YOU AND BARBIE LEARNING ABOUT HAIR LOSS

Bald Barbie!

Click here for more information on Bald friend of Barbie: Bald Barbie

I feel like Barbie is often equated with everything evil about women’s body image.  Completely disproportional, if she was life size, supposedly, she would not be able to stand upright, and would have to crawl around on all fours.  It probably wouldn’t help that her feet aren’t flat, and she could only walk around on her tip toes.  While I have my doubts that Barbie is a particularly responsible for little girls feeling bad about the way they looks, it is nice to see her name pop up in a story where she might make someone feel better about themself.

A few facts: Mattel decided to make this doll based on a social media campaign by parents, to help sick children deal with the hair loss cancer patients suffer from.  The doll will not be available in stores; they will instead be donated to children’s hospitals. The doll, “a friend of Barbie,” will come with wigs, scarves, hats and other fashion accessories.

I kind of wish they would sell them at stores or online so that children struggling with hair loss but not in the hospital could still have access to the dolls. But I’m glad that Mattel is making this step!

What do you think of Barbie’s bald friend? Do you think the doll will help children deal with hair loss?

COMFORTABLE IN YOUR OWN…WIG

I don’t usually notice wigs on actors.  Maybe it’s that they’re put on well.  Maybe it’s that I assume that people with full heads of hair would just use their hair.  Maybe I’m an idiot. But actors use wigs more often than I’m aware of, whether it’s cause the character has to have a radically different hair style only for one scene, or because the actor has multiple engagements going on simultaneous that require  different hair styles, or simply because the actor doesn’t want to damage their hair with constant styling.

Click here for an interesting article on wigs in television and movies: WIGS

At Madcapz, we know that some of our costumers suffer from hair loss, and while you may choose a woman’s baseball cap in lieu of a wig (or in conjunction with), I’m guessing both options will have crossed your mind.  So when I see articles about wigs, I tend to assume that they will have to do with hair loss. It was interesting to read about wigs from a completely different perspective.

However, I think how comfortable a person is in his/her wig is an issue that both people suffering from hair loss and actors have to deal with.  The most interesting point in the article was the fact that the writer’s take on which actors felt the most comfortable in the wigs, and how it affected the writer’s view of the performance.  Feeling comfortable is probably the most difficult part of wearing a wig, as well as the best way to make people forget you are wearing a wig.  At Madcapz, we try to make our woman’s baseball caps as comfortable as possible so you will feel your best wearing them.

What did you think of the article?  Did you know all of the actors listed in it were wearing a wig?

BRAVE GIRL CYCLING

I really enjoy the Olympics.  There’s an adrenaline rush from watching other people perform at their best.  I’m amazed at how involved I get in sports I’ve never heard of (this is more of an issue during the winter sports when I find myself getting really into curling).

Anyway, cycling is not an obscure sport, but it’s not something I watch regularly.  I will, however, be rooting for Johanna Rowsell, a British cyclist who suffers from hair loss due to Alopecia.

Click here to read more about: Johanna Rowsell

At Madcapz, we know that many of our clients suffer from hair loss.  (For more information on my own hair loss, see Our Story).   So we are impressed when people like Johanna Rowsell make the decision to pose for photos without a wig on (see photo above).

Do you enjoy the Olympics?  Any particular athlete that you will be supporting?

Blog For Women With Hair Loss

The Women’s Hair Loss Project is one women’s journey of hair loss at a young age.  The blog was founded in 2007, as a way to deal with the overwhelming feelings of hair loss.  Although, the young women’s identity remains anonymous throughout the Web site; she states “this was just an idea I thought of while I was horribly sad and depressed about my own hair loss situation, and I knew that if there was a place where I could read about the daily dealings of another woman with hair loss, I would.”

And that is exactly what the blog has become: a place where women are encouraged to share their hair loss stories, discuss the treatment options they have undergone, share how they masked their hair loss from others, as well as share their coping techniques with other women dealing with the same situation.

Click on pic below to read more:

Olympic Gold-Medal Winning Gymnast Shannon Miller

Shares Her Chemo Experience

Shannon Miller may be an Olympic gold-medal gymnast but she is also an ovarian cancer survivor.  In a 4-entry journal, Miller shares her personal experiences with hair loss from her chemo treatment.  On Day 14 of the treatment, Miller shares “how she was in pure shock at the amount of hair left dangling from her brush after she did her hair.”  To read the complete journal about her emotional experience with women’s hair loss,  click on this link: HAIR LOSS FROM CHEMO

Beautiful Portraits of Women With Hair Loss From Illness

Objects in Pictures Should so be arranged as Their Position to Tell Their Own Story  – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The Be Bold, Feel Beautiful campaign started by Terri Shaver, photographer and founder of the Oldham Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free portrait sessions to those suffering from life threatening or terminal illness; began as a way to make women feel better after they lost their hair from the cancer treatment.

Shaver says when the women see their portraits, they regain their self-image.  She further states that if she can “make women feel better about themselves, while they’re undergoing treatment and have no hair, their treatment will be much more successful.”

This is a fascinating project and you can read more about it here:

Read more about the Be Bold, Be Beautiful Campaign and the Oldham Project here: OLDHAM PROJECT

Autumn Brings Hair Loss for Women

Autumn is here and that means shorter days, harsher weather and, according to Swedish researchers, it means more hair loss for women. In a study published in the Journal of Dermatology, scientists found that women lose the most hair in the autumn’s months.  Hair has various growth stages and while at any given time 90% of hair is growing, the other 10% is in a resting state (known as telogen). This resting state occurs most often in July with it ending 3 to 6 months later, when the hair falls out – the autumn months!

The autumn season isn’t the only cause of unexpected hair loss in women.  According to research, a number of medications can trigger hair shedding, as can lack of iron.  Other common causes of hair loss in women include: polycystic ovaries, skin conditions, crash dieting; particularly low-carb diets, thyroid problems, contraceptive pills, being overweight, and stress.

For more info read here: AUTUMN HAIR LOSS FOR WOMEN

One Woman’s Emotional Story Of Her Hair Loss

CNN Health Blog has published a well written post by a woman who is suffering from genetic hair loss.

Click here to read the post:

When people ask me why I started Madcapz they are often surprised to learn that I had no aspiration to be in retail or to own an online store. I created Madcapz out of a need. Simple as that. I was losing my hair from Grave’s Disease and was so anxious about my hair loss. I had always had incredibly thick hair and because of the Grave’s my hair was extremely thin and brittle and falling out. I wasn’t bald but for someone who had always had a incredible head of hair, it was devastating.

I never considered myself an exceptionally vain person, but hair loss for many women, as I’ve since learned, can be traumatic. And it was for me. I was very self conscious of going out without a hat, so every time I ventured out, I grabbed one of my husband’s baseball caps. I liked the look of a baseball cap and it was fairly comfortable, but I didn’t like the boring drab colors of the caps he had.

One day as I was heading out for my walk, I thought it would be great to have a fun colorful baseball cap to wear on my walks. So began my search. But it wasn’t easy to find one, in fact, it was impossible. After much searching, I decided to try and create one. I went to a fabric store, and I am not a crafty person, but I went and purchased some pretty fabric and cut and glued pieces of this fabric on to an existing baseball cap I owned. It looked pretty good, I have to say. After showing it to a few friends, I thought maybe I was on to something!

Who knew that what was an initially devastating experience, woman’s hair loss, would turn in to a fun fabulous business of selling colorful baseball caps for women?

See all of our fun colorful baseball caps for women and let me know which is your favorite!

Summertime Hair Loss For Women: True Or False?

Myth #1 – Wearing women’s baseball caps causes women’s hair loss.

False. Keep on rocking those Madcapz hats!

Myth #2 – Exposure to chlorine in swimming pools causes women’s hair loss.

False. It may make hair shafts dry but does not cause it to fall out.

Myth #3 – Applying sunscreen to the scalp will cause women’s hair loss.

False. One should especially use sunscreen on their scalp if they have thinning hair.

Myth #4 – Swimming in saltwater causes women’s hair loss.

False!

Myth #5 – Overexposure to sun and heat causes women’s hair loss.

False again!

Myth #6 – Braiding hair causes women’s hair loss.

Truth. As stated in a previous post, tight braiding of the hair does cause hair loss in women if it’s done for a long period of time. Short-term braiding will not.

Myth #7 – Blow drying wet hair after a day at the beach or pool causes women’s hair loss.

False. It does not cause hair loss in women but can cause the hair to become brittle if blow dried excessively.

Myth #8 – Smoking cigarettes causes women’s hair loss.

Truth. Cigarettes affect everything in the body including hair.