Have you ever witnessed the moment of change, the moment where you watched a person’s pain be washed away with the hope of the future? I have. Incredibly moving and felt to my core, as I related on every level possible, I understood every tear and felt the impact of what each drop held as it fell — silent suffering, a loss of self held within for years. Fear. Sadness. All of it. I know all of it. I saw hope follow tears, and a smile and excitement of a self renewed. I was incredibly honored to be a part of my friend’s journey to finding her hair loss solution, and watching her moment of renewal is something that will stay with me always.
Everyone knows I love my Follea hair babies. I’m good in my wig wearing world, I pass my wigs in the bathroom and give them a high five and a double snap for their super sassy swishtastic magic powers, but while wigs allowed me to take back my life and rock my world, wigs simply aren’t for everyone. No one thing is ever for everyone, in the hair world or otherwise. We all have to explore our options (the pros and cons) and find what works best for us in our life, and if you try something that doesn’t work, it just means that, THAT didn’t work — not necessarily that nothing will ever work.
Last Wednesday I went with my friend to Lucinda Ellery in Beverly Hills, she was having an Intralace hair replacement system done and I got to watch as she got her new hair. It was an all day process, I think approximately 8 hours. The final result looked quite amazing and my friend was actually in tears after it was completed. Happy tears, tears of relief, tears that were washing away her pain. I waited to hear from my friend today to get her thoughts almost a week in before jumping on telling everyone about this option, because I wanted to hear her honest opinion on what she thought of the piece. She’s adjusting to it incredibly well, and told me that she really feels this is life changing for her and that this will be her solution.
Since this is an integration unit (a unit attached and blended with your own hair) she will have to go in every 4 weeks for re-adjustments and since she’s local she probably will opt to go in a little sooner for adjustments to the front hairline in between the appointments for the full adjustment to the entire piece. It’s important to note for people reading this that anything affixed to your hair (they do it in as safe a way as possible using a light-weight lace mesh) can potentially cause traction and further hair loss. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, because that possibility does exist. Some women may feel extended wear of wigs could cause loss as well, though I don’t personally think so, but anything is possible. When we choose an option we have to feel comfortable in it today and also in what the use of it potentially may result in down the line, this is true for hair wearing as well as hair loss treatments. Even if you told me with certainty that my wigs would cause extra hair loss, I’d still wear them because I love them and THIS is how I want to enter out into the world, not in my bio hair. If they caused extra loss then so be it, I’ve decided I’m never going to be without some type of hair replacement ever again anyways, so que sera sera 🙂
That’s me though, that’s where I’m at, some women may not want to do anything that could potentially (even in the slightest) further exacerbate their existing hair, and that always has to be a consideration.
My friend feels as I do, and she fully accepts that she may loose a little extra hair potentially from this system, who knows… but she has decided it doesn’t matter, she loves how it is making her feel and she sounds beyond thrilled with her new hair. I’ll get updates from her along the way and report back here.
While I can’t comment on how the piece feels, since I’m not wearing it, I can say I found the salon to be extremely warm and inviting, private and comfortable and the owner, her daughter and their staff were all very sweet and friendly. If you want to learn more about this system, you can visit their site: http://www.lucindaellery-hairloss.com
I made a video talking about this as well, which you’ll find below 🙂
Happy Tuesday!
XOXO
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a friend who has been doing this for a year now. She went from synthetic wigs to an attachment. Every 3 months she has to get it tank care of and adjusted I think. You’d never know it’s not her own hair. It blends in beautifully. I also have alopecia but I chose something more drastic. I’ll perhaps write to you about that later! 🙂
I also looked into this place but once you decide to do it, it’s a lifelong commitment to go every four weeks and several more times a year to maintain this….. Forever. The cost is astronomical and if you don’t live in that city you better be close because its your only location. Product is great but the commitment in time, location and money is enormous.
Yes – it is expensive. I tried this for awhile . . . until I ran out of money. It was the equivalent of a car payment, basically.
Thank you Ms. Y. A very fair and beautiful review. I know this company well and they have a really artistic townhouse headquarters in West London. Definitely another option. Keep doing what you do. It is a great service to hair wearers worldwide. All the best. M>
I live in the UK and was looking at this. I read however that a customer although happy initially with the results did end up with traction alopecia and ended up choosing wigs. I think it’s all about what you are happy with, the amount of time it takes and the maintenance and cost have to be taken into account.
I tried that for two years and I was happy for awhile but the money and commitment wore me out. Besides, I lost more hair on the traction part.
However, it was the journey I had to go through, trying everything, until I found this great synthetic wigs that I wear now. I am very happy with what is for me. I have accepted my hair loss, and I even talk about it to whomever wants to listen. I don’t care what people think anymore.l and…. the best part is my husband does not care either whether I have hair or not. He just loves the way I am!. Couldn’t be any better. Good article!.
Different than what I thought integration unit was. The one I was show was like a wig with holes in it. So that goes on your head and you pull the bio hair thru the holes. That did not interest me as I didn’t think I could stand that process of my hair being pulled thru the holes. This sounds different and I think it’s great that she can have it be permanently on for weeks. I wear wigs. I do wish there was a way to feel more comfortable at night. I haven’t cut off my hair yet but perhaps that would be helpful. I do totally agree we all have to find our comfort zone and it definitely isn’t one thing for everybody. Thanks again for a lovely post.
hello all this is new to me I have a spot at the top of my head that burns and is sore to the touch it started off about the size of a nickel but is now about the size of a child size tea saucer!! I am a born worrier so maybe this is because of stress because I have been to a doctor they checked and even did a biopsy of my scalp and found nothing!! I am a 36 old African American woman and my self confidence is completely shattered by my loss of hair I have recently been laid off from a high pressure job (although thank the Lord that my husband has a good steady job) and this just adds more stress on top of my little girl asking what happened to your hair mommy, its really embarrassing! its good to know that I am not alone
I have used Lucinda Ellery and have blogged and posted video’s about her many times on this site and would be happy to answer any questions anybody has xx
Nene – just sending u a note as u say u had a spot the size of a nickel and now it has grown bigger. I am not a doctor just a lady with hairloss also. Have u researched Alopecia Areata? If it is a round circle of hairloss or baldness that may be a possibility.
Would you please post an update on how your friend is liking this a year later? Thank you so much this is super helpful!
Is your friend still happy over a year later?