditional styles.
00:42Like, grew up with braids all through high school.
00:44That's, like, been, like, a learning journey.
00:46I tend to sometimes overthink things.
00:48I've been scared to do this
00:50because I don't want to be ugly with blonde hair.
00:52There's definitely, like, a lot of voices
00:55from a lot of places, you know,
00:56all saying not to.
00:57Wigs are really about versatility, I think,
01:00and then also about, like, experimenting.
01:01Fear of dyeing your hair blonde
01:03isn't really a thing anymore
01:04because you don't have to.
01:05Hi, I'm Millicent Reid.
01:06I am a wig expert
01:08located in Los Angeles, California.
01:10Since the pandemic,
01:11I've been doing a lot of wigs,
01:13installing lace front wigs.
01:15I do have my own wig collection.
01:17I'm the co-owner of SMF Beauty Shop,
01:19so we get our wigs from us.
01:20So what wigs mean to me is it's deeper than me,
01:23and my mom was a dancehall queen,
01:25and she would change her hair color
01:27from red to green to platinum blonde.
01:29Wigs, I feel like it's our crown,
01:31and it's very powerful.
01:33So what are we doing to see her today?
01:34Um, so today I am, you know, biting the bullet.
01:37I want to go icy.
01:39If it can look natural coming from my scalp,
01:41that's the vibe.
01:42Can we get some spirals, though?
01:43Like, yes, yes.
01:44Like, big.
01:44We want it big and out and vibrant.
01:46You know, Beyoncé, sweetie.
01:48I am ready to go. Let's work on this.
01:50Yes, yes, thank you.
01:51I just want a big change.
01:54First, I'm going to cornrow Yaya's hair.
02:04I'm going to need to use the hot comb
02:06because I want the braids to lay very, very flat.
02:16I'm going to put makeup on the wig
02:19so it matches her skin tone.
02:22Then I'm going to make slits in the lace.
02:27Then I'm going to take this bow-toed glue.
02:30This is an adhesive glue
02:31that is going to stick the lace to her skin.
02:36After that, I'm going to bond the wig with the glue.
02:42So now we're going to take a scissors,
02:43and I'm going to cut the SS lace off of the front
02:47and then also try not to pull so hard
02:50that the lace actually pulls up.
02:52I'm going to use a hot comb
02:54to make sure that the lace and the hair match.
03:01I am going to take our wrapping lotion
03:04and my edge brush,
03:07and I'm going to make baby hairs.
03:10I'm going to take the Got To Be glue
03:12and to spray the front of her hair.
03:17Next, I'm going to tie the black wrap around her head,
03:21and then I'm going to dry it.
03:24Yaya wanted some spirals,
03:26so we're going to give her some nice medium spirals.
03:31Then to finish it off,
03:33I'm going to cut off the black band.
03:35I'm going to take a heat protectant,
03:38and I'm going to spray in the front of her hair
03:40and I'm going to try to give it some shine.
03:42And voila, we're finished.
03:46Yeah. Oh, my God. I'm like shaking.
03:54I feel a lot of different ways, but I do love it.
03:57I feel like it's perfect for what I was looking for.
03:59This is probably the biggest physical change I've done ever.
04:04This installation makes me feel like,
04:06you know, everything that I have been hesitating to do,
04:08it's time to do it.
04:09I think you look beautiful.
04:11Yeah.
04:11You can rock anything.
04:12As black women, we love to do different looks,
04:15and this look on you is just amazing.
04:17Seeing her reaction made me smile,
04:20because I've been working so hard on this,
04:22so if I made her happy, it makes me happy.
04:24She's not afraid to think outside the box
04:27and do something like this, and I was for it.
04:29Well, everyone's going to be looking at me,
04:31so I'm going to roll with it.
04:33So, like, it's boosted my confidence,
04:34because I'm pretty, and I'm still pretty with blonde hair.
04:38I'm super excited to find out who I am with this hair.
04:40I feel like I have the energy and the space
04:43and the ability to find who this is, this Yaya.
04:47Millicent really understood what I meant
04:48when I said I wanted to make sure that the blonde eye went
04:50was something that looked good with my skin tone,
04:52so I definitely like this shade.
04:53I wouldn't have wanted to go any sort of other blonde.
04:56How Yaya can maintain the wig is to tie down the wig
05:00with a silk wrap around her hair
05:02to keep the lace in the front laid.
05:05You don't want it to lift, because if it lifts, you look crazy.
05:07The wig can last forever, but you have to maintain it.
05:11Every two weeks, you need to get the front redone.
05:14I do feel very, like, glam.
05:15I do feel like I'm about to get off a jet.
05:17I feel super leveled up, like, you know,
05:20I just, you know, I've unlocked a new character.
05:22Like, I've digivolved. This is a new look.
05:24I can always go back to my old look.
05:25Like, I now just have this new thing in my Pokedex.
05:30Thank you for watching Refinery29.
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05:37And subscribe.
05:37Bye.
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