Buying the Wig.. Another Joy of Cancer

Real advice from one who’s been there

 

So, you’re ready to be chemo-ed. What is the fate of your hair? As the voice of experience, I can tell you: your hair won’t fall out right away.  In fact, my hair loss was so slow in coming that I thought I might escape baldness altogether. But one morning I found large clumps of hair on my pillow. After shampooing, more hair flew with each pass of the blow dryer. As my hair grew sparser, in a moment of self-pity, I bought some gorgeous, very colorful cancer scarves to cover my nearly bare head, but these scarves screamed “chemo.” And got pity or silence as a response. That’s why I’m recommending wigs over cancer scarves. You’re not seeking pity. You’re looking for a warrior’s helmet, albeit a really girly one.

 

During the several weeks to months while you’re waiting for treatment and hair loss, you have the luxury of time to shop for the wig. Grab your daughter or your best friend and visit the wig shops locally. Reassure your family or friends that it’s ok to say a particular wig looks like a Shitzu sleeping on top of your head. You want honest input because you want to look good.

 

If you live where there’s little access to quality wigs, the internet abounds in sites that offer wigs in lengths from bob to waist and in colors from pink to my favorite ash blonde highlights in a walnut base. Shop only those internet sites that have a clear return/exchange policy and look closely at their “restocking” fee. When your new hair arrives, solicit your friends’candid opinions. Don’t reject a wig too quickly. They all have some degree of “helmet hair” when you first put them on. We’ll fix that once you find the right color and style.

 

Which should you buy? Synthetic or human hair? I recommend against the human hair wig. They are simply too expensive and high maintenance. A human hair wig requires professional styling, upping the already high price. And because professional styling isn’t cheap and it means foregoing your wig for an afternoon to a week, professional styling isn’t practical. Pricey maintenance isn’t the only deterrent to buying a real hair wig. I want my wig as fresh as the rest of me. A real hair wig can’t be washed and styled weekly. A synthetic can be done daily, although it’s not necessary..

 

Instead of human hair, consider the beautiful variety of synthetic wigs. You can buy three to five synthetics for the price of one real hair wig. Not only that, but the style pattern of a synthetic wig is permanent. Wash it in Woolite, hang it to dry, shake it out, and put it on. The synthetic wig pops right back into the style you purchased, and always with a beautiful shine.

 

If you’re ready to buy that synthetic wig, we need a plan to eliminate the “shitzu” look every wig has. What’s causing this is the synthetic hair being unnaturally thick. Because I had my wigs professionally thinned and trimmed, in the five years I’ve worn them no one has guessed I was wearing wigs. They were the same style and color as my real hair, and the perfect solution to a “bad” hair day or being too lazy and tired to style my real hair.

 

Earlier I recommended seeing your beautician before buying your wig. That’s because if you wear your wig right out of the box, it’s going to look awkward, too thick, too long in places, and wiggy. Ask your beautician who can cut and trim your new wig to fit your face. If your beautician has never worked with a wig, this can be a pretty traumatic experience for her/him. She may wish to recommend someone with experience. Don’t skip that professional thinning step. It is seriously important to having a believable look. And don’t buy the pricey wig shampoo and conditioners the wig shop is going to try to sell you. Woolite is perfect and Revlon wig conditioner is a superb product to keep you wig looking good.

 

One important caution. Synthetic wigs are very sensitive to the sun. Whether you’re in the sun for long periods or infrequent runs to the store, protect your wig from UV rays. The synthetics, exposed to the sun, will take on a fried look in six months or less. All the synthetics will eventually, regardless of how cautious you are. But when you consider the price of the synthetic wig over the human hair wig, your savings is significant regardless of the shorter life.

 

Another consideration: hand tied wigs. You can buy partially or completely hand tied wigs, a very high dollar option.  Personally, I’d never buy a completely hand tied wig. The point of hand tying is to create some space that mimics real scalp. My only hand tied wig had a real scalp look at the front. I’m not sure the many extra dollars for that look were worth it. After all, I was trying to avoid the look of thinning hair.

 

Finally, what kind of wig base should your new wig have? Many wigs today come with the hair attached to thin strips of lace or stretchy ribbon like material. This design allows the air to circulate and keeps the wig cool against your head. One of my cheapest wigs had a solid base all over. Although it was the cutest of all my wigs, I seldom wore it because it was hot, heavy on my head, and made my scalp itch. I highly recommend the wigs stitched to strips of fabric.

 

Are you ready to buy some new hair? Really, it’s going to quite fun, and your new wig will make you feel so feminine, and warm compared to going through each day bald as a billiard ball with nothing between you and the wind but a thin piece of fabric. Buy your wig now while you can have fun. Don’t wait til the chemo wears you down and you don’t really care what you put on your head.

 

And what about your real hair. When is it coming back and in what condition? The picture of me on this site under the April 29 entry was taken five months after my husband first shaved my remaining scraggily hair. My new hair came in pure silver, thick as steel wool and tightly curled. My husband loved it. Six months later, it’s not as thick, definitely not as silver (some of the original black has returned to mix with the silver) and not nearly as curly. In fact, it is my old hair come back to uglify me. So I had the walnut base with the ash blonde highlights put back in last week. Watch it if you color your post chemo/radiation hair. Mine took the color too fast and too intensely the first time. Because my new color matches my wigs, on lazy days nobody is too sure whether I’m wearing a wig or just having another fantastic hair day.