The Truth About My Hair

If you follow me on Instagram/Twitter or you are friends with me on Facebook, you might have seen a few pictures of me lately with fabulous long pink hair. Well, I probably should tell you… It’s a wig. Now, here is the truth about my hair. 

My hair is my thing.

I have always said this. As long as my hair looks good, I feel good. When I was 12, I used to be able to sit on my hair it was that long. I made the horrible mistake of chopping it all off when I was 13 because I was starting Secondary School and it took almost 2 hours to wash and dry my hair and being honest, I would rather 2 extra hours of sleep every morning/evening instead of having to wash it. So I got it cut up to my shoulders. It has never grown back any further than my breast bone. It refuses to.

I was a natural blonde from the day I was born. When I turned 12, it turn into a chocolate brown and I HATED IT. So at 14/15, I started getting highlights. Then when I was 16, I started getting my hair dyed. When I was 18, I got it bleached. When I was 19, I dyed it blue and well, that was the start of my love affair of my colourful hair.

In 2016, I decided to take the plunge and dye all my hair pink and thus, my signature style was born. It was like it was meant to be. Pink hair suits me so much. So you can understand when my I had to dye it back blonde in October, it broke my heart. There was two reasons as to why I had to do this: for work and because my hair was falling out due to illness.

I know without a doubt some people reading this will INSTANTLY say my hair is falling out because of my continuous dying it unnatural colours over the past 5-6 years. Well, my hairdresser actually told me that is not the case. Yes, I lose some hair daily because of it – like normal people. But because I get my hair professionally dyed every time, I am saving my hair. Also, back in 2016, when I went Grey, my hairdresser started using Olaplex. I spoke about this in a blog post back when I first went Grey here. In that post, I discussed why my hairdresser (and I) use it all the time when dying my hair. Kim K swore by it when she went from black to icy blonde back in 2016 and she used it again this time!! If it’s good enough for Kim, it’s good enough for me. 

Back in October, I was struck down with Pleurisy (very similar to Pneumonia) and I was quite sick with it for a while. After about 4 weeks, I started to notice my hair was falling out more and more each day. Naturally, we lose hair everyday, but I was losing an excessive amount every time I brushed my hair. I thought it would go back to normal in a week or so. Until I went to my hairdresser to get my hair done. She brushed my hair before she even done anything to it and had to remove the hair from the brush 4 times – 4 TIMES!! That’s unnatural. When she mentioned it, that’s when I knew something was up. She reassured me it was just because I was so sick and have been over the past 2 years, it was bound to have an effect on my hair eventually.  

Over the years, I have struggled with hair loss mainly because of illness. However, I noticed when I was coming up to my Leaving Cert, a time when my anxiety was at its worst, I was suffering from hair loss and had a few small bald patches. Over the years, I have noticed this to continue and it would be due to anxiety. One thing I tend to do when anxious or in the middle of a panic attack is I pull my hair. I hate that I do it but I can’t help it. I should say I don’t intentionally do it to pull out my hair, but because I would be at my hair excessively, it would come out over time.

Onto the wig

I was getting very down about my hair falling out and honestly, I would cry every time I had to brush my hair in fear of seeing it all fall out. Now, I know people are in a lot worse situations when it comes to hair loss due to illness. Members of my own family have lost all their hair because of serious illnesses. It’s hard on anyone, whether it’s big or small, when a part of your appearance changes.

My hairdresser recommended I increased the amount of certain vitamins I take to aid the growth of my hair and she suggested I take some hair supplements. Unfortunately for me, these don’t help the process overnight and take time to work.

I struggled badly with losing my hair. I suffer from body dysmorphia and used to always hide behind my hair. So I needed a solution to the problem quick or my mental health was going to deteriorate. One of my favourite Irish Influencers Anouska recently started wearing wigs due to having problems with hair loss too. One day, I spotted she had a pink wig and nearly lost my mind. I mentioned it to Mam and we done our research. I bought myself a wig. 

It is a lot longer than my normal hair, I know that. But I wanted something different for the time being. When I get the chance, I will buy the shorter pink wig to wear daily. I got this wig from CC Clarke here.

I know it may seem silly to some but I’ve been so happy these past few days because I have my pink hair back, even if it is a wig. I know in some pictures you can tell it’s a wig but I don’t really care. I will eventually learn how to hide that fact and make it more real looking but for now I am happy and having fun, that’s all that really matters. 

I hope you liked this blog post. I wanted to be open and honest about my hair. I’m thankful Anouska was because I have now found my happiness again.

One last thing, how AMAZING are these photos in this post? My Mam done an incredible job!!

Sincerely,
Sarah Jane x