Are you going on vacation with family or friends soon, and do you wear a hair topper or a wig? \ud83d\ude31\ud83d\ude31\ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they don\u2019t know and you\u2019re planning to spend a few days or weeks together, this can be a major source of stress for you, and that\u2019s completely understandable. I regularly receive messages from women facing this difficult situation. You\u2019ll find all my advice for handling it with confidence in this article \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a room of your own\u2014which I recommend if you absolutely don\u2019t want to bring it up with your loved ones\u2014you can simply take the hairpiece off when you go to bed and put it back on as soon as you wake up in the morning. If people are polite, they shouldn\u2019t walk into your room unexpectedly while you\u2019re asleep. And even if they did, I don\u2019t think they\u2019d be analyzing your hair at that moment. I\u2019d still recommend putting the hairpiece away in a drawer just in case, because if someone comes face-to-face with the thing, they\u2019ll figure it out very quickly (and might be startled by the sight of the fox \ud83e\udd8a\ud83d\ude09).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t have a room of your own, I recommend sleeping with the hairpiece on. It won\u2019t be the most comfortable because you\u2019ll feel the clips a little, but it is still possible to sleep with a hair topper or wig. I\u2019ve done it myself during unexpected naps, and it works out just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the rest of the day, you can absolutely go to the pool or beach wearing your hair topper or wig. I do, however, advise against putting your head underwater. It\u2019s best to avoid that as a precaution, because the base may be a little more visible when the hair is wet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re going on vacation with friends or family, they\u2019re theoretically people close to you who love you. In that case, I can only advise you to talk to them about your hair topper or wig before you leave. If the people you\u2019re going on vacation with are ready to criticize you for revealing one of your vulnerabilities, I can only advise you to stop going on vacation with that kind of person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, I don\u2019t see things in black and white, and I completely understand that you may not always be that close to the people you\u2019re going on vacation with (in-laws, your partner\u2019s friends, etc.). But if you\u2019re close enough to these people to agree to spend several days with them, they can know who you really are. You shouldn\u2019t have to hide or impose restrictions on yourself 24\/7 to be accepted or avoid possible negative judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know it\u2019s not necessarily easy, and that it takes time to feel ready. Because of what I do, my in-laws and my partner\u2019s friends found out that I wear a hair topper, even though I might not have told them spontaneously. So sometimes I found myself in situations where people who weren\u2019t that close to me knew about my hair loss, when I would have preferred to avoid that. But I quickly realized that it was actually liberating for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So perhaps the fact that I wear a hair topper has been commented on. It\u2019s almost certainly been mentioned, actually. Maybe the comments were negative, or maybe they weren\u2019t\u2014I\u2019ll never know. But that\u2019s not what matters. What matters is that I feel free to wear my hair topper or not, whenever I choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, I also made myself wear my hair topper in front of my family, even though they all knew I wore one. But then I was afraid to take it off a few weeks later, when I was invited to a meal or something else, and shock them if I sometimes allowed myself to show up \u201cwithout hair,\u201d or rather with 3 times less hair. Yet my family had seen me with alopecia for 30 years, so I don\u2019t think they would have been that shocked after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after a while, I realized that I didn\u2019t have to decide whether or not to wear my hair topper based on what other people think. I wear it primarily for myself, whenever I want to feel more beautiful. And if sometimes I don\u2019t feel like putting it on, I\u2019m happy to spare myself that hassle. It doesn\u2019t matter if people notice or think my alopecia is shocking, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What matters is how we feel, not what other people think. Believe me, people don\u2019t think about us when they\u2019re doing their hair in the morning, so why should we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hair topper or a wig shouldn\u2019t be something that makes you feel trapped, pushes you to hide, or imposes restrictions on you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some women, once they start wearing a hair topper, no longer dare to go out without one. I\u2019m sure many of us go through this phase at first. I know that in these situations, what we\u2019re trying to avoid above all is people noticing that there are times when we wear a hair topper or a wig. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, people won\u2019t see the difference. I know that may sound incredible, but I live with this every day, and I can assure you it\u2019s true! But let\u2019s say a very observant person notices that you have less hair on the weekend than during the week. What you need to try to tell yourself\u2014and it takes time to get there\u2014is that it\u2019s okay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Someone notices that you\u2019re wearing a hair topper or a wig\u2014so what? You\u2019re losing your hair, and you wear a hairpiece. Just like thousands of women in France and elsewhere! You shouldn\u2019t live your life or impose restrictions on yourself based on what other people think. A hair topper or a wig is for whenever YOU want to wear one. Whenever you want to feel more beautiful. You do it for yourself, not for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to say all this, I know. It takes time to get into this mindset. It may take a few months, or even a year or two, before you feel ready to live more freely with your hair topper and alopecia. But the sooner you get there, the better you\u2019ll feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll also find that the more you have the product as part of your daily life, the less shameful and taboo it will seem. And once you\u2019ve fully accepted the product, you\u2019ll feel ready to live more freely with it. Only when you understand that there\u2019s no shame in wearing this wonderful solution will you feel ready to talk about it\u2014or to stop wearing it around those close to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women who wear extensions aren\u2019t ashamed of wearing them. If women with alopecia may feel ashamed to wear a hair replacement and talk about it, it\u2019s because they unconsciously feel that they\u2019re trying to conceal something. But if you openly tell people that you\u2019re losing your hair and are wearing a product that helps you feel better, there\u2019s no reason for shame or judgment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you own who you are: a pragmatic woman who has found a solution to her problem! You\u2019re not someone who hides or feels ashamed. You\u2019re a woman who moves forward and dares to explore solutions that may not be the most obvious, for fear of potential judgment from society. Be proud of who you are and of the step you\u2019ve taken, especially since this is still quite a taboo product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t feel ready to talk about it today, that\u2019s okay. Be kind to yourself and don\u2019t force it. Don\u2019t talk about it until you genuinely feel ready. You need to want to do it, and it needs to come from you. But remember that if the people around you are close to you, they\u2019ll accept you as you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Thinking about getting a hair topper before your vacation? Here\u2019s where to go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n