once-a-week shampooing, thickeners, let-it-lay (no styling/products), deal with it.

I can split my hair loss experience and the related self-image/emotional health status into two phases: before the buzz and after.

Before the buzz: Combovers, expensive haircuts to hide the shame, extreme sensitivity to comments about my hair (in addition to my weight), avoidance of cameras, social phobias, and general reclusive-ness.

After the buzz: increasing confidence, greater tolerance for the summer heat, better attitude about hair loss in general.

The most notable change I've felt: the hair loss and the buzz cut have teamed up with my pint-sized wedding budget and fragile finances to help me realize what's really important. I've learned the 10-10-10 rule about situations and decisions - how will _____ really affect me in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years? At that point, many things I stressed about before seem pretty damn inconsequential.

About me... and my hair loss...

When I first started losing hair, I ignored it completely. I'd notice it during styling, and not think of it again. I assumed my hair looked thin because I was overweight and that it would look thicker if my body was smaller. Ha.

After four years of diffuse balding at a pretty slow pace, right around my 22nd birthday, it started falling out like my hair just didn't love me anymore and wanted to see other people. When it got embarrassing, I saw my doctor, who shuffled me off to a dermatologist, who took a punch biopsy to determine whether it's androgenetic alopecia, telogen effluvium, or both. After two horrendous weeks of waiting, it was determined that I was dealing with Alopecia Areata. Never a dull moment with my scalp, I guess. I cut it down in stages and am currently rocking a 1/4" buzz cut. Now I'm finding that most people take to me pretty easily - either because they expect to find something interesting about me because of the cut, or because I'm just more outgoing and friendly... because of the cut. Either way, I tell everyone that it was the best decision I made. This is the most practical, comfortable, low-maintenance, cheap haircut I've ever had, and those are really the buzzwords for how I want everything to be. Practical. Comfortable. Low-Maintenance. Cheap.

On June 20 (nine months to the day before my wedding :D) I wandered into a wig store hoping to try on some wigs and photograph a few laughs. Two hours later I walked out with a very cute, highlighted, synthetic monofilament-cap wig. I seriously owe my mom a HUGE thanks for that. No questions asked, told me, "Don't even look at the price tag. If you love it, you love it. Period." I love my mom.