By Amanda Krew
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A journey with alopecia has taught 21-year-old Bronwyn Haymes to reject age-old expectations that a woman’s beauty is found in long flowing hair.
The Baltimore-based visual artist is among 6.8 million people in the U.S. who struggle with
alopecia areata, a disease that causes hair loss on the scalp and sometimes on other parts of the body. Other than the loss of hair, alopecia does not affect one’s health, according to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
Haymes started her journey in March when she said she found a small, circular bald spot about the size of a clementine on the back of her head.
“[I] didn’t know what it was,” she told The Baltimore Watchdog. “[I] immediately sent a picture to my sister who freaked out, which didn’t make me feel any better and then went to a dermatologist and was diagnosed.”
Haymes then endured a few rounds of steroid shots in her head, a procedure in which doctors inject 20 to 30 doses to stimulate hair growth.
“My issue with any of the steroids is that they are not, in my opinion, long term solutions,” she said. “They’re definitely helping in the moment, but they aren’t fixing what is causing the problem; your body can get addicted to them and so when you get off of them it can really harm you.”
“After a month or so, I stopped doing those and tried some natural stuff,” said Haymes. “It’s different for everyone and there isn’t really a cure or a cause, so I just let it run its course.”
Haymes uses social media to document her journey with alopecia. While posting about her condition on Facebook, she was introduced to Rachel Anne Warren, 37, a wig maker who also has alopecia. A man Haymes had met at an art show brought the two together.
There was an instant friendship that eventually led to Haymes exchanging an oil painting she created for a pink, shoulder-length human hair wig she agreed to model for Warren.
“I always knew hair was a huge deal to me. I loved my hair,” said Haymes about her hair loss. “I knew that would be hard in that regard, part of my denial in the beginning was, ‘oh I wasn’t meant to lose my hair. I was meant to have hair.’ It was wild, like I had never heard of before and it hit full force. It’s only been six months so I’m still figuring it out.”
In the beginning, Haymes said she assumed the shedding was happening in the shower where she wouldn’t notice it, but that quickly changed.
“Over the course of a month, it started changing where I was shedding and I’d actually see the hair and towards the end it was coming out in fistfuls and clumps when I ran my fingers through it,” said Haymes.
The shedding had sped up from finding the first patch in March through the end of April when Haymes decided to shave it all off in early May, the week before her 21st birthday.
After she shaved her head, Haymes said she had assumed that it was all over. She did not think she would lose hair all over her body, a condition known as alopecia universalis, NAAF officials said. All that Haymes had left was a few eyelashes and a “little Mohawk patch that never fell out.” At that point, she said she decided to have her eyebrows microbladed and to sport wigs in public.
Haymes met Warren at a perfect time. Although a Baltimore native, Warren lives in downtown Frederick with her partner and his two tween boys. She said she began learning how to make wigs from YouTube and Instagram before studying privately with master wig maker, Michael Meyer. Learning the craft has brought her confidence as a woman with hair loss, she said.
“There is a good reason the giant wig shops throughout most cities have hundreds of wigs on display and thousands in stock— every person wants something a little more like their old hair, or a little different in one way or another,” said Warren, explaining about making wigs for people with alopecia. “When I can get close to that vision so that someone can see themselves a little more clearly, it’s more than I can ask for.”
Their friendship was instantaneous and allowed Haymes to have conversations with a person in a situation similar to hers.
“One of the first discussions was about how alopecia changes your sex life and dating because it really does,” said Haymes. “Our relationship strengthened the more we talked online and then I got to finally meet her in person when she asked if I could model some wigs for her website.”
Warren made the trade with Haymes and agreed to make her a long brown custom wig, one close to her original hair. Haymes’ painting was of Artemis, goddess of hunting and protection.
“I did a rendition where I made her bald,” said Haymes of the painting. “That felt really good and I felt like making a series like that.”
Haymes had plans to document her hair loss though a series of oil paintings, but said she realized it was too hard to revisit those moments. She had recently deleted 90 percent of the pictures on her Instagram because it was difficult to see the pictures of her with her biological hair.
Creating positive art like the piece she made for Warren helps keep Haymes positive through the hair loss.
“The art I make that is positive makes me feel more positive about it,” said Haymes. “Making art that is sad is beneficial as well. But, right now, I need to focus on how it makes me stronger and how I feel beautiful about it regardless.”
Haymes proclaimed that she is “not good at change,” though throughout her journey with alopecia, her view of what it means to be a beautiful woman has shifted.
“I don’t think femininity and beauty are linked to hair at all,” Haymes said. “Redefining how you feel beautiful rather than how you think you should look like and realizing that sometimes things change, and you’ve got to change with it, and it doesn’t mean that your own personal standard of beauty has to stay the same.”
Through finding the alopecia community on social media, Haymes and Warren said they feel less alone and more positive rocking a bald head or a new wig.
“Mostly, what I ask for these days is self- healing and acceptance,” said Warren. “Working with people who have suffered hair loss for any reason helps me to feel less alone. If I can spread the community feeling in a small but useful way, I’ve done my job.”
Haymes finished her coffee at the end of her interview with The Watchdog. She pushed the pink strands of her wig out of her face, looked at the patrons sitting around her and loudly, defiantly proclaimed, “I’M BALD!!!”