Nurse Helps Keep Your Head Full

Dandy Ruiz
PHOTO COURTESY DANDY RUIZ

For 10 years, Dandy Ruiz worked two or three jobs at a time to support her two children while she studied to become a nurse. She’d do whatever type of job she could find — from delivering pizzas to working as a home-care aide.

In 2009, she finally earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing — no easy feat on its own, and for Ruiz, further complicated by being a single parent.

These days, Ruiz works as an emergency-room nurse at The Queen’s Medical Center.

“I always want to do something where I am helping people, no matter what I am doing,” she says.

And in addition to her work as a nurse, Ruiz is launching her own business as another way to help people: On March 16, she will open Scalp Aesthetics Hawaii, which provides hair follicle pigmentation to both men and women losing their hair. A non-invasive procedure, it does not replace hair follicles, but it is made to give the illusion that you’ve still got them. There are treatments that are designed to make it look like your head is shaved, or add density to thinning hair.

Scalp Aesthetics has locations worldwide — and Ruiz’s branch will be an offshoot of the larger company (and the first in Hawaii). She came across the franchise by chance as she was researching permanent makeup, which she has been running as a side job for about a year.

When she learned about the impact that Scalp Aesthetics has had, she knew she wanted to bring it to Hawaii.

“I listened to the stories on the video, and I didn’t realize that young men were so self-conscious about losing hair follicles and that it could be really bothersome for them,” Ruiz says. “When they were talking about the procedure, they teared up.”

Some who had undergone the procedure were boys as young as 16 who already were losing their hair.

In some ways, Ruiz can relate: As a teenager, her eyebrows were unusually thin, so she would use makeup to try to make them look more full.

“I would avoid things like going to the pool with my friends because I didn’t want the eyebrows I had drawn on to come off,” she recalls. “So I understood what these guys were going through, and I felt connected in that way.

“I just want to introduce this procedure that can help people’s self-esteem,” Ruiz adds.

The main service provided is scalp micro-pigmentation, which replicates hair follicles. The results, she says, are designed to last for many years. Treatments that are designed to hide scarring from other procedures, such as hair transplants. Ruiz also will offer permanent makeup at the facility.

Ruiz feels now that everything is coming together for her, and she certainly has come a long way.

At certain times during those years, she was probably about one paycheck away from homelessness.

“It was really hard to make it,” Ruiz recalls. “It is just hard to make it in Hawaii, and it is hard for single parents on one income.”

But for people who may be facing similar circumstances, she reminds them to “stay strong and focused.

“When I think back, and my sons remind me, I really came from an amazing place. I just want to remind people to keep that forward-thinking process going.

“Keep those wishes and dreams you have, and you will get there.”

To celebrate Scalp Aesthetics Hawaii’s opening, Ruiz is offering a free procedure to one individual. To be eligible to win a free treatment, visit scalp-aesthetic-shawaii.com and fill out the form on the home page by March 10.

Once it opens March 16, Scalp Aesthetics will be located at Alana Business Center in Waikiki, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.

For more information about Scalp Aesthetics Hawaii or to schedule an appointment, call 866-961-3331 or visit scalp-aestheticshawaii.com.

coconnor@midweek.com