Ageing…but not fading; what I hope to bring to Peluka Salon in my Ambassador role

I was thrilled when Francesca asked me if I would be willing to join her education initiative, and to represent women of my generation, i.e. 60-somethings with hair loss.

Having lost all my hair to alopecia at the age of 60 (initially areata – i.e bald patches, then universalis – total loss of all body hair) in 2020, the experience is still very fresh in my mind, I am writing from my own experiences. Also, having found such support from the online hair loss community via Instagram, I hope to be able to give something back to other women like me who are finding themselves in this situation (or it is happening to their mother, their sister, a close friend/relative of similar age to me) and they don’t know how to navigate the experience.

Whilst there is so much information about hair loss already available on social media, and so many photographs posted by [often younger] women looking fabulous in their alternative hair, this in itself can be a bit daunting for anyone who hasn’t previously used Instagram as a means of connection, and is still coming to terms with their unwanted new look, especially when it’s combined with the natural ageing process. In one of my own early Instagram posts I commented that I felt I needed to up my game make-up wise, since every photograph I was seeing not only showed perfect hair, but flawless make-up too and I was a little daunted by this at first. But I decided to stay within my own comfort zone, and since we were locked down anyway the opportunities to go make-up testing/shopping didn’t exist. (I might have spent a small fortune unwisely otherwise!) Before my hair and eyelashes/brows vanished my makeup routine was very simple; do hair, apply moisturiser, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and go. When you are bald or have little remaining hair, getting ready can become a bit more time consuming. I’ve stuck to the simple routine as far as possible, the main thing for me now is making sure I have eyebrows and I use eyeliner applied to my top lids to give the appearance of lashes – but I have also bought some fabulous shades of eye shadow.

It’s my hope, in my role as part of the Peluka Salon Education Ambassador team that by sharing experiences such as those I’ve just touched on, and more besides, I can help any woman with hair loss who is reading this, especially those who are close in age to me; our ageing is natural, but fading doesn’t have to be.

With love, Sara