Libby Heaney still remembers how she felt when she looked at the photos taken at her son’s wedding. Heaney’s hair was so thin on the top of her head it made her feel self-conscious. She was 55 years old at the time

“My daughter was getting married two years later,” Heaney said in an interview from her farmhouse in Clinton, about 23 kilometres northeast of Charlottetown, not far from the Island’s north shore. “I just thought, ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’”

Still, it took Heaney nearly two years to get up the courage to contact a hair restoration company. Heaney called Atlantic Hairfax in Moncton. Sixteen years later, Heaney said she’s never been happier.

Atlantic Hairfax, which is based in Moncton, opened its first Prince Edward Island location March. The company’s offices are located in the Holman building on Water Street in Summerside. Atlantic Hairfax, which is one of only two hair restoration companies in Atlantic Canada, already has nearly 800 Prince Edward Island clients.

Larry Gautreau, owner of Atlantic Hairfax, said more and more people are turning to hair restoration services and are doing so at younger ages. He said hair systems are now so natural that if a client gets a hair system in place before their hair gets to thin even their closets friend and family may not notice.

“More and more people are considering and looking at having procedures done,” Gautreau said from his office in Summerside, which still has the old brick from the days the building housed Holman’s store.

“One of the main obstacles from dealing with people directly over the years is cost. People are so busy now, time is also an issue. We’re hoping that with opening a new office in Summerside it will help address both of those problems.”

Atlantic Hairfax offers an array of hair restoration services, including surgical and non-surgical hair replacement, wigs, and preventative treatments. Costs can range anywhere from $100 to $500 a month, which includes the system and all services including haircuts, colouring and any maintenance. Because privacy is a critical component to what he does, Gautreau said that’s why they decided to open their doors in Summerside. He said the majority of his clients are in the greater Charlottetown area, so they told him they would feel more comfortable going out of town to get the service done.

"Every hair loss is like finger prints, totally different,” said Gautreau. “It seems so trivial, people think it’s just hair. But it’s more than just hair. "When people look at themselves in the mirror, it’s the way they feel about themselves. That’s what motivates me in this business.”

The Summerside office has two private consultations rooms, which means clients should never see each other, which also ensures a high level of confidentiality. “We’re always quite careful not to book clients too tightly together,” he said.

Back in Clinton, Heaney said the new Summerside office will save her time and money. No longer does she have to make the trek across the Confederation Bridge to Moncton every two to three months. Now she can get the service right in her own back yard. “My advice for anybody considering it is to go for it. It will make you feel so much better about yourself.”

wthibodeau@theguardian.pe.ca