How To Enjoy Extensions and Wigs, At Any Age

How to enjoy extensions and wigs. Our hair is important to our self-image, even – or especially – as we age. It seems few of us are delighted with the hair we’ve been given, often wanting to change the color, texture, and/or length. And for many of us, aging brings some degree of hair loss and thinning.For much of my life, I was annoyed with my fine, unruly, curly hair. Oh yeah, curls could be beautiful, but not mine: always frizzing up and going their own way. And if it rained, say goodbye to any hair style. I embraced the young-woman routines of setting lotions, big curlers (orange juice cans), chemical straighteners, and yes, even ironing my hair on the ironing board (don’t do that!).

Not me, but that’s the idea. Source.

With age has come acceptance of, and contentment with, my odd hair. Modern products for curly hair are so much better than the original Dippity-Do. So these days I wash my hair gently, air-dry, add some pomade or cream, and let my hair do what it wants. Some days I like to wear other kinds of hair, hair that I could never achieve on my own.

Wearing wigs and hairpieces once carried some stigma, or associated the wearer with chemotherapy losses. I remember my mother, in the early 1960’s, warning me not to tell her boyfriend that she was wearing a “wiglet” on their date. Times have changed, my friends, and wearing hair is no shame. In fact it’s a joy to change your whole look, make no drastic commitments, and boost your hair-esteem with fabulous add-on hair.

Here are some ways to temporarily sport a completely different head of hair:

Extensions are great because they give you extra length and thickness. I’ve tried the clip-ins with some success. The secret for clip-ins in thin hair is to use the smallest clips, then lightly tease your own hair over them. I haven’t tried the fusion or bead or glue-in types.

I was recently gifted a set of tape-in human hair extensions by Amazing Beauty. I can’t say enough about how wonderful the hair is: soft, silky, like the hair I’ve never had. They are top of the line hair, at a modest price. Sadly, I couldn’t blend the colors to my hair, but I wanted you to see the extensions IRL. I just bobby-pinned a few in, and took a curling iron to them.

I can’t praise Amazing Beauty‘s extensions enough. If you’re thinking of adding some, check these folks out.

Toppers. I wore a human hair topper for about a year, after a surgery caused hair loss. It worked for every-day because it blended nicely with my biological hair’s texture (I had the wig-maker perm it). It was my first experience with wearing hair on the regular and it converted me! If you go this route, it’s important to choose a color and wave pattern close to your own.

I loved this hair! Toppers are light on your head, too. It was custom and pricey, but worth it.

Full wigs. These are the easiest by far, because you don’t have to worry about matching your own hair. Go curly or bone-straight, try a copper red or pale blue, get a pixie for a day. They’re lighter and more comfortable than ever. A good starting place to browse is a major retailer, like Wigs.com.

And here’s my latest full wig, with curls I could only dream of IRL.

Are you wearing hair? Or considering an add-on? Go for it and enjoy.

Stay fabulous, xo

Browse these cool pieces:


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patti

6 Comments

  1. I’ve always enjoyed seeing you play with different hairstyles. The only wigs I’ve worn have been inexpensive ones that were part of a halloween costume, but I’d be open to trying a better quality one. My hair is so short, it would be easy to cover.

  2. Hmmm. Thought I left a comment but it never appeared…

    Thanks so much for this post, Patti! Much like you, I have fine, naturally curly, willful and pure white hair-shoulder length. I spent my teens and 20s setting it on juice cans with diluted Jello powder as ‘gel’, using box straighteners, taping my bangs down at night (and I have a serious cowlick in the front!) and other atrocities to make me look like (ahem) everyone else. Decades of getting cuts from stylists who insisted “your hair really IS straight, not curly,” and scissoring it and styling it to their capabilities (or lack of) was making me detest my hair. As a teenager, I also wore Kanekalon wigs sometimes when I did not want to deal with my curls. The wigs were fun, but very hot in the East coast summers and the synthetic material was shiny and false looking.

    Now my hair is dry and thinning as a result of age and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Lack of pigment makes it frizzy and mercurial. A few years ago, I was fortunate to find a stylist who specializes in cutting curly hair. She cuts the hair dry and loves her work. My hair has never looked so good and going to see her every 3-4 months is a joy, not something I dread. I also discovered a product line, Innersense, that enhances my locks and keeps my hair looking shiny and full most days. Still, I have days when I am just not up for tackling my hair’s foibles and fussiness. I am going to visit wigs.com to see what they have to offer.

    It’s always fun to see how your hair looks when you post. It never looks “wiggy,” and I am looking forward to having a “good” hair day every single day now, thanks to this information! : )

    • Thank you, Cee, and sorry for the temporary madness of the Commenting software!

      We do indeed share similar hair and history. Remember the pink tape made just for taping our bangs down? Great that you’ve found a good curly hair-stylist; I have one too. And I’ll be checking into the Innersense products. xox

  3. Wow! Thanks for this article, Patti! I can never tell in your pictures if you are bewigged or au naturel, so this is excellent and educational.

    My hair is pure white and like yours, fine, very curly and willful. It’s also thinning as a result of age and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. As a teenager, in an effort not to deal with my natural hair, I wore inexpensive Kanekalon wigs but they were very shiny and very artificial looking. Also very uncomfortable and hot in the summer.

    Thinning curly hair can be a nightmare so I am going to look into wigs.com.
    After decades of bad haircuts from stylists telling me I “really do have straight hair” and cutting it and styling it that way (UGH), I finally found a stylist who dry cuts and loves curly hair. Going to that salon is a joy. I also found a product line, Innersense, that works well with my fine, dry, wayward locks. Now, most days, I enjoy my wild, white hair but will look forward to “enhancements” to change up and pump up my looks. : )

    Thanks so much for this article.

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