A little girl has been nicknamed “Fluffy” by her preschool pals for her frizzy hair—she is one of only 100 people in the world with “uncombable hair syndrome” (UHS).
Layla Davis, aged 3, hit the headlines while just a tot for her blonde locks, which cannot be combed flat. Now she has just started at nursery where her frizzy hair has led to her being nicknamed Fluffy.
She lives with her mom, Charlotte Davis, 30, her dad, Kevin Davis, 37, and her brother, Freddie, 4, in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, UK.
She was first diagnosed with UHS—a condition characterized by dry, frizzy hair that defies attempts to tame it. UHS develops in childhood, often between infancy and age 3, but can appear as late as 12. Children who develop it tend to have light-colored hair, and there are only around 100 cases in the world.
Mrs. Davis said that while Layla’s hair had gotten longer, it hadn’t really changed in the past year.
“Her preschool friends call her Fluffy because of her hair as there is another Layla in her class,” she said. “The other children are never negative about it, and it means she is a very happy girl—she’s not shy and talks to everyone.
“She had her first haircut in February last year, but it’s still wild. We can plait it now, but we don’t do it too often as we don’t want to pull it too hard—it’s very fragile and can break off easily.
“She has got to the age where she is starting to question things a bit more now like she wants her hair plaited every day and asks why we can’t do it. I have to tell her her hair is a little bit different, and we need to take care of it.”
Layla’s hair has previously earned her nicknames like “Boris Johnson” and “Albert Einstein.”
Mrs. Davis said it’s mostly adults that talk about Layla’s hair and she’s had a few instances where people have touched it without asking first.
“People seem to think it is okay to reach out and touch her—I have to teach her about consent, and it’s tricky for me to teach a 3-year-old why people might want to touch her hair,” Mrs. Davis said.
“I also want to tell her it’s not okay for people to touch her without asking, but as she’s only 3, I don’t want to scare her. People never mean anything bad by it, but people do just reach out, wanting to feel it.”
“We’ve had a lot of people message her from all over the world and because of Layla, they are now learning there is a name for their condition or that there is someone else out there,” she said.
The hair condition is also known as “spun glass hair” and usually improves over time, normally by adolescence.
“I hope her hair doesn’t change, and it gets a bit longer so we can put it in a ponytail one day,” Mrs. Davis said. “I just want her to love it as when she grows up kids will suddenly start to make comments. It’s your job as a mum to equip your kids for any situation, so I just hope she thinks it’s cool like I do.”
