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'We need to break the stigma around toupees'

BBC Alan Beavis, shown on the left with a bald head, and on the right with a semi-permanent wig, swept to one side.BBC
Alan Beavis is delighted with the results of his semi-permanent wig

Alan Beavis says his baldness always used to get him down.

The 40-year-old, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, started losing his hair at the age of 23, but has recently had a hair system - or semi-permanent wig - fitted.

Now he admits he "can't stop looking in mirrors".

"You don't talk about these things," he told the BBC. "It's all kept under the carpet - we need to break that stigma."

Hair systems, also known as toupees, are made from human or synthetic hair woven on to a lace or polyurethane base.

They are attached to the scalp with a skin-friendly adhesive or tape, before the wig is cut and blended in with the natural hair.

Jodie Brown has bright red hair and a tattoos on her arms. She is wearing a black vest and is standing in her salon, with certificates on the walls.
Jodie Brown said she had been "inundated" with demand to give men hair systems

Jodie Brown has been barbering for 28 years and runs Kisses and Curls, a hair salon in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

In May she said she decided to become trained in fitting hair replacement systems so she could help her husband.

After seeing the confidence it gave him, she began offering the procedure at her salon.

She said she had been "inundated" with people contacting her since and some men "get quite emotional" about the process.

'Constantly trying'

Her husband, Wayne Brown, said he no longer felt "paranoid" about his thinning hair since he started to wear his semi-permanent wig four months ago.

The 41-year-old said he had first started feeling self-conscious about his hair at the age of 32.

In 2018 he had a hair transplant, which he said had been successful for about a year before his hair began to shed again.

"I started wearing hats more and, when you're going out, you're just constantly trying to get your hair to look right," he said.

"I went to a boxing [event] years ago and I had my hat on, and they said 'you've got to take your hat off', [but] I'd rather not go in than have to show my hair."

Wayne Brown wearing a wig or hair system, while sitting in a salon. His brown hair is swept to one side.
Wayne Brown said he no longer worried about going out since his hair system was put in place

Mrs Brown said it had been "rewarding" to help people walk out of her salon feeling good about themselves again.

"I think men try to sometimes laugh it off," she said.

"I'd like to see men be able to talk about their hair loss and do something about it if they want to, and not have to hide it."

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