Fear, Coasters, and Alopecia Awareness

September is Alopecia Awareness month. It is the month where us baldies shout from the rooftops and edumacate our hairy friends on what is like to have your immune system go haywire and sign you up for a Rock look alike contest. For me, alopecia and fear go hand in hand. Actually, if I’m being completely fear has ruled everything around me since birth. Probably since the womb. All alopecia has done is given me a boat load of new things to be afraid of. Last weekend, I got to erase one of those items off the list. Amusement parks. Not just any amusement park. Cedar Point. If you grew up anywhere near northeast Ohio, you know that Cedar Point is basically the best amusement park ever times 10. However, in my mind, wigs and roller coasters were never meant to go hand in hand. Unless you are trying to end up in a viral video where the whole world witnesses your wig flying off mid ride. This is why I put roller coasters on my list of things I “can’t” do (by can’t I mean won’t because I may poop my pants from fear). I LOVE roller coasters, but I had no idea how I would manage the logistics of it all. So, I just avoided it. Then I started dating a Colorado native who had never been to Cedar Point. Since it is an Ohio must, we made a decision in May that we would go back to Ohio in August to give him the full adrenaline experience. I had exactly 3 months to concoct a plan. Yet I was going back and forth and back and forth on what I was going to until the week of the trip.Obviously, going wig-free would have been the easiest option and I did seriously consider it until my anxiety crept in and told me to consider something else. Next, I thought of wearing my Yaffa wig. It has an adjustable band and I can get it to sit pretty snugly on my dome. However, my Yaffa is a $3000 wig. I just couldn’t risk the chance of 3 grand literally flying off my head. So, I scoured my Amazon for days looking for a suitable synthetic. Buying cheap wigs on Amazon can be so hit or miss. You can end up with something surprisingly adorbs, or you could end up with something that looks like a straw mop. I must have had a wig angel that day because what I ordered was PERFECT!! A wig with an attached headband that I could wear in a HIGH PONY! You heard it folks. Momma rocked a high pony for the first time in FOUR YEARS!!! For added insurance, I used my Milano wigs wig-grip to keep that puppy in place. Finally, I found a tank top with a hood to add an extra, extra level of security. And guys let me tell you it was *chefs kiss* PERFECT! I think I would have been okay without the hood, but I took comfort in the fact that the hood would catch the wig if it fell off. I had SO MUCH fun! It was also entertaining to see the looks I got when tying up my hood before each ride. I will take those looks over the looks of people witnessing my wig flying off any day of the week. So, if you are an adrenaline junkie baldie who is missing the coaster life, you MUST try my method.The next thing I’m going to erase off my fear list is a bit scarier. This Friday I am going to go to work for the very first time without a wig. My stomach is doing puke flips just thinking about it. Its happening friends. Stay tuned for that post!

You Get A Wig! You Get A Wig!

Diamonds may be a girls best friend, but wig salons are mine. I took a little trip over to Littleton, Colorado to visit my dear friend Hana at Hana Designs. Her salon is so wonderful. You walk in and it feels like a trendy, but oh so cozy home. The salon is filled with unique furniture, jewelry, makeup, and wigs galore!! This trip was extra special because my boyfriend came with me. You heard that right. I’ve found a sweet soul that is sweet enough to be my partner in crime at a wig salon. My baldie heart couldn’t be more full! *swoon*I went to the salon to have a gloss treatment done on my Shuly wig. I like to do this a couple times a year. Living in Denver means I live in a very cracked skin, ashy elbow dry climate. Great for eliminating frizzy poofs, but can also make a human hair wig oh so dry. Getting these treatments will help extend the life of your wig and keep it looking so fresh and so clean clean. Hana recommends deep conditioning for newer wigs and gloss treatments for wigs that are close to or crossing the 1 year threshold.The best part about all of this is getting to try on all of the synthetic wigs while I'm waiting. Blonde, pixie, red head, grandma and everything in between. You name it, I tried it on this fun day!What do you think? Can you guess which one was the winner?
 
 

A Quest For Wigs

Finding the perfect wig can feel like a quest. I felt completely overwhelmed when I tried to figure out where to start. I was debating between using an online wig store, finding something on eBay, or going to an actual wig shop. After much debate, I decided I wanted to try before I buy. My first stop was a local wig Botik. I had two very different experiences here. The first was when I had some hair left and wanted to purchase a human hair topper. I walked into a small store FILLED with wigs of all styles and colors. I talked to a sales associate and explained my situation. She sat me down in a chair and placed the first option on my head. It was pretty, but on my head, it was heavy, thick, and didn’t feel like me. I asked her the price and almost fell over when she told me it was over $1000. I awkwardly asked her if she had anything under a grand. Up until this point, I had no clue that human hair wigs could be so pricey. I was in for a rude awakening LOL. My fellow alopecians know! The next piece she put on me felt perfect. It looked like my old hair, and that was all I wanted. To feel more like me. My second experience at Kim’s was not as good. It was a month after my first visit, and I had made a decision to shave the last of my hair and purchase a full wig. The sales associate sat me in a chair in the back of the store. I explained to her that I wanted a Follea gripper wig. I had done my research online and this seemed like the perfect fit. It had a silicone cap that “gripped” to a persons head. This meant no need for tape or glue and I was all about that life. She aggressively (and painfully) unclipped my topper taking many remaining hairs with it, and roughly plopped a Follea on my head. It felt a bit big and heavy, and the color was all wrong. I asked her if she was sure it was a gripper. She said yes and decided to yank the hair to prove to me it gripped. Ironically it slid back when she did. Probably because the cap was too big for me. I explained to her that the color was wrong. Rather than empathizing, or finding me a better solution, she told me that it would be fun to mix things up. She was extremely pushy and wanted me to buy something that was too big and the wrong color. Girl BYE. I told her I wanted to take some time to think about it and she immediately became very obviously irritated with me. It became clear that she was more concerned with making the sale than actually helping me. I left the store disappointed and unsure what to do next. It is kinda shitty when someone is trying to take advantage of your struggle to make themselves a quick buck. I left the store disappointed and unsure what to do next.I got to work that Monday and did some intense google searching. I found a salon called Hana Designs. Hana was a breast cancer survivor and had experienced hair loss herself from chemo. Her ratings were good and I decided to give it a shot. When I walked into the salon, my experience was completely different. It was an Aveda salon that was so cute and cozy. My friends Amelia and Riley were by my side to help me choose the perfect piece. Hana was so warm and welcoming and immediately made me feel at ease. Right away she took the time to understand my needs. After trying on many beautiful options, we decided Follea was definitely the way to go. My wig was purchased and my friends and I collectively named her The Duchess.

Follea Gripper Sport aka The DuchessAbout a year into rocking The Duchess, I started chatting with someone named Hannah in a Facebook group for women win hair loss. She had the most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen, and I was shocked to learn that it was a wig! Hannah owned a salon in Florida that specialized in hair loss needs. She FaceTimed me and we instantly became friends. She was so easy to connect with and she shared her journey with trichotellomania with me. I knew right away that I wanted to order hair like hers from her. Enter my Yaffa. I flew all the way to Sarasota to pick this beauty up. I named my Yaffa her Princess Jasmine. She was long, luxurious, and stunning. Yaffa sewed in silicone panels which meant I could continue living my no tape/no glue life.
A year later, I had hit my insurance out of pocket max. I decided to get another wig because I thought it would be fully covered by insurance. I called up Hannah and she started looking for the perfect piece for me. This time she recommended a wig by Shuly. I had the utmost trust in Hannah and told her to order it. She shipped it to me and I was completely blown away. It was soooo beautiful. The coloring was amazing and the hair quality was unbelievable. I named her Lydia. Unfortunately my insurance did not cover the full cost of the wig. Either way, it was still so worth it to find my Shuly.
What’s next? If I had Kylie Jenner money, I’d be buying wigs left and right! Maybe that day will come, but for now I will just day dream about my next piece. I have my eye on the Shuly Fashionista because I really want something that is pretty naturally stick straight. Who knows though. I have a feeling that my wig quest will last as long as my body keeps me bald. I’m sure there will be many more fun and beautiful pieces to come!

The One Where She CrossFit Bald

I feel like the first few blogs have been in my feelings intense! I want this one to be a little more fun, and talk about something near and dear to my heart. Which is working on my fitness. My interest in working out started in college. Let’s face it, years of beer, taco bell, eurogyro (shout out to my fellow Kent Staters), and growing out of my teenage metabolism did not do a body good on this girl’s 5’ 2” frame. I decided to do something about it. You could say I became a little too obsessive with losing weight for a time, but again I said I’m keeping this blog out of my feels so that is a story for another day. After graduating college, I started working at a call center. On my first day of training, our trainer Lisa mentioned that most people gain 15 lbs after starting work at the call center. The combination of sitting taking phone calls and abundant snacks was a recipe for weight gain. I heard that and thought, “oh hellllllllll no.” That’s when I really kicked my workouts and healthy eating habits into gear. I’ve dabbled in a little bit of everything. The Firm & P90X were my intro into weight lifting, and started my love for lifting heavy shit. Yes, I used to be a beachbody coach, no I am not now, no I don’t want to be one again, no I don’t want shakeology, no shakeology can’t grow my hair back…have all the MLMers left the building? Jk jk…I appreciate your hustle my MLM ladies. I seriously do. It takes a lot to put yourself out there like that, so I say go after that best life! Okay wow I am all over the place on this one. Anywho, I’ve dabbled in a little bit of everything. Home workouts, spin class, crossfit, bootcamp, distance running, yoga, pilates, etc etc. The love for fitness is so real. I was an avid crossfitter when I started losing my hair which was challenging. First of all, it was hard to focus on a workout when my hair was falling all over me the entire time. Second, when I finally shaved my head, I knew I didn’t want to wear my fancy new wig to the gym. It was hot AF and I didn’t want it to get sweaty and gross. A hat just sorta got in my way, so I decided to give bald workouts a shot so I could continue chugging crossfit koolaid. The bonus was that my crossfit was filled with good friends and kind hearts. It was still tough though. The first time I came to the gym bald, I just sat in my car and panicked for a bit. A part of me just wanted to drive home and curl up into a ball instead. However, I pushed through and was met with a bounty of hugs and love. I only got asked if I had cancer twice. Not bad. The negative was that my head sweats like Blake from the Bachelor attempting to propose to Becca (sorry for my non-bachelor fans who do not understand that reference). It was gross and I hated it. I hated sweat dripping into my eye, I hated seeing sweat beads on my skull. Not. A. Fan. Also, if you’ve ever crossfitted you know that crazy cult of loons (you know I love you all) loves them some pictures. Every workout, I spent anxious time looking for cameras and dodging them. I was not ready for my bald head to be on a social media feed. All this to say, I quickly learned that working out bald meant I spent my entire workout focused on my alopecia instead of actually focusing on my workout. Thank u, next. I quit crossfit for many reasons…one of them being exhausted by thinking about my scalp. Head and shoulders commercials don’t think about scalps as much as I do. Next up, I decided to focus on running with a hat on and lifting at home. Here is the thing, even with a hat on I still felt like people were starting and wondering who this bald girl was running by. Also, my freeze baby head would get so damn cold!! Finally, I decided to take my talents to the apartment complex gym. At this point I purchased a under the hat wig from hip hats with hair. Its like a wig, but the cap is cloth with no hair. The goal is to prevent your scalp from roasting to 1000000 degrees while wearing fake fair. In theory this was an okay option. The piece was designed to be worn as a pony tail, but I felt it looked very unnatural as a pony. Instead I wore it as a side braid, but you could see the pink cloth through the hat hole. Not ideal. A good option, but not the right fit for me. Then I had my Goldilocks moment and found the solution that was juuuuust right. I had purchased a less expensive synthetic wig to wear to the pool I decided to try that at the gym Ding ding ding we had a winner!! I still prefer a side pony over an actual pony though. I think this looks most natural on me. Now my love for the gym is back, and my workouts are strictly me focusing on being as bad ass as possible. No thoughts are given to my head situation. Can I get a Hallelujah?! I’m sure you may have a few questions, so here is my attempt at being Miss Cleo and predicting what you may ask.Does it get hot?Ish depending on my wig. The synthetic I wear now doesn’t get so hot that I feel like I’m going to pass out if I don’t dunk my head in an ice bath. It does get hotter than natural hair, but its been so long since I’ve had natural hair that I don’t even remember what that feels like.Are you saying I shouldn’t workout bald? Heck no man! I say do what YOUR Goldilocks moment tells you to do. If you feel your best working out bald, then yes boo go rock that shit!! What about scarves? Scarves just aren’t my cup of tea, but I know a ton of alopecian babes who love to workout in theirs. 10/10 would recommend if that is what makes you happy. Have you ever had any wig malfunctions while working out? Thankfully no! I secure that hat on so tight it requires the jaws of life to remove. I have had an eyebrow makeup malfunction. Let’s just say I tried a new eyebrow product, got off the ellipctial and realized my eyebrows had created rivers of makeup all over my face. Luckily my gym is filled with creepers so I considered it creeper deterrent. Lemonade. Out. Of. Lemons. Baby. Have you ever run a race with a wig? YES! My hip hats with hair wig is what I was wearing when I PRd my half marathon with a sub 2 time!! This race was crazy AF because it bounced between rain, snow, sleet, and hail the ENTIRE time. But the wig held up like a boss bitch.If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out! I’m not an expert on navigating this alopecia life, but I’m happy to talk to you about what has worked for me. That’s all for now! Lots of love to you my boos!