I decided it was time to own a wig.

I searched Amazon.com since they are a reasonably priced and trustworthy online store for some wigs. I searched up my favorite colors- pastels- and came up with some beautifully made wigs. The first wig I fell in love with was a voluminous pastel purple, then a gray-blue long straight-haired, a short ombre pink, and lastly an ombre mint green. I was so excited when the first three arrived because I had more confidence in myself and felt together. The colors matched with my skin tone, made my outfits pop and I have my own distinguishing features.

I was nervous to walk into school with a wig because I was afraid someone would snatch it off or just make fun of me for wearing a wig in general. To my relief, the students and staff were complimenting my “hair” and asking where to get one of their own.

If you are thinking about buying a wig, it is good to feel comfortable and confident. Wigs are a form of self expression, so you don’t have to get a crazy colored one, just something to your liking. If it makes you feel good, then there is no harm in it.

My hair journey has been quite the ride, with more downs than ups. My mother used to tend to my hair; she would straighten my natural curls until I was in middle school, so I didn’t understand how to tend to my natural hair. When I was first introduced to my curls I had no idea how to manage them. I did not own hair products to tame my curls, and I became a frizzy, tangled cloud in my early years of middle school. I continued to struggle to find the right hair products for myself, and even to untangle my hair.

Eventually, I managed to own hair products for my hair, but my mother felt that I wasn’t taking good enough care of my hair and had me get a relaxer in 10th grade. A relaxer is a chemical that makes hair easier to straighten and become more tame. The process overall was brutal: there is a wash with the relaxer shampoo and conditioner, then the shampoo again, but it is left in the hair as the hair is dried. The drying process makes it painful for the brush to go through the sticky hair, it pulls and burns at your scalp with the heat from the air dryer. The end product was gorgeous- I hadn’t had soft, straight hair in months, so I was happy with it, yet when it came time to wash my hair, I cried. I could feel my hair being sticky no matter how many times I shampooed it, and when it dried, the volume I once had was no more. It was like my hair had deflated- the top was flat against my head and near the ends it was curly.

As time went on, I would wash my hair religiously to get rid of the relaxer. With time my volume was soon coming back, yet there were still parts of my hair that were straighter than the rest. I decided to grow my hair out as long as possible and cut off the relaxed ends. Recently, I made the big chop and could see the difference in my new volume, though the right side of my head still having looser curls. How could I tell? When cutting my bangs, even though they were cut the same length, the left side curls all the way up while the right drops lower. Seeing how my bangs appeared to be uneven, I found it embarrassing and couldn’t be seen with uneven looking bangs around school. Having a wig became a good cover up and until my hair grows to a reasonable length I will cut off more of the relaxed ends until I have reverted to my healthy, natural hair.