Going through cancer and chemo is bad enough, but when find out you're going to lose your hair well, it feels even worse. Wigs and hats can help in many ways, and a quick Google search reveals an array of options.
Where should you start? What is the best wig for going through chemo?
Six questions can help guide your decision to suit your style and budget:
1. What's your hair like now? Long or short? Do you have a fringe and is it sharp or soft?
2. Do you like wearing hats, beanies and scarves?
3. Do you want people to know you're going through chemo? Do you want to hide your hair loss?
4. What's your budget?
5. How much effort do you want to put in to styling and maintaining your wig?
6. Do you also know about cooling caps - to help prevent hairloss in the first place?
I'll talk through some ideas under each question:
1. What's your hair like now? Long or short? Do you have a fringe and is it sharp or soft?
You'll probably want to seek out a similar look to what you've previously had.
If your hair is long at the back, you'll probably want to find a wig piece that is too. You could consider using your own hair in a custom-made wig. Wig makers can sew your own hair into hats, or onto headbands that you can wear under hats and it will literally be your own hair!
One option using Hair for Hats wig pieces is to layer multiple pieces, but that will increase the cost. "Active wigs" might be a good one for you, although expensive. Long synthetic wigs could suit you too. Confidence Locks in Melbourne do some custom-made headband wigs with long hair at the back, so that could be a good one to explore.
If your hair is short, a wig piece like the one I've developed as "Hair for Hats" might be perfect!
2. Do you like wearing hats, beanies and scarves?
Clearly hats help cover up hairloss, however a hat or beanie without any hair poking out is a clear give away that there's no hair under there.
Teamed with a human hair piece, hats and beanies can hide your hairloss and make you feel normal. If you quite like hats, then Hair for Hats could be a great choice for you.
In choosing a hat go for ones with a bit of depth, and I loved choosing hats that didn't have a "cancer" look, and I tuned a more hippy vibe. Beanies and caps (without the hole at the back) from surf shops were great. Etsy has some cool stuff such as newsboy hats and slouchy beanies as well. My favourite was a newsboy hat that I'd bought 10 years ago in Chile. If I could sell them on my website I would, it was amazing!
Light bamboo beanies called "softies" by Jon Renau are the best! So good teamed with a Hair for Hats hair piece - add a scarf on top to change your look without having to learn how to tie a scarf and with the security and comfort of a nice light bamboo fabric over your scalp.
3. Do you want people to know you're going through chemo?
With awareness comes sympathy, and many people will want others to know what they are going through. You may have the confidence to go out bald, or with hats/beanies alone. No need for a wig or hat - I admire you and think that's great!
I didn't want anyone to know what I was going through or to feel sorry for me. I wanted people to treat me normally - I wasn't sick, and I was going to survive the "C-thing", it was just this wretched treatment that made me look sick. So for me, I wanted to conceal it.
4. What's your budget?
If you are willing to spend $10,000 on a human hair wig I believe you'll be able to get something amazing, that looks like your own hair, cut to your style etc.
If you have more like $100, or even $500, you'll probably look to synthetic wig options. But there are a few other options you should consider...
For me, I had only a small budget, and I tried many synthetic wigs on in a wig shop and wig library. I didn't like any of them, and the best one was from the wig library but I only wore it once! Synthetic wigs have a shine and in my experience all synthetic wigs looked like wigs.
The third option was a lucky find when searching for "hats with hair". That is, partial wigs for under hats. Synthetic "medical fringes" are cheap - $10-100 - but they look shiny and fake. Human hair medical fringes or "halo wigs", of which Hair for Hats is an example of, can range from $50 to $1000.
People with longer locks might want a hat with human hair in the form of an "active wig", with lots of hair at the back of the head (about $1000).
People wanting human hair to frame the face and hide hairloss in a convincing and affordable way, Hair for Hats might be perfect!
5. How much effort do you want to put in to styling and maintaining your wig?
Full wigs made of human hair require more maintenance than normal hair as the wigs soak up oil from the scalp.
Synthetic wigs are also easy maintenance. Synthetic wigs can't be styled (as they melt if you heat them), they just sit the same way all the time. Little maintenance, but little flexibility.
Partial human hair wigs like Hair for Hats don't soak up those oils (as they don't cover the scalp) - providing the benefits of human hair without the maintenance. Human hair partial wigs can be curled and straightened, to suit your style.
6. Do you also know about cooling caps - to help prevent hairloss in the first place?
I learned about cooling caps after I had already lost my hair. I'm not sure if they work but I'd have given them a try as they can prevent hair loss. Make sure to ask your peeps if this could make a difference to you!
Wishing you all the best, whatever you choose!
