The power of hair: Wig salon celebrates 50 years of boosting people’s spirits

Hairstylist Marsha McHenry Carroll understands the power of a good hair transformation.

So when she learned five years ago that Charles Thompson, founder of Charles of Laguna in South Laguna — formerly known as Charles’ Wigs — was retiring and looking for a buyer to carry on his upscale hairpiece atelier, McHenry Carroll was at first uninterested in crafting wigs.

She had worked with real hair and didn’t necessarily think the skills were transferable to synthetics. And she has too much appreciation for hair and all that it can do for people to risk failure.

But then she met Thompson. The two discussed the business and craftsmanship of the hairpieces and became friends, and McHenry Carroll became the owner of a company that makes custom wigs.

After years of perfecting the faux pieces under Thompson’s tutelage, McHenry Carroll celebrated the store’s 50th anniversary on Sunday, throwing a party that honored the shop’s decades of constructing respectable hairpieces for a clientele facing hair loss stemming from genetics, chemotherapy, medication or psychological issues.

“Hair is everything. Hair is the heart of the matter,” McHenry Carroll said in her shop last week. “Once people experience having hair, it’s like they become a new person.”

McHenry Carroll, who trained at Vidal Sassoon and Paul Mitchell and has been a hairdresser for more than 20 years, said she has personalized custom wigs for people from all over the world.

About 80 million people in the U.S. have hereditary thinning or baldness, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, and many others lose hair because of chemotherapy, hair products, poor nutrition, medication and stress.

Since the topic is not widely spoken about, it can be challenging to find a quality solution for hair loss. Hair accessories like hats and scarves are usually worn to outdoor events. Unnatural wigs and toupees have garnered poor reviews, hair extensions are deemed high maintenance and hair replacement surgery can be extreme.

But natural-looking hairpieces can be expensive.

One such piece at Charles of Laguna, labeled “the Bentley of Hair,” goes for $6,500 — priced high because of quality control, its European origins and the coloring, said McHenry Carroll.

According to McHenry Carroll, creating hairpieces that can be worn with everyday ease starts with clients trying one on, and that service is done in private.

Discretion is key at the hair atelier, located on Pacific Coast Highway at Pearl Street.

The nondescript salon, which gained worldwide attention when Princess Diana’s former hairdresser Richard Dalton was on the staff, provides private rooms where one-on-one consultations are held by appointment only.

McHenry Carroll also arranges house calls for clients who prefer the comfort of their home.

She said she first notes a client’s skin tone, eye color, face shape and natural hair color and then selects certain shades and cuts to experiment with. After placing a wig atop a person’s head, she’ll spin the chair for a 360-degree view, assessing the sides, back and front.

A hairpiece, she said, will last as long as one takes care of it. She advises that the hair be shampooed every three weeks.

Women aren’t the only ones affected by hair loss. Half of McHenry Carroll’s clientele is men.

By the age of 35, two-thirds of American men will experience some degree of appreciable hair loss, and by 50, about 85% of them will have significantly thinning hair, according to American Hair Loss Assn.

McHenry Carroll said she is driven to create attractive hairpieces for cancer and chemotherapy patients, to help them feel better as they undergo treatment and their looks change.

Kristine Taylor, a breast cancer survivor, said she purchased a hairpiece from Charles of Laguna five years ago.

Taylor, who founded Kristine Taylor Philanthropies, an organization that provides home security and physical and financial assistance to people fighting life-threatening health problems, recently held a Pink Gala to raise funds for the emotional needs for breast cancer patients.

Charles of Laguna donated a $4,500 hairpiece.

“The generosity from Charles Wigs to cancer patients — you can’t put a price on it,” Taylor said. “When you lose your hair, you lose so much of your identity. This gives you back your dignity and beauty.”