For anyone new here, Hi! I’m Kimberly ❤️ I was diagnosed with Androgenic Alopecia at 19 years old. I’ve lost 70% of my hair over the past 10 years.

Going from thick hair to being diagnosed with ‘Androgenic Alopecia’… A journey I did not think I would ever go on. I experienced a loss of a close friend and 3 months later, when I was blow drying my hair, I noticed that almost half of my thick hair was missing. It didn’t notice it falling out as I had so much hair. To this day I am convinced that this triggered my female pattern hair loss gene to kick in early.

I went to see a few different dermatologists who all seemed to confirm that it was female pattern hair-loss - aka #androgenicalopecia . My mother and both my grandmas have thin hair so I wasn’t confused by the diagnosis. I also did not opt to have a biopsy as it was quite obvious what my condition was. The only solution I was offered was Minoxidil. I was already wearing hair toppers when I visited another dermatologist for a second option. I remember that derm looking at my hair thinking, ‘wow, that is some thick head of hair’…than I removed my topper. She had never seen one before. I still find it so strange that these dermatologists who specialise in hair loss are not aware of this option for women?!

I tried every hair growth method you can think of. I spent thousands of $$$ trying different shampoos, treatments/oils that promised results. I also used a laser cap for over a year (with no results)…as well as PRP injections (again, no results).

All I could look at was my friends’ thick hair. As my hair was still quite thick at the time, losing half of it was definitely not noticeable to anyone else…but to me it was devastating as I knew what I had lost. I started using hair extensions and I was able to get away with this for a long time. My hair has been progressively getting worse each year since I started losing it.

That’s when I found the power of toppers. Toppers have allowed me to begin the process of healing. I felt like when I heard the words ‘androgenic alopecia’ that who I was no longer existed. The girl with the thick hair no longer existed. It felt like I lost myself completely. Grieving the person I previously knew and further losing myself with every lotion and prion I tried to cure my hair loss with.

The power that toppers can give is TRULY life changing. Toppers put the power back in my hands and out of the hands of hair loss. Wearing a topper has allowed me to not only appreciate and love the hair I have, but love who I am. They gave me the space to find myself and remember that my identity does not exist around hair loss.

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of comments saying ‘it’s just hair’ or ‘you have plenty of hair, you don’t need to wear that’. And yes, I wouldn’t spontaneously combust if I didn’t wear my topper. And I’m even starting to feel more confident going out without my topper. But toppers have become such a beloved part of my life.

Putting my topper on in the morning makes me feel so powerful. It’s that little thing I can do each day to feel my very best. Wearing hair isn’t part of everyone’s journey. And that’s totally ok. Wear hair or don’t- the choice is yours.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, you shouldn’t wear hair for anyone but yourself ❤️ and there isn’t one reason for wearing hair. Some people wear hair due to hair loss, others for religious or cultural reasons and some just because they love how it looks. There’s no rule book. No hair loss police requiring you to lose X number of strands to make you worthy of wearing a topper. And everyone’s journey looks SO different. As a teenager I had the THICKEST hair, so losing 70% of it looks very different to someone who has naturally fine hair.

If wearing hair is part of your story, awesome! If not, that’s awesome too. Do what makes you feel your best ❤️