Head lice don’t spread disease and aren’t considered a health hazard, according to the CDC, but they’re still gross, annoying and on the rise as kids head back to school. These tiny parasitic insects feast on human blood and it’s estimated that at least 6 million infestations occur among 8-to 11-year-olds each school year. So, beware: Lice, which have been around since at least 4,000 B.C., come for everyone.
Getting rid of head lice is as simple as buying over-the-counter treatments and using lice combs, but it’s a tedious process that some prefer to outsource to businesses like Lice Ladies, a lice removal company founded 18 years ago by Jennie Lasater of Cumming.
Lasater didn’t plan on going into the lice removal business. In the late ’90s, she was in a pop group called Intrygue and toured with the Backstreet Boys. Later, she hoped to become a veterinarian and got a master’s degree in biology, but life led her to a career in mortgages. She used her degree to write continuing education courses on the side.
“I was writing a continuing education course about all species of lice for extra money, and I read about companies like this, and I thought it sounded fun and interesting,” said Lasater.
She started out as a mobile business and opened her first location in Alpharetta in 2010. Word spread like lice at a sleepover.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
“It was getting to be overwhelming because we got busy,” she said. “So, I called Molly, who’s been my best friend now for over 30 years.”
Lasater met Molly Brandenberger when they were in Intrygue together, and they quickly became close friends. Brandenberger had studied public relations in school and went on to work in event planning before Lasater called her for reinforcement.
“We had survived the music industry together, and I said, ‘Hey dude, do you want to come pick some lice with me?’” Lasater recalled.
“And I said, ‘Sure, dude, it’s got to be better than corporate America,’” said Brandenberger.
Brandenberger became a co-owner, and together, they’ve grown the Lice Ladies from one clinic to five in the metro Atlanta area as well as franchises in Woodstock, Athens and Dallas, Texas. The offices are considered medical clinics because they’re focused on treatment, which ranges in cost from $90 to $195, depending on how severe the case is. They also offer head checks for $20.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Killing lice is nearly impossible.
“They’ve been spreading from head-to-head for thousands and thousands of years, and they’ve had all this time to build up a resistance to pesticides,” said Lasater. The best way to get rid of them is the old-fashioned way — through removal with a lice comb, which has closely spaced teeth.
Myths around lice abound. While they’re associated with filth and poor hygiene, the reality is that lice love all human hair.
“It does not care. You literally have to be Mr. Clean-on-the-bottle bald to not be able to get it,” said Lasater. “It doesn’t matter what hair type you have, what texture hair you have, anyone and everyone can get head lice.” This includes Black hair, too, which is often believed to be immune to lice.
When Lice Ladies first opened, Lasater used traditional lice-removing products but was quickly turned off by their odors. “I could smell that they were (mixed) with vinegar, and I didn’t like them,” she said. “I felt like the patients smelled like mustard.”
So, she got to work on concocting her own product line while working at her clinics.
“I figured out the enzyme combo and had several different versions made of it,” said Lasater. The enzyme doesn’t kill the lice but breaks down their skeletons and loosens them from the hair. Later, she added peppermint oil to the formula to cool off her patients’ heads.
When patients visit Lice Ladies, they’re taken into private rooms equipped with televisions, which are essential for distracting the younger patients. Then their hair is dampened and coated in the enzyme product before it’s sectioned off and combed.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
“The females lay the nits on the hair, but they can lay a nit anywhere around a hair, so it doesn’t have to be on top. It can be on the side of the hair, on the bottom,” said Lasater. “So, we comb in multiple directions, kind of gently scraping the comb against the scalp, and then the little grooves in the comb actually drag the nits out of the hair.”
Education and destigmatization are just as important as treatment to the Lice Ladies, which is why their work reaches beyond the clinics. Their summers are spent visiting sleepaway camps for lice checks and removal, while the school year takes them into some of Atlanta’s private schools. They also have a podcast with their friend and producer, Kara Kurcz, called “Oh Gross!”
“Kara always had this vision to talk about things that have sort of a stigma attached to them, like lice and other things, and build a community where people aren’t afraid to talk about the gross or the things that have a stigma attached,” said Lasater. They are also active on TikTok, where they share peeks at patients’ scalps (with permission, of course).
At the end of the day, the Lice Ladies remind parents that lice happen and it’s nothing to freak out about. “This is normal, this is something that happens to everyone,” says Brandenberger. “If your kids have clean hair, they like you. If they’re social, they like you.”
Lice Prevention Tips
‐ If your child has long hair, keep it in braids or buns.
‐ It’s hard for little kids, but keep heads away from other heads to help prevent the spread of lice.
‐ Use a product like hair spray or gel that gets on the scalp. “If they can’t smell the blood, they’re less likely to want to go on the head,” said Brandenberger.
‐ Take disinfectant wipes with you. “We tell people if you’re flying on an airplane or go into the movies, you can wipe down those seats before you sit down,” said Brandenberger.
‐ Don’t wait: Do a preventive check at home once a week using a lice comb.
— Lice Ladies, liceladies.com
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