Stephanie Gallagher is now in the wig salon business, teaching others about wigs and connecting with women over hair loss.
Dolly Parton, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Zendaya, Keira Knightley, Gwen Stefani and Kim Kardashian have a couple of things in common. They are all celebrities, and they all wear wigs. For Blossom Wigs owner Stephanie Gallagher, a slide show showing some of these celebrities is how she taught her students at Lawn Elementary about the sudden change of her own
hairstyles throughout the school year. She included a song lyric from Ariana Grande, “You like my hair? Thanks, just bought it.” She explained that wigs are no different than fake eyelashes or fake nails. “It’s okay,” Mrs. Gallagher told her students, “It’s just hair.”
Stephanie recently retired from teaching after thirty years. She is now in the wig salon business, teaching others about wigs and connecting with women over hair loss. Stephanie’s hair loss was a combination of hereditary factors and grief. Her young son had died in a tragic accident, and her husband died nine months later from a sudden illness. Her grief was overwhelming. With her older son being a pre-teen and a baby on the way, she put one foot in front of the other, relying on friends and family to intercede in prayer for her. Life continued on. Stephanie fell in love again, and she married Timothy Gallagher, who has been her biggest encourager.
Through the years, she tried everything to combat the hair loss – the expensive shampoos, all the vitamins and serums. “The fiber powders just blew away in the west Texas wind,” she said. She even tried the surgery route. It helped, but only in certain sections. These things were time-consuming and the results were frustrating.
She finally went to Dallas with her mom to go wig shopping. “I tried to choose a wig that looked exactly like my biological hair, and I hid it for two years. I lived in secret. But when you go from thin hair to thick hair, I’m sure a lot of people suspected.”
After wearing that first wig to teach, she discovered that the headaches she was getting daily were not from her students. She had taught for over 27 years at that point. Teaching was second nature. No, Stephanie realized it was from her wig being too small. As she branched out to try different brands to find a better size, she really started having fun with her look. “I tried reds and blondes and brunettes, and my husband just never knew what I would look like!” Stephanie shared, “He is so very supportive.”
Stephanie also did not want to keep her wigs such a secret anymore. She realized, “After so much loss, who even cares? It’s just hair!”
Stephanie opened up on Facebook, sharing about her wig-wearing. Many of her friends were shocked. She posted about her new styles and what she was learning about different wig brands. Her teacher heart shone through her posts, and people started messaging her for help. “People started bringing their mothers and grandmothers to me,” Stephanie said. “They came to my house and tried on my wigs in my bathroom!”
Her husband Timothy suggested she open a salon. With teaching, she could make appointments after school and on weekends. She looked for a space, but the costs deterred her from renting. Stephanie’s oldest son had joined the Navy and is now stationed in California. His room became the new home of Blossom Wigs.
“The entrance to our home is beautiful, not intimidating,” said Stephanie. Her home is eleven miles from Sam’s, and the drive is calming. When women come to her home, she educates them about different kinds of wigs and how to properly care for them and wear them. They try on as many wigs as they want, with a wig liner, of course.
Stephanie draws on her own personal experiences to help others. She recalls that her first wig was sold to her by a young woman who had never been through hair loss. Stephanie wants Blossom Wigs to be a salon where women can blossom like the bluebonnets in springtime! She strives to ensure clients feel comfortable and heard, knowing a bit about what they are going through herself.
Blossom Wigs is unique in that Stephanie offers private consultations. “People are often ashamed to take off their old wig and start fresh, and I try to make my home a safe place,” Stephanie explained. She further said that there is nothing quite like the experience she offers from Lubbock to Dallas. “It’s been rewarding.” She takes before and after pictures of the backs of heads, to maintain privacy. Stephanie has a binder ring of hair colors that she is able to color match to biological hair, if desired. She shared that women feel they can go back to church without being embarrassed. “One woman was convinced she needed a gray wig, and she walked out with a blonde one and was thrilled!” she exclaimed.
At Blossom Wigs, Stephanie never pressures anyone to buy. Some clients with temporary hair loss, like from chemo, want to buy several wigs at once. Stephanie told one such client that some days, this woman will not want to feel the elastic around her head. Some days she will want to just stay home to rest. She encouraged this client to just buy one and she could always come back for more later.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month being the month of October, going to look for wigs might be a fun way to lighten the burden of cancer. Some women have told Stephanie that they don’t want pity. Wigs help them blend in and avert the gaze of well-wishers. Women lose hair for various reasons. Many women, like Stephanie, deal with hereditary hair loss. It runs in their families. Others have a condition called Trichotillomania, which is a hair-pulling disorder. Covid-19 caused hair loss for a number of clients at Blossom Wigs. Childbirth, surgeries, alopecia, autoimmune disease, stress… Hair loss is a fact of life, but Stephanie’s view on it, again, is, “It’s just hair!”
Stephanie’s collection of over 220 wigs at Blossom Wigs is of excellent quality. She has many of the Raquel Welch line, with softer and lighter fibers. She also carries Jon Renau, Belle Tress, Noriko, Tony of Beverly and Gabor wigs, but the most popular sales so far have been the styles from Ellen Wille. “Someone donated a wig from Amazon to me, and I use it as an example of the difference in quality,” Stephanie said. “Mine are lightweight and breathable.” All of the wigs at Blossom Wigs are synthetic, which go back to their original shape after washing and air drying them. This is unlike human hair wigs, which have to be restyled after washing, just like regular human hair.
You can find Blossom Wigs on Facebook and at www.blossom-wigs.com. You might occasionally find Blossom Wigs at one of the vendor shows in the Big Country. Stephanie is friendly and loves to strike up conversations with passers-by. Once at a vendor show, Stephanie stopped a woman with a full head of gorgeous hair and said, “You don’t need a wig, but you may know someone who does!” This woman was actually a hairdresser, and she took several of the Blossom Wigs business cards to hand out to her clients. You might see Stephanie’s car around town with the Blossom Wigs logo on the side. Or you might run into a woman in a t-shirt that says, “Yes, it is a wig…ask me all about it.” That’s Stephanie, and she would love to talk to you!
No matter the reason for hair loss, Stephanie at Blossom Wigs will give a thoughtful experience to find just the right wig for women in the Big Country. After all, “It’s just hair!”
By Laura Daulton
Photos By Shayli Anne Photography
Barbara says
I love this story!