It’s in a room at the back of her hair salonrue Thénard in Sens in Yonne, that Martine Colas receives her clients mainly women, many of them being treated for breast cancer. “I was in traditional hairdressing until the day I was called for a young woman who needed a prosthesis, I went there in emergency and I was very touched”says the hairdresser with emotion. “I told myself that I had to do it because I felt useful. When you are told ‘I will be able to welcome my son with a smile’, it is very important.”
Their smile, “the most beautiful gift”
This hairdresser has evolved in her profession, to the point of having a dimension of psychological support that she did not imagine before. “They arrive at the salon with a state of mind where sometimes they tell me ‘no, I don’t want a hair prosthesis, I just want a turban’ and then little by little, we help them and when they see the result on their heads, they are happy. They stand up. They have a smile when they leave and that’s the greatest gift.”
Synthetic hair that can be adapted
This hairdresser offers many hair models that can be adapted to the wishes of her clients. “Here, it’s a little square, highlighted blond, that you can cut and personalize”shows Martine Colas, “it is always necessary a little cut of scissors. Very often, I have hairdressing clients who ask me for the same color as my clients who go out with a prosthesis, they don’t notice it. And I’m really bothered because it’s very beautiful.” These hair prostheses are a far cry from the wigs of yesteryear. And of course there is different qualitiesthe first start at 350 euros, reimbursed in full by Social Security, others up to 700 euros, sometimes covered by mutual insurance companies. Finally, there are prostheses made from natural hair, which are much more expensive.
Self-image as an issue in healing
In any case, this importance of hair is now understood by the medical community, believes Martine Colas: “Now they are taking more and more into account the fact of losing hair, as something very important. In curing the disease, it is also a question of self-image and when one is not Well, we only think about that and we can’t fight about anything else.” Women that this hairdresser also supports after chemotherapy when their hair grows back.
