Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

Burly men with shiny, slick domes? Who are they? They are the Brotherhood of Bald People! It’s a group of men in the Twin Cities who celebrate baldness.

It started a couple years ago as a website with forums, blogs and pictures celebrating baldness. The founder from Ham Lake, MN, has transformed it into an online support group and a company offering T-shirts, hats and other products sporting messages such as “Hair is so Overrated” and “If you want to rub it, please ask first.” The brotherhood even hosted a “Take Me Out to the Bald Game” night at the Saints game last week.

No matter who you are, you go thought the same thing when you start losing your hair- you think it’s the end of the world. After venting on the website about the difficulties of losing hair, and the negative perceptions about baldness; the founder quickly realized that children, especially young girls with cancer and illnesses that result in hair loss, should be included in the group. So, while it’s pretty much exclusive to men they embrace women and girls who don’t want to wear hats or wigs during their cancer treatments.

With the inclusion of young girls, came a line of T-shirts with the character Princess Jewel, a crown adorning her bald head. These were delivered to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minnesota. The leaders of the site also donate 10% of the proceeds from merchandise sales to charity.

To date, there are about 680 registered users on the site from all over the world. The founder says, “We like to think of ourselves as the anti-Hair Club for Men. I look at the guys that try the com-over or hang on to the last bit of hair and I just want to give them a hug and say, ‘Hey man, let it go’.

The founder says he wanted to create a place where people all over the world could come to share stories. He says his favorite is comparing Benjamin Franklin, who had the guts to go natural, to George Washington who, also bald, was dodging bullets on the battlefield while straightening his wig.

When founder Mike’s hair started receding in his 20’s, his parents tried to get him to do the “comb over”. When his son Tyris was dealing with the same thing, Mike encouraged him to shave his head. Tyris “went under the razor” at the Saints game!

A represetative at Children’s Hospital said the brotherhood T-shirts help the children with cancer feel accepted. People are concerned when they see a child with no hair, but, it they’re wearing a T-shirt that says “I know I’m bald, but you don’t have too worry.”

The brotherhood donated the T-shirts to Children’s Hospital but wants to find a company that will sponsor the line so the shirts can be given out to children all over the country. While the brotherhood may not have hair, there is one thing they have and that is really big hearts!

What is one of the first characteristics you are likely to notice about someone? Their hair. Hair has caused controversy, hair has caused fights and hair has inspired artists and creative souls worldwide.

Hair is a personal matter, a point of bonding for many. I’ll bet you spent at least five minutes messing with your hair already today. Some of us spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars per year on our hair.

What is interesting about all of this is, that considering what hair really is, all of this would seem odd. Hair is essentially a dead item on your head. Sounds kind of gross huh? But, in the final analysis, that is what hair truly is. That said, let’s talk about what is going on with hair in America today.

Just like everything else these days, hair is “going green”. You may have noticed that it’s organic everything for hair. But, buyer beware as are there are big discrepancies in organic claims. Not only do you have to read your food labels these days but all of your product labels as well. There are some great lines of products out there. For example, at Fantasia, we love Pureology by Redken. The ingredients are botanical and it’s wonderful for maintaining hair color.

The look for hair is both short and long. Hair is softer today, wider instead of fuller. Simple long ponytails are in for proms and weddings as well as soft wavy hair. Swoopy bangs are in again and brushed-out curls for a relaxed look. It’s kind of like back to the 70’s for simplicity. Would you believe hot rollers are back? (Darn, I threw mine away months ago.)

Tone on tone coloring is popular. If the customers don’t want a trendy cut, perhaps they want trendy color instead. For the young, faded -out punky colors are in.

Wigs are big and Fantasia has the largest inventory of any salon in the area. Extensions are also popular, inspired by Hollywood. Celebrities are not hiding the fact that they are wearing extensions. Fantasia uses Great Lengths Extensions which are what many of your favorite celebrities are wearing.

Natural is in. Instead of “blowing out” your curly or wavy hair, embrace it. Most stylist want to work with the air as it is naturally. Most good stylists can make any haircut work with the customer’s natural hair. That’s where they really can get into the “artistry” and creativity.

It’s all good. We don’t have to spend so much time on our hair these days so that leaves time for other things!

If you are a practicing Jewish person, you probably know what a shaitel is. For those outside the Jewish faith, I thought you might finding learning about a shaitel somewhat interesting.

For Jewish women, the uncovered head from the earliest of times was considered immodest. Married women covered their heads to as not to draw the attention of other men. By covering her hair with a wig, the married woman makes a statement: “I am not available, you can see me but I am not open to the public. Even my hair, the most obvious and visible part of me, is not for your eyes to see.”

The hair-covering has a profound effect on the wearer. It creates a psychological barrier, a cognitive distance between her and strangers. Her beauty becomes visible but inconspicuous, yes she is attractive but she is unavailable.

The wig, or shaitel, achieves the desired effect exactly, because a wig allows a woman to cover all of her hair while maintaining her attractive appearance. She can be proud of the way she looks with out compromising her privacy. And, even if her wig looks so real as to be mistaken for natural hair, she knows that no one is looking at her real hair. She has created a private space and only she decides to let into that space.

The word sheitel, is Yiddish for wig or half-worn wig.

So, if you ever hear the word sheitel, you know what it means! And if you have ever been curious as to why some Jewish women wear wigs, now you know!

In many cases, because alopecia areata is so unpredictable, many allow the bald patches to re-grow by themselves without treatment. Typically, if it’s just one or two small bald patches, doctors advise that you leave it alone. Sometimes this is referred to as watchful waiting. If the hair loss is not too bad, there is a good chance that it will re-grow after several months. Sometimes a simple change in the hairstyle will conceal one or two bald patches. If the hair loss becomes more extreme, a decision will probably be made as to whether treatment should be considered.

Something to note; alopecia areata won’t damage your general health so not treating will not lead to any general health problems. You need to be aware of possible side - effects that some of the treatments may have. Also, treatments promoting hair re-growth do not affect or “cure” the underlying cause of alopecia.

One treatment would be steroid injections. The theory here is that injecting steriods into the bald patches of the scalp supresses the local immune reaction that occurs in the alopecia areata. This can then allow the hair follicles to function normally again and for the hair to re-grow. A word of caution about this treatment. First of all, it does not work for everyone, and secondly, I am aware of a couple of people that had these injections for years and today have digestive/internal issues as a result.

Another treatment is topical or rub on steroid cream or gel. It does not work as well as the injections but it could certainly be worth a try.

Another treatment is topical immunotherapy which seems to be the most effective option for people with extensive alopecia areata. This treatment is only done by some skin specialist to you will need a referral from a doctor. With topical immunotherapy a substance is put on the affected skin to make the skin react like an allergy. Increasing strengths of this substance are placed on the affected skin once a week over several weeks until the skin looks like it has a mild case of eczema. The skin reaction seems to affect the process involved in causing alopecia areata in some way to allow hair to re-grow. Side effects from this treatment can be troublesome. For example, some people develop severe skin reactions. Treating children with topical immunotherapy is controversial. In a large study done with people having this treatment, 3 in 10 cases had good hair growth after six months. In 32 months, 8 in 10 cases has good regrowth. Regular maintenance treatment is needed to keep the hair loss from returning.

There is another treatment with a drug, Dithranol. It is thought to be less effective than topical immunotherapy but works in some cases. It is applied daily to the whold scalp and left for 20-60 minutes before it is washed off. One study showed that it helps hair re-growth in about 1 in 4 cases. Again, there are side effects such as itchiness, redness and scaling are the most common. Dithranol is not widely used for alopecia because it is so messy to use.

Other treatments may include:

• Special light therapy or phototherapy.
• Immunosuppressant medicine called ciclosporin. Again, side effects are an issue and hair loss often recurs when the medication is stopped.
• Dermatography (tattooing) is used to simulate eyebrows that have fallen out.
• Counselling is sometimes helpful for people who find coping with the disease difficult.
• Sun block or a hat should be worn to protect bald patches when out in the sun.
• There are complementary treatments such as acupuncture and aromatherapy but not enough evidence exists to determine how effective these treatments are in treating alopecia.

Wigs are probably the most common treatment choice for people with alopecia areata. Sometimes this is just easier than dealing with drugs and side effects.

I’m not saying or suggesting you would ever want to do this but, if you did want to look unique like Amy Winehouse, you could do it with the help of a fancy dress wig.

Wigs can be worn for fun and fashion, not just for necessity. Typically you can find inexpensive wigs at the mall in the novelty shops or in some salons. You should probably know because they are synthetic they can be hot, depending on the amount of hair.

Wigs can be a fun way to change your persona. There are always 60’s and 70’s parties going on where a wig would come in handy. You can go all out and be the life of the party. The last 50’s party I went to I wore a bee hive wig in addition to white  glasses which had major wings on the sides, a pink prom dress and some chalky pink lipstick and, ta dah, it was back to the 50’s!   It was a hoot. One of the guys had on an Elvis type wig with very extreme side burns.  He also doused himself with English Leather cologne which was a tad nauseating! But, a great time was had by all!
Wigs are still a hot item. Wigs for fashion, wigs for parties, wigs for hair loss or wigs simply for a great change of style - instantly! Wigs for holidays such as Halloween, Christmas or other occasions. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on them which is why they continue to be so popular.

Today, the younger set who frequent the clubs are having fun with Afro wigs, red, pink, purple and blue party wigs, 70’s wigs, beehive wigs, mullet wigs, Cher and Abba wigs just to name a few.

So, when you are in the mood to show your alter ego, be it Amy, Cher or whomever, do it with a wig!

I’ve written before about Amy Gibson, of Amy’s Presence Wig fame. I’ve learned more about her and thought it would be fun to share her story.

Amy has an impressive resume as an actress. She had a long stint as private dectective Collette Francois on the long-running ABC soap “General Hospital.”

As a teenager, Amy was diagnosed with alopecia areata totalis; an auto- immune disease which caused all of the hair on her head to fall out. Amy understands how women feel when they lose their hair, that’s why she created Amy’s Presence Wigs.

These days, you will find Amy in Palm Desert with a makeup artist and stylist offering makeovers to women suffering from hair loss. She also travels introducing her wig designed for women who just want to look like themselves again.

Amy started her acting career at age 13 on a soap opera “Love of Life”. It was a hair stylist on one of those shows who first noticed an unusual bald spot. Shortly there after, Amy was diagnosed with alopecia areata totalis. She was shocked. At the time of her diagnosis, the only treatment was cortisone shots. She endured these shots for 15 years.

When Amy was cast on “General Hospital”, after having been on “The Young and The Restless”, her condition went from bad to worse. She had a negative reaction to the cortisone and stopped taking it, with devastating results. Within three weeks she lost all of her hair.

As a result, she was forced to consider wigs. She approached the producers of her show with a novel idea. Since she played an undercover private investigator, why not have her continually look different by changing wigs? The producers loved the idea but there was one problem. Imagine performing a love scene and the actor you are playing against raises his hand to touch your hair….Amy had to figure out a way to tell them that she was wearing a wig without freaking them out!

Today, Amy is expanding. She plans to open new studios in other cities such as New York. She also works with a Los Angeles area hospital to provide wigs to women undergoing chemotherapy. Because Amy’s company is small, she provides a couple of wigs each month. Amy says she’s hoping to finding an angel who will help finance her work with cancer patients.

“I’m here to give women back their freedom to be themselves,” Amy says. A woman’s hair is her crowning glory. When it’s lost to illness or other natural causes, Amy wants to help.

One of the most difficult aspects of chemotherapy is having to deal with hair loss. Hair loss is the most common side effects of chemotherapy treatment and for a woman, this can be a traumatic thing to deal with. You may not think you hair is all that great or important. But, when you are faced with losing it, you realized just how attached to it you truly are. And in our society which is so obsessed with beauty, this can be a huge thing to face.

Whether or not you will lose your hair during chemotherapy treatments will depend on your hair type and the medications you are are given by your physician. Typically the doctor can tell you in advance it they think you will loose all of your hair.
Chemotherapy drugs are very powerful and patients often experience severe side effects. The most common side effect is complete hair loss. Yes I said complete, it’s not just the hair on the head but the eyebrows, lashes, etc. In many cases radiation is being administered in addition to the chemotherapy and this combination will almost certainly end up killing the hair.

Chemotherapy hair loss can be very difficult to deal with as is can shatter your self esteem. During this time family and friends will surround and support you. You will need them to be there for you to guide you and to lift your spirits. Fantasia has specialized in fitting wigs for chemotherapy hair loss for many years. We have trained, caring staff to work with you during this difficult time. We welcome your support team to come in with you and we have private consultation rooms for you. Fantasia has a huge wig inventory and it’s very possible we have just what you need in stock. Of course each wig is customized so people need not know you are wearing a wig unless you decide to tell them.

The main this for you is that you get rid of the cancer and get your health back. While you may think your hair is the most important thing, there are professionals who can help deal you with that. Your focus should be on getting well. You will get through this and be stronger as a result of it. It’s hard to imagine something so devating could be percieved down the road as a blessing but we hear that time and time again.

Another hair replacement option is a vacuum-pressure attachment which is made of a hard, soft, or semi-soft polyurethane or silicone. Prices will vary due to materials but the range for vacuum wigs is from $3000-5000.

In order to be a candidate for this hair replacment system, you would have to have no hair at all. The lining is strecthed over the head and the prosthetic (wig) is fastened to the scalp with suction. There are pluses and minuses to using this type of replacement.

The vacuum base allows for cuticle hair to be injected into it so you get the beautiful, finished look of real hair. The hair is less processed when the cuticle has been removed so there are less snarls and tangles. A vacuum is a very good prosthetic and very difficult to tell it’s not the real thing. However, the vacuum option creates security without much breath-ability, so maintenance of the scalp is of the utmost importance.

Another drawback is that for proper fit, you have to have a perfect head. Those who use this hair replacement system believe in it so much they are unwilling to try anything else including some of the new technology.

Fantasia salon is able to fit vacuum wigs. We make plastic molds here, in-house, which are then sent to the manufacturer for the hair replacement to be custom made. Turn around time will depend on the manufacturer.

Here are some tips for proper care of this type of hair replacement:

• Use special tools to dry, brush and comb the wig. Keep it from undue friction.
• Special care must be take for properly storing the wig. Keep it on a head, preferably one made of covered, skin-like material. If you are using Styrofoam, replace it monthly because it could build bacteria even though the hair looks clean.
• There is less breathability which could initially causes rashes, however your body will adjust to this.
• If you wear your wig all the time; you must regularly condition your scalp.

Even though vacuum wigs are an older technology, there are those individuals who love the technology because most people absolutely cannot tell they are wearing a wig. Plus they like the secure feeling of this type of hair replacement. It is for these people that Fantasia continues to fit vacuum hair replacements. If you or someone you know has been looking for a salon to help them with vacuum hair replacement, we would love to talk with them.

Amy’s Presence, a line of Cyberhair wigs, got it’s name from Amy Gibson. Amy is an actress who began her show business career when she received a starring role in the daytime drama “Love of Live” at age 13.

Just as Amy’s acting career was really taking off, she began experiencing bald spots due to alopecia areata. Back then, not much was known about alopecia and Amy had to find ways to cope with losing her “crowning glory”. She had to keep her secret from cast members, friends and the press for fear of being ousted from an industry which places such importance on beauty and hair.

Over the next 17 years Amy starred on many shows including “The Young and The Restless”, “The Facts of Life” and “Happy Days”. All the while Amy was scouring the globe trying every treatment imaginable and searching for answers to her problem. Amy became a star on “General Hospital” at a time when her body was rejecting treatment and she lost all of her hair within a three week period. Determined that “the show must go on”, she created techniques to allow her to live like every other woman who loves to swim, work out, go dancing and engage in intimacy. Amy was not going to allow hair loss to rob her life.

The Amy’s Presence line of wigs is a culmination of Amy’s lifelong search. Cyberhair is the world’s most technologically advanced patented hair. It is virtually indistinguishable from human hair. It is light as a feather, soft and silky, with rich hues and subtle, shimmering highlights that never fade or change color.

With Cyberhair, you can live life to the fullest! You can work, sleep, swim, exercise, and enjoy romantic moments without worrying about your hair. Amy’s presence is an everyday wig that fits your everyday life. Cyberhair has “style memory” so it requires no styling and only basic maintenance to keep it looking great.

Additional features of Amy’s Presence are: Two cap styles, the Action Cap and the Ultimate Cap, both super lightweight cap construction for the ultimate in comfort and secure wear-ability; hand tying with light, refined materials that conform to the head for an individually customized fit; and subtle colors, hues and highlights that you have to see to believe. Amy’s signature features are: extended ear tabs for natural appearance and loops for scarves and eyeglasses. Additionally, there are specially formulated shampoos, conditioners, protectants and styling aids all specifically formulated for Cyberhair and Synhair.

Fantasia is privileged to be one the few salons in the Upper Midwest area offering Cyberhair and Amy’s Presence. Of course we carry a full line of the above mentioned products for proper care and maintenance of the wigs. Call today for more information and to schedule your consultation.