PAIN BEFORE BEAUTY: Kierstyn Jones-Le, 7 of Laguna Hills, is in good humor as she takes a closer look at herself. A Saran Wrap mold is the first step in making her custom wig. Taken at Wiggin Out Salon in Newport Beach. The youngster is reminded by the Salon owner of the adage, pain before beauty.

CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

 

 

The Orange County Register

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Second grader Kierstyn Jones-Le has one scrawny tuft of hair on the back of her bald head, the most she's been able to grow since she was a toddler. A couple of scratchy wigs hang from a hook in her purple princess bedroom.

Kierstyn doesn't know if she'll ever have her own hair again because of an autoimmune disorder called alopecia totalis that caused all of her hair to fall out. But she's about to receive the next best thing with the help of Wiggin Out, a Newport Beach wig salon.

Kierstyn was recently fitted for a custom-made human hair wig durable enough for swimming, gymnastics and even bathtub shampooing. A friend donated 17 inches of shiny brown locks. But Kierstyn's family still needs to raise $1,500 for the wig that she won't ever have to take off.

Kierstyn hopes she'll have the wig in time for her eighth birthday, Dec. 30.

"She really wants to be able to feel normal," says her mom, Eydie Jones of Laguna Hills. "She's a little girl. She wants her hair."

When Kierstyn was 2, patches of her hair began falling out. She was very close to her ill grandmother. After she died, within a month, all of Kierstyn's hair fell out. Her brown tresses never grew back.

Jones said dermatology treatments didn't work. The family bought some inexpensive, synthetic wigs, but they didn't stay on well or look natural. They felt itchy and made Kierstyn's scalp sweat.

"I used to go out without my wig when I was little," Kierstyn says. "It's a little embarrassing."

Eventually, Kierstyn grew so self-conscious she gave up dance and gymnastics classes.

"She started getting ridiculed and stared at a lot," Jones says.

Once, Kierstyn remembers, "a kid named Michael pulled off my hat" to expose her bald head.

She starts to cry and stops telling the story.

"He laughed, huh?" Jones says, pulling Kierstyn in for a hug.

Jones started home schooling Kierstyn last year because of the teasing.

Her father, a self-employed financial consultant, doesn't have health insurance or enough income to pay for the wig.

"Every time she sees a girl with a full head of hair, you can see the envy in her eyes," said Allen Le. "She loves doing things with her mom's hair, like braiding it."

Kierstyn always admired her friend Kasie Higgins' long hair, which hung to her lower back. But last month, Kasie chopped it all off, just for Kierstyn.

The hair will be used for Kierstyn's wig.

"I was very proud of my long hair," says Kasie, 13, a family friend who considers Kierstyn like a little sister. "It took a lot to keep it nice and tidy. (But) I find that seeing Kierstyn with a brighter smile is better than having long hair."

While Higgins is receiving lots of compliments on her new Victoria Beckham-esque 'do, she's already planning to grow out her hair again "just in case they need to make adjustments in the wig."

The wig will be designed at cost by Constance Walsh, owner of Wiggin Out. Walsh typically makes wigs for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and women with thinning hair.

The family found out about Wiggin Out through a television news story.

As a first step, Walsh created a Saran Wrap and Scotch tape mold of Kierstyn's head. Kasie's hair will be tied strand by strand into the sheer mesh cap. It will then be bonded to Kierstyn's head with medical adhesive so that she can play soccer, swim and return to public school.

The wig, which normally retails for up to $5,000, should last her at least five years. Kasie’s hair donation is reducing the cost because purchasing human hair for the wigs runs $500 an ounce.

"She wants to have long, mermaid hair," Walsh says, standing in her chic salon across from Hoag Hospital. "I want her to be able to do gymnastics and feel what it's like to be a child."

Walsh, 39, gave Kierstyn a wig to take home, styled like Walsh's own wavy, long hair. Kierstyn tried on the wig in front of the mirror.

"It is like she transforms," Jones says. "She lit up. She was all happy."

But Kierstyn can't wait to wear Kasie's hair in a pony tail and use barrettes.

"It feels really soft," she says.

And it will be all her own.

"I won't be left out," Kierstyn says. "I'll look like a whole new person. It will be the best birthday present in the world."

Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com

 

 

 

 

 

NEW LOCKS: Kierstyn Jones-Le, 8, tries out her new hair after being fitted with donated hair from Kasandra Higgins, 14, right. Jones-Le was born with an autoimmune disorder.

MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

 

 

NEWPORT BEACH - Kierstyn Jones-Le danced across the hair salon Saturday afternoon, her long brown hair swaying behind her. She turned a cartwheel, sending her hair tumbling over her shoulders.

The 8-year-old's favorite activities felt new again with a custom-made wig firmly attached to her head after years of baldness, teasing by other kids and diminished confidence.

"It feels perfect," said Kierstyn, who lives in Laguna Hills. "I feel special again."

Kierstyn lost all her hair at 2 because of an autoimmune disorder called alopecia totalis. She tried synthetic wigs but they were too scratchy, unnatural looking and wouldn't stay on her scalp. She left public school and gymnastics after children made fun of her bald head.

Most recently she wore a hair piece, but it had to be covered with a hat, even in warm weather.

"She's beautiful," her father Allen Le said. "It's bringing her confidence back now. You can see a change in her face. I didn't know the damage it had done to her until she got her wig and you could see the transformation."

Last year, Kierstyn's family saw a television news segment on Wiggin Out Salon, a Newport Beach wig shopspecializing in expensive wigs made from pristine human hair. They contacted owner Constance Walsh, who agreed to make a wig for Kierstyn at cost, roughly $1,500.

The hair, which can retail for $500 an ounce, was donated for Kierstyn by family friend, Kasie Higgins.

Now all Kierstyn's family needed was to raise money.

After Kierstyn was featured in a December article in The Orange County Register, more than 50 readers responded with donations. With $3,000 raised, Walsh made a second wig for Kierstyn.

"We were just really touched," said Eydie Jones, Kierstyn's mother. "It's been really emotional for all of us."

Kierstyn's new wigs are durable enough for soccer, sleeping and wearing barrettes and ponytails. Kierstyn will now get baptized at Vineyard Community Church because her wig can withstand a dunking.

Her wig is so natural looking that wisps of hair on top are cut short to resemble new hair growth.

Kasie, who turned 14 on Saturday, went to the salon on her birthday to see her long hair bonded to her young friend's scalp. Other little girls brought flowers for Kierstyn to Wiggin Out.

"It looks cute on her and I've been getting compliments that this cut looks good on me," Kasie said, snuggling Kierstyn in her lap.

Register reader Karrie Serklew of San Juan Capistrano collected money for the wigs by knocking on doors in her neighborhood with her 8-year-old daughter, Juliana. She also donated proceeds from a jewelry party. In all, she gave Kierstyn's parents $1,100 for her hair fund.  Constance Walsh donated another wig valued at $3,000.00

"It was the last thing in the world I had time to do," Serklew said. "I saw her article, I thought, 'Oh, that's so sad I hope someone will help this little girl.' For me it was God and the Holy Spirit speaking to me saying, 'You're busy and you can do more. She's an 8-year-old girl that deserves hair and you can make it happen.'"

Kierstyn drew a picture showing her transformation from a crying toddler without hair, to a grinning girl with a gorgeous mane. She also wrote a note to the donors who helped pay for the wig:

To learn more about alopecia, visit www.naaf.org

Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com