My Story
I’m not really sure where I should begin my story...
My real purpose is to try and help, and encourage you, by telling you about my own experiences, from the time I discovered that I was losing my hair, all the way to when I decided I would buy and wear a hair system.
Maybe this is something you have already experienced, or maybe it’s something that has just started to happen for you, and you are wondering what you can do about it. Whichever it is, I hope that I can help you. For me, it started to happen when I was 22.
At first, I thought that my hair was thinning, and then as I washed my hair, I definitely noticed it was beginning to fall out and gradually it got worse. I had not really cared too much about my looks before, but I definitely did not want to lose my hair, and the thought of going bald or my hair receding was not something I wanted. I thought that I was too young to start losing my hair or have signs of bald patches, and I didn’t like the idea of having to create a comb over to disguise my baldness.
I really didn’t know what to do, so I searched the Internet and men’s magazines for all types of hair products that promised to solve my baldness. One such remedy was a powder that you sprinkled over the bald patches, and although for a time it helped, it really left a mess on my head, and as the hair loss got worse then even that couldn't my baldness. I tried so many different products from liquids, to powders and pills but none of them worked at all.
I went and researched having a hair transplant but decided this would not work for me. It was incredibly expensive, and after my head would have been shaved, it would take more than a year for the hair follicles of the implanted hair to grow, and the likely outcome would be that I’d end up with very thin hair, more like a baby’s hair, and that I would constantly need repeat treatments. As well as that I could end up with some unsightly scars and would need to take medication for the rest of my life. I have seen few of my customers suffered severe scars after the hair transplant. Say No to hair transplant. Secondly, our Malaysia Government under Ministry of Health did not approve such practice in Malaysia. Mostly done by clinics without approval from Ministry of Health of Malaysia.
Here are some photos of hair transplant with side effect leaving scars.
Then I discovered a advertisement for a well-known and well-established hair replacement company, which was offering "Free, No Obligation, Consultations". They talked to me and told me a load of stories which full of lies about how wonderful their products were, maybe if I had thought about it more carefully I would have realized what they were doing, but I was really desperate, I didn’t want to be bald!
I really thought that I’d solved all my hair problems. They sold me a heavy-duty, long lasting hair piece that they said would last for 2 to 4 years. Unfortunately, that was not true, it only less than 1 year, and what is worse, was that it cost me RM4,500!! I contacted the company and they giving all sorts of excuses. . I was very angry with their service. I don’t want to bore you with all the details of my horrendous experiences with that company,
I am not a very rich guy, so I started spending on credit cards and then I took out loans to pay for the hair pieces, in addition I was in there every month so that they could maintain it, and all the while their prices went up and up. I got myself locked into their system as they had shaved the hair from the top of my head and I had no choice. I really had nowhere else to go and they just took advantage of me. I kept having to pay for new hair systems, because my old one had worn out and I didn’t want to walk around with half of my hair shaved off. In my head, I had no choice but to carry on with them, and I didn’t know there were other options out there.
I tried numerous hair replacement stores; it was cheap and tacky looking units, others had been dyed to cover up the original hair colour and I then discovered that I had an allergy to that hair dye and that caused me no end of problems. These companies were very unhelpful, and really didn’t care about their customers, even refusing to offer a refund, all they wanted to do was sell me another hair unit. I really think they were out to take advantage of people like me who were desperate to hide their baldness.
So, 3 years later, and with some awful experiences behind me, I decided that I would go overseas and visit some of the companies who manufactured these hair systems. After a lot of searching and trialling many systems, I finally found the secret to great Hair Replacement systems.
I decided to create HAIRSETUP, as I wanted to help people be able to wear a hair system without having to take out massive loans. The cost of living is going up all the time and people have to find the money to pay their mortgages, rents and other bills, so I decided to make my hair systems as affordable as possible. Actually, the cost of manufacturing a hair system doesn’t change much, whether you pay RM 1,000, RM 5,000 or RM 10,000, the cost is based on how much profit the company wants to make from you.
So, in 2006, I ordered a new hair system directly from a factory in Korea, rather than through a middleman. When it arrived, I took it to my regular stylist and they cut and blended it for me. I loved it! I realised that I should sell these quality handmade hair systems to my own clients who suffered from hair problems and were bald. I started running the business from my home, and it started to grow rapidly with regular repeat clients, and through them it spread via word of mouth to other clients. I quickly realised, through the huge number of emails or calls that I received from my customers, how happy they were with the service and the hair systems. Many had paid over RM 5,000-RM10,000 for a hair system and then, after they tried a HAIRSETUP system, they were amazed at how much better the quality was, at a fraction of the cost.
These happy and satisfied clients have made HAIRSETUP into the thoroughly reputable company that it is now, and the time is now right to move on to the next phase. We have now opened our very own HAIRSETUP Hair Replacement Company. A place where clients can come in, have consultations, and be offered maintenance services, as well as fittings, by our very highly skilled and trained hair stylists.
We want to be different from all other hair replacement companies, we want to see you as a person and not just a number, and that’s why we have created a place where you can feel at home and feel totally relaxed with no bad attitude from the staff. A place where our clients come first. I wanted to create an environment that I never experienced when I was a client at those other hair replacement companies.
Finally,
Although I had some very bad experiences and dealings with the hair replacement company I first started off with, I have never once regretted going down the road of wearing a hair system. A hair system gave me back my hair, but not only that, my confidence as well.
Wearing a hair system doesn't have to be hard work or daunting, it's just like having your own hair, for me it's actually better, as my own hair was not that great. Now I can create a really good, natural style which suits me. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, or feel paranoid about, when wearing a hair system. These days people get all kinds of things done to them and there is no reason why anybody would need to know, although I am quite open about it, and my friends and family did not even blink an eye when I told them. In fact, my neighbour could not believe I was wearing a hair system and was amazed with the quality and natural look.
If you have any questions or want to share your own similar stories, please feel free to contact me at:
firdaus@hairsetup.com
Regards, Firdaus
