Meet Tiffany Moore
Founder of The Baldie Brand
In a world of hair and beauty, society has perpetually created the illusion that hair is beauty. To be frank, I was brainwashed by the fallacious notion as well. Until I was faced with the unimaginable.
As far as I can remember there have always been countless hairstyles women could wear.
When I was a young girl, my mom started hot combing my hair, eventually transitioning to perming. Fast forward to when I was 21, I decided that I no longer wanted to treat my hair with harsh chemicals and decided to go natural. With numerous options for natural hair, I opted with the installation of locs. Locs is a hair locking system that creates tiny, styleable locs in natural hair.
The locs process was tedious, but after a few months I was in love with the style. The style warranted low maintenance, no chemicals, and versatility. The hairstyle was also good for my four to five days a week gym workouts. I really couldn’t ask for more. After four to five years of wearing the locs, sadly, I started to notice hair thinning in the middle of my scalp. At that time, I spoke with my beautician and we both agreed that the thinning was likely due to stress.
Together we monitored the thinning, but no luck. My hair was getting thinner by the week. My next step was to visit a dermatologist. After an analysis of my scalp, the dermatologist suggested steroid shots (cortisone). The steroid shots would reduce inflammation of the scalp.
By the way, having a needle inserted into the scalp is torturous. Tears would drop after every shot.
In addition to the shots, the dermatologist recommended testing for low vitamin D, iron, and lupus (typical tests for hair loss). Thankfully, I tested negative for lupus, but my vitamin D and iron levels were extremely low. I immediately started prescriptions hoping for a little regrowth of hair. After a while of taking the prescriptions, there was still no regrowth. However, my locs were long enough to wear in a bun in order to camouflage the huge bald spot.
Following the dermatologist and doctor, I then sought out a trichologist. A trichologist is a person who studies the scalp. In my mind, I thought a visit to her was it. I was hopeful that all of my hair loss questions would be answered, she would help me with regrowth, and I would be back on the path to healthy locs.
Oh my. I was wrong! The trichologist unsympathetically delivered the news that my hair would never grow back due to alopecia.
Alopecia is (Sudden hair loss that starts with one or more circular bald patches that may overlap.) Shockingly, I paid for my visit, thanked her for seeing me, and went to process her bad news in my vehicle. In that moment, I experienced every sad emotion possible.
While living in denial, I continued to wear my locs in a bun. Subsequently, the thinning got worse, and I had to come to the sad reality that it was time to cut my locs off.
Embarrassed and feeling like less than a woman, I started wearing wigs. Due to having a smaller head, the traditional wigs didn’t work for me. Besides, the wigs were itchy and uncomfortable. I was opposed to getting extensions installed due to the process and my gym lifestyle. After extensive research, I found a beautician who would design my wigs specifically for my head. I wore the wigs periodically, along with extensions and braided updos.
Sidenote: My hair would grow back in patches. Long enough to braid, but not thick enough to wear alone.
One day I decided to go to a barber to get a lining (a cutting along the natural hair line). I would get linings to remove the extra hair on my neck that was visible while wearing my wigs. During the lining the barber asked me what styles I wore my hair in. I explained to her that I suffered from a form of alopecia and that my hairstyles were limited. She then asked to see my scalp. I hesitantly showed her my scalp. Her facial expression was hopeless.
She was so adamant about me going bald. she showed me a picture of another young lady, who by choice shaved her head bald. I thought the young lady was really pretty. The barber insisted that I was beautiful and had the perfect head shape. She reminded me that I would be free of having to deal with wigs and figuring out different ways to camouflage my bald spots. I thought long and hard about her bold suggestion. After 10 minutes or so, I did the unimaginable. I gave the barber permission to shave off my hair and go BALD! She gave me the mirror to see my head. Shockingly I had no emotion. I only thought about what people would say.
Afterwards, I thanked her repeatedly for giving me the confidence to live my truth. Of course, leaving that barber shop and going out into the world was petrifying, but I had to confront and overcome the possible scrutiny and rudeness. Nevertheless, year to date, I get a mixture of comments related to my baldness. Some respectful, nice, encouraging, and some not so much. In the end, its been 4 years, and I’ve grown to love my baldness. The liberation, low maintenance, and easier gym life is tremendous.
Conclusively, as humans, we innately try to figure out why certain predicaments occur in our lives. Personally, as cliché as it sounds, I let go, let God, and stopped allowing society to dictate what’s considered “BEAUTIFUL.”
I decided to turn my affliction into bold, creative messages.
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