This article is about a topic I had hoped I would not have to write about ever again. After eight wonderful months of enjoying my luscious locks courtesy of the Cesare Ragazzi hair replacement system, I needed to return my JLo hair for repair. Insert sad face. Actually, insert heavy horror scene music with high pitched screams.
After a period of time, the cap needs to be repaired and any damaged hair replaced and is part of the normal wear and tear of wearing the system. Clients can expect to repair the unit around two times during the life of the piece. It involves sending the system back to Italy for assessment and repair.
So two months ago I sat in the chair at Prodigy Hair Studio with tears in my eyes as I realized that without a second back up piece, I will be without my beloved JLo for two months. I felt devastated and suddenly I became only too aware of how much my life had truly changed with the addition of my new hair. Two months without her felt like forever.
Juan and Robin offered a few different solutions as I sat in the chair crying. In the end I decided that I would persevere without a hair replacement or hair addition for the two months. I have an active lifestyle, a new boyfriend and having lived with the freedom of a wash and wear system attached to my head, I couldn’t imagine having to clip something to my hair every day. Juan did an amazing job of building my confidence before I left and I appreciated it greatly.
At the time of writing this, I have been wearing my natural hair for the last 7 weeks. I am counting the days until JLo is back safely on my head where she belongs. During this time, it’s been a learning experience for me. I have realized several things during this time.
- Having the Cesare Ragazzi hair wasn’t just about the hair. Yes, it was amazing to be able to wake up with amazing hair and being able to style my hair to match my outfit of the day, but I realized that it’s about freedom. It’s not hair. Its freedom for me. Freedom to not worry. To not think about how devastating it can be to be to have thinning hair. To not have a constant reminder staring back at you in the mirror. To life an active life without fussing over my hair.
- I realized I don’t like fussing over my hair. This is why the Cesare is so great. It is literally a wash and wear system. The most I ever did was blow dry the hair around the cap after I washed it (on average every 3 days). With my natural hair, I need to wash it every day, blow dry it and fuss around with trying to get it up into the perfect bun that minimizes the amount of scalp that can be seen and make my hair look the ‘thickest’ in the bun. Then I need to use hair spray and at other times, topik to help reduce scalp shine. Sadly this was a major inconvenience and something I dreaded every morning.
- I felt different to other women. Everywhere I looked, women all around me appeared to have so much hair. I found myself comparing myself because I felt self-conscious of my natural hair. I used this as an opportunity to work on my self-esteem and positive self-talk. After all. I am fit and healthy and have so many blessings in my life. This is just one insecurity and I worked daily on the discipline of reminding myself of my blessings and to keep perspective. But, I had to work on it consciously. With the Cesare, I had stopped looking at people’s hair because I finally felt secure with my own hair.
- Not being able to go from the ski field to the bar or to meet friends made me sad and self-conscious. It left me in tears quite a few times. Once I put a helmet on my head, I couldn’t simply just remove the helmet and walk into a bar like I had before. Now I had to go to the restroom and remove the helmet, take a beanie and my clip in extensions and fuss with my hair. Major downer. While it was doable, it was arduous and a reminder that my hair offered me a lifestyle freedom.
While it has been trying over the last 7 weeks, and many tears have been shed, a good friend of mine said to me “Anita. The universe wants you to know that you are fine with the system and your fine without the system. Your hair does not define you”. This has been my experience and a quote I have repeated to myself many times over the last 7 weeks. While it hasn’t been easy, I have not let it stop me from date night, going out, hiking, biking, skiing, going on a vacation and from work.
I am hopefully only a week or two away from my Cesare returning and this experience has shown me that I am ok. My freedom comes from moving past feeling self-conscious and living my life.
If you are suffering from hair loss, I urge you to contact Prodigy Hair Studio and chat about your options make an appointment and discuss how they can help you.