Your Spirit. Your Style.
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
November 2 & 3, 2002
The National Womenâs Show 2002Women have a new formula for success â itâs time to stop juggling all the stressful things in life and get balanced! The National Womenâs Show has everything for todayâs woman all under one roof! No need to jump from store to store, itâs all here! Live fashion shows, entertaining celebrity speakers, a cooking stage, free makeovers, decorating demonstrations, career resources and best of allâŚâŚlots of shopping!! You will discover new ways to stay healthy, manage business, create the home of your dreams, deal with family issues, and connect with other women. So pamper yourselfâŚ. get inspiredâŚ. laugh and celebrate your spirit
http://www.nationalwomenshow.com/toronto/
Metro News Toronto / December 11, 2003
Loss is Regained
Women with hair loss can hold their head up high thanks to innovative hair replacement solutions, products and technology from Torontoâs Continental Hair.
Continental Hair has been looking after both men and woman for 40 years.
In 1995, Continental Hair shifted their direction to focus and became the only company in Canada dedicated to woman with hair loss due to chemotherapy, thinning, chemical damage or the hair loss condition alopecia.
âWe see alopecia clients as young as four years old,â states Continental Hair president Michael Suba. âAbout 50 to 60 percent of the women who come to us with thinning hair are in their 20s and 30s.
âWe design custom-made wigs and hair systems made of fine-mesh and are hand-knotted. We use processed Asian hair or virgin European hair that has never been dyed,â Suba adds.
âWe take a mould of the top of the head â usually making the hair system just a little bigger than the palm of a hand. The system is light, discreet and blends in with the womanâs own hair.â
Unlike menâs salons where existing hair is shaved and the replacement glued on, Continental Hair clients have two options â comb clips that are removable or a permanent attachment that works by pulling the hair through tiny aluminum tubes, looping this hair then tying the system to the loops.
More recently, Suba introduced a painless low-level laser therapy used in Europe for 15 years.
âThis low-level laser will keep the hair you have and turn thin baby hair into thicker healthier hair. With damaged hair, when the follicle is dormant and not killed off, the laser has a way of kicking the follicle back into gear and starting some hair growth,â Suba says.
Also, âthere is a real stigma about woman and hair loss, so we are really careful to make sure they look good. When they see we can,⌠they are ecstatic,â add Suba.
Continental Hair has two locations: 92 ½ Avenue Rd., 416.923.7747, and Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, 2025 Bayview Ave., âTâ Wing, 416.480.5157.
Kathryn Kates
For Metro News Toronto
Elevate Magazine / Autumn 2004 / Portrait
By Pam Fulford
Cynthia Brandt is bald. And she couldnât be happier â She never had a bad hair day.
Tell us about your condition â alopecia â and what triggered it?
There are three main types of alopecia: alopecia areata (patches of hair missing on the scalp and body), alopecia totalis (baldness on the scalp only) and alopecia universalis (baldness on the scalp and the body). I go back and forth between totalis and universalis. Actually, itâs all rather ironic â I canât grow a single hair on my head, but I still have to wax my lip. How is that fair? My husband jokes I should grow it out and do a comb-over! Alopecia is believed to be an autoimmune disorder â a disease caused by the body producing an immune response against its own tissues. When I was 16, I was in a car accident. A week later, my hair fell out; I could pull it out by the fistful. Obviously, I must have had a genetic predisposition to it. Fourteen years later, Iâm still bald.
Why did you decide to start wearing wigs?
At the beginning, I wore nothing but wigs, because I didnât want anyone to know I was bald. Playing sports was hard. I was reluctant on the field because I was worried the wig would fall off. When I started dating, once guys found out I was bald, they lost interest. Over the years, I just got more and more comfortable in my own skin. Now, most of the time I donât wear wigs, but Iâve had some fun, wild ones over the years. For me, itâs like playing dress-up. Iâm a huge fan of Continental Hair, where I buy all my wigs, and Michael Suba, who styles all of them.
So when you buy a wig, youâre not trying to hide?
I embrace my baldness. I donât understand why people are negative about alopecia. Itâs just hair. There are so many other things in life that are worse. Maybe itâs my personality, or the fact that I come from a long line of strong women whoâve dealt with a lot worse, but I think true beauty in life comes through hardship. Iâve taken this opportunity to become a better woman, instead of being bitter. Besides, I rather enjoy all the attention I get when Iâm wearing wigs!
How did your family react when you lost your hair and starting wearing a wig?
I think my mother had the toughest time. She cried when I bought my very first wig. My dad is old-fashioned and begged me to wear a wig on my wedding day. Instead, I walked down the aisle bald with a beautiful wreath of flowers. I felt so pretty. As for my husband, when I first met him, I was wearing a wig, so he didnât know right away. He says that before he met me he could never imagine marrying a bald woman; now he canât imagine being married to someone who isnât bald.
Whatâs your advice to a woman buying her first wig?
Buy human hair â itâs worth it! Synthetic hair looks like Barbie hair to me. I have three human-hair wigs â and most people have no idea itâs not my real hair. Iâve got a blonde, a brunette and a redhead, and Iâm planning to buy another soon. Thereâs a new form of technology that vacuums the hair to your head, sealing it like Tupperware. It will never fall off, and you can even swim with it on!
Whatâs your biggest frustration?
The most frustrating thing about alopecia is that it can come and go. A year after I lost my hair, it almost all grew back, but then it fell out again. It was more upsetting the second time around. I recently lost my eyebrows again and I miss them! Itâs a real nuisance to have to paint them on every morning. Itâs difficult to get them perfectly balanced. Iâve debated getting permanent makeup, but Iâm nervous if they do grow back, will I have four eyebrows?!
What are your hobbies and interests?
My girlfriends. We play soccer together, which I love. I also like biking, reading and being outdoors. I love being a mom. I hate to shop, but I love to hang out wherever thereâs good company. My friends and I often go to the Duke of Gloucester, the pub that sponsors our team in the Toronto Soccer League.
Wigs styled by Michael Suba, Continental Hair, 416-923-7747.
source: www.elevatemagazine.com
BACKGROUND STORY: For as long as I can remember I have coveted a long, healthy, flowing head of hair. Unfortunately my super-fine, straight hair never manages to grow past my shoulders. Once my hair is longer than six inches it becomes so fragile and wispy the only option is to cut it. Hair extensions have always intrigued me; however, the glue, weaves and potential hair damage involved with many types of hair extensions havenât. When I recently heard that hair replacement guru Michael Suba of Continental Hair was offering Euro Locs hair extensions (these extensions donât require adhesives or weaving), I practically ran to the salon.
THE TECHNICAL STUFF: Euro Locs hair extensions use a unique crimp method to attach top-quality human hair, from Europe, to your own. This system allows hair to be lengthened and thickened, without using any type of glue, weave or wax. Using your own hair as an anchor, the hair extension is attached along your natural hairline with a tiny metal tube (about eight millimetres long). A special tool is used to crimp the metal tube down, ensuring a strong bond. About 120 of these attachments are placed under the crown of your head. You canât see them and they donât feel heavy on your head. The hair extensions blend seamlessly, as they are dyed to match your regular hair colour. By using extensions in a variety of colours, natural-looking highlights and lowlights can be strategically placed during application. Because Euro Locs hair extensions are made from high-quality, untreated human hair, they can be dyed any colour and can be permed to match any type of curl, tight or loose.
APPLICATION TIME: Margaret DâUrso, a hair extension expert from Continental Hair in Toronto, carefully and skillfully placed the extensions across my scalp. Including a trim, and simple styling, the whole process only took about four-and-a-half hours.
ADDED BONUS: No more thickening sprays! Not only was my hair long, but for the first time in my life I could create a full-looking updo, without massive amounts of teasing and products.
THE TEST: My boyfriend loves my sexy new hair, and no one can tell itâs not my real hair. It survives vigorous workouts and tugs from friendsâ babies. It curls beautifully and holds styles, even washing and styling is simple. Most importantly, for the first time in my life, I love my hair.
EXPIRATION DATE: Euro Locs hair extensions can last up to five months, depending on how fast your hair grows. Hair can usually be reused once or twice, reducing the cost of reapplication. Blond hair can be reused once; darker colours can sometimes be used twice.
COST: Euro Loc hair extensions at Continental Hair cost about $1,500 for application and hair. When you are having hair reapplied the cost is about $750.
GET THE GOODS: Call Continental Hair at 416-923-7747 or visit continentalhair.com.
source: www.elevatemagazine.com
eople Magazine / March 2006 / P.140
Her Bald Truth
Former General Hospital star Amy Gibsonâs wigs are for women â like her! â with alopecia areata
As Amy Gibson sat on a New York City bus four years ago, she couldnât help but notice a teenage girl trying to cover up a large bald patch on the back of her neck. âIt was like watching myself in the mirror,â recalls Gibson, a former General Hospital star. âI thought, âIf only she knew she wasnât aloneââ.
Soon after, Gibson, 46, decided to go public about her three-decade-long battle with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease affecting nearly 5 million Americans â half of them women â in which the bodyâs immune system attacks the hair follicles. Although symptoms are usually mild (Princess Caroline of Monaco briefly suffered from alopecia in 1995), some, like Gibson, eventually go completely bald. It is for these women that, in 2002, she started a counseling business â and, this month, launches her Amyâs Presence line of wigs (priced from $400 â $1,500 and available in 200 salons nationwide), which includes a lightweight hairpiece, one that can be worn even while swimming. â They give women freedom to be active,â she says, âand not feel like they have a rubber band around their headâ.
Gibson was only 13 when a hairstylist on the set of the now-defunct soap Love of Life noticed a peach-size bald area. âI was hystericalâ, recalls Gibson, who took cortisone injections for 18 years to try to stem her hair loss before going bald in 1988, just weeks before starting on GH. The producers were supportive and even allowed her to play a character with multiple personalities â using different hairpieces.
Still, Gibson remained secretive about her condition until spotting that girl on the bus. âWhen you lose your hair, you feel your dignity being stripped away,â she says. âFor your own self-esteem, itâs important to still feel feminine and beautiful.â
source: People Magazine
Elevate Magazine / Spring 2006 / Big Wig
Big Wig
By Chantel Simmons
Former soap star Amy Gibson creates wigs for the girl on the go.
Nearly 35 per cent of Canadian women suffer from hair loss. Until recently, wearing a wig to cover balding due to alopecia or cancer-related therapies meant looking like you were wearing a wig.
Former soap star Amy Gibson has been bald since she was 13 â and hiding it until just a few years ago. âI would see normal women working out, dancing, swimming and being intimate in relationships, and I wanted that for myself,â says Gibson. So she created a line of wigs called Amyâs Presence, perfect for the woman who wants to live a normal life â just like she wanted.
Amyâs Presence, which is available exclusively at Continental Hair in Toronto, features wigs ranging from human hair to synthetic. The cyberhair wigs are the most unique and look like human hair, but keep their shine, colour and shape â even after swimming, showering or sailing â thanks to a unique style memory. âI donât sell anything I canât wear,â she says, including the first womanâs swim wig that stays on in all forms of water sports and the first womanâs intimacy wig, which is cut slightly higher around the hairline, so that others canât tell itâs a wig. âI know that a lot of women donât want to tell people that theyâre balding or losing their hair,â says Gibson. âNow they donât have to.â
For more information about the wigs, go to continentalhair.com. To ask Gibson a question, go to amyspresence.com or log onto webmd.com and cancerconsultants.com, where Gibson splits her time as a hair-loss and wig consultant for women.
source: www.elevatemagazine.com
