Have hair loss? Me too!
I have androgenic alopecia and it virtually took over my life for three years. My hair started falling out quite suddenly at age eighteen, and I spent what I thought would be be the best years of my life in a spiral of sadness obsessing over my hair. I always had long, thick hair and it was the one thing I felt confident about most, and when it was shedding I felt an overwhelming lack of control.
Looking back, I wish I could reassure my younger self that everything would be okay- and that I could learn to love both my own hair again, and also love wigs! Back then though, my cycle of photographing my hair daily, collecting and counting hairs that fell so I could compare to previous days, and trialling my next new ‘miracle cure’ were all I had room for.
It’s difficult to express to those who haven’t or aren’t experiencing hair loss, just how much of a negative impact it can have on your self esteem and mental health, so if you are in that place right now I’m sorry, and please know that it will get better!
I spent years trying every online miracle cure- think onion juice broth hair masks, sticky castor oil (that took 8 washes to get out!), and crazy concoctions from every ‘how to’ guide I could find.
All that is before we even go into the plethora of hair loss shampoos, serums, scalp massagers and supplements. All of which lead to zero regrowth and ten times as much disappointment.
Finally, as a last resort I decided to try a hair loss clinic, who immediately prescribed me with minoxidil, the first thing that gave me any regrowth. Unfortunately, it’s quite an unpredictable treatment, and one day my scalp reacted to it and every single bit of regrowth shed within the space of a couple of days- traumatic to say the least.
It was then that I stumbled upon another woman sharing her hair loss story online, and I was so shocked to see somebody else going through the same thing- I had previously thought I was alone!
Through finding other women I felt a sense of normalcy surrounding my hair, and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was no longer my embarrassing secret, but something I shared with others that could understand how I was feeling. Some of these women wore wigs and toppers, and I didn’t have anything left to give when it came to stressing over my hair, so I bought a wig too, and never looked back! For me, it was something positive after so long of feeling negative about my hair.
I created an instagram account sharing my hair loss story and wig wearing and was shocked by just how many women reached out to me with similar stories, a lot of whom found it hard to find natural wigs and toppers in the UK, so I started Wildflower in 2019, aiming to provide exactly that!
I strongly encourage you to seek out others experiencing hair loss, it’s amazing how sharing and hearing others stories can change your perspective, because hair loss is normal! 1 in 2 women experience some kind of hair loss in their lives and it’s nothing to feel ashamed about. If you check my instagram (@wildflowerhairuk) following list, you’ll find hundreds of women sharing their experiences with hair loss and wigs!