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Bye Bye, Eyebrows
Within the past 4 days I have noticed that my eyebrows are quickly disappearing from my face. This is hitting me a little bit harder than I thought. You see, when I finally shaved my head this past April and got a beautiful new wig, I felt like a brand new person! After finally reaching the stage of acceptance those few months ago, I have been the happiest and healthiest I have felt in ages!
I believe that alopecia is the most empowering thing that has ever happened to me. I had a chance to work at a leadership forum for 3 weeks in Washington, DC with some of our nation’s top high school scholars this summer. As well as teaching them leadership, I wanted to teach them to be open-minded and accepting of all different kinds of people. I always explained my alopecia to them and showed them my bald head, and the teens were fascinated! They had tons of questions for me and told me how courageous they thought I was for not being afraid to talk about it or to go out without a wig. I think I was able to teach them that beauty comes in many different packages, and hopefully I gave them awareness to alopecia. Many people are afraid of what they do not know, and now that they know about alopecia, I believe that they will be more accepting and open-minded to people that are different than themselves. As they say “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” I truly feel that alopecia has been a blessing in my life, certainly not a disease. After the acceptance, I never have asked myself “Why did this happen to me?” I know that it happened to me because I will use this gift to help others find confidence and beauty in themselves. I hope that I can inspire young women across this country to love themselves more and more every day.
But for some reason, I am having a hard time dealing with losing my eyebrows (and probably my eyelashes soon thereafter). It's not as tough as the hairloss (I haven't shed any tears), but it's still just a bummer. Especially when I feel so on top of the world right now with my bald head! Any advice from fellow alopecians would be greatly appreciated. You all helped me so much in my hairloss journey, and I know that I will continue to find inspiration in you as I continue on. Thanks so much!! :)
I believe that alopecia is the most empowering thing that has ever happened to me. I had a chance to work at a leadership forum for 3 weeks in Washington, DC with some of our nation’s top high school scholars this summer. As well as teaching them leadership, I wanted to teach them to be open-minded and accepting of all different kinds of people. I always explained my alopecia to them and showed them my bald head, and the teens were fascinated! They had tons of questions for me and told me how courageous they thought I was for not being afraid to talk about it or to go out without a wig. I think I was able to teach them that beauty comes in many different packages, and hopefully I gave them awareness to alopecia. Many people are afraid of what they do not know, and now that they know about alopecia, I believe that they will be more accepting and open-minded to people that are different than themselves. As they say “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” I truly feel that alopecia has been a blessing in my life, certainly not a disease. After the acceptance, I never have asked myself “Why did this happen to me?” I know that it happened to me because I will use this gift to help others find confidence and beauty in themselves. I hope that I can inspire young women across this country to love themselves more and more every day.
But for some reason, I am having a hard time dealing with losing my eyebrows (and probably my eyelashes soon thereafter). It's not as tough as the hairloss (I haven't shed any tears), but it's still just a bummer. Especially when I feel so on top of the world right now with my bald head! Any advice from fellow alopecians would be greatly appreciated. You all helped me so much in my hairloss journey, and I know that I will continue to find inspiration in you as I continue on. Thanks so much!! :)
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Comment by Jennifer Krahn on July 16, 2009 at 9:07am
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Hey Natalie,
I'm in the same boat as you. Just losing the (closer to the end now) my brows and eyelashes. I'm finding the brows a tough one. Today is one of those rough days. I'm back to the getting through this one day at a time mode. I find it helps. I've been filling in the brows with a pencil and very few people have actually noticed that they have gone missing. No one really sees that the lashes are gone, but for me, the tough time comes in the morning when there is nothing to be seen on my face in terms of facial hair. I'm thinking that this is another growth phase in terms of attitude and I'm allowing myself to go through all of the miserable emotions that accompanies this in hopes (and knowing full well) that this will give me greater acceptance in the end. You are gorgeous in any form of hair or no hair. Keep doing what you are doing. You are definitely not alone in this one.
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Comment by Natalie on July 16, 2009 at 12:26pm
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Thanks for the advice, Jenn! I just went to buy my first eyebrow pencil today, and I think it is going to take me a few days to get used to! hahaha. I hope that this gives me a greater acceptance, too, and I have just been continuing to try to keep smiling and holding my head up high. Thanks again :)
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Comment by traci on July 16, 2009 at 10:12pm
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Natalie,
I noticed my eyebrows stared to disappear when I was about ten, a couple of years after I started losing my hair. It was tough losing all of my hair and eyebrows; I sympathize with how you're feeling. It wasn't until last summer when I shaved my head and got a new wig that I felt empowered and ready to take on whatever life had to throw at me also.
I'm happy that you're feeling so on top of the world! It took me years to become comfortable with my alopecia, and I'm so glad that you have embraced your beauty. It is a bummer to continue to see more of the image of yourself you'd gotten used to slip away, but remember that it doesn't change your spirit or your beauty. When I started to lose my eyebrows I just took a deep breath and said, "Adios! What good are you, eyebrows, anyway? Sure, you keep out the sweat from our eyes, but I say bring it on!" Life is a series of challenges and a little sweat couldn't hurt. ;-)
Stay beautiful, hon,
xoxo Traci Lee
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