Wigs & Identity • Ambassador Blogs • Wendy’s Words of Wisdom
When you’re describing someone to somebody else, what’s the first thing you mention? You say ‘she’s a curly blonde’, ‘he has a grey beard’ or ‘she’s the brunette with the braid’. When you’re suddenly robbed of that, you have to figure out what your new description is.
In October 2018 I suddenly lost all of my hair within just three weeks time. A few weeks after my eyebrows, eyelashes and bodyhair left me as well: I have alopecia universalis.
Now, almost three years later, I am still adjusting to this drastic change in my appearance. Because it’s not just hair. It’s part of your identity. For me it felt like a huge part: I was all about the long wavy hair and naturally long lashes...
When I bought my first wig, I had no clue. I just needed something to cover up my bald head. I was actually surprised at how beautiful and real wigs could look.
But still, my wig didn’t feel like me. So I stuck to a headwrap and started lurking at so many beautiful photos and stories of women in similar situations on Instagram.
I saw them rocking the bald, pushing their boundaries, pulling off different looks. These women really inspired me and I started to take photos of myself.
At first I couldn’t look at these selfies, but with time that changed. Taking photos has become a way to get used to my new self. I tried to look at my photos in the same way I perceived my rolemodels on Instagram. (Which is a lot friendlier, haha) And all of a sudden a year ago I found myself setting up an alopecia account. It’s been truly therapeutic.
No one around me looks like me anymore. Looking at pictures of other alopecians on Instagram made me feel less alone and I saw how beautiful these women could actually be. It means so much to me to be able to share experiences with others. In this community I actually just feel ‘normal’.
I used to love to accessorize my hair: with flowers, a cute headband or a hat. So why not accessorize my head? Step by step I’m trying to have fun with wigs.
And as far as my new description goes: I try to be the kind one, that cares about other people, looks further than appearance and tries her best to have fun with the option of a different look every day.
Lots of love,
Wendy