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Hello ladies,
So I have been considering growing out my natural hair so that I can do more activities dressed as a woman, like going swimming for example. My one question is, what is generally more expensive, to invest in good wigs and the maintenance of them or to grow out my own natural hair and pay for salons to maintain my natural hair? I am a girl on a tight budget so I am looking for the more affordable option.
– AngelicaHi Angelica,
If you have nice and healthy hair, and you’re wanting to spend a lot of time as a woman, and you can have long hair where you work, then I would say, go for it! I started losing my own hair when I was much younger so my only option is wigs. My wigs work quite nicely but I would absolutely love having my own long hair!
Hugs,
Ms. Lauren M
Hi Angelica:
That’s an interesting question. To answer your question right away, I would try to grow my hair and learn to style it, if possible. I’ve always been a DIY’er and have never bothered going anywhere to get my hair done. This might not be practical for you so I have some further thoughts that I hope will help you make a decision.
Growing your own hair is nice, but keep in mind that it will fall out as you get older. Maybe your hairline will recede, or maybe you’ll get the bald spot in back, but it will happen eventually unless you are one of the lucky few. Also, if you do get your natural hair styled femininely, then you would have to minimize that if you still dress as a man for work or whatever.
With wigs you have to decide either synthetic or natural. I’ve only gotten synthetic wigs, and even though I haven’t been Josie for even a year yet I’ve already repurchased a wig because my first one got too ratty and it lost hair. That being said, I am getting better at maintaining them thanks to the use of wig shampoos and conditioners. For me, this so far has been the cheaper option. In contrast, my wife goes to the salon every few weeks to get it colored and styled and not only does it take hours it takes quite a bit of money too.
I can’t offer any help on natural hair wigs, I’m afraid, but if they’re more resilient than synthetic hair I would look into investing in them. Yes, they’re more costly, but as a friend told me “cheap is expensive”, and if they last longer than synthetic wigs you will save money in the long run.
If you have a good head of hair then that would be the best option and cheapest in the long run as you can learn to style and color it yourself. If this is the case it’s a no brainer for you.
I wear a wig daily as growing my hair out isn’t an option. A good wig could last nearly a year and, for me, needs to be cut in to suit my style at the start and have maintenance over the year. A new wig would cost around $250, I have a friendly salon who will style a new wig for about $25. I now have the skills to do minor trimming and maintenance myself but my stylist would do that for $15 so I pop in to her salon once in a wigs lifetime for a professional revamp. I know friends who spend well in excess of that in salons over a year. However those that can color and style themselves needing a cut every few months would pay less than I do.
I initially bought a wig, on line. I was not happy with it. It was synthetic so it felt cheap. Additionally, it didn’t fit right. I found myself always fussing with it because I would feel it slipping around on my head.
My wife has been asking me for years to grow my hair out, so that’s what I decided to do. Fortunately at my age, I still have plenty of hair. It has natural waves and curls and that is what my wife likes best about it. It is now at the top of my shoulders so it has a decent ponytail.
I’m not sure how long I will grow it but I’m having fun with it. Personally, I feel that growing it out was a good decision.
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I think growing your natural hair out would be the less expensive if you don’t get a style that requires maintenance every other week and you let it be its natural color. And has been said, you can lean to color and style your hair at home and save money.
I am lucky that I still have decent hair and have let it grow out to between my shoulder blades. I wish it were thicker but it makes a nice bushy ponytail which I wear in public. At my age I know I probably only have four or five more years before I’ll have to cut it so I enjoy it while I can. I’ve considered using hair growth products to prolong that time… idk. I don’t color it so its a natural silver/white which the wife likes and she trims it for me so no salon expense at all.
I used to wear synthetic wigs and still have several. Some are short and some are below my shoulders. They were always hot, easily tangled or frizzy, and did not stay put very well with activity. The benefit of wigs is you can easily change styles and colors.
I’m letting mine grow out. It’s low maintenance – just a trim every few months to keep the ends growing healthily. This costs about $200 annually. Fortunately I have a ton of hair with some texture. Currently shoulder length. It’s going to look pretty much the same as my favorite wig when it gets a bit longer.
/EA
I’m letting mine grow since retirement.
Down to the shoulders and a professional cut.
My stylist has very much bought into “Make me pretty, and give me something with ambiguous gender”I get a thrill when I’m called “Ma’am”.
Usually from behind, as pull up pants and long sleeve t-shirts are pretty gender neutral.
She’s gay and we talk freely about being outside the mainstream.
She’s been very encouraging and it feels so good to be in a salon full of women, feeling the feminity and the sensuality of being pamperedHaving grown my hair out past my shoulders I found that I spent in excess of $200 in roughly a week maintaining it as opposed to about $80 for a good wig so I think that having your natural hair is more expensive but at the same time it also looks better because I was able to style it and do things that I can’t do with my wigs plus it just feels better knowing this is my hair if that makes sense
I grew out my hair in my early 20s. I didn’t cut it or trim it at all, and it went almost down to my butt.
So I saved alot on going to hair salons. On the flip side, it takes an awfully long time to dry, especially in the winter. I didn’t like using a hair dryer back then, so I let it dried naturally. In the summer it wasn’t bad, but in the winter it took hours.
I also worked in a kitchen for my summer job, and I had to either do a hair net or tie it back. I tied it back, but it was before I bought scrunchies and used elastic bands. It was overwhelmingly hot, elastic bands are murder on the hair, and I had massive split ends.
Because I tied it back so often, I have traction alopecia, so now I am half bald and can’t grow out my hair if my life depended on it.
If I could go back in time, I would’ve kept my hair short, I would still have a full head of hair. My vote is wigs. Yes, a decent wig will cost you but it is better than losing your hair and facing the consequences like I am, which is balding.
Personally I love wigs. When I bought my first ones and put them on with my other girl clothes, the transformation was incredible. I didn’t look like a guy in girl’s clothes. I was a girl. I was shocked, stunned and amazed at the difference the wig made.
In fact, back then my hair was kind of longish. I wanted to grow it longer to look more femme. Then when I got the wigs, I cut my hair shorter so it fit under the wigs better.
Today, I still love my wigs and have several. I enjoy being able to change my look by changing my hair like I can change my look by wearing different dresses, shoes, pantyhose and breastforms. I like the change and variety.
For me it was never about what the cost of growing and keeping my hair real nice or what wigs I should buy. I enjoy the different look of wigs.
Angelica, I grew out my hair and found the salon visits and products I had to buy really added up. The up front costs of human hair wigs is significant, but I like the variety of styles and colors to be fun. My go to are two of the same length and color, one with a casual style and one with a fancier style. It saves a lot of time and money if you take care of them.
If you have the option of growing your own hair out, then go for it. Not only will you have greater freedom in activities like swimming, and be more comfortable in warm weather, but you will be able to enjoy visits to the beauty salon. Yes, there is a cost, but that experience is part of the fun of presenting as a woman!
So, I’ve been growing my hair out for a while now. I began with the same kind of logic as many here, I wanted to be able to swim, cycle, run, etc. en femme and a wig wouldn’t work for that. The problem is that with long hair, I don’t “transform” near as well as with a wig. I don’t look that feminine with a wig anyway, but as a guy with long hair, I just look like a guy with long hair. I have pretty strong masculine fascial features. The first time I put on a wig I just thought, “hmm, 80’s glam rocker . . .”
I think growing your hair out is worth a try if you’re curious. For some it works out really well, but in my case, I look better with the wigs.
As some have expressed here, by the time you consider salon visits and other kinds of products, I don’t think there’s going to be much in the way of financial savings. Remember too that if you buy an expensive human hair wig, you’re going to need to spend money taking care of and styling that too.
As for me, I’ll probably keep the long hair for a while and keep experimenting, but in a couple of years I expect to cut it off.
There is some ups and downs namely if you grow your hair out you will always have long hair. I am growing my hair and every so often things would be so much better if I could chop it off and go back to a wig, but the fact that my real hair is more malleable and cheaper than a wig always convince me to go with it. Not to mention wigs are a bit uncomfortable, but I do also mention the variety and colors I could go with with a wig rather than my base hair.
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