Maylen Villar was in the prime of her life when her hair began falling out in clumps. The 23-year-old former model was shocked and embarrassed, thinking stress was to blame.
She tried to cover it up as best she could - until she lost all hair on her body, down to her eyebrows and eyelashes. She sought medical advice from doctors in the U.S. and in her native land of Cuba.
No one had any answers. Villar was diagnosed with alopecia universalis, an autoimmune skin disease which has no known treatments.
'I fell into a deep, deep depression,' she said. 'I didn't really feel like going out of my house.'
She forced herself out of bed each morning, painting on eyebrows and putting on a scratchy, $20 wig before heading off to work at My Havana Cafe in Chokoloskee. She hated looking in the mirror.
Her boss, Donna Hartman, hated seeing Villar so crestfallen. She made a trip to LaDonna Roye Hair Salon in Naples to pick out a nicer head piece for Villar to wear in the hot kitchen at work.
After hearing Villar's story, Roye wanted to do more for this young woman. She invited Villar to the salon for a free wig fitting. The salon recent joined Recover with Confidence, a network of hair replacement studios and salons dedicated to helping women with medically induced hair loss.
'It's really about helping people have a better experience in the hair replacement part of their treatment,' Roye said.
Through the program, the LaDonna Roye stylists have been trained to custom fit and style wigs for women during their most emotional times of life. Roye also has a limited number of wigs to give to women who could otherwise not afford them.
After seeing the state of Villar's cheap wig, Roye determined Villar would be the first recipient. After carefully listening to her needs and preferences, Roye suggested a few wigs.
Trying on a bouncy brunette style, Villar's eyes lit up.
'I was so happy when I looked at myself in the mirror,' she said. 'I felt different because it was comfortable, and it felt natural. It even looked like I had real hair roots.'
Before long, the model inside broke loose, and Villar was posing for Roye's camera.
'That was one of the most rewarding days of my life,' Roye said. 'You could just see the change in her. By the time she left, she was like a supermodel.'
Roye started dealing with wigs about 12 years ago, but they were more fashion than function. They were nice for a woman who was out golfing all day and needed a quick hair fix for dinner, but far from medical grade.
Then one day an 8-year-old girl came into the salon with her mother. The girl was going through cancer treatments and had just begun to lose her hair.
'She needed a wig that day, and I didn't know how to help her,' Roye recalled.
Roye determined to further her education in wig construction, fittings and styling. Now she stocks more than 500 wigs, ranging from $130 synthetics to hand-tied, European human hair wigs worth more than $2,000.
In addition to Recover with Confidence, Roye works with the American Cancer Society and the national Look Good Feel Better initiative. She also recently doubled the size of her North Naples salon to provide private space for wig and hair piece shopping, fitting and styling.
'It's hair, but it's a whole other realm,' said the stylist of 36 years. 'It's much more of a service. We make sure the wig fits. We customize the cut and style and, in the case of human hair wigs, we can customize the color.'
Roye is aided by two other stylists who share her passion for helping women struggling with hair loss. Dawn Mincey buzzed her hair off a few years ago when her sister was going through chemotherapy.
Thankfully, her sister is now in remission, but Mincey keeps her hair short, choosing to wear wigs most days of the week.
'My clients love it,' Mincey said. 'I have 10 or 11 wigs now.'
Women who are going through chemotherapy are super sensitive to touch, which makes fashion wigs extremely uncomfortable on their bald heads, added fellow stylist Dodi Fisher.
'It's really important to have the right feel,' she said. 'We take pride in what we do because we want people to be confident not only in our skills but in our compassion. They're so confident when they walk out feeling beautiful.'
Many times insurance will help pay for a medical-grade wig as a 'cranial prosthesis.' The American Cancer Society also offers some free wigs, and Roye is planning to add a lower cost wig closet to her salon soon, where she will deeply discount older wigs.
Having beautiful hair means much to a person who is dealing with the emotional, self-image issues of hair loss - whether it be from radiation, medication, alopecia or a hair-pulling disorder, Mincey said.
'Their heads are higher when they leave,' she said. 'They leave with so much confidence and ready to face what they have to face.'
Although many hair replacement clients prefer to keep their experience confidential, Villar is happy to share her story as an inspiration for others.
'I feel like a different person,' she said. 'I got my confidence back. I thank them with my whole heart, and I hope they keep doing things like this for people like me. It really changed my life.'
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