Wigs

If I ever need a wig I won't have to go very far. I sell wigs and hairpieces for a living and have done so for 15 years. I've tried many on, usually when friends are here and we fall about laughing at how terrible we all look. I can't imagine wearing one but if the need arises I will have to.

My dad died 22 years ago. It was a huge shock.  We were told he had cancer one Friday and he died the following Friday. I noticed more of my hair in the brush within weeks of his death but didn't link dad's death to my hair loss. After 3 months, my hair was looking quite fine and flyaway. I got some clip in extensions and managed to bulk out my hair. I've done this off and on ever since because the first sign of any stress sends my hair into free fall again!  It's never got so bad I've needed a wig. Needless to say, my own hair loss problems lead me to start up my business.

My hair had recovered sufficiently a few years ago that I didn't need any help with it. That was until my husband was driving to work from our very rural barn and a local farmer shot at the car. My closest neighbour's wife came over to tell me that the car door has been blown off. I tried to ring my husband. The phone just went to answerphone and it continued to do that for the next 2 hours. I couldn't find out if he was alive or dead. I was also ringing my neighbours husband who had clearly drove up and was confronted by what had gone on, but he was cutting my calls off, so to say I was fearing the worst was an understatement.  Eventually, my neighbour got her husband on the phone and he put my hubby on the phone to me.  The farmer had obviously had some sort of breakdown. He was in the lane with a gun, my hubby had tried to get the gun off him. The farmer eventually killed himself. It was all very shocking. Needless to say, a few weeks later I noticed my hair coming out again and it's never really fully recovered this time. I also got psoriasis which my GP put down the the same event. Incidentally, the door of the car was not blown off. It had bullet holes in it though but hubby wasn't hurt.

Wigs today are fantastic. They are nothing like the ones you see the old ladies wearing in the checkout at Sainsburys!  Believe me, I've been behind some people wearing a wig and it looks like a bird has tried to make a nest out of it but this gives wigs a bad name because I can't even tell sometimes if someone is wearing a wig or not.

Usually, people who have never worn a wig and find themselves in need of one will ring up and say they want a human hair wig. Everyone thinks that human hair wigs will be far more realistic and look like their own hair but this really isn't the case. Human hair wigs are notoriously difficult to deal with and once washed, they are a nightmare to get back into style.   The wig won't stay on the head to be blow dried and unless customers have a hairdresser they can rely on to do it for them or they are very good with their own hair, I'd avoid them quite honestly.

One of my customers went into hospital for a hysterectomy and decided to wear her wig for the op. She woke up with it on her face! Another customer went in the sea with hers on and watched as a wave washed it clean off her head and took it away into the distance. The good news is that these stories are few and far between  The customers are able to laugh about it eventually!

Fortunately, these days there are wigs for everyones taste. They even do some now that are measured to the head and made in such a way they suction on to the scalp which means you CAN go swimming without fear the wig will come off.  And if someone really doesn't want to wear wigs (and they are not for everyone) there are some amazing scarves, hats and turbans.  You can even get fringes to put under the hats and scarves to give the illusion that there is some hair there.

As you can imagine I've spoken to lots of people having cancer treatment over the years.  Some stick in my mind.  One was quite early on and the reason I remember it so well was that the customer was a young girl, only 21.  I'll call her Sarah. She bought a few wigs off me and we always had a chat or she would email and let me know how she was. Sarah told me once that her dad had called round to her house during her cancer treatment and had lovingly put loads of daffodil bulbs and other spring flowers in the garden for her.  He had said "you will be alive in the spring to see them all come through'.  That one sentence has made me cry more than most things in my life. I've told other people about it and I've cried every time I've tried to repeat it and I've cried again now typing it. I bet her dad cried with every bulb he planted.  The emails from Sarah eventually stopped and she didn't order from me again.  I hoped she was well and didn't need any wigs but I often thought about her and wondered if she was OK. I feared the worst. Eventually it all got the better of me and I sent her an email not knowing what to expect. She replied with a photo attached of her on her wedding day looking absolutely stunning.  She was a beautiful girl.  In the photo she had one of my wigs on but she went on to explain that her own hair had grown now and she was cancer free.

Some thing make your heart sing.