#alopeciauk

[joelle]

I will be at the Alopecia UK fun drama workshop event in London for ages 7-12 on Saturday 22nd July! Really looking forward to meeting everyone 😊

[masumiheadwear-blog]

Masumi Headwear rocks because It makes you look fab in just few seconds It's easy to put on and style Is soft and comfy It's cheaper than wigs Comes in many style and colours #alopeciauk #breastcancer #cancersucks #designerchemohats  #breastcancerawarenessmonth #breastcancer #keepmoving #stylish #living #womenshealth #cancersurvivor #livingwithcancer #hairloss #hat #funkychemohats #hatsforcancer #headcover #autumn #bow #mymasumi #chemohat #stylishchemohats #casualhat #alopeciauk #alopecia #scarvesforhairloss #nohairdontcare #alopeciatotalis (at Didsbury) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Oz9G_gQbK/?igshid=1szizdry5s2we

[michemoffatt]

💗 @alopeciauk my favourite charity! 💗 I love the quality tee shirts, and the cute shades! #alopecia #alopeciaawareness #alopeciauk #nohair #autoimmune #hairloss #alooeciauniversalis #Alopecianbeauty #beyourownbeautiful #selflove #positivebodyimage #changingappearance (at Dumbarton)

[michemoffatt]

Who is excited about the @masumiheadwear #spring #summer 2018 launches?! Already there are aooooo many gorgeous styles of #headwear! #masumi #mymasumi 💙💜❤️ #alopecia #alopeciauk #hairloss

[michemoffatt]

@alopeciauk #alopecia #alopeciaawareness #hairloss #autoimmune #nohair #charity #alopeciaUK #alopecianbeauty #bald #baldgirl #cold #acceptance #BeYourOwnBeautiful

[floriemeflorieme]

The Full “Just Giving” Story....

I AM NOT MY HAIR.

IT DOES NOT DEFINE ME.

I WEAR MY PATCHES WITH PRIDE. Music Video Link 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-2Lqdbi1II Just Giving for Alopecia UK Link https://www.justgiving.com/Florieme/

So unlike most “fundraising style head shaves”, by the time you read this I will ALREADY be bald. I know, I know, slightly backwards but depending on what has brought you here, and I imagine for most of you it was the music video, you’ve seen me shave it of and have seen that it actually isn’t a “fundraising head shave” at all.

Okay, so I know what your thinking. Contradiction Florieme! How can you say that and make a Just Giving page?

Well if I’m honest, I’m not a fundraising charity kind of girl. Don’t get me wrong anyone who knows me well enough knows I’m a pretty outspoken person and I donate when I can, but I have never gone out of my way for a charity because, If I’m honest I could never really see one that was important enough to me to make me want to do anything but give a bit of money to. And before you make a judgement, remember that most of the people you know that regularly involve themselves in charity work do so because the charity itself means something to them.

So the music video is for charity then?

Honestly? First and foremost I did this music video for ME.  I have always said that every music video I make will have a purpose. Whether it’s to highlight an issue, make people think or just make people laugh, every single one of the music videos I will release will have something to say, and it just turned out that my first had something to say both to me and for me.

I have alopecia or if we want to get specific, Alopecia Areata that in layman’s terms means my hair falls out leaving bald patches on my head. I’ve suffered from this for the past 2 years, which you can see the full extent of in the pictures I’ve uploaded in the gallery.

It started in my final year of university and I can honestly say I had more then my fair share of devastated moments.  I don’t mean to blow my own trumpet but I had awesome hair during my pre-alopecia days. It was a natural curly girls dream. I hadn’t straightened it since I was 13 and I researched everything under the sun in natural hair care. When wet it reached my hip and was thick enough for me to do pretty much anything I wanted with.

So funnily enough when my alopecia started and all the time up until its worst nobody else but my mum and me really noticed. I assume that was because I hid it pretty well, which believe you and me was not easy. It wasn’t until I showed people that they released I wasn’t being a drama queen.

Isn't there a cure or something?

Nope.

My treatment process can be summed up like this. I went to the doctors, several times, had a blood test, was given some iron supplements and was then made to wait 5 months to see a specialist who told me it was “just stress”.  Luckily for me I had patches of regrowth by the time I saw the dermatologist, so I accepted his diagnoses and tried to make the best out of a bad situation. I cut my hair to a bob and with in a few months it had all grown back. I thought, I was lucky and it was a onetime thing never to return. Sadly that wasn't the case.

So how does that bring us to the music video?

Well around May this year I noticed a patch slap bang in the middle of my head, just where a middle parting would sit. And to say the least I was shattered. After all that, it had decided to return! I was just starting to love my hair again!  I had spent money on new hair stuff, finally found a hairdresser and then it decides to go again. In probably the hardest place to disguise it! I was angry! I was fuming! Because it was something that was and still is completely out of my control.

I dreaded washing my hair, because I would literally lose handfuls. I had to spend time just trying to figure out the best way to hide the patches and every time I tried to put oils on my scalp I would feel a new bald patch.  

It got to the point where I just stopped taking any pride in my appearance. Didn't bother with make up or doing much with my hair other then the bare minimum to cover the patches. I literally thought to myself. I'll make an effort when it grows back, as if it had an expiration date or something. Buy June it was obvious it was here to stay, at least till the rest of the year. And as the patches progressed, I was so tempted to shave it all of and be done with it. My hair to me then was just one big inconvenience. I lost the love for it.

I remember telling a few people including my mum, that I wanted to shave it off. All but 2 said I was crazy. The replies were things along the lines of

" Just wait for it to grow back"

"You can't even tell you have alopecia"

"You might look stupid"

"Everyone will see the patches and stare at you, are you prepared for that?"

And for a couple weeks I wasn't. I was trying to decide what was worse. Should I just get a wig or something? But in the end after a long YouTube stint, I decided I was going to do it. Shave it off and rock it! I told my mum and she still thought I was crazy.  What was funny is that after I decided to do this, I saw bald women everywhere. And after getting home one day and looking at the patches again in the bathroom I decided that I wanted to film myself doing it for my first music video. I told my friend and director and he jumped on board.

I realised then that it was way more complicated then I first thought. Think of all the things that could go wrong in a one take music video that involves you doing something that cannot be undone.

But on the other hand I knew I didn’t want to just do it at home. I wanted to make a point out of it. You are probably thinking “It’s only hair, get over it”, but there is a reason why the hair industry is worth billions of pounds. For women hair is a major symbol of our femininity. Losing it without choice at times not only made me feel ugly, but also like less of a woman.

So I took the choice back. I was getting rid of a staple of my image and I wanted to capture that moment and share it with the rest of the world to hopefully inspire women who are not only suffering from alopecia, but think they have to constantly live up to expectations surrounding how they look. I am not my hair and it does not define me.

Thank you for reading

Florieme

xXx