Lace frontals are the recent rave. This is because of their versatility and the flawless way it looks like it's growing from your own scalp.
One way to identify frontals is that they are used to recreate the hairline from ear to ear while closures are used to recreate the natural parting of the hairline.
Both lace frontals and lace closure hair pieces help to complete your look and are great for styling your wigs, weaves, and natural hair extensions. However, making the best choice for which option to go for can sometimes be a tough nut to crack.
So if you're looking to invest in a great wig and yet to decide whether to go for a lace frontal or closure, we have got you covered. We've put together everything you need to know about lace frontals and closures, the pros and cons too.
What Is A Lace Frontal?
Lace frontal hairpieces come in sew-in or bonded installations. Lace frontals help you achieve a more natural look for your wigs and hair extensions. They are often 4 inches to the back and 13 inches across, covering your hairline ear to ear. Its flexibility allows you to try out different hairstyles suck as center parts, side parts, or ponytails that look natural.
The Pros Of Wearing Lace Frontals
1. Lace frontals have less installation time
Lace frontals are easy to install and often require little installation time than sew-in natural hair extensions. It takes an average of less than one hour to install lace frontal wigs or an hour and a half for extensions with frontals. Installing sew-in natural hair extensions like ponytails, usually take about 2 - 4 hours depending on the desired style. Lace frontals are the go-to option for modern women who want protective styles to protect their natural curls and looking to spend less time getting ready every day.
2. Lace frontals allow you to style your hair however you want
One of the biggest perks of wearing a lace frontal hairpiece is the versatility it offers, which allows you to personally style your wigs or extensions however you want, from ponytails to middle or side parts. Lace frontals give you a natural hairline, so you have the freedom to style your hair as desired. It's almost like styling your own natural hair!
Here are some of the styles you can achieve with a lace frontal wig:
3. Lace frontals allow your hair to breathe
We all know the normal routine of having to wear our wigs or sewn-in extensions and experiencing huge discomfort from them during unbearably hot weather. Lace frontals are comfortable to wear on the head and allow a constant flow of air to your scalp and hair.
The Cons Of Wearing Lace Frontals
1. Lace frontals can damage your hairline
Sew-in lace frontal wigs are usually installed using glue or lace tape. They last between 2 to 4 weeks without needing a retouch. The longer period of time your lace frontals have to stay installed can make it irritate your skin and severely damage your hairline or break off your edges.
2. Lace frontals can require a lot of work
At first installation of lace frontal wigs, it requires a lot of tweaking to achieve the natural look it has. You will need to do things like bleaching the knots of the wig, tweezing, tinting, plucking or trimming baby hairs and installing your wig correctly so you can achieve a realistic hairline. If you wear a sew-in lace frontal extension, it often requires weekly upkeep and maintenance, to achieve better results and a more natural look. However, if you don't want to go through all that styling, you should rock a lace frontal wig, which doesn't require as much work as sew-ins.
3. Lace frontals are more expensive
Because of the need to achieve a more realistic natural look, lace frontals are more expensive to buy than lace closures. While lace frontals need fewer raw Indian bundles, the freedom of versatility to style any desired look which it offers will explain the spike in the price of the lace frontal.
How to install a lace frontal
What Is A Lace Closure?
A lace closure typically comes in 4 X 4 inches in size and is used to close off your wig or a particular style. They are available in many different styles which include the three-part, free part, and middle part. Three-part closures allow you to part the hair in three different ways while the middle part closures only give you one style option. Free part, however, let you part your hair however you wish to. A free part closure hairpiece is more preferred because of the versatility it offers.
The Pros Of Wearing Lace Closures
1. Lace closures require little maintenance
Unlike sew-in lace frontal wigs, owning a lace closure hairpiece doesn't require a whole lot of experience in order to care for and maintain it. The most work you could ever do on lace closure wigs or extensions is washing, conditioning, and styling it. For lace closure wigs and extensions, it technically involves taking it off at the end of the day and putting it back on the next day.
2. Lace closures last for longer
Whether you're going for a sew-in or lace closure wig, they typically last longer than a frontal, with proper maintenance. Lace closures are more suited for warmer weather. as they don’t require as much gluing and customizing as sew-in lace frontal wigs do. After 2 or 3 weeks, your sew-in lace frontal wigs start to lose their glue and pull off gradually at the edges.
3. Lace closure protects your hair
With lace closures, you can fix the problem of blending the color and texture of your hair with your weave. You don't have to apply heat or dye parts of your hair in order to match your weave. Instead, you would only be dying your weave and closure, any color you want, and not any of your actual hair, making the process much safer. Wearing a lace closure allows you to experiment with so many styles and colors with little or no damage to your hair.
The Cons Of Wearing A Lace Closure
1. Lace closures limit your styling process
Usually, the lace closure doesn't offer versatility when it comes to styling your wigs or extensions. You are only limited to 3 styles, which are the three-part, free part, or middle part options. Your hair can't be pulled back into a ponytail using a lace closure, however, this is not the case with the 360 lace frontal wigs which lets you pull your hair back into a simple ponytail and style it in multiple ways.
2. Lace closures don't fit sometimes
Frontals tend to fit in snugly when you wear them, unlike closures. Having no knowledge of your head size or not measuring it accurately will leave you with a lace closure wig that doesn't fit perfectly.
3. Lace closures grow out your hair
If you wear a sew-in lace closure weave or wig, as your hair grows over time, it will grow together with your wig or weave. This usually pushes up your wig or pushes it out of the way, and you would need to do a readjustment of your wig or weave every 4 weeks. That's a lot of trips to the hairstylist, we know you don't want to make.
How to install a lace closure
Lace frontal or closure, which option would be choosing for your next wig purchase? You can also explore our options of natural hair lace closures, while you're at it.