Lacey Devin
I have had alopecia since I was 16 years old. My journey started out just before my junior prom. My hairstylist said to me as she was putting my hair in an updo ” Hmm.. you’ve got this small bald spot by the nape of your neck. Did you know it was there ?” At this point I didn’t know this would be the beginning of a very long journey of revealing my authentic self.
I spent the first year of loosing my hair terrified of the word wig. My mom couldn’t even say wig in my presence without me having a complete meltdown. I hid behind anything I could mentally and physically exhausted from asking ” why me? Why is there no cure for this ?“. I lost myself when I lost my hair. I didn’t know how to be a teenage girl without it.
It wasn’t until the giant bow I had to wear for cheerleading couldn’t be clipped in or tied on anymore to my thinning hair that I finally got my first wig. We’re talking straight off the Internet synthetic, itchy straw like ” hair ” but I was grateful to feel a little more like myself again.
Fast forward to college Ive found my ” wig of choice ” the one I would order over and over again. She’s my trusty short pixie cut. I would try other cuts and colors mostly synthetic hair but always end up back with the good old pixie blonde bob. I first met Hannah a few years back at a photo shoot in my mid 20s. I immediately was in love with her gorgeous reddish brown locks. She was at the shoot styling different wigs and toppers on models with hair loss.
Now, as a person who has had hair loss for at this point about 15 years I feel like I have a good idea of when someone is wearing hair. I didn’t know until the third day of working with Hannah that she was wearing a wig! That was the moment when I said to myself ” one day I’m going to have hair like that!”
For weeks after meeting Hannah I googled French drawn tops and lace front wigs and nothing looked like what she was wearing. I followed her on social media and was stunned at every wig she custom made for her clients. I finally decided to reach out to Hannah and start the process of getting my head in one of those gorgeous wigs!
She and I had a video chat , we talked about color, length, and how to measure my head so the wig would be a perfect fit. After the wig arrived with Hannah she called and I was able to come to Sarasota, Fl to get the final touches put into my new dream hair in person! I was so excited.
It was so wonderful to reconnect with a woman who I have looked up to and admired for all of her work helping women like myself. She made me feel so comfortable in the space she created- the physical presence of her salon is clean and practical. The space she created emotionally for me to be authentic and share my journey was something I won’t ever forget.
Not only did she create my dream hair but she unknowingly gave me permission to be me again.
