Hello All, the past two years have been full of fun, changes and insanity. Today I want to share with you something that is very personal and close to my heart. This post is multi faceted however they are intertwined. This is my story, and a peek into my life, its about Hair Loss, Blogging and Feeling Good again! Warning very long post so grab a seat and hold on tight! LOL!
I have written and re written this post at least a dozen times. This is not an easy story for me to share. I am sharing with you all because if I can help even one other person with my story then I will have accomplished my goal. Before I get started I want to tell you all I am not ill, I am not sick please read on you will understand.
I always had thick luxurious hair growing up, it was straight as a board but thick and healthy.. I could do anything with it using good styling products or with a perm. Yes I used to perm my hair. When I was in cosmetology school my fellow stylists would love to cut and color my hair. I always had the attitude “it will grow back”. I know I was young and still thought I knew it all! LOL.
I started noticing a change in my hair about 15 years ago. It started to come out by the handful which for some can be quite frightening. Having studied cosmetology I knew it is normal to lose up to one hundred hairs a day. I kind of just shrugged it off knowing my hair would grow back. Some did grow back and some did not. I really didn’t pay that much attention because I still had a fair amount of hair and I could still make it look good. I love, me a good hairspray. It was about 10 years ago I really noticed how thin my hair was getting and I tried everything I could think of to get my hair to grow thicker. I even shared some of my findings here on this blog. My hair continued to get thinner. My hair was thinning in the front of my head where it was so difficult to cover up or hide. It was to the point I was becoming embarrassed by how thin it was.
I know what your thinking I look like I have a lot of hair but I really don’t, I just know how to make it look like I do. I used tons of product, back combed the heck out of it and plastered it with hairspray so it wouldn’t go flat but it always did. It took me literally 45 minutes to an hour to get my hair to look decent to me. I had to work so hard to hide my scalp that I just started to wear my hair pulled back all the time. I have to share with you this was devastating to me. There were times I would cry over how awful I felt my hair looked. I have said this before no woman should ever have to worry about losing their hair, and yet here I am.
It was time. I finally decided to start looking at other hair alternatives. About 2 years ago I broke down and bought a really inexpensive wig on Amazon. It was horrendous! I looked and felt hideous. Now I have nothing against Amazon wigs and there are girls out there that know how to “rock” those wigs. I could not so I started looking at the more expensive wigs now this is a process as well. Even the expensive wigs can be a wrong fit for you. But I had found a new passion! Hair was no longer a four letter word for me. There are so many styles, colors and lengths it can blow your mind but for me, I found a new “happy place”. I have experienced so many different styles in the past few years and I have now even gone “blond”.
There was still one more challenge to face. Do I keep what little hair I have or do I take the plunge and “buzz” my hair? I kept my hair for quite a while, and pulled it into a pathetic pony tail for the most part. It was last summer I finally decided it was time to get rid of what little hair I had left. I asked my hubby if he would cut my hair off, he refused and I don’t blame him. So at first I went to a beauty school and had them buzz my hair off but now I just do it myself! LOL! I have never been happier! I have wanted to share my story for a while but I was afraid.
It was one morning after Ricki Lake came out with her beautiful photos. I had a crazy idea, I could share my story too if I had some amazing photos I could share with my story. I reached out to the AMAZING Kate, from Kate Eschbach Photography. I have know Kate for a very long time and I knew she was the right person to take my photos. As you can see the girl is amazingly talented! I never knew I could be so pretty with AND without hair!
Wigs are being made so you can hardly even tell they are wigs. I love that they are even called “alternative hair”or “helper hair” there are so many choices out there from the fun and funky to the short and sassy styles. Not sure how crazy I will go with the wigs but for now I am loving them and my life, I have never felt so comfortable in my own skin before. Who would have thought that buzzing your hair off could bring so much relief and happiness.
This is my story and we all have different paths it is my hope that in sharing these photos and my story that you can see there is a place where you can find happiness even amidst storms and challenges. There are those around you who only want the best for you. That is my wish for each and every one of you.
Do you have something that brings you confidence? Restores that feeling you can do anything? Tell me about it I want hear your story!
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