'It really changes your life': Halifax wig store provides more than just hair for clients

Emily Shea has alopecia and started losing her hair when she was 17 years old, so she knows how damaging it can be for someone’s self-esteem and confidence.

“It almost makes you feel vain in a sense because it’s like, well, everyone says it’s just hair,” she said. “Until you lost your hair, you don’t get it.”

Shea launched Flox Hair, a Halifax-based wig store, to provide people with a judgment-free space to deal with hair loss.

“The first topper that I got, it saved my life,” she said. “I was in a very bad, bad space and I know a lot of people that sit in this chair are also in that space.

“About one in three women will experience some type of hair loss in their lifetime and about 50 per cent of women will experience some type of thinning.”

Fellow stylist Jillian Jewers said they can customize the wigs to suit any style.

“Every kind of hairstyle, texture, colour, all of that stuff, I am able to be very inclusive,” she said.

Jewers noted the moment people see themselves with their new wig can often be an emotional one.

“Definitely a lot of tears,” she said. “We have a box of tissue ready at all times, but it’s such a good feeling. You can feel it in the whole room.”

“Yeah, the tears just flow,” Shea said. “It really changes your life. It changed my life.”

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