Dee’s Hair Loss Story – Hair Replacement Buyer Beware!

I guess I started noticing my hair loss after the birth of my daughter, 21 yrs ago. I have always had fine beautiful naturally golden blonde hair. But, when it started thinning, I resorted to perms. Most of the time I just looked fuzzy..Then I pulled it all back in a pony tail and clipped it up in the back… that seemed to be the last way I remember wearing it. before I made the LEAP..and it was a big one into hair systems. I guess it took me about 8 yrs to get to this point where I felt complete desperation.My hairdresser and long time friend, talked me into going to a salon out of town where she had heard about this guy who did hair weaves. I finally got brave enough to go. After his ‘thourough’ examination of my hair, he told me what I was not prepared to hear. The only thing that I could do at this point in my hair loss was to go to a track and glue hair system. He said it would be no big deal, just cut my hair a little bit in this track around the top of my head, then adhere the piece to it. No biggie…I told him I’d have to think about it for a while. I remember crying and crying over the fact that it was my only option, I had to do something… I felt as if this were some sort of social death sentence.So, I went back to his salon where, by the way, he did his hairpiece business upstairs away from his other clients. This I was happy with. I had had enough stares and rude comments from co-workers and even some family members to last a lifetime. I was ready for the humiliations I had suffered to stop. Well, he begins to cut my hair on top, then without warning begins to shave the entire top of my head. I was in shock and began crying …”what are you doing?” He said this is what he had explained to me the week before. I’m telling you…I don’t remember ever hearing about the shaving the head part. But at that point, it was too late…there was no turning back. He then proceeded to place on my head the most horrible thing I’d ever seen in my entire life…It was ashey grey in color..not even blonde. The hair was so thick you could barely get your hands through it. I sobbed and sobbed in that chair as he tried to thin it out and give me a totally different hair style than I was wearing before. He said “no one will even notice, they’ll think you’ve just got a new hairstyle”. He cut it in a “Florence Henderson” style (from the Brady Bunch)…said it would look more natural that way. Well it looked anything but natural, it looked like a little old ladies wig. I was completely devastated…I did not leave my house the entire weekend. But, I had to return to work on Monday and I dreaded it like nothing I’d ever dreaded before. I get to work and everyone and I mean everyone I passed made comments, none of them were flattering. They were just puzzled and several even lifted my bangs before I knew what they were doing. Just wanted to see if it was a wig. You know…people are so rude and totally insensitive if they’ve never experienced this before. One lady even had the nerve to start calling me Dolly (as in Parton). It was all I could do to make it through that first day. I dreaded going back to work each and every day after that. Somehow, I made it through. I was still so embarassed by this whole thing that I only trusted a very, very close few people to tell them the truth. These were people that I knew wouldn’t judge me and they would continue to see me the way they always did.After a couple yrs with at this guys hair studio, he eventually resorted to some very unethical and underhanded practices. My “contract” with him was that I would get 3 hair systems a yr for a set price. I went along with this for a while, then I noticed that if I were very careful and didn’t wash, blow dry and style it so much, the ‘hairpiece’ seemed to last longer. I negotiated a new contract with this guy. If I could take really good care of my new hair and make it last longer, then I wouldn’t have to buy them so often. A couple months after that agreement, I began to notice that after each time I visited him for a re-adjustment, I noticed that the hair was much thinner than when I arrived…even finding balding patches in it that felt like razor stubble as if it had been cut. I asked him what he actually did with my hair when he left the room to wash and dry it. He stated that that was all he did. I then pointed out that certain bald spots weren’t there when I arrived. He laughed it off and said I just didn’t notice it. I’m sorry but if there was anything I noticed it was my HAIR..I knew every thick spot and thinning spot on it because I had to try to style it every day.Eventually, I ended up leaving his salon (on bad terms) and went to another studio. It was small, mostly men as clients. But, they only sold the high price units as well..So, I’m still locked in. A new contract, another huge downpayment, another fitting. Then the hair was ordered (from China I was told) and finally came in. The quality looked better, the color did as well. The salon only has one stylist other than the owner, that’s who I was assigned to. Oh, my…goodness…it was the worst haircut I’ve ever gotten in my life. I had to ask her where she worked before and she’d only worked in one other salon.Well, I did what I could, I let her cut it then I went immediately to another salon. There again I had to try to discreetly explain to the owner what I needed done and what kind of hair he was working with. This guy was wonderful!!! He gave me a wonderful haircut and gave me several style ideas. For the record…I paid dearly for this because he owns the most exclusive salon in town but has by far, the best reputation.My next nightmare was when I received another ashey gray hairpiece..The first thing they said is that that is the color that the other one was when it arrived, I just didn’t remember. I was then told that they have no control over what color the hair is when it arrives from China. The next story was “well, your old hairpiece has just faded over the last few months”. So, I asked for them to pull the old one out of the garbage. It looked nothing like what she just put on my head.So, before the glue dried, she pulled it off and tried to ‘bleach’ it with pure bleach. That only turned the hair orange and I do mean orange…but, orange was not gray and I settled for it. When my husband saw me he was furious. He took me back down to the salon and told them to remove that garbage from my head and put the old one back on. They told him that it had already been disposed of. He said “show me where you keep your garbage”. So, he went dumpster diving to retrieve my old hair piece. Now, I’m thinking that this is something out of a horror movie. I couldn’t believe what this had come to…So, I ended up with a previously disposed of dumpster hair piece on my head. At least I didn’t look like Bozo the Clown. My husband was insistent that they re-order a new one, in the right color. So…it took a couple months before the new one came in. To my surprise, it was a much better color, no ashe and no gray.So, here I am, about 5 yrs later and I still go to the same salon to get the hairpiece and have found someone else to cut it correctly. I’m still uneasy about the whole ordeal I go through monthly. I just know that there has got to be something else out there that looks more natural and realistic than what I am getting now. I have just been through what I’m sure all of you ladies have also experienced and I’m emotionally exhausted.If anyone knows about any other hair system that looks more natural and can be worn almost undetectable, please let me know…I’d love to be able to go outside on a windy day or even go swimming sometime. I live so close to Florida and so far have only been able to sunbathe without being able to enjoy a swim in the ocean.********************Hi Dee!I’ve written to you several times by email now, thank you so much for allowing me to share your story with the readers of The Women’s Hair Loss Project Blog. I think it is good for other women to know they have to be really careful when searching for a hair replacement provider, there are some really unethical shady people operating in this field, preying on vulnerable women. Shame on them!I wish I had some suggestions for a more natural hair system, but I haven’t yet researched it for myself. Several women have talked about Reprieve hair system on this blog, but I don’t have any personal experience with it myself. You can see Julie’s Reprieve pictures here: https://www.womenshairlossproject.com/hair-loss/hair-loss-photos-before-after/Thanks so again for sharing your story~Y