Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
Actress Countess Vaughn says that due to her job, she found wearing lace front wigs was not only better for her hair, but allowed her to be more versatile. After 5+ years of use however, she found that the wigs were doing more harm than good.
On an appearance of The Doctors, Vaughn talks her Lace Front Wig scare.
It’s crazy how one day everything’s fine and then the simplest things can mess up your life. Working in the industry for so long, I’ve always had different looks, so I’m used to wearing wigs. In about 2004, my hairstylist introduced me to front lace wigs and I fell in love with them immediately. You have a full hairline. I was wearing it 24/7. Five years later the drama came in. The red flag was the oozing from my ears, from my forehead…the whole nape around my head. The puss. It had a horrible smell. It was painful. I let this go by for six months. What I didn’t realize was, I had a bad reaction to the glue that I used to apply the wig. My hair started falling out.
I didn’t want to make the connection with that. I was just like, ‘Come on. A wig? A wig can make you sick? No way.’ I went to a dermatologist but he didn’t let me know long term there would be any problems. Now I just have discoloration. People assume, you know, do you have vitiligo? Anywhere where you would apply the wig and put tape on, I’m lighter in those areas and I use makeup to cover it up. The skin under my eyes peeled because of the glue. The skin came off my ears. With eyeliner I’m literally drawing in my hair line.
Because of the hair situation, I was embarrassed. It was just, you have to be at home and be bald. I had to go through this in order to teach my little one that you gotta love yourself before anybody else will.
*starts crying* I just want to look natural.
Me personally, I’m not a fan of gluing anything to my head…ESPECIALLY on my hair line. I learned one good time and that is all it took. Because I’m a weave wearer, I’ve researched several types of weaves, wigs, installs etc. The issue here is not with the lace front or even the glue, it’s with the install and how long Countess chose to wear it. Wigs come with combs and even have the option of being sewn down. Even when wearing hair weave it’s important that you still take care of YOUR hair underneath. Let your scalp breathe a bit before going into wearing extensions again. The problem here is with Countess wearing a wig 24/7, which tells me she probably did not properly clean her hair line with alcohol before adding MORE glue to bond the wig down. Now she’s adding layers and layers of glue, instead of taking the wig off and cleaning the bonding area. Do that for 5+ years and yes, your hair will fall out (amongst other things).
Ladies, whether you wear wigs, weave or your natural hair, it is VERY important that you take care of the hair that is growing from your scalp. You don’t always get the luxury of it growing back.
