Coloring the world one wig at a time

Many people who have to wear wigs will wear them proudly...one long one day, purple the next. I have not quite gotten to that point where I can let acquaintances (think concierge or coworkers) of my daily life see me differently day to day. When I went blonde for the summer it was a huge change for those who knew me, and now that I am back to my former brown, those who met me as a blonde find it a huge change. Again most people would like the attention of a new haircut, but I only feel awkward as people asked questions of where I got it done and if my roots were starting to show.

However, I now own a short brunette wig and a red one (my next color of choice). I am no where used to having short hair (short hair as a child was traumatizing) to being a redhead. One Saturday night as I contemplated how new friends should see me as because I knew they could care less what hair was on my head, I switched back and forth between the short do, the red, and finally settling in my comfort zone with the wig I have been wearing for a few weeks now. Still I got the "Wow you went dark!" comments since they had not seen me with it yet. Why could I not break free of this fear though? After all I had been at Lake Powell with a large group who barely knew me and did not put my wig or hat on once. I hate that I psyched myself out of the other wigs because I did not think others would find me as attractive or accept me for my medical issue. I've never had a problem with people being understanding once I told them, but I have this deep seeded fear that I will be judged for lacking the beautiful flowing hair as my peers. Funnily enough, the wigs are easier to tame than my own crazy curls, but I would give anything to deal with the unruliness on my head than spend a lifetime hiding under hair that isn't truly mine.

The View

The View covered the story about Miss Delaware and her alopecia condition. Though it wasn't so much about alopecia as it was about bald women in general. A lot of people who have alopecia are extremely offended by how the women disregard alopecia and instead talk about the shapes of bald heads. In my opinion, I was not offended because it seemed more off topic than about alopecia women, though it would have been nice for them to explain more about the condition and expand on the struggles we go through.

What are your thoughts?

Video: http://www.alopeciaworld.com/video/video/show?id=2022678:Video:450109&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video

Getting involved again

A year ago I went to a local support group for people who have alopecia, but due to my job at the time I could not attend the monthly meetings and I fell out of touch. Tonight, I decided to teach my nephew, who is 4, why Auntie Sheena does not have hair and wears wigs by taking him to an alopecia meeting. It was good to talk to people who are going through the same process, even though we all have our personal experiences and are at different stages of alopecia. It got me motivated to want to do more with the organization, such as possibly hosting a children's group more frequently in the Denver area for kids who suffer from the disease. If anyone out there in Denver have kids with alopecia who think they will benefit from this let me know, and we will get it going!

Also, in other alopecia news is Miss Delaware who won the pageant while wearing a wig and decided to forgo her shield during an interview. Check it out here: http://www.comcast.net/video/the-bald-and-the-beautiful/1532050245/Comcast/1532037315/

Here is an article from a speaker at the NAAF conference about the genes of alopecia.
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/30/researchers-find-gene-linked-to-hair-loss/?hpt=Sbin

Both are great breakthroughs for alopecia and getting the word out. Go bald or go home!

Summer fun!

Got my blonde wig today and boy is it blonde! I can't wait to get it styled and show it off! I tried a new wig place by my work instead of the one down in Destin, Fl. While the lady was nice I like to try on human hair wigs I want to buy right then instead of ordering them, especially because I was not happy with the first one and had to pay for half of the shipping fee back to the maker. While someone has to pay it, I do not think that is my responsibility as a customer who is unhappy with the color that looks NOTHING like the one in the photo. It's funny because the store owner said my dark locks made me look older, yet someone told me today I looked like I was 17! I don't necessarily want to look any younger than 17 and I know I look better as a brunette, though she thinks the blonde is better. Anyways, just wanted to share the happy news!

New Growth

I will still put a new picture up with my fabulous haircut from a month and a half ago!! Also, just wanted to comment that my hair is starting to grow back in! I can't be more excited about it and while it will still take a long time until I can go without a wig at least it is something. Hopefully, I will not start losing it again (as I'm sure another cycle will happen) before I can wear my real hair.

I know!

Wow, I think I am going on almost 4 months now from my last post. I did warn my readers about my consistency to keep blogging, and because of that I probably don't even have readers now. I have faith though! Well since my Hydrocodone is starting to kick in (broken arm) I will keep this short.

So the wig I got in December is already starting to aggravate the shit out of me. Despite it being human hair and costing a small fortune they dry out easily, get tangled, and create split ends like no other. I haven't had a haircut in months and my real hair doesn't even have split ends like this! In fact, I got a new wig in the first place because of this problem. I just feel like 4 months is too soon for it to going all crap on me. Even though I love the length I've decided to take it to a hairstylist to see what can be done.

1. Morroccan Oil (love the smell and results!)

2. Cut and style

I've actually only had one fake wig cut professionally years ago and a fake wig I did myself, which didn't turn out as well...whoops! I am excited and interested to see how it will come out, especially since I have never used this particular stylist before and wigs can be tricky. I need this as a pick me up anyways, since I've been feeling like I am in a rut recently. I am trying to make some healthy changes: drinking less, exercising more, trying to tackle my years long insomnia problem, and I think changing my hair will help.

I will post pics! Also, thinking about going blonde again for the summer. It was fun last time! Tell me what you think when I was blonde.

Marie Claire

Australia's Marie Claire put a celeb on their new cover...untouched. I think this was brave of them since we all complain how they shouldn't be airbrushing celebs. However, they are still getting backlash because they did not put someone's mom or their next door neighbor on the cover to represent real women. Yes, this might have been a good move, but they finally give us a celeb without retouching and we still complain. Though it was a small step it was still a step in the right direction. The magazines that sell are the ones with celebs on it, so I don't blame them for not putting a regular person on the cover. Yes, the celeb is beautiful and still skinny by average standards, but she has cellulite and while some might say that everyone does...that is exactly the point! We rip celebs to shred for being fat and having cellulite, but they are saying take a look in the mirror...we are just like you and what you see in movies and pictures are not really us. They have a team and airbrushing to make them overly beautiful. So quit bitching and either take them as they are or an unrealistic version of themselves. Doesn't matter which, but we can't have it both ways.

Fatties Begone!

So since alopecia has a lot to do with self-image and struggling with what others think about you...I'm going write about another article about looks. Lemondrop.com posted an article about the dating site beautifulpeople.com. If you haven't heard of the dating site it is exactly as the name implies...beautiful people allowed only. In fact, they follow this philosophy so strictly that if you have gained any weight over the holidays you get kicked off the site. This is if you are accepted in the first place by members voting if you are hot enough to join. If you go to the site, it shows two happy, attractive people looking seductively at you. I did not want to join, but check out the members who deem themselves attractive enough to join beautifulpeople.com and see if the site caters only to the Vegas type...you know the tacky button-ups with gel hair and big muscles or the tan, fake boob platinum blondes. Now, by all means if this is your type and you think you are hot because hotornot.com deemed you a 9.4, then join the exclusive site. What I found funny was that if you wanted to even browse the members as a guest, the question above the link is "Too ugly to join?". Then instead of taking you to a search page, it politely tells you in many languages that the site is so exclusive that is has received high volume of media attention and you still are not good enough to even look at the members. I'm not angry at the site as it does lay out its superficiality upfront, but it is humorous. Let me know what you think!

Here is the article, "Beautiful People Dating Site Cleanses Itself of Fatties," by lemondrop.com:
http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/01/05/beautifulpeople-com-hating-on-fatties/?icid=mainmaindl3link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemondrop.com%2F2010%2F01%2F05%2Fbeautifulpeople-com-hating-on-fatties%2F

SORRY!

So sorry to those who have been reading my blog and I haven't posted any new ones! Holidays were upon us and I did warn you about me trying to keep up with this! I get my wigs at a small place in Destin, FL and I got a darker do while I was down there for Christmas. I love it and I think going darker was the right choice. Tell me what you think!