As a 30-plus year hair replacement specialist and alopecia areata survivor, I’ve watched the hair extensions and hair replacement industries undergo several changes, many of which have made me concerned about women’s hair health.
When I began my career, hair extensions were performed with the highest levels of integrity and confidentiality. They were a scientific art form reserved for practitioners with years of experience in providing solutions to women with hair challenges—whether clients were looking to add volume to their tresses or were managing severe hair and scalp issues, the decision to wear hair additions was a private matter between a client and her hair restoration professional. Women shared their hair concerns only with others of like mind, discussing matters of hair replacement with the same assiduousness used in talks with their doctors.
In the past dozen or so years, I’ve watched the hair extensions industry transform from a specialized art form performed by medically-educated experts into an Internet cash-cow resulting from volume sales of non-customized hair extensions to uneducated and unsuspecting clients. One-size-fits all products are sold to millions of women with no consideration given to how these products effect individual hair and health issues. The result is that droves of women are paying the price in their pocketbooks and in their hair health. These days, after years of watching hair replacement recipients come second, I encourage women to ask lots of questions when seeking hair replacement or hair extensions services.
Here are a few things I recommend taking into consideration before getting involved in hair additions.
Search for A Hair Engineer, Not Just a Hairstylist
After 30+ years of using hair prosthetics to replace hair as well as induce growth of the natural hair, I witness almost daily women’s losing battle with poor hair extensions and hair replacement. Whether it’s tangling, matting, or shedding resulting from poor installation or damage to natural hair from wigs or hair pieces that are too tight or too heavy, the common denominator that fuels the bad hair day is this: It’s almost impossible to find a practitioner that can both correctly customize your hair additions and properly execute the right method or technique for your hair. We’ve all heard (or experienced) stories about spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on hair extensions, only to realize later that without the help of a professional application the product is rendered useless. Or we connect with a stylist that is great at traditional hairstyling only to learn the hard way that her hair extensions and replacement skills leave much to be desired. And at its worst, the bad hair day becomes the no-hair day – the increasing trend toward “do-it-yourself” or “piece meal” hair extensions continues to yield warnings from medical experts about traction alopecia—dermatologists see so many cases of traction hair loss they advise consumers to swear off hair extensions altogether.
A hair engineer will be able to assess a client’s needs in advance of any service and employ a host of techniques and options that will best serve her. Like an architect, the hair engineer designs from scratch and builds from the ground up to create a product unlike any other. I’ve said for years that no two heads are alike, so to assume that what works for one person will work for someone else is futile—it’s the reason so many women are unhappy after purchasing hairpieces from online sources or spending hours at a hair extensions appointment only to look worse than before they started.
Don’t Settle for an Amateur When an Expert is Required
Search the Internet on any given day and you’ll no doubt find a hair loss or hair additions “expert” pushing the latest, greatest, must-have hair solution. What they all have in common is that just by buying their product you’ll get easy access to longer, fuller hair quickly, easily, and inexpensively. They’ve “cut out the middleman,” bypassing qprofessionals and selling the product directly to you. But what happens if there’s a problem? I’ve treated everything from allergic reactions generated by these products to performing a complete overhaul of the product sold—the sellers of these products all have the same position: They are selling in volume and therefore can’t guarantee the same results for everyone. This is a classic amateur move.
Keep in mind that your hair is as much a part of your body as your eyes, arms, heart and lungs and should be treated as such. While you may consider buying items online that can help keep your body in its best shape, you wouldn’t consider adding anything into your body without the advice of a medical professional. Your hair additions are designed to be an integral part of your body (yes, even clip-on hair extensions) and as such should only be implemented with the help and guidance of a professional.
Rather than rely solely on the advice of YouTube, general comments from online review sites, or commercials selling a one-size-fits-all product, I recommend getting a one-on-one detailed consultation with an expert prior to doing anything. The best way to get the right answers is to ask the right questions. Can the expert’s product and service address my specific hair and scalp conditions (especially if my hair is currently in great shape and I want to keep it that way)? Will the hair extensions interact with any of my medications, or will my unique body chemistry affect its wear? What if my hair is several textures (i.e. thin hair at the temples, coarse at the crown, curly at the nape) or I have hair and scalp challenges (i.e. thin hair with seborrhea or psoriasis)? And what if my hair changes during the time I’m wearing my hair extensions or hair replacement (i.e. hair growth stages halted or altered due to illness or hormonal changes) – what are my options? Our hair is as much a living organism as the rest of our body—an expert will have numerous solutions available to help reach your hair goals.
You Get What You Pay For
At some point you’ve probably wished you could go back to “the good-old-days.” I have thoughts about the good-old-days often when it comes to the practice of hair replacement. I’ve watched the hair extension business morph from a collection of disciplined hair professionals focused on quality of service and safety of a client’s natural hair to an ungoverned trade that slowly robs women of their hair, money and dignity. These days, the hair extensions business is fixated on first turning a profit and benefitting the client second – it’s no wonder women can’t find the solutions they seek.
So how can you be sure your hair doesn’t fall prey to hair replacement inexperience and laissez-faire hair extensions? In addition to scouting an expert to assist you in the hair restoration process, don’t fall for the ubiquitous “hair hacks” shelled out to the unsuspecting woman as a “way to save money.” These “hacks” are not only a sure-fire gateway to hair damage, they will likely send you down a money rabbit hole as you shell out more funds to “fix” the problems associated with wearing hair pieces that aren’t uniquely designed for you. It might seem tempting to “do-it-yourself” by purchasing hair extensions or hair pieces that look great in the online catalog. But in my experience, clients end up spending more time crossing their fingers that these products work correctly – if at all – instead of happily wearing their hair. I tell my clients always that if you can’t afford to have it done right, don’t do it at all.
Our hair should be taken as seriously as the rest of our body. We wouldn’t trust anyone other than a specialized medical doctor to perform a heart or kidney transplant, yet our hair, considered nothing more than a cosmetic element, doesn’t receive the same consideration. Getting a professional involved in your hair health may cost more than a “do-it-yourself” option, but it’s also a great way to protect the hair you have and ensure that whatever product and service you purchase is exactly what you expect.
The other key benefit of working with a hair extensions specialist is that your health – hair and otherwise – always comes first. Medical consent forms, biopsy reports, doctor’s notes, hair and scalp analysis, etc.—all of which have long been a part of my practice—are taken into account before any hair extensions or hair replacement services are considered. Bottom line: it’s okay to gather information and take a look around, but in the end, the best judge of your health is you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and expect to have your hair treated with the utmost care and respect.
