The other day I came across a comment under one of Kim Kardashian's Instagram posts that read, "I always wonder how you change your hair color so often and keep it healthy." I stared at my phone screen for a minute, truly befuddled, thinking there was no way possible that people really thought that Kardashian's major hair changes involved manipulating her real hair. However, I had to think about it: Not many people are truly educated about the world of wigs. For many, it's easy to assume that someone with as many resources as Kardashian truly could safely dye and cut her hair repeatedly.
So after seeing the excitement over her recent "bangs," I knew I had to say something. Women were flocking to social media to proclaim that now they'd be getting bangs inspired by Kardashian's and have probably already booked appointments with their hairstylists.
And while I hate to burst the bubble of the many who are probably at home still convinced that she's cut her real hair, I have news: She's wearing a wig now and most of the time. So we can all just relax.
First example? Kim's bangs.
Social media went nuts after seeing the recent campaign for KKW Beauty's Valentine's Day collection. In it, Kardashian is spotted wearing blunt bangs. However, many seemed shocked upon finding out that the hair switch-up was simply a wig. "Wait so she didn't really cut it?!" someone wrote.
Guys... she's wearing a wig almost all the time.
And no, I'm not referring to clip-ins. I'm referring to full-on wigs. Very rarely does Kardashian ever make drastic changes to her actual hair, and why would she need to? She has a talented glam squad at her fingertips and all the money in the world to purchase quality wigs.
Some have argued that Kardashian has a lot of hair, so she doesn't need to wear wigs.
And to that I say: exactly. Wigs are one of the most effective ways to keep your real hair growing and healthy. It's an opportunity for your natural hair to be completely protected from the elements, heat, and excessive pulling and tugging.
Others say, "They can't be wigs, they look so natural."
Well, news flash: That's the point. Nobody wants to walk around looking like they have a hat of hair sitting on top of their head. It's not the 1800s, when wigs are so excessively noticeable that you can spot them from a mile away.
"She has the money to keep her natural hair healthy after a lot of coloring," some might argue.
Let's use a little common sense here. In some campaign shoots, Kardashian is spotted wearing sometimes several different hair colors. Do you really think that anyone has the time to be going through the process of coloring their hair that much in such a short timespan — like, one or two days tops? Exactly.
And her "roots"? Yeah, those are fake, too.
Sigh… It's called a great color job. Again, the point is for the wig to look natural. I really can go on and on, but you can just google a term called "shadow roots."
Also, you can pull a good wig into a ponytail.
It's not magic, people. A 360 lace front, if created correctly, can do just about anything natural hair can do. So I hate to crush all your dreams, but no.
"I can see her scalp," you say? That's another magical aspect of wigs.
It's called lace sweetheart, and it's the base of what the faux hair follicles are attached to. And again, the lace is made to look like a real scalp so it can look what? Natural. I'm telling, y'all, quality wigs are unclockable.
Got wigs?
I hope this is helpful to those who find this news to be a surprise. If you were under the impression that every single day Kim K was undergoing drastic cuts and coloring to magically grow all that hair back in a few hours, you have been truly mistaken.
In fact, more often than not, you can catch Kardashian in the act of wigging out.
And we're not mad at it. Keeping your natural hair healthy should always be the number one priority with any styling, and she's doing just that.
And if you thought this Game of Thrones-esque look was real, well, you might need to take some wig classes.
I'm just keeping it real here.
If I explained the many other intricacies of wigs we'd be here all day.
There's plucking, there's customizing the hairline, there's bleaching the knots. All methods that go into ensuring Kardashian's wigs look as natural as possible. Wigs have come a mighty long way in just a few years, and a good wig is one that makes you do a double take to find out if it's real.
You might want to try a wig yourself.
There are so many out there, and it's such an amazing way to keep your locks protected, especially in this cold weather.
This was in no way a bashing of Kardashian for wearing wigs, by the way.
In fact, I wrote this with a lace front (that's a wig) perfectly perched upon my head. Instead, this is to educate everyone about wigs and to pose the question: Why do we freak out every single time Kim Kardashian switches up her hair?
Since I can remember, my aunt has had a collection of fine wigs, all remotely different. She would wear one based on whatever her mood was. Black women, in general, have long used wigs as a way to change up our looks without manipulating our natural hair. Let's stop playing into the misconception that somehow because Kardashian already has a lot of hair that she doesn't need wigs. SO DO WE. We started this. Your fave wears wigs all the time, and it's as simple as that.
My name is Blake, and thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
