'Wigs n' Wine': Growing together through hair loss

Support group for those suffering hair loss After an alopecia diagnosis, Jacqueline Moore bared it all for her Facebook followers.

For Jacqueline Moore, it took a while after her diagnosis with alopecia to find her confidence again.

Last year, she started experimenting with wigs, and shaved her head fully.

"I've always had thin hair my whole life. I never had beautiful hair, obviously as a girl growing up that's something I always dreamed of. You'd see the Disney princesses and you'd want to have the beautiful long hair," said Moore.

Starting her Facebook group, Wigs n’ Wine, was a platform for her to share her experience.

"One night as I was washing one of my wigs, having a glass of wine I thought ‘oh, maybe this could be something fun to do to kind of regain some of my confidence that I had lost over the years from having no hair.’”

She wanted others experiencing hair loss to have the resource, and place to share, that she didn’t find on her own journey.

"I created it as a way for me to find comfort and support for myself. For a diagnosis, I received of androgenetic alopecia and familial baldness, it was a diagnosis that I hid from. I was embarrassed about it, and didn't want anybody to know I had it.”

Now, she wants to give that confidence back to others experiencing hair loss through Wigs n’ Wine.

"I now want to help other people because I know how stressful that experience is and that decision can be. So I have come up with some wigs that I have on display for people who maybe want to come and have a consult with me, women who are going through chemotherapy, people who have alopecia, or are struggling with hair loss," Moore said.

Wigs became a transformative tool for Jacqueline's appearance, and her confidence.

It took some getting used to, but now she switches colour and style daily.

"I thought, ‘you know what, just do it, and who cares,’ so when I became confident and more comfortable to tell people when they'd say ‘oh your hair is different today,’ then I'd say ‘well it's because I wear wigs.’”

She even has a wig named after her after connecting with a wig designer online.

"When I design wigs, a lot of times, I am looking at my customers really listening to what they want,” said wig designer Chelsey Smith, of Chelsey Smith Cosmetics in El Dorado Hills, California.

“We started my wig business inside the guest bedroom of my house and we've expanded more and more, and as we go I want my customers to know that I am listening to them and looking to them for inspiration.”

Inspiration that Moore wants to share with people across the Maritimes.

"They can see it like ‘oh, maybe I can wear a wig,’ and I'm like ‘yes you can wear a wig, they're for everybody, you don't have to lose your hair to wear a wig they truly are for everyone," said Moore.