She can try to help, but ultimately, she is not a doctor.
“There is only so much we can do,” Ms Furbert said.
But now, she and other beauty professionals, have another tool in their arsenal, an alliance with Kyjuan Brown of Northshore Medical & Aesthetics Centre on North Shore Road in Devonshire.
Earlier this month, Dr Brown began offering an online workshop: Dr Brown’s Hair & Scalp Disorder Masterclass Part 1.
“I understand that it has been tough for salon hair professionals for the past year with the pandemic,” Dr Brown said. “On top of that, I have been seeing so many hair loss clients come into my clinic due to bad hair practices or hair and scalp disorders that has caused them to lose their hair. I wanted to provide a solution to growing healthy hair.”
Ms Furbert was one of 40 people who took the free, four-hour class. It was offered to salon owners, cosmetologists, hair stylists, barbers, braiders and anyone in the beauty industry.
In the class, students looked at scalp problems such as psoriasis and alopecia.
Ms Furbert said symptoms of psoriasis include redness around the hairline, and scalp itching and flaking. Often people with it on their scalp also have it on other parts of their body such as their face and elbows.
“We definitely see lots of clients with these problems,” Ms Furbert said.
She said there are a lot of different reasons why a person can have a psoriasis flair-up.
“Sometimes the cause can be diet and nutrition,” she said. “It can also be caused by stress.”
She said alopecia, or hair loss, is also common and comes in different forms.
“For some people it is hereditary,” she said. “A lot of men have the top go. For some people it is just from maybe in their younger years they wore their hair too tight. Then sometimes it is stress related. Some people have patches that fall out.”
She said there are special shampoos that can help, and drops to put in your regular shampoo, but now she can also send clients to Dr Brown for proper medical advice and treatment.
“We need to work together,” Ms Furbert said. “Sometimes hair dressers can make the things worse, through hair colouring and chemical processing. I am glad he reached out to us so we can have another avenue to give to our clients when they may be experiencing things.”
She said some clients are very concerned about the state of their hair and scalps.
“It is nice to say, we understand you have an issue,” she said. “We have someone who can help you with this, and slip them a card.”
Dr Brown created the class while Bermuda was still under stay at home orders to better help beauty businesses grow and prosper in these economic times.
“I designed the class so that the hair owner or hair professional can not only help increase salon revenue through product education and sales, but so they can be educated on the best hair styling tips to prevent hair loss and encourage hair growth for client retention and a better customer experience,” Dr Brown said.
In 2015, Dr Brown won the Professor Hywel Williams Research Prize for the most outstanding research paper with showed the greatest relevance to dermatology and medical hair restoration.
He also runs a hair salon and hair clinic himself, Salon B, upstairs at his Northshore Medical Center.
“I have had first-hand experience as a hair professional and wanted to share this knowledge with other residents,” he said.
To learn more about Dr Brown’s masterclass, go to
www.drbrownslaboratory.com/catalogue/hairmasterclass