Sylvie van der Vaart on the loss of her hair: "The wig helped to look in the mirror"
She was just 31 when she got the diagnosis. Breast cancer, surgery and - as a precaution - chemo. With the usual consequences. "I've always been a long-haired girl," says Sylvie van der Vaart. "But then life decided that I should have short hair." It's hard for her. But she has arranged. "In the end, it even gave me strength - as my hair regrowed, raspy short but strong, and they felt that I had overcome such a disease as cancer." Today, three years later, Sylvie van der Vaart returns with her son Damian, 5, and her husband Rafael, 29, who plays football at the Hamburg sports club, back to Germany. She works as a presenter, model and brand ambassador for L'Oréal Professionnel. During the Berlin Fashion Week she floated on the stage for the linen label Hunkemöller in corsage and lace skirt in powder pink - as a lingerie angel. Her own hair is now back to the shoulder, with extensions it is as long as it was. Before. A story that encourages. "You do not have to see it" is written on André Märtens Flyer.
For whom hair is important, for whom is the hairdresser after the oncologist the most important contact person?
The Berlin star hairdresser and "Head of Hair" at the Berlin Fashion Week knows what he's talking about. About a year ago, it met someone from the closest circle of friends. Cancer. Chemo. Hair away. "I think I would never have understood that so long if I had not experienced it myself," says the 44-year-old. "It's burning there, we have to clear it first." Not all women with cancer lose their hair, but many. Breast cancer uses cytotoxic drugs, drugs that specifically inhibit cells that often divide. These are cancer cells - but also skin and hair root cells. Knowing that you're sick is the worst part of it all, plus the thought that everyone will soon see it, but not everyone wants to talk about it. It puts enough strain on itself: no longer beautiful, feminine, but naked, strange, vulnerable - mortal. One in nine women suffers from breast cancer.
© Credit: PRThis is bitter first of all in each individual case. On the other hand, according to WHO, the death rate in Europe has fallen dramatically in recent years due to better therapies and care. For generations to come, it will continue to decline due to better early detection and new therapies. After all. That's statistics. In front of the mirror, however, your own sober look, every woman must exist alone. Hair is a symbol of sensuality, vitality and an important expression of personality. Some women also consciously opt for a bald head - a kind of now-right attitude that deserves respect. They hold the silence, the frightening of others. Most can not do that. "I try to regret anyone," says hairdresser Märtens. "There's no reason for that, it's great that the disease was recognized, and we'll get the rest in a comfortable atmosphere."
His elegant salon near Kudamm, where he often styles celebrities, has a room with a curtain that you can wear. The initial consultation with him is free. André Märtens is a partner of the foundation DKMS Life (German Bone Marrow Donor File), which has launched the project "Joy of Life - The Hair Program for Cancer Patients" with L'Oréal Professionnel and the Gesellschaft für Haarästhetik (gfh). "Today, we can make hairstyles that look so natural," he says, "that give women tremendous self-assurance, and often even relatives do not realize that." He points to two models standing on styrofoam heads. "Blanks often look awful, but you can not be put off by that - good wigs are not recognized as fast as extensions, and when the wind blows you can quickly see the knots." They are individually adapted to the head and cut - just like your own hair. And preferably at the same length, then the transition is even less noticeable. It is important that the hairdresser sees the original hair before the chemotherapy, takes head measurements, with the women selects color, length, material of the wig, artificial or real hair. "The wig is then there the next day," says Märtens.
"I did not want to sit in my show wearing a headscarf"
"You have a close relationship with the hairdresser at this time." For Sylvie van der Vaart the u. a. André Märtens, 44, who you from rasp short over pony wig? so that you do not see the approach? ? up to the present half length, sometimes with extensions
© Credit: PRReal hair wigs are available from 900 euros. For very good, from Follea about, you have to spend 1500 euros and more. The longer the hair, the more expensive. Up to 10 000 euros can cost a luxury long-haired wig, good from synthetic hair about 300 to 500 euros. "The felted down but easier," says Märtens. "That does not look nice at some point." Human hair wigs are more durable, more expensive, harder to care for. But you can blow dry, dye, style - like your own hair before. But there are also good arguments to try something new with a wig: "I find a pony in the Zweithaarfrisur fundamentally better because it covers the hairline," explains expert Märtens.
Sylvie van der Vaarts hair styled Märtens. Whenever she was in Berlin, during the illness. "A good barber accompanies this whole process," she says. "Until the hair regrows, for example, in gray brown." There had to be paint on it. "You have a close relationship with your hairdresser during this time, so many times I've called: How should I wash the wig? If hair is important, the hairdresser is the most important contact person after the oncologist." Six wigs had Sylvie van der Vaart, black, red, blonde, short, long. There are no bald photos. "One should capture the beautiful moments," she says. To the others, she also remembers, "If it happens, your hair will fail, of course, that's terrible, scary." There are these pictures: "When the photographers were there and of course the demands came from the 'Bild' newspaper - in the situation you have to stand firmly and say, yes, I have a wig, I do not have to be ashamed, I am proud that I fight this, that I'm doing this show, the rest does not matter. " On the one hand, it was easier for the happy woman on Rafael van der Vaarts side than for others. They are considered glamorous couple, as the Beckhams of the Netherlands. She was "Miss Bundesliga", looked good, had enough money, make-up artists, stylists around her. But it was also harder. As a celebrity, you can not just retreat. "My first thought was to cancel everything - you do not want to be wearing a headscarf in a glamorous show," she says.
© Credit: PRA sad model, a despondent juror, who wants to see this? "Rafael was the one who said," You do not do that. "The happiest thing you do when you're distracted is doing something that makes you proud." The most difficult moment she experienced in Madrid. "It was warm, I had slept with wig, I did not like it, so my girlfriend said, why do not you make it easier? Take off the wig, dye our hair - you're beautiful as you are." Her husband and son saw her for the first time with raspy hair. "I did not want to show my family what I did not see until then, I did not want to scare those I loved so much, but they did not mind the two of them." Shortly thereafter, she also took off the wig on "Let's Dance" for everyone else. "This show changed my life, and three months after the chemotherapy, I was able to be proud of my body again - after he let me down." Still, the wig was fine, she says. A trick. "I never felt like I lost my femininity, it's all over my body, but the wig helped to see in front of the mirror what I feel inside."
The second hair
You do not have to see wigs: You can find them at many hairdressers or in the Zweithaarstudio. Targeted help in finding a suitable hairdresser for cancer patients is provided by the "Joy of Life" program, launched last year by L'Oréal Professionnel. Hairdressers throughout Germany are being trained in this area to support those affected before, during and after hair loss. Addresses of hairdressers supporting the project are available from the L'Oréal Professionnel hotline: 08 00/434 24 13.
