British supermodel Jourdan Dunn has revealed that she has been wearing wigs for the past year in order to give her hair a rest as she is suffering from hair loss.
The 24 year old mum of one told HELLO! magazine how her natural hair was becoming so damaged that it started falling out at the front. She believes this hair breakage to be due to over-styling.
"I mean, I had no hair around my hairline - it was like baby hair, it was so damaged", she explained, adding that her hair stylist, Renda Attia, insisted she turn to wigs whilst she dealt with returning her hair to its former glory.
Dunn said, "I've been wearing wigs and having them changed every month, having lots of conditioning treatments and, finally, my hair is growing back."
Dunn believes the reason this has occurred is due to fashion hair stylists' lack of experience with her hair type, saying: "My hair has been so damaged with heat and styling because most hairdressers still don't know what to do with Afro hair."
Afro hair tends to be dry and has a different texture to Asian and Caucasian hair types, so needs to be treated differently to avoid this type of damage occurring.
Jourdan Dunn is currently fronting the Burberry advertising campaign alongside Naomi Campbell, who also wears wigs and has previously spoken out about similar problems in the fashion industry.
Speaking to CNN part of her 2013 campaign to raise awareness of racism in the industry, Campbell agreed with fellow model and Diversity Coalition member, Nadja, who noted: "When I come to a show the hairdressers are not really ready for a black girl, for black hair."
Whist, without examining her, it is hard to give a confirmed diagnosis of her hair loss condition, but from the descriptions Jourdan has given of her hair loss, it seems she could be suffering from either severe styling damage or Traction Alopecia. Both of these conditions are common in models due to the nature of their quick-turnaround, appearance-based profession which often requires many different hair looks per day.
Styling damage causes the hair to break due to constantly changing styles, over-use of heat stylers, products that dry the hair out and even just constant blow drying with a too-hot hairdryer. The hair becomes brittle and snaps easily, causing hair fall although it is not actually a hair loss condition as the hair follicle is not affected. This type of damage can be repaired by allowing the hair to rest whilst showing it some TLC with intensive conditioning and strengthening treatments to help restore its condition.
As a healthy-eating fanatic with her own YouTube cooking channel, Jourdan most likely already includes good sources of the necessary vitamins and minerals for healthy hair in her diet. However, taking a daily supplement such as Hair Vitalics can ensure all nutritional bases are covered where your hair's health is concerned. Hair growth boosters and a good haircut to get rid of split ends and layers to deal with uneven breakage, may also help to nurture her hair back to its best.
Traction Alopecia is brought on when the hair follicles are placed under regular, extreme tension. This is generally the result of tight hairstyles or add-ins, such as braids, weaves or hair extensions, and can lead to hair loss in patches where the tension occurs, and around the hairline where only tiny hairs remain, like the 'baby hairs' Jourdan mentions.
Treatment for Traction Alopecia involves the topical application of high strength minoxidil to the affected areas. This hair loss treatment has been used to great effect by many of Belgravia's Traction Alopecia clients, like Miss P pictured here, whose results you can see in our Hair Loss Success Stories gallery. For more information about the range of high strength minoxidil preparations available from Belgravia, or to speak to a hair loss specialist about any concerns your hair is giving you, contact our clinics on 020 7730 6666 or send us a message.
The Belgravia Centre is a world-renowned group of a hair loss clinic in Central London, UK. If you are worried about hair loss you can arrange a free consultation with a hair loss expert or complete our Online Consultation from anywhere in the world for home-use treatment.
View our Hair Loss Success Stories, which includes the world's largest gallery of hair growth photos and demonstrates the level of success that so many of Belgravia's patients achieve.