Adelaide woman’s unique hairdressing studio revealed
A woman who spent her early 20s trying to fix her hair problem has become the solution for thousands of others.
A woman who spent her early 20s battling to fix her hair loss problem has become the solution for thousands of others.
Kimberly Di Benedetto was 19 when she started losing her hair after suffering intense stress.
“I started to notice that my hair was really thinning out, and it was devastating,” Kimberly told news.com.au.
“I remember running to my mum saying, ‘oh my god, mum, I’ve blow dried my hair and it’s half fallen out’.”
Kimberly’s mother had already gone through female pattern hair loss, which is also known as androgenic alopecia.
Despite being viewed as a condition which affects mostly men, almost half of women will experience female pattern hair loss, according to the Australian Journal of General Practice.
The then-teenager went down a rabbit hole of trying to solve her hair loss problem.
She went to a dermatologist, a trichologist, and tried every hair growth treatment, vitamin, homoeopathic and medical treatment.
She wore hair extensions to make her hair look thicker and was laser focused on bringing her hair back to its former glory.
At 25, she went to a salon in Adelaide and they suggested she try a hair topper, which is essentially hair extensions for the top of the head.
It was game-changing.
Kimberly was working as a teacher at the time and began posting about her hair loss experience on social media and was inundated with messages from others going through the same problems.
So she decided to create a brand to share her solution with everyone, and launched Lusta Hair; specialising in wigs and wig toppers for those suffering hair loss.
“It’s been really amazing to create a community and then to be able to offer our wigs and toppers, which I’m obviously biased, but I think they look the best and most natural in the market,” she said.
She explained that when you have issues with your hair - often the first thing people see - it can have a huge and all consuming impact on your confidence.
Kimberly has a team of hairdressers, who help cut, colour and style the wigs and wig toppers to suit every individual person.
“You’re going to find wigs in all price ranges. You can go to AliExpress and find something for $100 or you can spend $10,000. Our pieces start at the $2500 mark and range up to about $5000 for a piece,” she said.
“Our pieces are all handmade. They’re all human hair, the highest quality human hair, and you’ll get three years out of a piece.”
She said each hair is individually put into the wigs by the manufacturing team, meaning it could take days for a single piece to be completed.
One of Kimberly’s most treasured areas of her company is the ‘Children’s Project’, which started after she connected with a hair stylist called Holly through a hair loss Facebook page.
Holly asked if she sold wigs and, at the time, Kimberly’s business was solely doing hair toppers.
“She asked if I would let her help me do wigs, so she started working for me and selling wigs,” Kimberly said.
“People were loving her and the wigs so it just became part of what we do.”
Holly has full alopecia, losing her hair when she was five, and when she started talking about her experiences, a lot of parents with children with hair loss began to reach out.
“She would talk to them and guide parents and children through the possibility of wearing a wig and what it might be like,” Kimberly said.
“One thing led to another and we started getting a lot of kids flying to us from interstate so we started the Lusta Children’s Project.”
The project is self-funded and kids fly out to meet Holly, who talks them through life with a wig; children like Sasha.
A clip uploaded to social media shows Holly tell Sasha she was the same age when she lost her hair.
“Really?,” the hesitant little girl asked before Holly fitted her wig on.
Immediately, the little girl burst into the biggest smile.
“I love it,” she declared.
Kimberly said those experiences can be incredibly emotional.
“We’re so happy that we’re able to do that because losing your hair is hard enough as an adult but these kids, some are starting high school or been wearing a costume wig,” she said.
“It’s just amazing to be able to show them that you can wear wigs and they can look really natural, and not fall off.
“They love it, like they’re so confident. Once they get it, they actually feel confident to not wear their wig as well, because their friends think it’s amazing.”
Kimberly said it was finding a community online that helped her feel comfortable in sharing her story and creating Lusta Hair.
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That’s why it’s so important for her to make Lusta Hair a community by sharing experiences and people’s stories on social media platforms.
“I didn’t know anyone in my real life who had skin hair or hair loss, so it just like helped me to accept what I was going through,” she said.
“It’s normal. There’s lots of women going through the same thing and like it, it’s possible to live a full and happy life, even if you have thin hair.”