Jada Pinkett Smith shines in selfie showing hair regrowth amid alopecia journey
"This here hair is act'n like it's try'n a make a come back."
Jada Pinkett Smith has been open for years about her experience with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss.
In an Instagram post on Monday, the actor revealed a new 'do featuring significant regrowth and a fun blond look, contrasting it with her "past" look as well.
"This here hair is act'n like it's try'n a make a come back," she captioned the pair of before and after images. "Still have some trouble spots but -- we'll see✨."
The first image in the post shows Pinkett Smith's former style -- a shaved head and soft pink makeup -- while the second shows off her regrowth and a nude makeup look.
While comments on the post were limited, Pinkett Smith's friends and family were quick to show their love and support.
Her mother and "Red Table Talk" co-host Adrienne Banfield-Norris left a trio of red heart emojis on the post, while fellow industry multi-hyphenate Lena Waithe simply commented, "Gorgeous."
The post, which has so far racked up more than 140,000 likes, comes less than two months ahead of the release of Pinkett Smith's memoir, "Worthy," which aims to chronicle her life and, in particular, her post-40 personal rediscovery and "celebration of authentic feminine power."
Pinkett Smith first opened up about her issues with alopecia publicly in 2021, having spoken about her experience with hair loss during an episode of "Red Table Talk" in 2018.
In July 2021, she posted an Instagram photo of herself and daughter Willow, shortly after shaving her head -- "Willow made me do it," she wrote in the caption -- and later that same year, spoke about the realities of living with hair loss.
"Now at this point, I can only laugh," she said in an Instagram video in December 2021, showing off a hairless line on top of her already shaven head. "Y'all know I've been struggling with alopecia, and just one day, it showed up like that. This is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide, so I thought I'd just share it so y'all not asking any questions."
She joked that she would "put some rhinestones in there" along her hairless line, to make herself "a little crown."
"Mama’s gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something😜," she added in the caption of the post. "Me and this alopecia are going to be friends … period!😆."
What is alopecia?
Alopecia is an auto-immune condition that varies in type, treatment options and overall ability for hair regrowth, to include alopecia universalis, alopecia totalis and alopecia areata.
While it's unclear as to which type Pinkett Smith has, experts say it is likely alopecia areata, given her primary physical symptoms of bald patches throughout the scalp with hair regrowth, without disclosed treatment.
For more information on alopecia, click here.
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