To fight against the disease, and at the same time to accept oneself without one’s hair. This is a double jeopardy that many women with cancer face. This is the case of Stéphanie Retailleau, a hairdresser from Les Herbiers, in Vendée, who launched an Internet siteWednesday, June 15, for offer people undergoing chemo an alternative to the wigthe “Pas d’Chichi”: a turban with their own hair.
An idea she had when she fell ill herself. It was in October 2020, a few days before his 40th birthday. This hairdresser learns that she is suffering from breast cancer. She who refuses to look sick in the eyes of everyone does not see herself wearing a wig. “With a wig, we know we’re sick. Because we have this plastic wig that reminds us all the time that we’re sick!”she points out.
At the start of chemo, this mother, a hairdresser by profession, asks her children to cut her long hair. At first, without really knowing what she would do with it, until an idea came to her. “I hung them up with glue in my kitchen. I went to my mom with this hair band. And then my mom tore up an old t-shirt and put a rubber band on it. And presto, off we went! “she smiles.
I said to myself ‘I’m sick, I have cancer, I’m on chemo, I don’t have any hair, but I’m still not bad’! – Stephanie Retailleau
Thanks to this turban, from which his real hair protrudesStéphanie Retailleau finds herself, regains her confidence. “I said to myself ‘I’m sick, I have cancer, I’m on chemo, I don’t have any hair, but I’m still not bad’!”
So why not help other women with cancer? Over the months, in parallel with her treatment, the hairdresser refines the production process of her hair prostheses made by seamstresses near the Herbaria.
We are like before. Like before the first chemo. -Jennifer Jouan
“We are like before. Like before the first chemorejoices Jennifer Jouan, 30, one of the first to have entrusted her hair to test the first hair prostheses of Stéphanie Retailleau. I found it really great! It’s been two days since we cut our hair and to see it like that on our skulls, it’s great!”
After several months of word of mouth, Stéphanie Retailleau has just launched her website to market their hair prostheses. From now on, women from all over France will be able to send their hair by post to receive one.