12. 21st May 2021 - Wig Consultation

As with most things at the moment, I’m not sure how I feel about visiting the wig shop. I’ve heard lots of good things about this particular salon and when I called to make my appointment the lady I spoke to was very knowledgeable and helpful, nevertheless I am apprehensive.

Sophie comes with me not just for support but, being a performer, she has lots of wig experience and will know the right questions to ask. The staff are very welcoming when we arrive and our stylist sits me in a chair and asks what I am looking for. We have talked about this a lot at home. Do I take this chance to go for a completely new look? Do I go for a crazy colour? Alas no, I would love to be a risk taker but sadly, and much to my chagrin, I am not. I really want to be a little bit crazy - to grab life by the balls and start living - but I don’t know how - maybe at the end of all this I may be a little less constrained by convention - who knows?

Being the control freak that I am, I want a wig that is exactly the same as my current hairstyle, so that I can still feel like me if I lose my hair. We have decided that the wig should be made of real European hair so that it’s as close a match as possible. This makes it more expensive, as this type of hair is less available, but my mum has said to get the best I can. She just wants me to have as little to worry about as possible and I am eternally grateful to her for her love and generosity.

There are only 2 wigs available that meet my requirements and I try both on and we decide on one that looks almost like my own already. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it feels weird, although they assure me that it will feel and look different on a bald head, and it still looks like a wig to me - but I can see that we can make this work. The stylist takes a cutting of my hair for colour matching and we leave with an agreement to pop back and see the colour in a few days time.

I am quite excited to return and when we enter the salon the stylist eagerly points towards the back of the salon and says ‘there it is, we are really happy with it!’ Sophie and I look around, looking for a redhead but all we can see is a mousy brown wig on a stand at the back. I’m devastated, this needed to be right - I wanted everything organised before I start chemo and now I’m really worried. I just don’t understand how they think this is a good colour match. They insist it matches the sample of my hair they cut off, but that was taken from underneath and isn’t as vibrant as the top of my hair. I have a lot of different tones and highlights but the colour they have done is really one dimensional. I just keep looking at Sophie and saying ‘but I’m a redhead. Am I a redhead? Does my hair not look red?’ over and over - I feel out of control and very emotional. It may seem like an over reaction but this was the one thing I thought would work smoothly - I believed the spiel they gave me over the phone - and now I have a mousy brown wig that looked more my colour before they dyed it! I’m not sure the stylist or the colourist completely accepted my concerns but they did agree to re-do it for me. I pointed out a wig they had done recently on their Instagram that was the exact colour I was looking for and they assured me they would get as close a match to that as possible.

Sophie agreed to pop back the next day to check out the new colour before me to ensure it was going the right way and to prevent me getting more upset. She calls me from the salon and all is well - I will be the perfect redhead - thank goodness!

I should say at this point that if you are being treated on the NHS you do get help with wig costs. The MacMillan Nurses do a referral to Orthotics and they will automatically pay the sum direct to your wig supplier. This currently amounts to £75.70 - not much considering the cost of wigs but better than nothing!

I can now go on my holiday to Cornwall without worry and try to forget what is to come. We went with our really good friends H and T and had a wonderful time. The weather wasn’t great and finding restaurants to eat in was a challenge, but we laughed a lot. It was just what I needed and although saying goodbye was very emotional knowing that my treatment was about to start and it was all getting very real, I’m so glad we went. We had already postponed it twice due to the pandemic and it was all the better for having waited. It’s strange to think that when we originally booked it, and postponed it, breast cancer was not in the equation at all - life changes fast and you never know what is around that corner. This seems a good time to say again - CHECK YOUR BOOBS!