A woman with alopecia who lost all her hair when she was just eight years old has been left overwhelmed after her cousins grew out their own hair and chopped it off
Chloe Marie Bean, 22, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was diagnosed with the autoimmune illness as a child when she started noticing bald spots on her scalp.
She was initially diagnosed with alopecia areata – the mildest form of the condition – but this soon developed into alopecia universalis, which sees the affected person lose all their body and facial hair including eyebrows, lashes, leg and arm hair.
The full-time student, who has taken to TikTok to lift the stigma around baldness and has over one million followers, has now gone viral after sharing a story of how her cousins, Grant 25, and Carson, 18, rallied to make her a wig of their own locks.
One clip has racked up 9.3 million views, 830,000 likes and over 7,000 comments.
“My two cousins knew how much I missed having my hair so after growing it out for two years, I was finally able to shave it off and have a wig made for me with family hair,” she told Jam Press.
“I am so blessed.
“It was so heartwarming knowing I have family willing to do basically anything to put a smile on my face.
“I also prefer a wig from them since human hair is very expensive to get so knowing I have a human hair wig from my family beats any other wig I have ever had.
“I absolutely love it, it reminds me of the hair I had before it fell out.
“The curls are absolutely beautiful!”
The cousins first started growing their hair out in 2019 and chopped the locks off two years later, in May 2021 – it was handed over to Chloe in December 2021, just in time for Christmas.
She now frequently shows off her glossy new wig on social media, and users love her honest approach to living life with alopecia.
“Wow, I’ve always been so insecure about my hair thinning and this video got to me! Thank you for being an inspiration, So beautiful!,” wrote one person.
“From women to women. I’ll be honest with you: I have never seen such a beautiful human like you, you are a real queen” said another user.
Someone else added: “I have the alopecia too and see u i feel good and i feel amazing <33 ily, thank u.” [sic]
“YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL,” another user commented.
Someone else added: “I’m actually so inspired, you’re so strong and OMG you’re ALSO SO PREETY!!!”
“Your smile is out of this world! Who needs hair with so much beauty! You’re stunning honey. I’d look like a potato with no hair,” said another follower.
Although they couldn’t determine the medical reason for Chloe developing alopecia – there can be myriad reasons a person develops the condition, such as stress, and it is very difficult to diagnose – it may be a genetic link.
She said: “The only other person in my family who had alopecia was my great-grandmother on my mom’s side!
“She wore a wig and was completely bald like I am.”
At first, Chloe tried growth and hair treatments but unfortunately, her alopecia would always return.
She said: “I now have alopecia universalis which is total hair loss across the entire scalp, face and rest of my body.
“As one can imagine, it has had a profound effect on my day-to-day life, ranging from just my daily beauty routine, to the way I view myself.
“It is now a part of my identity.
“I grew up in a small town called Midland, Michigan and I actually got bullied back in high school, which made it difficult for me to fully accept my hair loss and being bald.
“It took me a couple months to fully embrace it but it was definitely extremely hard, and still is every day.
“I ended up seeing a therapist who actually helped me embrace my baldness and she was the person who helped me get through it other than my wonderful parents.”
The student, who got her first wig aged just 10, added: “I used to get steroid injections which were injected into my scalp, when I was in high school but stopped getting them at the age of 21.
“Every time I stopped getting treatment my hair would just fall back out again.
“It was almost like false hope.
“I now wear wigs to express my personality or match my outfits but it does really depend on the scenario.
“I tend to wear wigs when going out and dressing up, but I choose not to wear one when I don’t feel the need.”
