Surprisingly, women account for about forty percent of hair loss cases in America. And because of its signature fullness, the aesthetic effects of female balding are emphasized in naturally curly hair. To address the issue of hair loss in naturalistas, we asked Brooklyn-based hairstylist Noel Reid-Killings to share her styling and treatment tips.
Question: “I’m balding on the crown of my head. It is noticeable. I’ve been growing out my hair for awhile and aside from said bald spot, it has been growing big wild and thick. Unfortunately, my big hair makes my bald spot more obvious, but I don’t want to cut it. What can I do?”Reid-Killings: “I’ll begin with styling options—and there are many. XFusion is a spray-on product that delivers keratin fibers that bond to your own strands. The result is a natural-looking fullness that lasts all day. You can also try strand-by-strand extensions in this area of your head. If you get curly hair pieces, you can blow them out straight or style as you would your own hair. The drawback to this method is that it can be expensive. Your stylist would gather a 30-40 strand section of your own hair and attach additional strands to it using a keratin bond. Each section can cost $10-20. The third option is a crown hair piece—picture a circular wig just for that area. The small wig is similar to a closure piece for a weave and they blend quite nicely.
As far as regrowing or treating your hair loss, the key is to figure out the cause. A dermatologist can help with this. But in my experience, I’ve seen a lot of hair loss in natural women caused by buildup of product and dirt on the scalp (co-washing, a technique commonly used by women with curls, doesn’t cleanse the scalp properly). So I recommend scalp exfoliation at least once per month. In my salon we use, Nioxin Scalp Renew.”
