New York Buzz

Elline knows firsthand how traumatic permanent hair loss can be for a woman. She’s been losing her hair since she was a teenager, when she was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia.

Today, Elline is the owner of LeMetric Hair Center, Inc. (a salon exclusively for women with hair loss or hair thinning issues, with satellites across North America). She’s been creating custom, hand-made hair systems for over 20 years and, most recently, she’s been hosting seminars/workshops in her salons where she addresses the physical and emotional side effects of the disease that affects over 40 million American women.

I was shocked when I first learned that most of her customers are so ashamed of their hair loss that their significant others and families often have no clue of their condition. The women will come in regularly for adjustments and styling, and they’ll confide in Elline that their husbands don’t even know they’re wearing hair pieces. They are too embarrassed to talk about it, even to their family and friends.

Elline understands their need for privacy and secrecy, even though the word shame does not exist in her own dictionary. We went to see her at her salon last Friday for her birthday (which was, coincidentally, 08/08/08) and she greeted us in full va-va-voom mode: wearing a new, sassier hair piece and a body-hugging top that showcased her “ladies”.

We were there to shoot some more videos for her YouTube channel, which emerged out of her desire to reach out to more women – across the globe. Her videos urge women to go beyond accepting their hair loss and to find a solution to feel confident, powerful and sexy again. She’s an advocate for female empowerment, through whatever means necessary. She believes that whatever makes you feel beautiful, is what you should be doing, whether it’s shaving it all off and embracing your baldness, or investing in high quality, all-natural hair pieces like the ones she designs at LeMetric.

Elline will be hitting the road soon to promote awareness on alopecia and to spread her unique message of empowerment. She’s scheduled to appear at her satellite locations in Philadelphia (Pierre and Carlo salon, September 14th) and Toronto (Cerilli Beauty Centre, September 28th), as well as her headquarters in New York City (LeMetric, September 21st).

If you’re an expert on hair loss, psychology or female sexuality, and you’d like to be a part of Elline’s panel, let us know! Send us a message at LeMetric@AMP3pr.com.

For more up-to-date info, visit her blog at www.lemetric.com/blog, call Elline at 1-800-217-9052, or email her info@LeMetric.com.