Why are you a Baldie? Because I'm always pushing the limits with how I portray myself to the world. I think of the world as my fashion show. I've done every cut color style in the book completely shaved I never did the full shave. I'm like whelps I must venture there now! I've always been self conscious about my hair the type of hair I had and since it's been gone I know I can't imagine growing back my own hair. This is how I was always meant to be a bald bad ass chick!
What challenges have you faced as a bald woman?
I haven't faced any challenges yet I'm with a amazing woman who also is completely shaved who loves me for me. I've gotten the stares but mostly I've been complimented most of the time in public which definitely takes me by surprise because people will go out of their way to let me know that I pull it off.

​How did you overcome the insecurities of being bald?
Well you definitely have to get used to having your entire face on display but I pretty much deal with it by saying to myself, slay some makeup and that's all ya gotta do

What words of encouragement would you share with someone who isn't confident with their baldness?
Embrace you not the version you want others to think of you. In the end your opinion is the only one that matters. The self love club is always waiting for you with open arms! Slay the game girl!

My Bald is...
Fierce. My bald is the way it's supposed to be. 

Today's Baldie of the day is this Beauty Chloe Bean. Though she is no longer a BALDIE, because of Alopecia Areata, at any given moment her hair can grow back and fall out again. Read her story on how hair loss affected her growing up and how she's dealing with Alopecia now. 

This is Chloe now.

What an honor to have this amazing woman as my partner for The Baldie Movement. She is the reason the meet ups begin and has motivated me in so many ways that she doesn't even know. Thank you Adrianne for being right by my side and there to assist me every step of the way. Today you are the Baldie of the Day!! 

This bald and beautiful mommy is currently traveling with her loving husband and daughter, exploring the world, and living life to the fullest. She has shown me that it is possible to enjoy life, even with your family right by your side. Check out her story on how she became a baldie and enjoy these beautiful photos to go along with it.

I've had Alopecia Areata for about ten years. Always trying to hide and cover the spots. It was a constant concern. In May 2016 my hair suddenly stopped growing and everything fell off in a couple of weeks. At that time I was full of hormones after being pregnant and breastfeeding and under a lot of stress taking care of the baby, working and fixing our home up for sale. I think that's why my Alopecia Areata developed to Alopecia Universalis.

The biggest challenge with alopecia was accepting myself. A stranger was looking back at me in the mirror and I had to battle the feelings of being so ugly and a freak. It is also so much shame involved with this disease. The fear that someone will see you without hair, so naked and revealed. Like skin is something disgusting.

I had the pleasure of working with this beautiful young lady by the name of Madison Chin also know as LittleMissBaldie. She's a 6 year old Alopecian Beauty who rocks her baldness and she rocks it very well. She has an amazing mother who supports her and everything she does and I commend her for being strong for her daughter every step of the way. I share this story to empower young girls and teens out there to own your baldness and never allow it to get the best of who you are. Hair doesn't determine your beauty or your self worth, You do. ​

​In December 2013, 25 days away from her 4th birthday my daughter Madison was diagnosed with Alopecia and I felt hopeless. I had no idea what Alopecia was and worse no idea how to help her. From age 2 our baby girl Madison had beautiful dread locks. We would  style them, put pretty ribbons in them and occasionally dress them up with a cool hat. She loved her hair. But when I started seeing patches and then we started finding Locs in her bed and in the play area we knew something was wrong. 

Time went by and eventually all of her Locs were claimed by Alopecia and soon her eye brows and eye lashes followed. We saved her Locs in a special box in hopes of using them to maybe make a wig for her. In the meantime we adorned  her head with hats. Lots and lots of hats. Hats that were cute. Hats that were not so cute. Some that were small and others that were too big. All too often these hats got in the way of Madison just being a "uniquely" normal 4 year old, who wanted to run and jump and have fun. 

So my husband and I decided to search for wigs. Unfortunately, there were many obstacles in the search,  as we were looking for something age appropriate and culturally fitting. We reached out to some of our Social media friends for suggestions and our request basically went viral. At least to us it did. People started offering to donate their hair, to cut their dread locks. They offered their time and their advice and solutions. It was amazing. ​

AT THE AGE 7, MY HAIR BEGAN TO FALL OFF.
​I was diagnosed with AT (Alopecia Totalis). It was a traumatizing experience for me as a child simply because I was so used to seeing myself a certain way and in a blink of an eye, it had all changed. I began to wear wigs just so I could be like the rest, but somehow the kids at school knew that something wasn't right. My school days were the hardest I had to deal with because of school bullies who would threaten to remove my wigs, and sometimes they actually would. I'd cry and complain to my parents and siblings about how hard it had been for me at school. My mother was such a strong pillar in my life. In my weakest moments she was always there to keep me smiling, if I needed something she'd do anything in her means to get it for me. My mother always encouraged me to pray for my hair to grow, and told me it was going to be okay. Sadly she passed away when I was in high school, it was something very hard for me to deal with, but I'm all so grateful for the wonderful times I had with her.

​MY MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE AS A BALDIE
​Was when I finally got the courage to accept that I was bald, let go of the wigs and began to embrace my beautiful bald head. Taking this step gave me so many wonderful opportunities that I never thought I'd have. I got an amazing opportunity to walk the runway for one of our locally recognized designers and it was such an amazing experience. And being a photographer, I feel like being bald has given me a more artistic appearance and I love it!
I may not really know if my baldness is temporal or permanent, but whatever the case I'm still going to rock it! Anyone out there who may be struggling with accepting the fact that they are bald, well there is only one you and no matter what the circumstance, you have to love yourself for the beautiful person you are! Acceptance is probably one of the most difficult tasks to do, buts its definitely worth it. I've learned to embrace my baldness and I'm loving every minute of it Go on, Rock Your Bald, turn heads, because "Bald is Bold".

I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata at age 5.
For 13 years, I lost small, unnoticeable patches of hair off and on. When I was 18 I began losing larger amounts of hair, and by the age of 20 I developed Alopecia Universalis and have been completely bald since then (May 2013). 
​
There are so many incredible experiences I have had since entering the world as a bald woman- which gradually happened between August 2014-March 2015. The moment that sticks out to me most would be when I first decided to go bald in public the week before I started my senior year of college. My friends had seen me bald, but never acquaintances nor the general public. 

I walked into a room full of people, some I knew, some I didn't and I was immediately embraced by all. In fact- everyones face lit up when they saw me walk in. It was this magical moment of fear washing away and new kind of confidence and enhanced self-esteem replacing that fear of being bald, and the fear that I had while wearing a wig, so afraid of being "found out". There was so much love and acceptance in the room I felt I had been set free, I felt invigorated, and anxiously excited to take on the world with a new sense of what beauty meant to me.

I found this gorgeous bald beauty rocking her bald with so much courage and excitement that I couldn't resist and had to ask her to share her story with me. I invite you to Be Inspired by Shalice and share her story to inspire other young girls out there who battle with Alopecia just as she does and to keep your head held high and be your beautiful bald head self.

I was born being bald,
So I'd say permanent haha I can't see myself with hair. I used to be just like you, I couldn't even get out of the house with a hat or a wig. Having that fear of looking differently and people just constantly staring. But remember to never let someone's opinion stop you from being yourself, never let your hair loss stop you from doing what you love. Its great to different and look differently! Uniqueness calls for confidence!!! People loves uniqueness, and it's great to stand out in this world.