RuPaul's Drag Race Helps Alopecia Areata Teen Deal with Hair Loss

What never ceases to amaze is how help with life's problems can come from the most unlikely of sources, a point most definitely proven by a teenager from Greater Manchester who found comfort for her hair loss… in the drag queen community.

Kim Slack, who lives in Westleigh, first lost her hair to the autoimmune disorder Alopecia Areata when she was 11. The Daily Telegraph reports that she discovered her hair was falling out during the summer holidays before starting at High school. Stress, it should be noted, is one of several suspected triggers for the condition, which usually leads to sudden patchy hair loss.

Tingling sensation led to hair loss

For Kim, who is featured in a Channel 4 TV series called Stripped Bare, her hair loss was the start of a “rollercoaster ride” that has included many difficult moments, especially at school. With crushing inevitability, her hair falls out every six to eight months, the only clue that it is about to happen being a “tingling sensation all over her skin.”

Now 18, Kim has found confidence via a love of make-up the more dramatic the better. The catalyst was the American reality TV series show RuPaul’s Drag Race, which Kim saw and felt connected to straight away. “It was the story of how these drag queens weren’t accepted by society but weren’t going to stand for it,” she tells the Telegraph. “They were using make-up to do it. Plus they all wear wigs, and I had that part laid down.”

And so began Kim’s love affair with make-up, which she employs to quite dazzling effect. She has also got to know several members of Manchester’s drag queen community, some of whom have offered advice. “They’ve taught me to never let anyone stand in my way,” she says.

Kim’s love of cosmetics has developed to such an extent that she is now training as a make-up artist and has designs on setting up her own video tutorial series. “I’m doing something I really love and raising awareness for a really confusing condition,” she says.

Unsuited to treatment

As with a significant number of people who lose their hair to Alopecia Areata, Kim seems unsuited to the various hair loss treatments that are available to people with the condition although which ones she has tried are unknown. Severe autoimmune alopecia is notoriously difficult to treat, and is currently nearly impossible to reverse in its rarer sister conditions Alopecia Totalis and Alopecia Universalis.

When patchy hair loss of the type characterized by Alopecia Areata is first experienced or is mild to moderate, it is recommended that people make a visit to a hair loss specialist as soon as possible.

In many cases, treatment for Alopecia Areata has resulted in impressive regrowth for Belgravia clients with primary levels of shedding, as can be seen in our Success Stories. These results were all achieved using courses featuring high strength minoxidil which is applied directly to the scalp, but unfortunately this is not suitable for the more severe cases and conditions.