Having qualified as a dermatologist in 2017, Dr Wall worked as a consultant in St. And each time, it would just become less and less uncomfortable.”ĭr Dmitri Wall is one of the world’s leading specialists in alopecia and operates from HRBR, the hair restoration clinic in Blackrock, Dublin. It was just doing it more and feeling that uncomfortableness more. Sharing pictures of me without nice makeup on was jarring. When I first set it up, the idea of walking outside with my hair off was still terrifying.
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“I think of where my headspace was before and after Hair Free and it's wildly different. Her Instagram account features bald, brave, beautiful women revelling in the freedom afforded by authenticity. On it, she documented her own hair loss journey and provided resources from eyebrow tutorials to mindfulness tips. In 2017, Rowan set up Hair Free Life, (hairfree.life) a website and online platform for people with hair loss. Model Amber Jean Rowan started to lose her hair when she was 15. You might have more challenges along the way but you can do anything you want to do.” “Your life can be just as great with or without hair.
Can you really be a ballerina without her signature chignon? An air hostess without the perfectly-coiffured bun? Rowan wants you to know that you can. After opening up about her alopecia, women were coming to her describing the limits of having no hair.
After years of sitting with the discomfort, she wanted to create an inspirational space where women with hair loss could feel seen. Growing up, Rowan noticed the paucity of bald women depicted in the media. If it wasn't the four, core people who had seen her hair-free, Rowan’s anxiety was “debilitating". Ordinary tasks - jumping into the sea, answering the front door, seeing the milkman - had monumental meaning. I was never comfortable with anyone seeing me without my hairpiece.” Pursuing a career so contingent on image whittled away at her self-esteem. At the time, she was a contestant in RTÉ’s The Model Agent. Model, actor and activist, Amber Jean Rowan, started losing her hair when she was 15. Murray not only helped me to choose the wig that was right for me, she also applied for the HSE medical wig allowance which entitles you to money towards a wig with a letter from your doctor (the sum varies from county to county and ranges from €440-€767). As someone who has experienced hair loss herself, she was a beacon of kindness and hope in a very dark time in my life. I made an appointment with Bernie Murray of Wigs Medical to get fitted for a wig. While my sister eschewed wigs in favour of brightly-coloured scarves and the softest bamboo hats, I felt wearing a wig was the only way forward for me. In the space of about six months, I had one stripe of greying hair left on my head. And whether by chance or by symbiosis, so did mine. My best friend and confidante, she underwent an aggressive bout of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation. Then, in 2019, my sister was diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. Mary Cate Smith: We are emotionally hardwired to feel attached to our hair. After the initial effluvium, my hair began to grow back albeit different lengths and textures -but it was growing all the same. At first, shedding was minimal and intermittent - I could hide the patches with hairbands and hats. I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder where the immune system erroneously attacks the hair’s follicles. So, when I started losing my hair back in 2018, I felt like I was losing little pieces of me. “Don’t touch my hair,” sang Solange, “when it’s the feelings I wear.” We are emotionally hardwired to feel attached to our hair it has within its tresses, energy, emotions and memories. Hairstyles can run the gamut from the personal to the political. Polygamous Nigerian cultures had kohin-sorogun the art of sending subliminal messages to a rival wife through hair. We seethed when Becky with the Good Hair caught Jay-Z’s eye, cheered on civil rights with Angela Davis and her Black is Beautiful afro and feared the Neo-Nazi subculture of the skinhead. The Farrah Fawcett flick, the 'Rachel', Elvis’ quiff and Michaella McCollum Connolly’s super-sized 'hun bun' have all cemented their status in the annals of follicular history. Throughout the years, hair has played a major role in representing identity, social status and ideology.