wigs please help

[bosue]

I understand you get a voucher for NHS I have rung the wig shop, and was told this only entitles you to synthetic hair, I want real hair and am prepared to pay privately. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons (didn't loose my hair with my last chemo) would be grateful. Thanks Love Sue x

[sunny1]

I have 2 acrylic wigs (both the same) and they are fine, nobody has ever suspected a thing. I have heard that real hair ones are harder to look after but the acrylic ones are so easy, just a cold wash every week or two in the wig shampoo and its dry then next day, no maintainence no product needed and just a wide comb through it.

K x

[cathysal]

Yes, I agree wth Sunny. I have synthetic wigs and they're wonderful - you can't tell at all they're not your real hair and are SO easy to look after. When I went to get a wig the first time, I said I would pay extra for real hair and yet the assistant recommended that I just get the synthetic hair because of the ease of looking after them, they never lose their shape and there's no blow-drying or anything that you'd have with real hair.

Maybe you should give one a try and see how you get on, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. You never have a bad hair day with a wig!!

Cathy xx

[bosue]

Thanks Cathy and Sunny, you've made my mind up synthhetic it is, I wondered if it was real hair how easy it would be to look after. Thanks again. Love Sue x

[Lizneild]

I had synthetic and ever so many people complimented me on my new hair cut. No one knew it wasn't real, even when i frizzled it in the barbecue. I kept my own hair as it fell out and stuck it up in an old bird feeder. The birds have been helping themselves all spring. Maybe I'll see it again in the nests. Now five months after the last chemo I have about two inches of steel grey curls.It looks like astrakan - not at all like the wig. Good luck with your hair adventure and have fun. love liz

[bosue in reply to Lizneild]

Thanks Liz, deffo going for synthetic, wonder what my new hair will be like !? Love Sue x

[LouiseOvacome My Ovacome Team]

Hi Bosue,

We deal a lot with My New Hair. Its an organisation set up by Trevor Sorbie.

mynewhair.org/Home.aspx

They are lovely, and I can highly recommend them!

Good luck!

Louise x

[BusyLizzie]

Also agree that my synthetic wig is loved. My neighbours were shocked it was synthetic, I think wigs are not what they used to be. I think the key is the style rather than the hair itself.

Love Lizzie

X

[Jacks150]

Hi sue,

I have had two synthetic wigs now - both different and no one suspected a thing not even my hairdresser friend as my first wig looked so like my normal hair.

One thing I would say is that my first wig was short just like my hair and I was very stressed when I lost my eyebrows as I was no good drawing them on.

However this time I chose a totally different style - the rebel in me I suppose. This time I went for a bob with a fringe which has been brilliant as it hasn't stressed me over loosing my eyebrows.

The only thing is it makes me look younger so when my hair grows back grey and curly I will age overnight!!

Have fun choosing

Love Jackie

[MargaretJ]

Hi Sue

All these posiyive experiences with wigs! I hated mine! Not that there was anything wrong with it! I chose the wrong style and felt silly in it. I also found it made my head itch. It sits on its wig stand as a reminder. When my hair grew back it was steel grey curls but the curls have gone since the last chemo, the colour is still grey though! Ah well we cannot have everything.

Good luck with your wig. It is a good idea to get the free NHS one anyway so you can decide whether you want to wear one! One of the women I met at the Target Ovarian Cancer day had a marvellous spiky one that I thought was her own hair.

Love Margaret!

[LYNNKRAMER]

Hello I agree with the lady about wigs with fringes . it certainly helped with the loss of my eyebrows and lashes and I had loads of comments about my hair , nobody out of my immediate circle knew it wasnt my real hair and it was also synthetic, ,because I didnt use the NHS one they gave me money off of my one.Also because the NHS wheels work very slowly Id nearly finished my chemo before receiving it Lynn K

[bosue]

Ladies, thanks so much for your input,don't know if I've done the right thing, I've ordered one from 'ideal world' trouble with me I always have to be one jump ahead and cant wait, will let you know what its like when it arrives. Love Sue x

[beckyh]

I loved my wig and wouldn't have been without it! I had my wig cut and styled because they can be 'very hairy'. This made it unique and did my confidence no end of good. The eyebrow/eyelash thing was the worst part but I went to a Look Good Feel Better session where I got lots of tips and help to disguise eyelash loss and draw on eyebrows. They also give you a lovely bag of goodies to take home with you. I would recommend finding out if there is something similar close to you.

I love the idea of leaving hair out for the birds - what a warm comfy nest they will enjoy.

Good luck with the chemo Sue xx

[GeorgeSuffolk]

Hi Sue

I went for real hair to start with and nobody even realised I'd lost my hair, it looks very natural, but it is harder to look after, takes quite a while to wash, dry and style. I think because you style it yourself it's not quite so perfect, it looks more natural. However I have since bought a synthetic wig to ring the changes and I like this one too, they do look like real hair and are much easier to look after. Now that I'm on my second lot of chemo and about to lose my hair again I might even go for a third one.

Love George x

[cathysal]

Hi Sue

Good luck with your wig from ideal world. I actually sent for a couple of wigs from wig websites in the past but had to send them back as they were a complete disaster, totally the wrong colour and style! I hope you have better luck. I found it much better to go to the places recommended, because they are also trained hairdressers so once you get the style and colour you like they can trim it to fit perfectly. You get taken into a little room so you're completely private and they bring in a selection of wigs for you to try. You can try on as many as you want and I found they were very considerate and patient at getting the right one. Yes, getting one with a fringe is ideal to cover the loss of eyebrows, I don't even try to pencil them in as the fringe covers the space perfectly.

I hope you get what you want because I find it makes such a difference to my confidence once I've got the eyeliner and then the wig on!

Cathy xx

[TinaWright]

Hi, I really can`t say anymore than what has already been said. I am a retired hairdresser of 53 years and both of my daughters are hairdressers. So, you can imagine what losing your hair meant to us.

I have three excellent wigs none of them real hair.

Real hair is veeeeeery expensive and not so easy to get hold of, you`d probably need to go to London specialist for one and they are in the thousands.

Also real hair is just like your own, they can lack body some days, go limp, lose texture and shine and if you get caught in a rain shower you`ve said good buy to a good hair day. They need conditioning and they need products and they also need to be styled at every wash day. I`m a hairdresser and even I would find it difficult to style on a blockk or own head. Its much harder than doing your own real hair.

The bonus of them is - if you buy a long one and as they are easy to be cut and styled shorter, where as synthetic wigs don`t cut all that great, you can be a bit more creative however, cut them wrong remember they won`t grow back.

Having said that, its is cheaper to buy several lengths, styles and colors of synthetic wigs and plonk on your bonce whatever the mood takes you.

I had sooooo, many comments from complete strangers, one lady in Marks and spencers asked me who cut and coloured my hair because she loved my highlights.

A friend didn`t even realise I had lost all my hair to chemo, she said at least you managed to keep your lovely hair.

I could go on writing here about wigs - when I was at university I even made them by hand, that was interesting with real hair too.

I finished my last line of chemo a year ago and now my hair has almost grown back to where it was before (jaw length bob), I used Horse shampoo and conditioner it helps it grwo quicker (yup, it does work - or I think it does, LOL), someone told me the other day that mny now new real hair looks far more wiggy than any one of my synthetic wigs ever did.

Best of luck - also remember how groggy you feel with chemo, you need something that will be no trouble to look after, you will be able to wash them and go as soon as they are dry, I dried mine on a stand over night so I was never without my favourite one.

love from Tina xxxx