BB Blog — Bold Beanies
Sunday Morning with Alex Jones - BBC Wales Interview
Posted by Emilienne Rebel on
Explaining the need for stylish cancer headwear for younger women and what makes my award winning beanie cancer hats so popular for hair loss sufferers; my Bold Beanies Bouquets and roses to create a beautiful, traditional yet practical gifts for women suffering hair loss (from chemotherapy treatments or Alopecia); expanding the range to mens, teens and kids ranges also and the development of sustainable new products like head wraps, headscarves, face-masks, PICC sleeves all using quality Liberty and fun cotton fabrics and my book HOPE.
A positive story of survival 15 years after my grade 3 advanced diagnosis of Breast Cancer and how grateful I am to be able to watch my children grow, support lovely charities and make a difficult time for others just that bit more bearable.
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- Tags: Alex Jones, Alopecia, BBC, beanie, beanies, best hairloss headwear, Bold Beanies, Breast Cancer, chemo headwear, Emilienne Rebel, Oncology, small business wales, Wales
Breast Cancer Awareness Month...
Posted by Emilienne Rebel on
... and what it means to me. I'm really struggling with 'Pink October' this year. My youngest daughter's birthday is the fifth October and it marks a significant point in my life. Firstly, in this month I gave birth to my second beautiful baby girl... all I ever wanted, was to be a mum. I loved every minute of this pregnancy and Lotte was just a dream. My eldest daughter, Olivia, then had just turned three and was just so funny and full of life. The following year, on Lotte's first birthday I had my second dose of chemotherapy following a gruelling five...
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- Tags: bold beanies, Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Awareness, chemo, chemotherapy, hairloss, Pink October, Pink ribbon, ptsd
Kids Fun Toy Story Face Mask with Matching Bold Beanie Cancer Hat
Posted by Emilienne Rebel on
Grateful for being a small enough business this morning to make a little boy a bespoke Toy Story surgical face mask with matching Bold Beanies Chemo Hat
He finds the whole process of accessing his port extremely distressing, which includes wearing a surgical face mask, so his parents thought this might help.
The surgical style face mask is made with a great fun 100% cotton print from Toy Story with reversible red side. They have requested a red plain Bold Beanie, which we are making an iron on patch using the Toy Story material to match the mask.
Bold Beanies are super soft thin stretchy cotton hats which are designed to fit snugly and be so comfortable that any child will forget they are wearing it... hopefully this one will be so fun he will be excited to wear it too! Many children lose their hair with chemotherapy treatments for Leukaemia and other cancers and so having a favourite animal or character along can really help.
We are also making matching Toy Story Face-masks for Mum & Dad and older sister... what a wonderful way to help lighten a difficult process and make it a bit more bearable.
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- Tags: bold beanies, Chemo hat, childhood cancer, face mask, fun cancer hat, fun face mask, fun kids cancer hat, kids cancer, surgical face mask
Jo Tucker is a ' baldmothertucker ' & raising Alopecia Awareness
Posted by Emilienne Rebel on
Jo lost 90% of her hair in two weeks after her third pregnancy... "Losing 90% of my hair in 2 weeks redefined my thoughts on beauty" she says.
39 year-old, mother of three, Jo Tucker lost 90% of her hair in two weeks after her third pregnancy. What followed was a journey of self-acceptance, a love affair with wigs, and a redefinition of what it means to be ‘beautiful’. Ahead of Alopecia Awareness Month, she’s sharing her hair loss story.
It was just before Christmas. I had just returned to work after my third child and I wasn’t sleeping. Without any warning, I noticed that a small area of hair loss was turning into rapid hair shedding and whole clumps began falling out in the shower.
I booked an appointment at the doctor and I was diagnosed with alopecia areata and sent on my way with a leaflet. I was devastated and confused as my blood tests were healthy. It’s incredibly frustrating to know you’re broken, but not sure which bit or how to fix it.
Christmas came and went and by the time I went back to the doctors I had lost 90% of the hair from my head in only two weeks. I bought shampoos, hair growth serums, treatments – but nothing slowed the loss. By April, I had lost all hair on my head and my body. A dermatologist told me that the more you lose, statistically the less likely you are to get it back. I had reached the most extreme Alopecia Universalis and my odds didn’t look good.
I knew I’d need to return to work after the Christmas holidays but I wasn’t ready to be bald. Suddenly I felt like a wig was my only option. My mum knew of a hairdressers which made wigs and I booked an appointment. I was taken through all the different types of wigs, the construction, materials etc. I had no idea it was so complicated – or so expensive!
I instantly loved the confidence that wigs gave me and I soon became obsessed. I enjoyed the different looks you could achieve so effortlessly. And the more I bought, the more styles and colours I tried! I wasn’t shy about wearing a pixie one day and then long hair the next. I embraced this as one of the positives. Before losing my hair, I was always in that awkward growing-out stage between a pixie and a bob and the wigs looked much better than my actual hair ever was!
I own a lot of different wigs now but I have three favourites that are my go-to: a classic long bob, a pixie cut and long, beachy waves. I never had long hair before, so it’s still a novelty and I like being able to wear it back in a plait or up in a messy bun. When I first started wearing wigs, they were really itchy but there are bamboo and fine mesh caps that put a barrier between your scalp and the material the wig is made from to prevent any itch.
Alopecia has been a huge learning curve. Learning to look at myself in the mirror and appreciate what I see. When it first happened, as it was so sudden, I felt incredibly lost. I dreaded seeing people I hadn’t bumped into for a long time and them seeing the difference in my appearance.
But now I’ve learned not to place as much value on appearance and looks. It doesn’t change who you are inside. Beauty really does come in all different shapes and sizes, and I don’t feel less beautiful. I feel like I’ve gained so much. If anything, it makes you a stronger character.
Since starting my Instagram @boldmothertucker, I get lots of messages from other alopecia sufferers. It’s so lovely to have found a community where you have that common ground and there are charities like Alopecia UK which offer support and advice and private Facebook groups and wig chat forums which act as a safe space to share concerns, worries and ask questions.
[Bold Beanies also supports Alopecia UK and are the perfect complimentary alternative headwear for when you don't want to wear a wig... around the house or in bed for example.]
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- Tags: alopcecia, alopecia uk, bold beanies, hair loss, jo tucker
Kids Design Loving PICC Line Cover for Their Mum
Posted by Emilienne Rebel on
I was so happy to receive these wonderful photos from a lovely customer and see this new addition to the bold Beanie range being used just as I'd hoped.
Nicola's sweet young children decorated a PICC line cover sleeve to cover up her chemotherapy port and help her through treatment when they can't be with their mummy.
How wonderful. Decorated with hearts, flowers rainbow and declarations of love from her children aged 5 and 18 months.
Nicola has rhabdomyosarcoma which is a soft tissue cancer. The primary cancer is in her nose and it spread to a lymph node in my neck and is having intense chemotherapy which started within days of me being diagnosed. Wishing you every strength Nicola for the remainder of your treatment... take things easy and get lots of cuddles.
The Bold Beanies Greetings Graffiti PICC Line Cover Sleeve plays on the idea of signing a broken arm or leg cast and sending a greetings get well soon card. The pack is delivered with a plain white PICC sleeve and pack of fabric pens for you to customise and add your slogans and messages. The fabric pen ink remains washable until ironed and set.
The perfect gift for a child to colour and draw on for a parent, carer or loved one with Cancer and also as a gift for a crafty child in hospital... they can design their own PICC sleeve to cover up a port or wear in solidarity.
These PICC Line cover sleeves are made using quality soft stretchy cotton breathable fabric to cover a PICC line on the arm port for comfort and security.
Also suitable for IV Line, Diabetes Pump and CGM Sensor.
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- Tags: bold beanies, cancer gift, chemo, chemotherapy, custom gifts, get well soon, gift, grafitti greetings, personalised, quirky