I sat down with the intention of answering one of the questions I received through my survey I sent out to the mailing list about a couple weeks ago, but I realized there is so much back story to my story that it veered so off topic I felt I should maybe make it a little mini series, a collection of blog posts of my life with hair loss. I’m still flirting with this notion, so I’m starting with Part One, and you let me know below if this is something you’re interested in.
While I’m fairly sure this can be located here and there on this blog, it’s not in one straight forward series of before the fall (prior to 1999) to dealing in the isolation, devastation and confusion that came after, and living with hair loss… to starting The Women’s Hair Loss Project in 2007, to starting to wear wigs 2012, to present day. I’m getting Grant chart vibes from that. Visualize Grant chart. Or I could make one. Maybe not Grant, it’s more of a timeline chart, but I digress.
My hair loss began in 1999, and I didn’t start wearing hair until 2012. I bottomed out, meaning…I thought life was over in 2007… which is the year I started The Women’s Hair Loss Project. I cite that as an at-a-glance reference point to anything I say onwards in this post.
When wearing wigs due to hair loss/ thinning hair, I think there are certain things that are best known ahead of time, which is that at the end of the day… the “Right” way is ultimately going to be the way that allows you to live most comfortably and enables you to adjust to the process with the least about of stumbling blocks and stress that can occur.
Down the line, when you feel comfortable in wearing hair, the hair world is your oyster, but I’m a believer in sticking to the basics when getting your first piece. There’s time to live your best mermaid life… later. In the present, you likely just want to feel like yourself, natural and comfortable in the hair you wear. When I sat down to film this video it was to answer a question I received about Tips & Suggestions when first starting out wearing wigs, however, I ended up getting rather tan on my roof top because I went on all kinds of tangents. This is actually a small clip for a long ramble, my suggestions made the video super long, so I think I have to break it down into smaller segments.
This is me, and the story behind The Birth of The Women’s Hair Loss Project. Before I continue, just a note, I’m wearing a wig and have been wearing wigs for the last 8 years. I state that because I know sometimes if people don’t spot the wig, they are confused by what I’m saying when they see hair on my head, but it is a wig.
My name is Y. Just Y. I was born with more letters to my name, but was reborn as a single initial when I started The Women’s Hair Loss Project in 2007. I felt a life destroyed by my hair loss, which is what led me to start my site and The Women’s Hair Loss Project Network 13 years ago. I started it at the lowest point of my journey, when I felt there was no hope left, and I was done for. What followed was unexpected, in beginning to blog about my journey dealing with hair loss as a twenty something girl, eventually women found me and they wrote back, connected and no longer alone, the process of my own healing began. It’s a continual journey and evolution. This is a part of my story. WHLP = Women’s Hair Loss Project . WHLPNETWORK = Women’s Hair Loss Project Network. This is me, I am some of you, and we are connected.
This video really won’t provide you one solid Yes or No answer as to whether or not you should tell people about your hair loss. I want to just state that off the bat, so no one feels like they wasted their time watching for that actual answer…. What It does provide is a rather long story of my personal experience, and surrounding thoughts and reflections in sharing BEFORE the point I started wearing hair and acceptance of that and also the importance of managing your expectations of what others can and cannot provide because that can end up causing us hurt or being let down if we make the leap to tell someone while we are at our most vulnerable and that person does not seem to “get us.”
Definitely within the first year of hair wearing (2012) I began to get more comfortable telling people I wore wigs and then that prompted the question of why, and I’d tell them, hair loss. Over time that process has become quite easy to do, and it certainly was liberating for me, but that is a very different story than when I wasn’t comfortable with how I looked and was very self conscious about my hair loss prior to my wig wearing life.
I hope this video helps someone needing to hear my mind ramble and also I hope others share their experience in telling people about their hair loss PRIOR to the point of acceptance, (really at the stage of wanting to tell a friend, spouse, mother etc for support ), as that is a pocket many women are living in, and I hope when someone that finds this video and is in that space and time frame, that they can hear a collection of viewpoints, not just my own to help guide them in their own personal choice of choosing whether it would be the right time with them to share with someone in their life.
Thank you guys for watching and definitely please share your thoughts below, would love to hear from you!
This episode is raw and personal. In this podcast I share with you in more detail the cause of my hair loss, and provide a deeper look into my hair loss story/ journey. Last week I had posted a video on my YouTube Channel that was meant to really just share the cause of my of my hair loss, and open the dialogue for others to comment on the cause of theirs or if they didn’t know what the cause was, to share that too.
While I cannot advise what others should or should not do, I think there is benefit in sharing my story so that others can get a deeper look into a 21 year journey of hair loss, beginning at the age of 21, and caused by the birth control pill Loestrin FE. The podcast takes a few tangents, but my journey is like one giant tangent, so perhaps it works. I share some of my hair loss treatment regrets, and the things I tried over the years. It took me a very long time to accept anything and get to the place I am at. It didn’t happen over night, and I think it’s important for others to know that, so they are more patient and kind and loving towards themselves when dealing in what can often seem like the impossible…. Hair loss.
I post all over the place from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and my Podcast, so I’m providing the links to all those, to make it accessible and easy for you to choose how you’d like to follow the things I post and share.
I hope everyone is staying safe. Much Love to All ! XOXO ~Y
I want to first write that I am not a fan of hair transplants for women, I personally
think that most women with androgenetic alopecia are NOT candidates for
this procedure. Having said that, I get emailed all the time from women looking
for a good hair transplant surgeon.
If you are deadset on having a consultation, please visit the International Alliance
of Hair Restoration Surgeons. The IAHRS (http://www.iahrs.org)
is an organization that selectively screens skilled and ethical hair transplant
surgeons. Read
my thoughts about hair transplants here.
