Jada Pinkett Smith Talks Candidly About Her Hair Loss and How She's Handling It

Approximately ``147 million people worldwide deal with alopecia. Male pattern baldness may most of the attention, but women are finally starting to open up the conversation about their own hair-loss struggles. One such woman is Jada Pinkett Smith, who discussed in the latest episode of her Facebook talk show, “Red Table Talk,” how her hair loss has shifted her attitude and her style.

Earlier this year, Smith drew attention for chopping her hair into an asymmetrical bob that helped her “resurrect that 1989 Jada.” It turns our the chic cut was due in part to an issue that affects half of all women by age 50: female hair loss.

“I haven't talked about it, it's not easy to talk about it, but I am going to talk about it,” Smith said in conversation with mother Adrienne Banfield Jones and daughter Willow Smith. She explained how

she had a “terrifying” moment in the shower when she first noticed “handfuls” of hair beginning to fall. “I was literally shaking with fear,” she said. Doctors haven't been able to find an underlying cause even after she took “every test there is to have.” Some think it's stress, the actor explained, while others think it's a natural part of the aging process. “That's why I cut my hair and why I continue to cut it,” she explained. “Taking care of my hair has been a beautiful ritual, as is having the choice to have hair or not.”

As a solution, Smith has turned to replacing her hair-care rituals with chicly wrapped turbans. “When my hair is wrapped, I feel like a queen,” she said. In the video, she demonstrates her three favorite ways to wrap a turban: with knot in front, a knot in back, or a loose twist.

The Girls Trip actress has also worked to embrace the change with a healthy dose of perspective. “The higher power takes so much from people,” she said. “People have cancer. People's children are sick. I watch the higher power take things every day, and, by golly, if the higher power wants to take your hair — that's it?”

Credit:  Allure