Our Stories

Dear hair loss WARRIOR,

I write to you with a heart who knows the pain and devastation of hair loss in such a deep and real way. As I write this letter to you tears are running down my face because I am reflecting on where I've been and how far I've come. I first began my career in hair dressing at the young age of 17 and it became my passion the day I walked into Ogle cosmetology school in 2000. Over the years I have had some increidble opportunities in this amazing industry. My mother and I opened one of the most reputable and (in my opinion) best salons in the industry in 2003 called Renata Salons and it has been a gift building it together. Later in my later 20's I moved out to Los Angeles and there I was hired as a regional educator for a product line and salon called Bumble and bumble in NYC. The growth I experienced as an educator was amazing. I had the incredible opportunity to work with the most talented hair dressers in the world back stage at Fashion Week every season. The education and experience I received was the best in the industry.

Fast forward to September 2018 when I was diagnosed with several auto immune disorders, one being alopecia areata where the immune system begins attacking the hair follicles causing extreme hair loss and bald patches all over the scalp. 

The day my hair started falling out was actually not as bad as you might think because at first you think its just a one time thing and that this one bald spot is as bad as it will get but for me my hair loss continued.

I remember one of my hardest days… I woke up in a pile of hair one morning and ran my fingers through my already pathetic hair and my heart sank. I had a HUGE pile of hair in my head and pillow full of hair. My hair was pouring out of the follicles in what seemed like a never ending speed. I sat on my bathroom floor shattered and broken, crying and begging for it to stop. I remember looking up at one point and seeing my husbands face. Tears raced down his cheeks, at that time there were truly no words.He just picked me up, called into the salon for both of us, and we spent most of the day driving around the lake, I would go from bawling my eyes out to thinking it’s going to all be ok. I grieved my hair as if it were a death of a loved one. Yes, I realize how vain and insensitive this may sound but it is 100% the feeling of losing what at times seems like your identity. 

...and then one day I decided I was going to find the best hair on the market and, like every hair stylist wishes they could do, cut and color my own faux hair. I wasn't going to compromise and wear ugly wigs that looked like wigs, I wanted to know ALL the options.

After feeling like my alopecia was a curse I began seeing that it was such a huge blessing in my life. Helping people through their hair loss journey is something that has changed my life forever. Seeing the faces of people who finally "see" themself again and walk out with all the confidence. It's something that has impacted my life so much that I want to spend all the time in the world seeing these faces smiling like they do. I know the feeling, my friend Cheryl did the same thing to me and it turned my frown upside down. She gave me a topper that helped me see myself again. Now I know that beauty shines SO much deeper than hair, but finally having the hair of your dreams feels pretty dang good!

Have a good hair day...and let your smile shine so bright,

Lauren Jackson

Creator of Renata Hair co.