Woman battling alopecia wins her first beauty pageant… despite being completely bald
Mum-of-four Michelle Moffatt revealed her confidence hit rock bottom when she lost all her hair
A WOMAN battling hair loss has won her first beauty pageant title despite being completely bald.
Mum-of-four Michelle Moffatt, from Dumbarton, Scotland, was diagnosed with alopecia last year after losing a clump of hair while in the shower.
The 34-year-old was horrified when she eventually lost all her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows and her confidence hit rock bottom.
"When I first lost my hair I was distraught, I saw a clump fall out in the shower but it wasn't until I took a photo of the back of my head that I realised how much had fallen out," she recalled.
"I couldn't cover it with other hair so I wore a bandana to work that day in a complete daze.
"I then started to lose even more, another huge patch had no appeared at the front of my head after I brushed my hair.
"When my friend mentioned a 'brave the shave' charity fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer, I thought it would be a great chance to get rid of it and start again.
"But it didn't grow back, and then my eyelashes and eyebrows fell out, that was the hardest part."
Heartbroken Michelle said although she didn't recognise herself, her husband Ross, 36, and four kids, Yasmin, 12, Joshua, 10, Darrah, six, and Zachariah, five, kept her going.
It was only when a friend entered her into Miss Bombshell Beauty Pageant, she plucked up the courage to take centre stage and raise awareness for Alopecia UK - a charity that provides information, advice and support for people who are experiencing hair loss.
Michelle said: "Feeling overweight and bald, I told the organisers straight away that I wasn't going to be their usual candidate but they were more than happy for me to be part of the pageant.
"I couldn't believe that after everything I had been through in the past year that something so positive had come out of it all, I felt proud to have alopecia and to educate everyone about the condition."
Two weeks ago, Michelle was crowned Mrs Bombshell and Miss Congeniality, despite being completely bald and being up against 50 other girls from across the UK.
Michelle, a nurse, said: "Winning at the beauty pageant meant the absolute world to me, it was a total shock as all the others girls were stunning.
"I'm on cloud nine. The pageant gave me so much more confidence in myself, I would never have entered if my friend hadn't of given me the push I needed."
Michelle will now be taking part in the world finals in Gibraltar this September - which is also Alopecia awareness month
Last year, Michelle admitted she spent so much money on wigs desperately trying to feel like her old self again.
She said her husband Ross took down all the mirrors from their wardrobe doors as she hated my appearance so much.
Now the mum-of-four owns an array of wigs thanks to a charity called WOW - a specialist in pre-owned wigs with all profits going towards helping others with their diagnosis.
Describing her new look, Michelle said: "I was learning how to apply make up by watching YouTube videos and I had my eyebrows tattooed.
"For the first time in months I could leave the house without spending hours pencilling on my brows.
"I also decided to have a tattoo on my scalp to symbolise what I had been through and that gave me more confidence to bare all."
Now almost one year since her diagnosis Michelle can look back at the start of her journey and smile with pride.
She added: "Nowadays when look in the mirror I see me. I am Michelle, bald or hair on or headscarf, I am me.
"I have accepted that i probably won't have hair again, I am OK with that.
"I just pray that anyone out there struggling can find peace in themselves, you are beautiful, look in a mirror, tell yourself that. Because it is true."