Hair Loss in Mexico

Bienvenido a la Ciudad de Mexico! Welcome to Mexico City.

Its 4 am, and I finally made it to Mexico City….after 14 hours of flying, delays, and layovers. Its crispy cold, but an exhilarating feeling to have finally arrived. 

I traveled around the Yucatan Peninsula (Cancun, Valladolid, Tulum, Playa Del Carmen, Merida etc) when I was 21 with a good female friend. It was an amazing time and one I highly recommend everyone does. At that point, we were both adamant that we would never risk going past Merida, up to Mexico City, or any further towards the US. I mean we have all seen the TV shows and the newspaper articles about what goes on in Mexico. 

After spending the last few years living in Grand Cayman, with an Island population of approximately 60,000 people, I was also very apprehensive to spend time in such a large city. Mexico City’s population is 8.9million people, and 21.2million people in the metropolitan area, making Mexico City the most populous metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere*. I mean it almost makes New York look small (slight exaggeration, but you get the idea). As it turns out, all of my fears were misplaced and my only real concern during the trip was how cold it was and that my sneakers did not suit anything. Bienvenida

Viva Mexico. What an amazing place with so much going on. Every day we walked on average 15 kilometers without even realizing it…you definitely don’t lose any weight with all of the carb saturated delicious meals and cheap cerveza. But there is so much to see with street after street of markets, and historical land marks, that you can’t help but walk that far.

On my first trip to Mexico, I bought the best human hair, hair extensions ever, and for a really good price (I actually can’t remember the price sorry, but I remember being stoked with the quality and being able to wear them for a really long time). So in hopes of doing the same again, but this time buying a wig, we dedicated a day to check out a few shops which google recommended. We literally spent 6 hours walking along one road, which cars did not have a chance to drive along, because in front of the layers of shops (literally you could walk down an alleyway and find more shops behind the storefront) there was also a layer of markets set up on the footpath and the road. 

We unintentionally started in the ‘meat’ section surrounded by plucked yellow chickens (which are oddly naturally yellow) and moved our way through the non-perishables, the bags, toys, children’s clothing and lingerie sections which separated us from the “hair” section. Eventually, we made it to the “hair” section, marked by hair extensions hanging on the sidewalk, mannequin heads lined with wigs, and racks of false eyelashes. 

Frida Kahlo

What was unexpected was that basically all of their wigs were capless. Which if you read my previous post on capless wigs, then you know I am not a fan. They last a really long time, but they rarely look natural, unless you like “big” hair do’s, and the stitch is usually pretty evident. What was also unexpected and something I had never noticed in all my years traveling and hunting for hair-loss solutions, was how frequent colorful braided headbands and ribbons were everywhere- they were the most popular item by far. I bought a braided headband- my curiosity got the better of me, and they were $0.50 each which I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, my Spanish is still not good enough to ask the locals about them, but I jumped straight on google to find out more-  

What I found is that they are used by Mexicans in support of their Frida Kahlo/ Frida hairstyle! What is that? Well as I understand it, it is a very popular and traditional Mexican hairstyle, that we have all seen and maybe even tried to mimic without really questioning it. It is the classic hairstyle which we always see when we look at images of El Día De Los Muertos or day of the dead. It’s when hair is plaited up and around a person’s head creating a crown, and traditionally with flowers or colorful ribbon slotted in. 

It is named Frida Kahlo after a famous Mexican artist named Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón. Her art was inspired by the country’s popular culture during the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity**. The hairstyle was around long before it was identified as the Frida Kahlo hairstyle. Traditionally the hairstyle was used as a symbol of marital status. Braids with either ribbon hanging or flowers on the left side meant that you were single and ready to mingle, and the right side meant you were married. Flowers were most commonly used only for celebratory events, which were always fresh flowers with strong odors so that the man making you dance could enjoy the smell. 

My obsession with History

Every country and even cities and states within those countries have their own form of traditions, which I find fascinating and as I explore I find many of which include symbolic or traditional headwear, or odd traditions for dealing with hair-loss. 

Mexico’s history with headwear is not limited to the Frida Kahlo hairstyle. While at the archaeological museum in Mexico City (one of the top things to do in Mexico City) they too also documented how headwear and hairstyles over time were used as a symbol of leadership and beauty dating back to the time of the Mayans. 

In Mayan traditions, Headdresses were an important part of their attire. Mayans embellished their headdresses with different decorative items such as feathers, animal fur, and bones. The quality, appearance, and size of the headdress symbolised the social status of the wearer, so much so, that commoners were forbidden from wearing any headwear. 

Also in Mayan culture, it was also considered a sign of beauty to have an elongated head, demonstrated by a large forehead. Some men would burn the hair on their forehead to make it appear even larger, and any remaining hair would be tied on top of their head in a ponytail, or with a headdress further elongating their heads. 

Historically, and not just in Mexico, but in cultures all over the world having wealth, intellect, and prestige was demonstrated through headwear. In a way, those of us who have headwear may consider the same now- that we are the prestigious ones :).  You only need to listen to Ariana Grande’s 7 rings song and check out Kylie Jenner’s Instagram to know that headwear and fake hair have made a comeback and are yet again becoming a symbol of prestige!

Conclusion:

I digressed- sorry. I was unsuccessful at finding a great wig in Mexico City- I namely blame the fact that the largest high-quality shop that google suggested was closed- it was Christmas Eve after all. And from my experience with hair in Mexico, I’m positive I would have found a fabulous one there. While in the markets I found a really nice one made with heat resistant fibers and partially lace front, for US$70.00 but I turned it down because I was adamant the big wig shop would have the goods. And once we found out that the big wig shop was closed, we couldn’t bring ourselves to walk back through all the people and markets to find the shop again.  

It seems that no matter where you are in Mexico you can find good quality hair loss products. While in Mexico, we also spent a week at Zihuatanejo, a gorgeous coastal spot, where massages are US$12 per hour (I had many, obviously I had to share the love between all of the spa’s), cheap water activities including sailing, kayaking, jet skiing, and snorkeling (although the snorkeling is not worth writing home about). All round it was a fabulous cheap luxury holiday with direct flights from Calgary (not that that helped me) and I still managed to find lots of hair loss options, such as Izzy, A US$25.00, low budget capless wig for a bit of fun, and some gorgeous mink false eyelashes for US$4.00 which look stunning but I am yet to wear.

If you want to see more pictures/ videos from Mexico, check out my ‘travel’ highlight reel on Instagram @HairandNowGlobal.

Which country have you found the best for Hair loss solutions? 

XOX

References:

*http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mexico-city-population/

** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo