In Which I Experiment

There was a time in my life when I had thin, fine, long, curly hair. It is now thinner by at least 50%, finer, curlier, and shorter - because it falls out before it can grow. The hairs that stay taper into invisibility. In the photo below my bangs are actually below my nose, you just can't see the bottom three inches because it's so fine.

You know, my hair. I've mentioned it before.

(A particularly bad photo. My face is as lopsided as Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And she has great hair to counter it.)

There was a brief shining moment in which I had really healthy hair - and it was because I was between MS drugs, so it wasn't worth the payoff.

A friend at work knows all the hair replacement ins and outs, and she brought in one of her now-discarded wigs for me to try on.

I always thought that if I was going to go Wig, I'd go Big. Massive piles of big luscious hair.

Nope.

 
 

And I will tell you why. Because I look odd. I've been trying to analyze why I look so odd. I think that usually, my pitiful hair halo must distract the viewer from everything else that is wrong with all my other hairs. Eyebrow hairs? Way too much eyebrow filler. Eyelash hairs? Utterly gone - so much so that there isn't much for the mascara to hang on to. And the 55 year old lady fuzzy face hair? All there.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by my good-natured face, and the fact that even given the Worst Photo Angle Ever With The Photographer Positioned Below You The Horror, I don't look too fat. Growing gracefully into my baggy grandma eyes and crepe neck. Just hairless in the wrong spots and too artificially hairy in the right spots.

Gary did not react well to the photo. ("You look like you have a raccoon on your head. This is as bad as the Brazilian ten years ago.") Friends in the office unanimously said it was too much hair for me to handle. Friend #3 tried to convince me I could pull it off if I pulled it back, so it would seem like less hair. (Friend #3. She has gorgeous thick straight hair.)

Hm, I thought, maybe I've been wrong. Maybe I should try a wig with less hair. Then I remembered, Mom... she had fine hair too, and I still have the wig she had in the late sixties. Maybe she got a wispy wig that would be appropriate for a baby-haired lady.

Nope.

 

My Mom, Angie Dickinson.

So, the struggle continues. Evidently there are many other options out there. Perhaps the Bumble and Bumble Textured hairspray that arrives on Monday will be the answer.

Comments

[~~Silk]

I think you look great in the brown one, although I think the blond is a better color for you. The problem with the opinions you have been getting is that they are coming from people who are used to seeing you in crepe hair (I have fine crepe hair, too), so fuller hair on you looks strange to them because it's not "you".

If you would like to try some reasonably priced wigs, I highly recommend TLC (https://www.tlcdirect.org/Wigs-for-Cancer-and-Chemotherapy-Patients-TLC-Wig-Collection-American-Cancer-Society-TLC-Direct). The wigs are made for cancer patients, but anyone can buy them, and they aren't priced to make a vanity-based profit, but enough that you help out the ACS.

[~~Silk]

Somehow the parenthesis at the end of that link got included, so it doesn't work. Stupid Blogger. Here it is plain:

https://www.tlcdirect.org/Wigs-for-Cancer-and-Chemotherapy-Patients-TLC-Wig-Collection-American-Cancer-Society-TLC-Direct

[jessica fantastica]

Yeah I also think you look great in the brown one!

[Lynn]

I quite like like the wigs, actually. It's probably different seeing a photo rather than seeing them live, in action, but I think they look cute. So much so that I'm considering getting one, although I always thought that they would be both hot and itchy. Are they?

Also, to hijack the comments to talk about your previous post, what's this about returning the prize money from trivia night? I had no idea that was a thing. I now I have trivia prize money taking guilt. All those free appetizers, JESUS.

[theQueen]

Silk - that's funny, for some reason I feel wrong looking at the wig shops located by the hospital because I feel like I'd be taking a wig out of the hands of a fine-haired brunette cancer survivor. But a lower price might knock away that guilt. Actually, we found out Gary's long-time hair stylist sells wigs now, so that's probably where I'd go. Still,I might not get a wig yet, since the Bumble and Bumble Thickening spray is actually pretty effective.
jessica fantastica - It needs to be shorter. I think that's the issue with the brown one.
Lynn - I only wore it about fifteen minutes at the office, so not long enough to get hot or itch, but the person who brought it in says yes, they are hot, they itch, they slip, and they are a pain to take off at night. She turned on them in favor of scarves at first, and now a higher-maintneance semi-permanently bonded wig that stays adhered for six weeks.
ANd giving the money back may be just a Saint Louis charity thing. Trivia here is the go-to charity fundraiser. The prize is essentially your admission money back, and when you win it's worth the admission, plus you came to help the cause anyway.

[Friend #3]

I still think you should explore it more. You can pull it off with the right style and color. I have a friend who went from extremely tight curly to a straight, highlighted blond bob wig. It's a rather unfortunate look for her, but she feels better with it than she did with her natural hair.

[theQueen]

Friend #3 - I woke up this morning with a completely bald patch over my ear. A shot of the Bumble and Bumble stuff fluffed it up. I don't think I'd ever go blond, but I could see wavy and brown.