Moments after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Esther Courtright feared losing everything.
“My first words were, ‘I’m going to lose my hair, they’re going to cut off my breast, and I’m going to die,’” Courtright says. While she feared death, her first instinct was to worry about her hair and body, the outward appearances that defined her as a woman.
“I reacted as a woman,” she says. “I didn’t want to look like a cancer patient. I wanted to have some control and some normalcy in my life.”
After beginning chemotherapy, she began searching intently for a wig. She knew that hair loss was just a few weeks—or perhaps even days—away, but local businesses had appointments booked weeks in advance.
“When you’re about to lose your hair, a few weeks is an eternity,” Courtright recalls. Other businesses offered outdated hairstyles. Frustrated with the Valley’s offerings, she finally found a store near Philadelphia that met her needs.
Soon Courtright would come to realize that her journey with cancer would not end with chemotherapy or even a clean bill of health. She felt compelled to help others with a similar diagnosis in some small way, even if it meant ensuring that they could find a helpful, convenient place to purchase a wig. She spoke with Rena Hawk, owner and principal stylist at Millennia Salon and Spa in Easton, asking her to consider opening a boutique catering to women with hair loss.
The request struck close to Hawk’s heart. Having just lost her mother-in-law to cancer, Hawk understood the importance of maintaining normalcy and living life to the fullest after a cancer diagnosis. She agreed to open the Strands of Hope boutique above Millennia Salon and Spa in 2008 with Courtright’s assistance.
“It all fell together,” Hawk says, noting that Courtright’s experience as a cancer survivor, along with her knowledge as a caregiver and professional stylist, offers their clients a good blend of medical and cosmetic advice.
This is the easy part
Because a cancer diagnosis is the most devastating thing a woman may have to deal with in her life, Courtright and Hawk strive to cater to their clients, making their experience at Strands of Hope a positive and uplifting event. “These women are already going through so much. We want this to be the easiest thing they go through,” Hawk says.
Strands of Hope boutique is located in a private setting above Millennia, removed from the hustle and bustle of the main salon. Most customers bring friends or family members for advice and support. A few even see the appointment as a chance to celebrate their control over cancer—because while they might have cancer, cancer doesn’t have them. “We’ve had some great times with clients and their friends,” she adds.
Another advantage to bringing friends or family members is the additional feedback. While Hawk and Courtright enjoy offering advice and sharing hairstyle and color options with clients, they know that matching a hairstyle to personality is important. And who best to judge your personality than a close friend or kin? Friends know what color or style might fit your personality best and can give instant reactions to a new look.
Appointments at Strands of Hope are encouraged but not required. Consultations are scheduled in two-hour blocks, allowing clients to have an in-depth discussion on what they are looking for in a wig, their expectations, and the styles and colors available. Many women have questions about wearing a wig—questions are encouraged! The appointment also includes tips on caring for wigs at home.
But what happens after a woman finds the perfect wig? Feeling normal after a cancer diagnosis doesn’t stop with replacing your hair; cancer patients need special medical and cosmetic care to feel their best. Strands of Hope and Millennia Salon and Spa have teamed together to ensure that clients receive this specialized care.
For instance, many women undergoing chemo also lose their eyelashes and eyebrows. While Strands of Hope can’t replace this lost hair, they can work with clients to make this hair loss less noticeable. “We have a cosmetologist downstairs who can show them how to fill in their eyebrows so that they look natural,” Courtright says. Millennia is also home to a certified massage therapist who specializes in oncology massage and lymphatic drainage.
Stylists at Millennia are also knowledgeable in the effects that chemotherapy and other cancer treatments can have on the scalp and skin. “This is a salon. We’re all about scalp care and skin care. We have the products and the experts these women need, right downstairs,” Courtright says. The salon places an emphasis on health and environmentally-friendly products with fewer harmful side effects, and also keeps cancer patients’ compromised immune systems in mind when offering treatments to clients. “It’s part of our discussion when we consider new products,” she adds.
Taking control
Most Strands of Hope clients make their first appointment shortly after their cancer diagnosis, before beginning chemotherapy or other treatments, Hawk says. They see this step as their first chance to take action against a disease that often wrestles their control away.
“There is no right or wrong way to cope with a cancer diagnosis,” she says. “But when a woman decides to shave her head before she loses her hair to chemotherapy, once she decides that she is not going to let chemotherapy take her hair, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Women who come to Strands of Hope before losing their hair have another advantage: allowing Hawk and Courtright to see their natural hairstyle and color in person. This allows them to help clients find the best match for their current look; or, if you’re looking for a daring new hairstyle to celebrate the new you, a chance to weigh your current style and personality against an array of options.
“I ask that they take a look around, to see if there is anything that they like,” Courtright says, gesturing to the dozens of wigs on display in the boutique. These wigs are a good starting point for clients, but they’re really just that—a starting point. Strands of Hope also offers catalogs with hundreds of style options and dozens of colors. “We will find one that you really like and that you feel comfortable in.”
While Hawk has made it her mission to help women replace their lost hair, she strongly believes that a bald woman is beautiful in her own way. “We can see the beauty in their eyes, in their facial structure. They have a different kind of beauty,” she says.
Their battle against cancer also reveals an inner beauty wrought by their fight to survive and thrive in spite of a cancer diagnosis. “This is one of the biggest battles of their life, but they’re doing it. They come out of this battle stronger and more beautiful,” Courtright says.
Seeing this transformation can be particularly touching for caregivers and friends. It gives husbands, children and friends a chance to see that while their loved one might lose their hair, they’re still here and still fighting.
“Many clients say that cancer is a gift. It makes you a gutsier person, and builds your confidence,” Hawk says.
“It’s not a gift you ever want,” Courtright adds. “But you come out on the other side of cancer with more strength, more respect for life. You live each day with a little more pep, because you’ve discovered your mortality.”
Hope for thinning hair
For millions of Americans, hair loss begins not with a cancer diagnosis, but with gradually thinning hair. Thinning hair can have a huge impact on a woman’s self esteem and self-confidence.
“People don’t empathize with women who have thinning hair,” Hawk says. “But for a woman who has had thick hair her entire life, thinning hair is traumatizing.”
Strands of Hope offers wigs and advice for women who suffer from all types of hair loss, including thinning hair, she adds. As a stylist, Hawk meets with women who have thinning hair to discuss options such as wigs, hairstyle and hair care. While each woman’s hair loss circumstances are unique, she is confident that many women can improve their thinning hair with the right tools.
“These women just need to be guided in the right direction,” she adds. “We want them to know all of their options. Sometimes just cutting your hair can make it look thicker.”
Five percent of the proceeds from Strands of Hope’s wig sales benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Easton. Salon employees are also active participants in Relay for Life, the Susan G. Komen
Three-Day breast cancer walk, and the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women program.
“The salon is geared toward women’s health,” Hawk says. “We want to direct our energy toward helping the community. Our main focus is giving back to the community that supports us.”
Resources
Contact:
Strands of Hope is located at Millennia Salon and Spa3142 William Penn Hwy., Easton | 610.923.9400 | millenniasalonandspa.com
What to choose?
Losing your hair to cancer or other medical ailments is difficult. Finding a stylish solution to hair loss shouldn’t be.
Women can choose confidently from real-hair or synthetic wigs. “Wigs of today are not the wigs of the ‘70s,” says Esther Courtright, the founder of Strands of Hope and a cancer survivor. “They’re made lighter, easier to care for. You can’t tell the difference between a synthetic and real-hair wig.”
Wigs are available with heat-resistant fibers, which allow the wearer to curl, straighten or blow-dry the wig as if it was made with real hair. Wig “caps” are also lighter and more comfortable. Another option is a mesh cap that allows the wearer’s natural scalp to peek through, which means a more natural-looking part.
While the majority of Strands of Hope clients are searching for a wig, there are other options for women experiencing hair loss including:
Sleep caps
Headbands
Braided headbands
Turbans and swim turbans
Scarves
Can I afford a wig?
If you will soon lose your hair to chemotherapy or for other medical reasons, don’t let the thought of an expensive wig deter you from checking out Strands of Hope, Esther Courtright says.
“There are beautiful synthetic wigs with reasonable prices,” she says, noting that client consultations are free.
Many insurance companies will reimburse clients for the cost of the wig if their hair loss is documented by a physician and this physician supplies a prescription for a “hair prosthesis” or “crania prosthetic.” She encourages clients to submit hair replacement bills to their health insurance company.
