Alopecia Awareness Archives

NOVUHAIR® Supports Alopecia Philippines

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Sep 24, 2020 | Advocacy

September 2020 marks the seven (7) fruitful years of collaboration between NOVUHAIR^®, the leading hair loss treatment in the country, and THE ALOPECIA PHILIPPINES, a group founded in 2012 by singer and songwriter Abby Asistio.

“VICTORIOUS, Rising Above Alopecia and the Pandemic Together” is this year’s official online gathering theme LIVE at When in Manila’s Facebook page on Saturday, September 26, 2020 (3 pm to 8 pm). Everyone is invited to witness this momentous event.

Chemical vs. natural products for hair loss

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Oct 4, 2017 | Health and Wellness

Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you’re losing tufts of hair or seeing bald patches on your scalp, it’s but natural to feel the need to do something about it.

Will you tell a friend or go immediately to a doctor? Will you hide the “shame” under the guise of a wig?

While it’s quite hard to decide, there’s no way but people still find themselves falling in line over-the-counter (O.T.C.). And what’s on their hands? Chemical-based hair loss products. Here are some of the reasons why they impulsively buy these items:

They claim to be effective.
They say the healing effects are felt quickly.
They are widely available.
They appear to be cheaper.
They claim to be safe.

Sounds tempting, though, be wary enough that once you delve into the nitty-gritty of these products available to allegedly promote hair growth, you’ll see why they may not exactly be a perfect fit. These are some of the negative possibilities when you use chemical treatments:

Serious side effects like tightness in the chest, difficulty in breathing, rapid heartbeat (tachycardia), and swelling of the hands and feet. These are actually some of the possible side effects of the hair loss drug Minoxidil, which is said to cease hair loss and promote hair growth.
Most chemical products say they can “treat” alopecia, but reading the fine print will lead you to discover that it actually just slows the progress of hair loss. Little is said as well about these chemical treatments actually promoting hair growth.
These products or “treatments” usually contain a variety of chemicals that may or may not cause allergic reactions. It pays to check the labels. Some chemical-based products may actually be presenting the side effects as the main effects. Let the internet help you on your personal research.

Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion

There may be safer and effective alternatives out there, but NOVUHAIR is a stand out among the rest. It has 19 natural ingredients—standardized herbal extracts, essential oils and co-factor nutrients that work in synergy and have been clinically proven to help stop the progression of hair loss, aid in stimulating hair growth, and reduce excessive hair shedding.

NOVUHAIR is available in the Philippines at Mercury Drug and other leading drugstores nationwide, Seafood City supermarkets and other Filipino/Asian stores in the USA and online at www.novuhair.us and at BeeOrganic in Kuwait.

International online orders are also possible through regaloservice.com. For more information, you may visit www.novuhair.com or contact hotlines 4136570 and 09228830575.

Don’t make yourself fall as the next victim of the trap. Be smart; choose natural.

Novuhair supports Alopecia Awareness

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Sep 22, 2016 | Advocacy

Alopecia was a foreign word to me until a few years ago. Then I noticed that some people had bald spots in the weirdest parts of their head (off-center) and that some have gone partially or completely bald and seemed too young to be going bald at all.

Then celebrities started coming out to raise awareness about hair loss and how Novuhair was a natural way to address hair loss — celebrities like Fanny Serrano and Gary V.

September marks the month-long commemoration of Alopecia Areata awareness worldwide. Alopecia areata is a condition when hair loss occur due to faults in the immune system attacking the hair follicles which results in partial or total loss of hair on the head and other parts of the body.

Leading this year’s celebration in the country is Alopecia Philippines, a group founded by singer and songwriter Abby Asistio in 2012. She has been championing the cause of empowering citizens with this condition.

Abby is no stranger to alopecia, having been diagnosed with alopecia areata since she was four years old. Abby’s decision to come out in public with her condition was a major turning point in her life.

On September 2012, Abby decided to start an online campaign in time with Alopecia Awareness Month by inviting family and friends to pose with the double “A” (inverted “V”) sign using their fingers on the photo sharing site, Instagram. It quickly caught on and Abby was overwhelmed by the response from netizens, with over a thousand photo contributions to date.

This paved the way for the beginnings of Alopecia Philippines. It aims to raise awareness about alopecia and correct common misconceptions and perceptions about it, provide encouragement to people afflicted with it, and create an online support community for them.

Inspired by Abby’s honesty and courage, men and women, kids and teens from different walks of life began sharing their own stories and struggles living with alopecia. What started out as a group of ten is now more than 300 members strong and its Facebook page – Alopecia Areata Awareness, draws followers from all over the world.

Abby Asistio endorses Novuhair

Novuhair has been supporting the cause for Alopecia Philippines through Abby Asistio. Abby have been using the brand continuously since March 2013 and she has only praises to share using the product.

Nature has provided a safe and effective answer to hair loss and scalp disorders. Novuhair is the only topical scalp lotion in the market that has the highest concentration of natural ingredients, FDA-certified and ACD-compliant. Novuhair is a homegrown, proudly Philippine-made product that is globally competitive.

In this video Abby explains what alopecia is and how Novuhair can help people with alopecia. Gain confidence with Novuhair.

Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion, Shampoo and Conditioner are available in all Mercury Drug Stores and other leading drug stores nationwide.

For more information visit www.novuhair.com, like the brand’s official Facebook Page at Novuhair Official, Instagram: @NovuhairOfficial and follow it on Twitter at @NovuhairNatural.

You may also call the Novuhair hotlines at 4136570 and 09228830575 and order online at Lazada and regaloservice.com.

Abby Asistio meets Mark Zuckerberg

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Apr 4, 2016 | Stories

Last January 31, 2016, Fellow Filipino Abby Asistio flew to San Francisco and had the wonderful opportunity of being chosen as one of the eighteen invited by Facebook on their 12th Anniversary Friends Day celebration with California-based Alopecia awareness advocate, Rachel Regal.

Alopecia is an auto-immune condition which results in partial or total head and body hair loss. Abby Asistio have had it since she was four while Rachel just developed it sometime in 2012, the same year she discovered that her 10-year-old daughter, Eliana, had it, too.

Six inspiring stories were picked by Facebook among its 1.64 billion users and Abby’s friends were all amazed when they found out that Abby’s Alopecia story was one of them. Imagine that!

Abby Asistio and Rachel Regal

Abby and Rachel met each other through the double A hand sign campaign that Abby started in 2012, and they’ve been “connected” since then. Last year, Facebook Stories featured how these two were able to build a friendship, as well as campaign for disease awareness through Facebook! And last February 1st, Abby and Rachel had the chance to tour FB headquarters in Menlo Park, San Francisco, meet and chat with the people behind Facebook (Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, CPO Chris Cox, and a whole lot of awesome people), get crazy cool gadgets and have one of the best experiences of their lives.

Abby Asistio meets Mark Zuckerberg

Abby recounted that it was such a surreal feeling to be in the same room as the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Z was wearing his trademark look (jeans, sneakers, shirt and a big smile on his face), and had such a friendly, approachable aura and demeanor about him. Not at all intimidating! He shared stories about how the company started, its mission-vision, the ups and downs that come along, and their future plans.

Those invited also had the chance to ask him questions. When Mark Z was asked about achieving success and life’s “impossibilities”. He said, “There’s a difference between impossible and things taking a really long time. Even if you’re not going to be able to do something in a short time period, if you care about something, you want to see the world to move into that direction… So the best thing to do is just get started and not be discouraged. It’s tough because this stuff is hard, or else people would’ve already done it.”

Abby Asistio got the chance to ask a question to one of the world’s 50 most powerful, successful women in business, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Aside from Alopecia awareness, Abby is also an active Real Beauty advocate with girls and women struggling with various insecurities, being so consumed by the world’s unrealistic and sometimes superficial standards of beauty. So Abby asked Sheryl about her perception of it.

Sheryl said that beauty is just like success and that no one could really define it for you. We are all unique. We have different stories, dreams and desires. We should explore our own inner and outer beauty, believe and embrace that we are beautiful, and never allow anyone to tell us otherwise.

Mark capped off his talk by sharing their company philosophy with everyone present. Though already having over 1 billion subscribers, there are still 7 billion people all over the world without access to all the meaningful connections and information that Facebook brings. One thing that the company stands by is that “things are always 1% completed”. It keeps them grounded, reminding them that there is always so much work, growth and progress to be done, and so many people to reach out to and help.

Everything about the Facebook trip was overwhelming and inspiring according to Abby. More than anything, it reminded her about “responsibility”. We are all given our own platforms, in this case “accounts and connections”, to make a dent in this world. It is up to us to become complacent and take these vehicles for granted, or maximize the opportunities and use them to make a positive impact in this generation.

Abby is grateful that Facebook has become a medium for her to communicate disease awareness and touch people beyond the confines of her tiny room and her country. Abby is also glad that she and Rachel are two out of millions of people choosing to recognize the importance of social media in contributing to making this world a better place, and actually doing something about it.

Truly, God plans the best adventures and creates the most beautiful surprises. Abby knows that she wouldn’t have been handpicked for this if it weren’t for Him, as well as the countless individuals who have cared and showed support for my advocacy.

Abby would like to leave a positive thought to everyone that we should really take the time to search for and identify our “purpose” – that one unique, very specific calling that is the result of our talents, dreams, desires, passions and experiences. Once you find it, be faithful to it no matter how long or difficult the journey towards its fulfillment may be. You’ll never know where it could lead to, how far it could go and how large it could grow.

Abby is also thankful that her campaign continues to spread and reach new heights and she is particularly grateful to Facebook for giving her this opportunity and to Novuhair, Nature’s Answer to Hair Loss (www.novuhair.com), for always being so supportive of her advocacy and endeavors.

Abby is proud and honored to have represented the Philippines and the Alopecia community in this once-in-a-lifetime, international event.

Check out Abby’s Friend’s Day Song.