Trying to grow some hair-- applying new Women's ROGAINE Foam

Sooo... If you read my last post, you now know that I'm working with The List South Florida TV show as they follow along to find out if new Women’s ROGAINE Foam with 5% minoxidl will work for me.

A no-makeup selfie?! Phew, I'm keeping it really REAL here!! Hope this doesn't frighten you away, but I wanted you to see what a fresh application of the product looks like. It does not drip... It's kind of almost like a mousse. The foam dissolves into the hair, and when I wake up my strands are a little crunchy-- just like a mousse. I can brush it out and the product disappears. Love that. 

DISCLAIMER: Rogaine is providing me with the product for free in exchange for my honest review, and for publicizing my results with The List. Do I hope the product really works? Yes-- not because the company wants it to work, but because *I* want thicker hair!!!

The List went with me as I met with a dermatologist whose name is totally escaping me as I type this blog post on my cell phone... All I remember is that she is really knowledgable, super nice -- and she gives good sound bites, lol! TV newsies know what I mean! ;)

She asked about my hair loss history, and I told her there have been times, even fairly recently, when I would be shampooing my hair and so many strands would come out, it was practically clumps. My husband did me a favor this weekend and cleaned my shower for me... Hope this isn't TMI, but he said it looked like I killed someone in the shower by banging their head against the wall until all their hair fell out! 

Ok, I'm totally giggling remembering that-- and he and I shared a genuine laugh at the silly moment-- but it's definitely no laughing matter when I look in the mirror and see straight to my scalp. 

The dermatologist recommended I get blood work done, which I did today. When I go back for my routine physical in a couple of weeks, I'm going to ask for (per her advice) that they test me for alopecia. She also said hormones can play a role in hair loss, and she said perhaps hormones are a reason I always struggle with acne-- even though I'm in my 30's! 

She also explained that my level of hair loss is about a 2 or a 3, and the chart goes up to 10. That made me feel better. Hate to say I felt ENCOURAGED when she showed me the chart, but it did put into perspective that my problem could be sooo much worse. I can easily mask my thin hair, and even when I don't bother, most people probably wouldn't really look at my hair and say "Oh, that girl is going bald."

To grow hair, I have two months until February sweeps, when this story airs nationwide. Yep, you read that right-- I'm sharing my balding head with the nation-- and that feels really quick to try to grow some noticeable hair. Will it be the proudest moment of my life when this story airs? Not really, but I keep reminding myself that somebody has to show the struggle for more people to be inspired to figure out ways to deal with it. So this is me laying it all out there. :) I'm feeling optimistic.