Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

alopecia

Community

Makeup artist with alopecia inspires young girl to remove her hat in public for first time

"If this brave 10-year-old can face her fears, you can too."

abbywrenartistry/Instagram

Young girl with alopecia removes her hat in public for first time.

Makeup has the incredible ability to transform and empower. For makeup artist Abby Wren (@abbywrenartistry), her art and alopecia diagnosis changed the life of another special young girl with alopecia named Elyssa.

In a touching video shared by Wren, Elyssa shared the heartwarming story about how the two connected during a one-on-one glam session.

"Today was Elyssa’s FIRST time bald in public!! 🥹," she captioned the post. "I am SO incredibly proud of her courage all day long, and so grateful we caught this special moment together where she bravely pulled off her hat for the first time around other people."

See on Instagram

In the video, Elyssa sits across from Wren as she dips her brush into her makeup palette to begin. The two chat, and Wren asks Elyssa if she wants to take her hat off so she can have more space and access to apply while also encouraging her not to be ashamed of her lack of hair. "I don't know. I'm not sure," Elyssa replies wearily. With love and understanding, Wren responds, "You know that it's totally a safe space if you want to take it off."

Although she's encouraged, Elyssa is still unsure. So, Wren adds, "Feel it out. Feel it out. No pressure either way." The man behind the camera comments on how cool Elyssa's brightly colored sweatshirt is, and Wren agrees. "I know, it's so cool. I love it," she says.

See on Instagram

Without a moment's notice, Elyssa decides to take off her hat and proudly display her beautiful, bald head. "Yay! My girl, now we're twins," Wren says. "High-five! Girl, I'm so proud of you. That's really, really rad." In a caption within the video, Wren writes, "me: trying to play it cool and not overwhelm her, but freaking out inside. SO proud of her!"

Wren continues to chat with Elyssa as she applies neon green eyeshadow to her. Elyssa replies, "Thank you!" And Wren cannot contain her joy. "We're twins now! So cool! I love it!" The video pans to the two posing together after her glam sesh is complete. Wren added a mushroom and frog to Elyssa's cheeks for a cool-girl final look.

See on Instagram

In the caption, Wren shared more about how her interaction with Elyssa impacted her mom. "Her sweet mom and I had an emotional chat later and reflected on how powerful this Alopecia community is, and how important it is to CELEBRATE being different!" she added. "If this brave 10 year old can face her fears, you can too. Forever inspired by these amazing babes! 💗"

And her viewers are ecstatic about the uplifting moment between the two:

"This is incredible. You could just see her confidence grow as she sat with you. I bet she holds onto this interaction for the rest of her life 🩷"

"You are a sweetheart! She trusted you with her insecurities and you helped her be brave. I love this. 💞👏👏."

"Way to go Elyssa!! You are so beautiful and your courage has me in tears. My baby boy also has AT and he owns it, you are an inspiration 🥰."

From Your Site Articles

alopecia

Love Stories

Man shaving head of girlfriend with alopecia turns the razor on himself in amazing display of love

One of the most beautiful love stories ever shown.

Rex Chapman/Twitter

The intimate moment has become a viral sensation online.

For people with alopecia, hair is a complicated business. Alopecia is an autoimmune condition that causes hair to fall out. Sometimes it's unnoticeable, but sometimes it falls out in patches, and when those patches connect, it can become quite noticeable. At that point, some people with alopecia choose to shave their heads and embrace baldness, wear wigs, or both.

A video that first went viral after being shared by Rex Chapman on Twitter shows a woman having her head shaved by a man with the caption, "His girlfriend was struggling with her hair loss from alopecia. Get out the tissues. Humanity."

@eva_barilaro
After months growing my #hair for the first time in 10 years I had to ask my #boyfriend to #shave my #head again... first time was my granddad.

It's clear from the get go that the woman is feeling emotional, occasionally wiping her eyes as he repeatedly runs the razor over her head. And it's clear that he cares for her—you can see it in the way he tenderly holds her neck as he shaves.

Eva Barilaro, who posted the video to her TikTok account, wrote: “After months growing my hair for the first time in ten years, I had to ask my boyfriend to shave my head again.” But then, just as he's finishing the final touches, he turns the razor around, and oof. Seriously, you might want to grab a tissue.

Alopecia is a fairly common condition, with an estimated 100 people living with it across the world and around 7 million in the U.S. alone. And yet it remains a deeply stigmatizing thing for people affected it by it, who often have to describe their condition to strangers and navigating personal and professional challenges at work, in their dating lives, or just navigating through public spaces. Even worse, there's no cure for alopecia and the treatments can be maddening, sometimes resulting in complete improvements while others suffer near total hair loss permanently.

The video has been viewed by more than 10 million people across social media and drew heartfelt accolades from celebrities and normal people alike, including Ben Stiller:

Sweet, selfless solidarity. This is what real love looks like. People on Twitter chimed in with their own alopecia experiences and stories about going through chemo for cancer and losing their hair.

— (@)

Many can relate to the emotional experience of shaving their hair off and the realization that they could be beautiful bald. The woman in this video rocks the shaved head. The guy...well, a little hard to tell until he finishes the job, but his act of kindness and compassion is definitely beautiful.

From Your Site Articles

love stories

Heroes

Her boyfriend gently shaved her head after her alopecia diagnosis. But what he did next is so much better.

Over 4.9 million people have already watched this incredible moment unfold.

Rex Chapman/Twitter

A video shared by Rex Chapman on Twitter shows a woman having her head shaved by a man with the caption, "His girlfriend was struggling with her hair loss from alopecia. Get out the tissues. Humanity."

But then, just as he's finishing the final touches, he turns the razor around, and oof. Seriously, you might want to grab a tissue.

— (@)

Sweet, selfless solidarity. This is what love looks like.

People on Twitter chimed in with their own alopecia experiences and stories about going through chemo for cancer and losing their hair. Many can relate to the emotional experience of shaving their hair off and the realization that they could be beautiful bald. The woman in this video rocks the shaved head. The guy...well, a little hard to tell until he finishes the job, but his act of kindness and compassion is definitely beautiful.

This article originally appeared on 7.30.20

From Your Site Articles

inspiration

Health

New first-of-its-kind treatment for alopecia that triggers hair growth approved by FDA

The current treatment for alopecia is painful and long—this could change lives.

Canva

New treatment for alopecia.

Alopecia is something that affects people of all ethnicities, all over the world, and unfortunately effective treatment has been scarce. But there's potentially good news on the horizon for hair loss suffers. The FDA recently approved a drug called Olumiant, a systemic treatment for alopecia areata, the autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. The drug works by interfering with the body’s confused messaging that tells it to attack hair follicles.

The world became instantly familiar with the word alopecia after the 2022 Oscars, where Will Smith infamously defended his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, after Chris Rock made a joke about her baldness. Pinkett Smith has alopecia and decided to forego treatment and instead to simply shave her head. She talked about how painful the treatments are on a recent episode of Red Table Talk. On the episode, a dermatologist explained the localized treatment, which involves needle pricks directly into the scalp with a needle containing medication. The process is lengthy and painful, and requires frequent visits for these scalp jabs in an attempt to stave off further hair loss. It’s no wonder that many people decide to embrace balding and shave their head instead.

The newly approved drug has been on the market in the U.S. since 2018 as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and while it does have several mild to moderate side effects, one of them, hair regrowth, is what drew attention to it as a treatment for alopecia areata. The best news is that it's taken orally, and doesn’t involve any tiny jabs in the scalp.

In the FDA's announcement, Dr. Kendall Marcus, director of the Division of Dermatology and Dentistry in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said, “Access to safe and effective treatment options is crucial for the significant number of Americans affected by severe alopecia. Today's approval will help fulfill a significant unmet need for patients with severe alopecia areata."

In the clinical trials, between 32% and 35% of patients who received the higher of two tested doses had enough hair to cover 80% of their scalp after 36 weeks (compared with between 3% and 5% of patients who received a placebo). This definitely shows promise, despite observed side effects such as respiratory infections, acne, high cholesterol, headaches, fatigue, urinary tract infections and more. If you’ve ever watched a commercial for a new medication, these side effects shouldn’t come as a surprise, nor should they derail the excitement of a medication that could boost so many people’s mental health.

To date, there hasn't really been an effective noninvasive treatment for alopecia areata and while the condition isn’t life threatening, the mental effects can be detrimental. On the episode of Red Table Talk, the mother of 12-year-old Rio Allred told of how her daughter died by suicide, which she believed was linked to the bullying she received due to her alopecia. Depression, anxiety and negative body image are all risks associated with having the hair loss condition, especially in women.

While this new treatment won't be effective on everyone and it comes with a daunting number of potential side effects, it certainly offers hope for many as an improvement over the standard "needle" treatment. Hopefully researchers will continue to make progress on treatments for alopecia that are readily available and safe.

From Your Site Articles

alopecia

In January, 7-year-old Gianessa "Nessa" Wride's hair started falling out. Not just stray strands, but clumps.

It's a scary prospect for adults seven times her age, let alone a child who hasn't even mastered long division yet. Her mother, Daniella Wride, took it hard.

"I think I took it harder than she did; I would just bawl and cry sometimes,” Wride told local Salt Lake City station KUTV.

Daniella made an appointment for her daughter at the local dermatologist, but by the time she was seen, Nessa's hair was completely gone.

Photo by iStock.

Nessa was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that results in sudden hair loss.

It occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles, which is where hair growth begins. The condition has no cure, but is treated with a corticosteroid or, quite simply, patience. Occasionally, the hair loss comes and goes within a year, but 10% of people will never regrow their hair, especially those who are diagnosed at a young age or have a family history of the condition.

It would be easy for most newly bald kids to feel down about Crazy Hair Day at school, but not Nessa.

When Crazy Hair Day was announced, the bubbly first-grader wanted to participate. Mother and daughter worked together to come up with the perfect solution: scrapbooking stickers!

Nessa rocked stick-on gems in cool sparkly patterns, including an owl and flowers.

"She's just so funky and vibrant and she loves everything sparkly," Daniella says.

It's crazy "head" day today! I must say she looks absolutely stunning! #alopecia #alopeciaareata #crazyhairday #baldisbeautiful #gorgeous #brave #firstgrade #youthinkyourehavingabadhairday
A post shared by Daniella Wride (@daniellawride) on Mar 28, 2017 at 8:00am PDT

Nessa looked amazing, and her classmates thought so too.

"When we pulled up to the drop-off lane at school, Gianessa opened the car door and you could already hear people saying things like, 'Oh that's so awesome!' 'That's so cool!,'" Daniella shares. "Gianessa got home from school and she said that all the kids kept swarming her and telling her that they loved her crazy hair, and that they wanted to be just like her."

No matter who you are or the hand you're dealt, positivity is powerful.

It's not always easy. In fact, some days it's downright hard. But a little hope and optimism can go a long away toward making a your day a little better. And maybe someone else's too.

Here's to you, Nessa! Keep shining!

From Your Site Articles

Her boyfriend gently shaved her head after her alopecia diagnosis. But what he did next is so much better. - Upworthy ›

alopecia

Makeup artist with alopecia inspires young girl to remove her hat in public for first time

"If this brave 10-year-old can face her fears, you can too."

Man shaving head of girlfriend with alopecia turns the razor on himself in amazing display of love

One of the most beautiful love stories ever shown.

Her boyfriend gently shaved her head after her alopecia diagnosis. But what he did next is so much better.

Over 4.9 million people have already watched this incredible moment unfold.

New first-of-its-kind treatment for alopecia that triggers hair growth approved by FDA

The current treatment for alopecia is painful and long—this could change lives.

This 7-year-old recently lost her hair, but her style on Crazy Hair Day was amazing.

In January, 7-year-old Gianessa "Nessa" Wride's hair started falling out. Not just stray strands, but clumps.

Nessa was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that results in sudden hair loss.

It would be easy for most newly bald kids to feel down about Crazy Hair Day at school, but not Nessa.

No matter who you are or the hand you're dealt, positivity is powerful.

Motivation expert explains how two simple words can free you from taking things personally

Two brothers Irish step dancing to Beyoncé's country hit 'Texas Hold 'Em' is pure delight

Americans share 15 of the funniest things that non-Americans have said about the U.S.

Woman who lost her 'pretty privilege' overnight says it changed how she saw everyone

Middle-class families share how much they have in their savings accounts and it's eye-opening

Robert Irwin weighs in on the '100 men vs. 1 gorilla' debate with the best possible answer

We have a small favor to ask of you

alopecia

"If this brave 10-year-old can face her fears, you can too."

One of the most beautiful love stories ever shown.

Over 4.9 million people have already watched this incredible moment unfold.

The current treatment for alopecia is painful and long—this could change lives.

In January, 7-year-old Gianessa "Nessa" Wride's hair started falling out. Not just stray strands, but clumps.

Nessa was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that results in sudden hair loss.

It would be easy for most newly bald kids to feel down about Crazy Hair Day at school, but not Nessa.

No matter who you are or the hand you're dealt, positivity is powerful.