Grapevine Entrepreneur Launches Wig Line After Hair Loss

About one-third of women, young and old, will experience hair loss at some point in their lives, according to Harvard researchers.

It can have a devastating impact on a woman's emotional well-being, as well as that of a teenager. Few options exist, which is why a Grapevine hair salon owner set out to a make a difference.

Renata Salon isn't your ordinary hair salon. It's a destination for women and girls living with hair loss.

"Once you find that you can have any hair you want, that you can have your dream hair, you start to realize, this can be kinda fun!" said salon owner Lauren Jackson, who transformed one of her salon suites into a wig salon.

In it, she customizes her own line of hair pieces to each woman in her salon chair.

Full wigs, toppers, color and cut, all meant to restore the natural confidence her client may have lost.

Jackson said she knows the feeling well. She was recently diagnosed with alopecia areata, a common autoimmune skin condition that causes bald spots.

"I went into a depression if I'm really honest with you. I wanted to run as far as I possibly could from anything that had to do with hair," Jackson said.

There is no cure for alopecia areata, which isn't as common as traditional female pattern baldness. Doctors said a shift in hormones, like during pregnancy or menopause might result in female hair loss, but the real cause isn't known.

"It's a little embarrassing for someone to come and talk about it, but I think once they know that the incidence of it is actually pretty high, and if they were to talk about it, they would realize how many women are actually going through the same thing," said Dr. Aurora Lopez, an OB-GYN at Medical City Arlington.

Jackson said she came to that realization when she posted about her alopecia on her Instagram page and heard from hundreds of other women.  

When she said she couldn't find a wig that didn't look "wiggy," she launched her own line, Faux Hair Don't Care, to help others.

"It's been life-changing for me knowing that I'm helping other people find their way and just finding options."

There isn't a cure for alopecia, doctors said the most effective treatment is topical solutions like Rogaine.