Chances are, if you watched sitcoms during the 90s, then you’d be familiar with actress Countess Vaughn. She was the funny girl on “Moesha”, then landed her own spin-off show “The Parkers”, and then did a brief stint on the VH1 weight loss reality show, “Celebrity Fit Club.” The actress recently appeared on “The Doctors” where she revealed the horrors of lace front wigs and what they did to her hair and scalp.
After a five-year long love affair with the hair pieces that require constant application of wig glue to stay in place, Countess realized that she had developed a severe scalp infection. But because she couldn’t accept that a wig could be causing such damage, the actress let the oozing and hair loss that resulted from the infection go on for six months before consulting a dermatologist.
“The red flag was the oozing from my ears, from my forehead, the whole nape around my head. The puss, that horrible smell, it was painful. I let this go by for six months,” she explained on the show. Little did she know, Countess had a severe reaction to the glue that she used to apply the wig. The reaction resulted in severe pain, massive hair loss and skin discoloration. The skin around her ears even fell off.
Some women wear lace front wigs for the simple convenience of shielding their own hair from damage and changing up their style. Others use these wigs to conceal severe hair loss from illness, such as cancer or even stress. Lace front wigs became popular when women saw how versatile and natural-looking the appearance of the scalp looked. Using tape or glue to hold the wig in place is common, however, those can be very damaging to the scalp and hair if used consistently. Countess struggled with self-esteem issues and used this experience to instill self-confidence in her daughter.
“I was embarrassed, you have to be at home, and be bald,” Countess said while holding back tears. “I had to go through this to teach my little one that you have to love yourself before anyone else will.”
