Three Women Embracing Their Baldness

NOVA is celebrating the bold and beautiful women who are wearing their bald heads with confidence and redefining hair loss in a way that’s all about self-love and empowerment.

Photo of Laura Mathias, Credit - Baker & Street

Imagine being a young and carefree child, savouring all the thrills of growing up, and then suddenly losing your hair without explanation. For a number of women who were diagnosed with alopecia during their childhood, this was their harsh reality. As conversations surrounding this autoimmune disorder gain more traction and become increasingly normalised, it’s not just the physical loss of hair that these women have to contend with - it is also the psychological burden of feeling like they don’t conform to society’s expectations of beauty.

A survey conducted in February 2023 by NOVA showed that 79% of women with childhood alopecia had a negative relationship with their hair loss growing up and 83% didn’t have enough support to help them cope. Nevertheless, these women are resilient, they’re learning to accept themselves and are redefining their relationship with their hair, one step at a time. For Good Hair Day, an initiative created by haircare brand GHD, dedicated to making women feel fabulous and empowered through hair, we spoke to three women who are rewriting the story of alopecia and embracing being bald with confidence and grace.

CHRISTALA FLETCHER, 30 YEARS OLD

“I was 9 when I started to lose my hair. My mother noticed a small, smooth, coin-sized patch on my scalp, and after a visit to the doctor, I was given a cream and told I had alopecia areata. I wasn’t given much support or a proper explanation of what was happening to me, as I was a child. My mother and I had no idea how to handle this, and it was a scary and overwhelming experience for both of us.

Everyone’s initial reaction to alopecia is to hide it. How do we hide it? It was a traumatic experience having to cover my patches every day trying to do different hairstyles so you couldn’t see my patches. It was an absolute nightmare having to do that during high school. I dealt with a lot of feeling insecure and relentless bul- lying, so instead of going to school I would bunk.

My parents did their best to support me, but there was very little information available on how to support a child with alopecia. I taught myself how to make my own wigs by watching videos online and buying supplies from local hair shops because the ones I was buying weren’t what I wanted. But in my mid-20s, wearing wigs became tedious, and I was exhausted with not being comfortable in my own skin. So my sister suggested that maybe I shave whatever was left of my hair and I agreed and she helped me to shave it off in my bedroom. It was like a little bit of weight was lifted. I was so protective of that little tuft of hair. It was like the last part of me I was holding on to.

Afterwards, I joined a support group for bald women online. One of the requirements for joining was to take a picture of myself bald, and for the first time, I was smiling in a picture of myself bald. In the support group, I was surrounded by bald wom- en of colour who were all unapologetically embracing their baldness and supporting each other. It was so re- freshing and so healthy for me to see that these women were normal people who loved life and were unapologetically bald. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen such positivity around my baldness and that moment really changed my life.

After I shared a picture of myself bald on Instagram everything changed in my life. I was absolutely petrified of what the response was going to be. A few hours later my friends and family and people that didn't quite know me were supporting me and really proud that I'd shared something so deeply personal and in that moment I decided I'm no longer going to hide this anymore.

Although I still miss my hair sometimes, I no longer have a deep desire for it to come back. I have learned to accept my hair loss and feel grateful for the journey. I don’t think I’d be the same person I am now with my hair.”

A survey conducted in February 2023 by NOVA showed that 79% of women with childhood alopecia had a negative relationship with their hair loss growing up and 83% didn’t have enough support to help them cope

FAIZA ZERIA, 26 YEAR OLD

“I was 4 when I first started losing my hair. Despite it being patchy, my mother never cut it, scared I’d lose all my hair. At 13, I woke up one day with all my hair clumped on one side of my head, and it just kept falling out until I was completely bald. It was definitely a huge moment for me because all I knew was my long hair, and growing up I was never introduced to the hijab. I was always used to wearing my hair as it was and overnight things changed drastically.

I started thinking, do I wear the hijab? Shall I wear a wig? What do I do when I go to school?

I wore the hijab as a means to cover my hair loss as a teen but now it has genuinely become my identity and a part of me that I love.

My mother took me to various places in India and Ken- ya to try to find a treatment, but they were all unsuccessful. Finally, I found a dermatologist in the UK who could manage my hair loss with scalp injections, but I never fully recovered all my hair. Despite the challenges, I’ve been open about my hair loss and comfortable talking about it.

LAURA MATHIAS, 31 YEARS OLD

“I was 13 when I started losing my hair. My hairdresser was the first to notice a patch on my scalp, which led to a visit to the doctor. I was diagnosed with alopecia universalis, which the doctor said was likely caused by the stress of my parents’divorce at the time. At such a young age, I felt like my body was failing me. It was a massive, unexpected change to my entire identity, especially at 13 because at that age your value is based on attractiveness and as a chubby, balding girl my confidence was rock bottom. I stopped going to school and socialising for six months. It was like a phobia, that’s how terrified I was to exist in the world.

After a stressful day at school, I called my mum and said ‘I need to get a wig now’ and she said, ‘Thank God, I’ve been waiting for you to ask’. I remember being so confused and so angry because as a child I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t realise it was my choice. I was waiting for an adult to take charge and tell me this is what we do next. My next trip to the hairdresser, I asked her to shave all of my hair and I’ve been wearing wigs ever since.

I only started wearing wigs less and less since the pandemic. It didn't happen overnight. I've had to take gradual steps to realise that I had a really unhealthy relationship first with my hair, then with my alopecia and then with wearing a wig. Leaving my house bald still makes me feel quite anxious on some days for day-to-day activities. I have no problem being bald when I am celebrating being bald. I love going to events where I'm campaigning where I'm talking because it's my brand. My bald head is my brand.

But there are days where I think ‘God it would just be so much easier to reach for the wig today’ so I don’t get questioned or people don’t make assumptions about my health. But then I remind myself, every time I go out bald, I am teaching others what the condition is and the mental health implications it can have. I don’t want any 13 year old going through hair loss to feel how I did. I don’t also want them to feel like they’re only option is to hide their hair loss that they say no to anything that involves putting themselves out there.”