Meet the hair salon in Sheffield that wants to revolutionize the hair loss industry, adding the glitz and glamour into a very silenced world.
Helen Grassi began losing her hair due to scarring alopecia 12 years ago caused by acute stress.
“I’m a primary school teacher, and I started noticing my little children when I got my head down at my desk, looking at my head, because it’s so obvious.” She says.
“I was so nervous and self-conscious about meeting new people, talking to different people.” She says. “I was using powders and sprays and all sorts of things to try and cover it up.”
She had developed a bald patch at the top of her head which is now covered by a special patch made to size that is woven and attached onto her head with her real hair.
Hair loss is very associated with men when they reach a certain age but it is still extremely stigmatized in women. In fact, more women experience hair loss than men. According to the NHS, Eight million women and 6.5 million men currently suffer from hair loss in the UK.
Helen struggled for many years with her self-confidence declining until 7 years ago when she first found Conrad and Laurent, founders of ‘Me Again’.
“I arrived very nervous, very upset, and with no confidence. We talked through the process and what could be done, and showed me some examples.” She says. “I haven’t seen anything like this before. And we decided on the colour, on the first day we were here forever.”
Over the years, Helen has experimented with multiple different patches, hairstyles and all the colours!- ginger, brunette, blonde… She comes to the salon to get it reattached every three months.
“It’s the best thing ever, it’s changed my life, it’s made me happy.” She says. “ I don’t pretend it’s my hair. If somebody asks, I would say and I’m happy to show people. I love talking to people who are thinking about doing the process.”
This is the story of only one of the many people the Me Again hair salon has helped.
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Conrad Blandford has been based in Sheffield since 2004 but rebranded the salon last year. The salon is now advertised as 50% hairdressing and 50% hair loss.
“We wanted to reinvent the stigma around hair loss. For some reason, hairdressing has been split into these fashionable hair salons, and hair loss has been made to seem like there’s something wrong with you.”
It is not only older adults using these services.
“A 26-year-old just left our salon and we are currently working with a 13 year-old and a 12-year old,” says Laurent Berquet, co-founder of Me Again.
Me Again work with many charities and also get referrals from GP’s and hospitals.
“We are part of a charity called Little Princess Trust. Anyone under the age of 24, if they have a particular issue, like losing your hair due to chemo, could get their services free of charge through the charity,” says Conrad.
There has been a surge of alopecia in teenagers and young people in the last few years, and more and more people from universities and high schools seek their services according to Conrad.
“You see a lot of alopecia induced by stress and anxiety which causes trichotillomania, when people pull their eyebrows and eyelashes and twist their own hair.” He says. “I think that’s linked to the pressures young people are under, social media, and the pressure to succeed in life.”
The story behind the name, ‘Me Again’, is putting the spotlight on the clients.
“We want our clients to look in the mirror and say ‘it’s me again’. We want to give people the chance to feel confident, beautiful and normal,” says Conrad.
Hair loss can be caused by many different factors- hormone imbalances, stress, eating disorders, scars, burns, natural causes, cancer…
“The biggest problem that we have is people suffering in silence.” He says. “Not knowing that this service is out there. Unfortunately, most of the time, they’re just ordering something terrible off the internet in despair.”
Conrad feels that hairdressers benefit from being in a middle ground in terms of communication with hair loss clients. They are not as close or emotional as family members or friends but not as distant and clinical as doctors, so it’s easier for people to open up.
“When we get clients going through chemotherapy who are losing their hair, we are aware this is a heart-breaking moment. I feel like I have an obligation to make that experience the best and most comfortable I possibly can.
“In all cases, we combine our skills and professionalism with open communication. Therefore talking through everything, explaining when you lose it, when it can grow back, how we can make it look, all while listening and creating a safe-space,” says Conrad.
Stress induced alopecia usually occurs three months after an incident.
“A lady came to us after a dramatic family event and three months after that day she began to lose her hair. Behind every hair loss there is a story.
“This hair salon is everything. It’s a story, it’s fun, it’s gossip, it’s laughing, it’s aesthetic, it’s glam, it’s everything,” says Conrad.
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Conrad explained there are three parts to hair restoration. The surgical, which is the work that people do with hair transplants and helping with removal of scars and things like that. Trichology which is the analysis of hair and scalp, can the hair regrow? Special machines analyse the scalp to look at the follicles and particular treatments help get the hair to grow back quicker. And then there’s hair prosthesis, which is extensions, wigs, tapes, patches.
“Our main aim is to allow us to look after people to make them feel empowered, happy and fashionable.”
Conrad and Laurent plan on expanding ‘Me Again’. Their aim is to place one next to every major cancer hospital in the UK. This one in Sheffield is near Western Park Hospital.
