No Hair, Now What? (Hair, Part 3)

Short hair. Buzzed hair. No hair. Now what?

Before actually cutting my hair, my biggest concern was finding the right wig. The one that would look just like my real hair so you “can’t even tell” that I’m wearing a wig. I bought a great wig to match my hair from Bitz-and-Pieces and a couple of “hat wigs” from Dear Martha for a more casual look and thought that I was set.

Now that my hair is gone, I am feeling extremely conflicted over how I want to look. Everything that I put on my head feels annoying and fussy. My hat wigs are the easiest, but they are a bit uncomfortable and I’m not really a hat person. My real wig feels very heavy and a bit phony and doesn’t really look like my hair. Matt says that I just need to get used to wearing something on my head all of time and shouldn’t expect it to feel normal right away – always the voice of reason.

Deciding to part ways with my hair was easier than I thought. I’m finding that the real challenge is figuring out how to live day-to-day feeling comfortable without any hair on my head. I actually liked the way that my head looks shaved, but now it looks patchy as more hair falls out. Others have recommended head scarves but I haven’t found any that I like and I don’t even know how to tie them properly. So, what are my options?

We had plans to go out for dinner at Maialino and I knew that I would have to rip the bandaid off and wear my wig. I fussed with it all the way to the restaurant. It was itchy and in my face and just didn’t feel right. After that night I decided that maybe it just needed a fresh cut so I took my wig to Davide (Davide Hair Studio – 379 Park Ave South) and he gave it a major refresh. He took out a lot of the weight from the wig, gave it a nice shape, and made it feel better. I walked out of the salon feeling really good about my wig for the first time.

People have said that wearing a wig would make life easier, because I can, “just throw it on and go” but it is really not the same. I find that it is taking me long to get ready with my wigs that with my real hair. Even though my real hair always had a pretty flawless blowout, it was never fussy. I would throw it up in a pony most of the time. The cut on my wig is finally right but I’m still not happy with the color. I don’t really know how to style it and I’m not always comfortable wearing it, but it’s getting better.

Would love to hear any other head-covering suggestions!