Look Good Feel Better - Index

Look Good Feel Better - magazine - Index

of her friends spent an afternoon wig shopping
— an experience that she describes as bittersweet.
“It was hard to see myself with so little hair,”
says Linda, who had her blond hair cut short to
begin preparing for her eventual hair loss. “But
it was also a lot of fun experimenting and seeing
what I looked like as a redhead and a brunette.”
Linda ended up buying fi ve different hairpieces
LOOKING GOOD
THE RIGHT WIG
FOR YOUR COMPLEXION
Amalia Ruggiero, a Look Good Feel Better
volunteer hair-alternatives specialist at Credit
Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ont., says
that choosing the right wig colour can help
compensate for changes in skin tone during
cancer treatment. “If you’re choosing a wig
to match your hair colour, alter it a tad,” she
advises. For example, if you’re typically brunette,
choose a wig with some highlights to counteract
paleness. If you’re blond, one with lowlights will
alleviate sallowness. And because red can bring
out sallow tones in the skin, says Ruggiero, if
your hair is red, switch to auburn for your wig to
give your skin a healthy glow.
SYNTHETIC VS. HUMAN HAIR
Synthetic-hair wigs:
look like human hair
are easy to care for
feel light and airy on your head
are less expensive than human-hair wigs
can be ruined by heat or steam
Human-hair wigs:
feel natural but are heavier than synthetic
are longer lasting, a consideration for those
undergoing a longer treatment process
can be professionally styled like your own hair
are more expensive than synthetic
FINDING A SHOP NEAR YOU
For a list of wig retailers, visit the Canadian Cancer
Society website at www.cancer.ca. First choose
your region, then click on Support/Services and
choose the Community Services Directory.
for different occasions. “Looking good through
treatment has helped me stay positive,” she adds.
“It’s a way of saying to my children, and to myself,
that I’m going to be OK.”
ILLUSTRATIONS: CINDY JEFTOVIC. MAKEUP/HAIR: DAVID GOVEIA,
THE ARTIST GROUP LTD. STYLIST: MICHELLE PAIANO, THE ARTIST
GROUP LTD. WIG SPECIALIST: ZAIN HAJI. TOP, THE BAY. JACKET
AND JEANS, LINDA’S OWN. WIGS, HATS AND SCARVES: THE WIG
SHOP, PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL
LOOKGOODFEELBETTER.CA | 1 800 914 5665 33