It’s all too easy to focus on the negative sides of alopecia, or indeed wearing a wig for other reasons. ‘Worrying about collar rub‘, whether it will look ‘wiggy’ on a windy day, and making sure your wig doesn’t slip when you’re playing sport can eat up all our mental energy some days. Steph has written a great blog about some of those topics, so if those things are bothering you do check out her gym article here. But there are some upsides too and as one of Simply Wigs’ residents Pollyannas I thought it was worth writing them down to remind us all that it’s not all bad news when you lose your hair.
The ‘upsides’ of alopecia
1. Smooth skin & less shaving
Now obviously the extent to which you have lost your hair depends on which type of hairloss you have. If you have alopecia universalis (which I do) you will also have lost your body hair, and for me, that is actually a big bonus! I haven’t had to even think about shaving my legs and underarms for most of my adult life, other than for the few months when a few baby hairs returned. I’m really grateful for that; no stubble rash, no sore skin from shaving, and nice smooth skin (at least, when I can be bothered to moisturise).
2. Changing wig style
Another big benefit of hair loss for me has been that I’ve been able to go for bold changes of styles without that fear of hating my new style and having no way back. I once went from a waist-length straight brown style to an ear-length curly black style! If that had been my own hair I’d never have had the nerve to risk doing it, then possibly hating it. But when you wear a wig you can always change it back if you don’t like it, and there’s little harm done.
3. Choosing your lashes and brows
Some of us are blessed with naturally well-shaped and defined brows (lovely friend V, I’m looking at you), and some of us just . . . aren’t. But those of us who’ve lost our brows can play around to our heart’s content until we find the brow shape which frames our faces to perfection. Similarly with lashes – with no real lashes to get in the way we can experiment with shadow, liner and false lashes to find a great look without having to work around pesky real lashes which can get in the way. We can also wear light, natural-looking lashes by day and glam it up in the evening with barely 5 mins to spare – light lashes off, slick of eyeliner, vampy lashes on – done!
4. A styled look with minimal effort
If you’ve ever had hair you’ll remember the frustration of bad hair days when nothing you did make your hair go right. Well, we wig wearers never have to suffer that! We can choose styles which give us flexibility over parting placement, fringe pushed forwards or back and so on, without ever having to compromise on volume or shape. Our hair can look flat and smooth, or styled and bouffant, exactly as we choose and with hardly any effort required. A quick comb and shake in the morning, wig placed on the head and a bit of fingertip styling, and we’re done. Whilst our natural-tressed friends spend ages washing and blow-drying every morning, we get an extra half hour in bed. I don’t know about you, but for me, that counts as a major win.
5. Washing it less often
I’m kind of lazy when it comes to personal grooming and I love anything which saves me time. So only having to wash my wig once a week is brilliant! I know all the guidance says every fortnight but I find my wig needs a wash once a week at least, as I wear it for long days scurrying around different cities and often getting a touch damp of scalp as I dash from meeting to meeting. Plus city pollution seems to cling to the fibres – I find that if I’ve been in London for the week my wig feels dirtier than if I’ve been at home in rural Wales. But regardless, whereas friends and colleagues do daily battle with shampoo and hair dryers I just do the bathroom sink swoosh once a week and that’s my lot.
I hope don’t think I’m minimising the challenges some of you are facing in accepting your hair loss, I know how hard it can be to deal with and I understand it might be difficult to see anything positive in it for you. But I genuinely do believe that it’s worth appreciating the upsides, however small they seem, and finding that glimmer of a silver lining in the clouds whenever you’re feeling low. It’s all baby steps towards accepting yourself as you are right now and being happy in yourself. Plus it’s quite a buzz when you make a friend who has their own hair jealous of your wig for all the reasons above!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
I hope this helps you walk tall and bouff your gorgeous wig with confidence as you head out the door tomorrow, As always, Let me know your positive thoughts in the comments below,
Lots of love, Lizzie
Comments (28)
Thank you all for such positive words .
2 years now with alopecia and just beginning to get on with it.
There is no such thing as a pesky real eye las imo. Ok – agree with smooth legs (reminder to self: be careful what you wish for!) and armpits
Hello, I’m sure lots of women have this problem but I haven’t seen anything posted. So here goes – what do you do at night time? I don’t want my husband to see me completely bald so can you wear an old wig at night and how do you secure it. Also if you go into hospital what do you do, there again can you wear an old wig?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
I also miss my eyelashes
and struggle with false ones … my efforts are both comical and frustrating! Having my eyebrows micro-bladed, really added definition to my face. They’ve faded after several years, leaving a faint guide line which is easy to follow with Wonderbrow. I’m saving up to have them done again!
I really don’t know how I would cope with hair again! Great article-I have had alopecia universalis for 22 years and agree with all the comments too. Wigs have improved so much in that time and are soo much easier! I love my smooth skin but would also love to be able to grow my eyelashes back..
Sending love to anyone starting to cope with all this-it’s hard but there really are upsides!
Totally agree with the positive comments. At the end of day, we have a choice about only 1 thing – how we react to this condition. I’ve had alopecia for over 30 years now. I miss eyelashes the most but have stopped wearing false ones, mainly due to laziness. I had my eyebrows tattooed on by a brilliant semi permanent makeup artist and love the ease I now have with these. Other bonuses for me – taking wig off when hot, when applying foundation or to have a good head scratch. Baby soft skin everywhere and not having to spending hours in a hairdresser’s to get a new cut or colour.
Hi Linda, l have had total hair loss for 17 years, and, like you, l am in my 70’s
I have solved the problem of no eyebrows and lashes, by having semi permanent tattoos. The brows and eyeliner look completely natural and l wouldn’t be without them!
If you can, it’s well worth the money, Plus no more worrying about any makeup!
Hi so glad that alopetia is fine for you but unfortunately that does not help me.I have total hair loss as you say wigs are fine but my problem is at 70yrs old I can’t get to grips with false eye lashes or eye brows so with out these it is impossible to apply any makeup so when I go out I just feel so uncomfortable.can you help.
I always love Lizzie’s reviews and comments because she tells it like it is and is always very natural and matter of fact and we all, as wig wearers , need to feel an element of normality .
I like you lost all my hair 20 years ago, I hated myself for quite a while, until I started thinking about all the upsides. The downsides I find are hot weather drys them out a lot and makes them brittle, also that at towards the end of the day I can’t wait to take them off. I am not young like you and I look so old without wigs . I won’t even let my husband see me without .
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