Living The Bald Life: An Introduction

CARCIA SPEAKS…

With a new year comes new beginnings! This year, I’ve decided to a share another huge part of my life with you.

Looking through my personal style photos, you can see that I appear with long hair, short hair or no hair. I’ve always been a fan of weaves and wigs and hair design in general, but a few years ago, without warning, I lost my real, thick, black long hair to Alopecia. Chucks of hair would fall out daily! Imagine the horror of watching your hair go down the drain as you shower? It broke my heart and then depression set in. The doctors said my white blood cells are confused, attacking not only viruses, but my hair follicles, so my hair doesn’t grow or even exist. There is no cure, so I am not sure it will ever grow back.

Many nights I asked God, ‘Why?’ Why did he curse me with this disorder that took my beauty away? I wasted a lot of time in doctors offices, allowing doctors to perform biopsies on my scalp, having steroid shots injected into my scalp and having chemicals rubbed into my scalp. Every treatment either caused pain or had horrible side effects. The last treatment mentioned worked a bit. I had some regrowth, only for the hair to fall out again. My amazing family supported me through my dark period, purchasing expensive virgin human hair wigs for me and with time, I felt better. My family even went out of their way to have a wig designed after my own hair-do, before the Alopecia hit.

For years, I wore wigs and accepted it as a part of my morning routine like brushing my teeth. Along with wardrobe shopping, I’d hit up the wig shops looking for fun wig styles. Wigs are the bright side of being bald! Up to last January, the only people to see me wigless was my immediate family. One day, my father and sister, Telly, looked at me and said, ‘You have such a cute head. It’s a nice shape and your face is so pretty.’ At that time, it occurred to me that women like Grace Jones, Amber Rose, Sienad O’Connor and countless models, publicly walked around bald and worked it. Was it possible for a ‘normal’ girl like me to carry the look? I didn’t have the height models have and I didn’t need a gimmick like popstars did. I started looking in the mirror more without a wig and I started wearing hats and turbans instead of wigs. Eventually I started removing my hat and publicly showed off my bare head.

I can’t recall the first day I went out publicly bald, but the fashion industry around me influenced me to work what I had naturally. Today, I can still get a bit anxious about being bald, but it’s okay! No one ever forgets me. People feel free to walk up to me and talk to me. I haven’t had a negative experience yet when it comes to being a bald chick (knock on wood). I have my days for wigs and my days for total freedom. Being bald isn’t a major taboo these days, but the online world does lack life lessons for others who suffer from this disorder. Children, teenagers, from all walks of life, suffer in silence. I want to share my discoveries, finds and life lessons on living with Alopecia (fashion tips for bald girls, how to handle certain situations etc.). I’m hoping that with sharing my Baldie findings I can make someone’s day a bit better, by showing my way of life.

See another Living The Bald Life next month…