Compassionate Creations in Newport Beach restores hair, dignity one strand at a time
Hair. Taken for granted by people who have plenty, it can be a precious commodity for those who don’t. That’s something the founders of Newport Beach-based Compassionate Creations know all too well.
For the past nine years, the business has created custom, hand-tied wigs for clients, most of whom have lost their hair due to illness, disorders and chemotherapy. They not only produce human-hair wigs but consult closely with clients on the fitting, style and care of each creation.
Unlike other salons, which may place orders for premade wigs with tresses cultivated from China, India or Eastern Europe, Compassionate Creations accepts clients’ own hair, if they’re able to harvest it before a chemo treatment, or donations from loved ones who are a close enough match.
“There are a lot of different wig makers out there, but I have not found one that offers the service of making a wig from your own hair,” said Gieselle Blair, a former theater wigmaker who started the company alongside Balboa resident Veronica Balch in 2013.
“We want to make something that looks like you — on the best hair day of your life.”
It’s a rare service but an important one for people who want a wig that looks and feels like their own hair, as well as those who already have donors lined up.
“Hair has such an impact on people. It has 100% to do with our identity,” said Balch, who studied as a cosmetologist before getting into wigs. “To be able to give someone that sense of normalcy back is just amazing to us.”
One of Compassionate Creations’ success stories is Melanie Shaha, a 60-year-old mother of six from Arizona, whose years-long treatment of a benign tumor on her pituitary gland led to a stint with radiation therapy in 2017 that caused total hair loss.
She figured it was one more obstacle to overcome, that her own blond locks would return after treatment wore off. But as months went by, Shaha’s scalp showed no signs of regrowth.
“It was a super sad day when my endocrinologist said, ‘Your pituitary gland is dead and your hair is not coming back,’” she recalled Thursday.
No matter how much she recovered or how healthy she was, her bald head would continue to make her look sick and evoke pity from strangers. That’s when her son, Matt, came up with a plan. One night over dinner, he looked at his mother and said, almost joking, “Maybe I should grow you a wig.”
“Everything sort of fell into place when I made that initial joke at dinner,” the 27-year-old said.
Matt was a senior in college in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to finish out the year at home. His private school maintained a strict dress code that required men to keep their hair short but living with his parents, he could grow his tresses long and donate them.
“My mom is one tough cookie. But this was one of those things that was always a soft spot for her,” he said of Shaha’s hair loss. “This was an opportunity to build her up a little in that one spot.”
Over the course of two pandemic years, Matt produced a resplendent mane nearly a foot in length. Shaha’s 13-year-old granddaughter contributed her own hair to the cause. With hair in hand, the family looked for a wigmaker. Their search didn’t turn up much.
“There are a lot of places that will accept donated hair, but very few places will take that donated hair and make you a wig,” Shaha said. “We were searching out options and found there were only three places in the United States that would do that.”
Of the three options, the family settled on Compassionate Creations.
Founded in 2013, the company originally ran out of a small salon in Newport Beach, where Blair made each wig to order, summoning help from wigmaker friends, and Balch styled them. The process was labor intensive.
Since then, the duo has transitioned into an online business that outsources production, keeping costs more affordable. So far, the team has created nearly 800 wigs for clients worldwide.
Blair maintains an inventory in various shades, lengths and textures, accepts donations over 10 inches and finds the best match to supplement donations, sending tresses to “ventilators” who hand tie each strand of hair into place.
“It’s human hair — it’s not a fake-and-go, synthetic store-bought wig,” she said. “The hair quality we’re providing is top notch. It’s virgin, it’s pure and it’s great.”
Balch serves as the face of the business, consulting with clients on how to cut and send in hair. Throughout multiple videoconference sessions, she helps people figure out what they want and need and oversees measurements and fittings.
“Sometimes clients cry, and we’ll cry together or laugh together,” Balch said of the sessions, during which she’ll see someone transition from scared and confused to relieved. “There can be a lot of emotions.”
Finished wigs are sent to Balch’s Newport Beach home, where she disinfects, washes and lightly styles them. The team encourages women who get their wigs to have them cut to their exact style preference.
For Shaha, being back in the stylist’s chair after more than four years provided a moment of blissful normalcy.
“It is the very kindest and most generous of gifts,” she said of the process, choking back tears. “My health is not wonderful. I have issues that are difficult. But I’m living a happy life — Matt’s love and this wig — it’s a happy life.”
“It’s turned out so great,” said Matt, who said he’d do it again in a heartbeat. “I couldn’t be happier with it. These are happy tears.”
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