relightalopecia
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There was a time I couldn’t leave the house without hair.
Last night, I went on BBC Look East bald.
And when Amelia asked me what I would say to my 13-year-old self, I thought about the girl who believed losing her hair meant her life was over.
That she wasn’t “normal” anymore.
That no one would ever fancy her, respect her, or listen to her.
For 17 years, I hid my alopecia because I thought my difference was something to apologise for.
I know now that the problem was never my bald head.
It was the shame I had been taught to carry around it.
So to my 13-year-old self, and to anyone who has ever felt they had to disappear to make other people comfortable:
IT REALLY IS GOING TO BE OK.
Your difference is not something you have to fix.
And you are always worthy of being seen.
Proud to have worked with and this to challenge the stigma faced by people with marks, scars and conditions that affect their appearance.
Seen comments on videos of me saying:
“She’d be fine bald if she lost some weight.”
And this is exactly why so many women are exhausted.
Too fat.
Too thin.
Too loud.
Too bald.
Too much.
Guess what?
None of my body is up for debate.
Not my weight.
Not my hair.
Not any of it.
Respectfully… no.
Video by for a brilliant campaign many moons ago.
27/04/2026
Your beauty isn’t up for debate.
But sometimes, we all need a reminder (especially when society has a lot to say about how you look).
This portrait (Dec 2022) by did exactly that for me. It was just when I was just starting to challenge myself to embrace life without a wig.
She’s currently running a giveaway for a free portrait session in London.
Go ooooorn, go, go, go 👀
I’m tired of explaining my visible difference.
And managing other people’s reactions to it.
06/04/2026
21 Easters with alopecia.
Only a handful where I’ve shown up proudly as the egg head I am 🥚
That’s because confidence isn’t just something we work on in isolation. It’s built from what we’re shown.
When we’re fed the same faces, the same version of beauty, any difference starts to feel like something we have to fix or hide.
People like me, with visible differences, aren’t the problem. The lack of representation is.
The more we see difference the easier it is to celebrate it, in others and in ourselves.
Grateful for this community, the visibility, and every person choosing to show up as they are — especially when mainstream media refuses to reflect our full diversity.
Photo by .a.q for True Crowns project capturing alopecians across the UK.
09/02/2026
What do you think?
I understand why alopecia has been classed as a disability in a recent legal case. Not because hair loss limits physical ability, but because of the very real social, psychological and structural barriers people can face as a result.
Workplace discrimination.
Being treated as unwell or less credible.
Harassment. Exclusion.
And the mental health impact that can come from all of this stigma, not necessarily from hair loss itself.
From that perspective, using the term disability in relation to alopecia could offer legal recognition and protection to challenge unfair treatment. Language can be a powerful tool. It can legitimise experiences of stigma and discrimination and give people the confidence to name harm and challenge it when they need to.
I’m also mindful that disability means different things to different people, and I don’t want this case (or my reflections) to diminish the lived realities of people whose experiences are often far more complex and systemic.
What I can say is that the wording used in this ruling makes me deeply uncomfortable. In recognising alopecia as a disability, it makes broad assumptions, particularly about women, suggesting that distress is inevitable unless hair loss is “concealed”.
That framing reinforces the idea that my baldness is the problem, rather than the prejudice attached to it.
Legal language doesn’t just reflect society, it helps shape it.I don’t want legal protection to come at the cost of undermining visibility.
I spent 17 years hiding my hair loss, and I can’t support definitions that imply my body needs concealing in order for me to thrive in public life.
So do I welcome the legal protection that may come with this definition? Yes.
The assumed pity and shame? No.
And I’m still grappling with whether the wording of this case allows for one without reinforcing the other.
I’d really welcome your thoughts to help wrap my head around this one...
Is alopecia a disability?
“This man is more than his mark.”
These words from have been on repeat in my head all week.
And on it’s what I want to hold onto.
Dr Mariano Barbacid and his team have brought us one step closer to defeating and managing pancreatic cancer. That matters. The science matters.
The lives this could change matter.
What doesn’t matter — and should never have distracted from this moment — is his appearance.
And yet appearance bias still shapes who is taken seriously.
Even at the very highest levels.
Even in medicine.
Grateful to Jade, and for calling this out so clearly.
We have to do better.
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