A decent, affordable wig?

MoonJelly

Hello All,
I have been loosing my hair for a few years now and it is now at the point where I have to cover up in public. The loss is quiet dramatic. Winter I can handle wearing beanies but now that spring/summer is coming I find wearing a beanie is not only not practical but weird. Also I need to get a job. My GP was not sympathetic and suggested: 1)either go out without a hat and be brave; 2)go private. He said the NHS wouldn't help with a wig because I'm not a cancer patient and my problem is cosmetic.

I went to a salon where they sell wigs but they are expensive. £160 and up. Can someone here advise where I can find a decent looking wig at an affordable price? How about online? I live in the Northwest.

dinglefoot

Hi I don't know if it's any help, but there are plenty of sellers on ebay that sell wigs. One of my colleagues has a few for going out in, and apparently they're pretty good from there (obviously not the really cheap looking ones) but from about £40 upwards. I guess reading reviews would give you a better idea of how natural they look etc.
How horrible about your GP's lack of sympathy. Surely with a cancer patient the need for a wig is a cosmetic problem as well? I fail to understand his logic there. Surely the NHS should help for wigs with cancer as they do, but other problems such as alopecia etc. I hope you find a nice suitable one that's not going to break the bank *hugs*

MoonJelly

dinglefoot wrote: »

Hi I don't know if it's any help, but there are plenty of sellers on ebay that sell wigs. One of my colleagues has a few for going out in, and apparently they're pretty good from there (obviously not the really cheap looking ones) but from about £40 upwards. I guess reading reviews would give you a better idea of how natural they look etc.
How horrible about your GP's lack of sympathy. Surely with a cancer patient the need for a wig is a cosmetic problem as well? I fail to understand his logic there. Surely the NHS should help for wigs with cancer as they do, but other problems such as alopecia etc. I hope you find a nice suitable one that's not going to break the bank *hugs*

I will check Ebay. Last time I only saw party wigs but maybe I need to look deeper. I have no idea how the GP thinks I'm going to get a job looking like I've been scalped. Thanks for the hugs.:)

dinglefoot

I just remembered that someone else I know has a wig that she wore after she had to shave her head because her hair was so unhealthy and kept breaking/falling out.
She got hers from http://geishawigs.bigcartel.com/ if you want to take a look. It depends on what sort of wig you'd want as well though. Still, I hope I've been at least in some way helpful

Edit: I'm just looking through this website and there's loads I want for myself hehe

laurel7172

Didn't want to read and run. My (bald) GP was similarly horrible-his attitude was that it's just as upsetting for men so I should get over myself.

I'm sorry, but it IS different for women

No advice, sorry, except to make sure you go for the blood tests you've (hopefully) been sent for. I wore hats and scarves...then discovered I had a second, more dangerous immune condition. Lucky me But at least the immune suppressants keep the alopecia under control....

One thing I will say, though, is that once you are aware of alopecia, you realise just how many people have/have had it. Almost everybody knows somebody. I wouldn't have believed me either, but it isn't as big a deal as it feels xx

Good luck xx

MoonJelly

dinglefoot wrote: »

I just remembered that someone else I know has a wig that she wore after she had to shave her head because her hair was so unhealthy and kept breaking/falling out.
She got hers from http://geishawigs.bigcartel.com/ if you want to take a look. It depends on what sort of wig you'd want as well though. Still, I hope I've been at least in some way helpful

Edit: I'm just looking through this website and there's loads I want for myself hehe

Interesting website. It doesn't hurt to look, right?

MoonJelly

laurel7172 wrote: »

Didn't want to read and run. My (bald) GP was similarly horrible-his attitude was that it's just as upsetting for men so I should get over myself.

I'm sorry, but it IS different for women

No advice, sorry, except to make sure you go for the blood tests you've (hopefully) been sent for. I wore hats and scarves...then discovered I had a second, more dangerous immune condition. Lucky me But at least the immune suppressants keep the alopecia under control....

One thing I will say, though, is that once you are aware of alopecia, you realise just how many people have/have had it. Almost everybody knows somebody. I wouldn't have believed me either, but it isn't as big a deal as it feels xx

Good luck xx

I'm going for a second opinion. You are right. The lady who own the salon where sell wigs showed me her book and she's got over a hundred customers. Who knew...? Thanks for the pep talk. Feeling rather low right now.

McKneff

For men, its the most natural thing in the world, its your body, it's doing what its supposed to do, for goodness sake, accept it. You are a person, if people cant accept you for the natural person you are, then that is their problem, they are shallow, sod 'em. I wouldn't want true friends who cant accept the natural 'me' I would rather have friends that did......True friends don't even notice.

Annie

kitschkitty

McKneff wrote: »

For men, its the most natural thing in the world, its your body, it's doing what its supposed to do, for goodness sake, accept it. You are a person, if people cant accept you for the natural person you are, then that is their problem, they are shallow, sod 'em. I wouldn't want true friends who cant accept the natural 'me' I would rather have friends that did......True friends don't even notice.

Annie

OP is female.

For many people hair loss is not natural (male or female), and to be fair some men do find it very upsetting too, though in our society women find it harder, as we do tend to think of our hair as our "crowning glory".

If you've had great hair in the past losing it, and not being able to style it like you used to can be a lot to deal with. Unfortunately most of us would agree that not everyone looks great with very short hair cuts, and not everyone looks great bald.
If you feel that way about yourself it's hard to face on a daily basis.

Also it's not about how friends or family treat you (most of the time) it's about how you see yourself, and the image you put forward to strangers is something we all have to deal with, even if we want to say sod them, it's often not that easy, especially if your hair loss is severe, in a prominent position or unusual pattern.

Hughjass

The site above has nice products and at a very good price, quite a lot is out of stock though, this may be of interest to you http://www.annabelleswigs.co.uk/ I used to buy clip in extensions from here and the service is excellent, you can call them too for advice they really are nice and knowledgable, good luck

sophlowe45

http://www.hairharvest.co.uk/

Hair harvest have an online wig store.

Another website I cannot remember, I have an email from them, but don't know what to search for.

Is £160+ for a short wig, shorter wigs would be cheaper than longer wigs? Can you pay in installments, put it on a credit card and pay that off slowly?

I've seen trainee hairdressers use synthetic wigs.

Save up, no idea if your birthday is anytime soon, ask for money instead of presents?

Skip for food instead of buying (I don't know if this is possible in the Northwest) and save up food money, reduce any other expenditure if it is possible. I am aware that it may not be possible at all.

Wear a headscarf for non religious reasons.

What do the jobcentre say? I know they give out loans for people to buy suits for interviews, do they require you bring in the receipts? I guess they probably do, but if they do not, you could put that towards a wig?

I am just posting ideas that may or may not be of use.