I am baffled when I see FOFs who are beautifully dressed, down to the smallest detail, and perfectly made up and coiffed, but their hair is woefully thin. Thin, as in, their scalps are showing. What makes a woman, who obviously spends time and money on her appearance, look past her thinning hair? Do her husband, kids and best friends ever hint that they can see her scalp? And why doesn’t her hairdresser point it out? He’ll color and cut her hair, collect his fee, tell her she looks “mah-velous, darling” and send her on her merry way. Is he afraid to mention the thinness for fear he’ll offend her?
Perhaps I’m being shallow, but I think thinning hair looks worse than a shaved head on a woman, especially when the balding spot is close to the front of her head. When I noticed the hint of scalp peeking through my retreating tresses, about two years ago, I couldn’t get to LeMetric fast enough. I had seen its no-nonsense ads for its “hair systems” for years. It was time to act.
Fast forward to today. I have been wearing a LeMetric “piece” since then (see my photo on the header of this blog) and consider it as much my own hair as the thinning hair it covers. Made of real, quality hair, it’s actually stitched to my real hair and I wash and style it just as I would my true tresses (such as they are.) But the best thing of all is that I hardly have “bad-hair days” anymore. My LeMetric piece doesn’t frizz, so even when it rains, it looks pretty good. Frankly, I don’t care if the whole world knows I’m wearing a hairpiece (or had liposuction to reduce my jowls.) My hair looks good, which makes my face look better since the hair frames the face. Put an unattractive frame on a great photo and the photo doesn’t look quite as lovely.
Elline Surianello, founder of LeMetric hair salon
FOF Elline Surianello, the founder of LeMetric, has become a dear friend. We are forever working together on ways to communicate to other FOFs how a full head of hair will change their looks completely. And I mean completely. There isn’t a single woman who doesn’t look fantastic with a fuller head of hair.
Of course, not every one of us loses her hair to the same degree. Some FOFs might need just a little extra hair at the crown or in the back. Others might need more coverage at the front hairline. Others might just want to add volume and height throughout.
Collectively, women spend billions of dollars on color, cuts, shampoos, conditioners, and a gazillion other treatments that straighten, curl, shine, add volume, bounce and lift to our hair every single year. When we asked FOFans on Facebook how much they spend annually on their hair, many said between $1,000 and $2,000.
Considering all the attention—and money—we give to our hair, I propose everyone take the following steps:
1. Answer this question: Do you want your hair to look the best it can?
2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, take a critical look at your hair in the mirror and honestly answer these questions:
A. Does your hair look sparse, especially in the front?
B. Can you clearly see parts of your scalp peeking through?
C. Are you finding more hair in the sink or shower after you wash it?
D. Are you finding more hair in your brush after you brush it?
E. When you run your fingers through your hair, does it feel like you don’t have much volume?
3. If you’ve answered yes to A or B, and yes to C, D or E, chances are you could use a hairpiece.
If you’re still with me at this point, take a look at this short video and listen to what my friend Elline has to say about hair loss. I don’t know anyone who knows more about hair than she does. Elline creates pieces for every need, and she’s designed small pieces that can be strategically clipped into the hair in seconds and are priced extremely well.
0 Responses to “Your hairstylist is afraid to tell you…”
Sally Jardon says:
Gee, I live in Sacramento, CA. Do you know of such a magician (as Eline) here?
elline surianello says:
this is a loaded question as to why are so many women losing their hair. so let me start with this, most of it is hereditary, that being said, if you are the oldest girl in the family, usually father’s side if boy mother’s, next, there have never been so many women ever live to be as long as we are living, and most of it has been with the following support, heart mediation, anti-depressants, birth control , and the most common now autoimmune conditions like lupus, arthritis, digestive issues etc…etc…etc…, these and more effect hair. i know all of this because i have been a product of all of this, which is why i am in the hair business. i am 57 and i can’t remember ever not dealing with it. it is a difficult issue, but one that millions of us are dealing with. unfortunately because we are also taking hormones, some through and with what we eat, and some through medications our bodies are going crazy with this whole hair thing. not just hair on our head, but hair in general, facial, body etc…i wish this was a easy subject, both personally and emotionally, but it isn’t. the good thing is that we don’t die from it and there are options, even if they are not perfect. let me know if i can help. elline
Fran Marie says:
What I want to know is WHY are SO MANY women losing their hair??
I can now see my scalp if the light is directly over my head. Several of the women I work with and at least 5-10 women I see in the course of a day have varying degrees of hair loss!
I DO NOT remember EVER seeing any woman with hair loss growing up, never mind the outrageous amounts now! I am 52 years old and and mortified thinking what my hair situation will be when I hit 60!!
Something is NOT right here! WHAT is going on!!
Karen Albert says:
You look amazing! I have experienced some receding, however also some loss at my crown which I have to carefully cover…and if the wind blows…!
Let me know what you think.
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Geri says:
Hi Karen,
Thank you greatly. You must send a photo to Elline. She will tell you exactly what you need.
Her e-mail is elline@lemetric.com.
Best,
Geri
Judi says:
So excited that there are some solutions for my thinning hair issues!!
Reba says:
Hi Geri,
How does she address people who get a good sweat on average 5x per week? I teach Zumba classes and have to keep my hair pulled back to prevent it from going in my face. I’ve never colored my hair and luckily don’t need to yet. But, my mom’s hair is so thin you can see her scalp and mine is much thinner than it used to be. I’ve always told my hubby that I would shave it bald if it started thinning too much. He shaves his bald (and is quite sexy), but don’t think he wants matching heads, LOL! Would love to hear feedback on my original question about sweating it out.
Thanks!
Reba
Geri says:
Hi Reba,
you can pull the piece back, as I do. or you can have it made so it’s attached with clips, rather than sewn in to your own hair, as mine is. if you have clips, you can take it off when you’re teaching Zumba.
Love your photo, BTW.
Geri
Jan says:
Geri…What about hair cuts and haircoloring. I have a tendency to to change styles and colors at the drop of a hat.
Geri says:
Hi Jan,
Good question. What you do about cuts and coloring depends on the size of the piece and how much of your real hair it covers. The piece, of course, is not cut, no matter what the size. Just your real hair is cut or trimmed, again depending on the size of the additional hair.
I have my piece highlighted, but the base color of the piece stays the same. The style of a bigger piece stays the same. If you want to change styles, you’d have to get a second piece.
On the other hand, if you have only a small piece that covers a tiny part of your hair, you can change styles more frequently. Not sure about the color.
I hope I’ve answered your question. You should email a photo to Elline and she’ll give you advice. She is fantastic. Truly.
Best,
Geri
Cherie says:
I have some thinning hair in the back at my crown. I’ve tried different products to add body and lift, some work better than others. However, I fear that sometime soon, none of these will work and I’ll have a monk’s bald patch at the back of my head. I do have some concerns about the price for a hair “piece”. As well as wonder how well it will blend with my hair color. I color my natural hair about once every 5 or 6 months. Would you color the piece along with the rest of your hair? How does this work? Thanks for any information you can provide.
Geri says:
Hi Cherie,
See the answer I wrote to Jan about coloring.
If you need only a piece to cover a bald patch at back, it shouldn’t be too costly. Elline has created smaller pieces for different parts of the head: crown, back of crown, back.
Email a photo to Elline, where she can see the balding spot, and she’ll advise you.
Best,
Geri
SUSAN G says:
Wait! I forgot to mention that you do look stunning with your new hairpiece….!!
Geri says:
Hi Susan,
You’re adorable. Thank you. I am laughing at the term “rug.” I swear it isn’t like pieces from yesteryear. It’s literally sewn into my (thinning) hair and I treat it exactly as I would my own hair.
It combines with my real hair, as opposed to sitting on my head like a rug sits on a floor.
G.
SUSAN G says:
I have been wavering on using the new AVEDA solution for thinning hair… it’s $110 for the three piece set. I don’t like the idea of a rug.
Betty says:
I did and it didn’t work.
vicki archer says:
This is a brilliant idea… and you are absolutely right… hair makes such a difference to appearance.
We do spend so much on all other facets of beauty… this should be a priority… xv