I picked up my NHS wig today. Then with the two wigs, the NHS and the real hair one, I cycled to see a hair stylist recommended by Josie, called Gow Tanaka. He has worked a lot with the fashion photographer, John Rankin, and done some cool and marvellous ads and magazine shoots. And there I was, with my little wigs, and he was going to ‘sort me out’, for free!

First, he demonstrated how to wash the real hair wig. Basically, you wash it pretty much like you would wash delicate wool/silk items. Except with shampoo and conditioner. He said it was not necessary to use any special wig shampoo; any mild shampoo would do the job. You simply soak the wig in mild shampoo/water mix for about 5 minutes, rinse, soak again with conditioner/water mix, rinse, and pat dry with towel. Then let the hair dry naturally or blow dry it, after which you can brush/comb it, not when it is still wet.

Gow cut the fringe of the NHS wig. I have come to the conclusion, that the NHS wig is not too bad, but compared to the real one, it looks so fake, and you can easily see it is a wig. I think, the NHS wig will be OK, if I wear a hat!

Then we got to the business, Gow styled the real hair wig. The end result was amazing! He is a true genius. I am going to have gorgeous, blond, slightly curly, long, and thick hair! And, the wig looks so natural. All thanks to Josie, and Gow.

Suzie, Sarah, and I were invited for dinner at Ola’s (Suzie used to live with Ola and Sarah). Ola had been planning the special ‘Piia menu’ since two days ago, and had even taken a half a day off to prepare the food! The dinner was DELICIOUS. There were at least four different organic, veggie, lactose, wheat free starters, followed by yummy main course. To finish the meal, Ola made three different types of fruit smoothies! We were spoiled rotten. As I was not pampered enough, just as we were about to leave, Ola gave me a gorgeous sunflower in a pot as a present.

Cycling back home tonight, all I could think how many wonderful people I have around me, who have been so helpful, generous, and just generally amazing! I am a lucky girl!

My real hair wig styled by Gow!