Synthetic
Hair Extensions
So what is
synthetic hair extentions really
all about? The following report
includes some fascinating
information about synthetic hair
extentions--info you can use, not
just the old stuff they used to
tell you.
From the
beginning of time, women have
cared for their hair. As far back
as 4000-300 BC Egyptian women and
even men are shown with various
wigs and elaborate hair styles.
Hair is a contributing factor to
ones confidence and serenity.
Our culture
strongly identifies femininity
with a thick, lustrous head of
hair. Images of full bodied,
shining hair are synonymous with
female attributes, sexuality,
desirability and vigor. Thinning,
dry, lusterless hair is
identified with illness, old age,
and poverty.
Every
generation goes thru more and
more transformations and
capitalizes on current trends of
Hair Styles. The big Hair Style
trend these days is in full swing
in Europe and is just starting to
spread in the United States.
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It
is the trend of Hair
Extensions. Hair
extensions involve the
attachment of human or
synthetic hair to your
existing hair to create
a more full or long look
immediately. Hair
extensions can add
instant body, length to
your look and can also
help with hair thinning
and hair loss
situations.
There
are many different
methods of hair
extensions on the market
today, some good, some
not so good. Mark Sharp,
cofounder and creative
director of Mark Glenn
Hair Enhancement of
London, England and
Glenn Kinsey, cofounder
and managing director
have taken revolutionary
steps in developing a
fiber hair extension
method that not only
doesn’t damage the
existing hair but can
even improve the
condition of the hair.
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They have
transformed the lives of women
who suffer from varying degrees
of hair loss caused by conditions
such as alopecia,
trichotillomania, genetic
factors, stress and postoperative
trauma.
The Mark
Glenn extensions, commonly known
as MG extensions, use no glues,
bonding solutions, threads,
weaves, injections, and nothing
is stuck on the head. They are
attached using a very fine braid.
A small section of existing hair
is split into two. The fiber hair
is also split into two to make
the braid and is finally wrapped
around the base of the hair,
protecting it. The fiber is then
"sealed on itself" using a heat
tool (which is no hotter than a
typical pair of curling tongs or
crimpers). This creates a tiny
plastic seal. It's important to
point out that during this
process, your own hair is safely
"cocooned" inside the fiber so it
doesn't come into direct contact
with any heat. Therefore, your
own hair stays in perfect
condition. For hair loss or
thinning problems, the extensions
are applied with non-allergic
mesh and the fiber hair is woven
thru the mesh to create the
look.
Glenn
Kinsey of Mark Glenn Hair
Enhancement has joined us today
for a brief question and answer
session on their fiber hair
extensions.
Welcome
Glenn and thank you for joining
us today! We have a few questions
for you about your wonderful hair
extensions.
Question:
I understand that you and Mark
have previously worked with human
hair extensions. Why did you
switch to synthetic fiber
extensions?
Answer:
Several
reasons:
1.
Weight - human hair is
twice the weight of fiber and
therefore feels “heavy”
on the head – at its worst,
this increased weight and stress
on the hair can cause
“traction alopecia”. In
addition, human hair is porous
– it soaks up water –
which can significantly increase
the weight when wet.
2.
Tangle – human hair
tends to “matt” and
“tangle” – this is
because the surface of human hair
has little “spines” on
it, that look like roof tiles
under a microscope. Because this
“alien” hair isn’t
being conditioned by the natural
oils that condition your own
hair, these “spines”
tend to “stick out” and
tangle up with the other hairs on
your head. Consequently, you do
need to use quite intensive
conditioners to keep the hair in
good condition. Fiber, however,
has a smooth surface and
therefore is less likely to
tangle.
3.
Glue - human hair
extensions are typically applied
with glue and removed with
acetone – a recipe for
damage, the results of which we
regularly see in our studio. Our
method doesn’t use any
chemicals.
4.
Color match - a stylist
using human hair would typically
take a swatch of the
client’s hair and send it to
a human hair supplier who would
then pick the closest color from
a specific range. We actually
color-blend our hair with the
client in front of us –
taking into account all the
different subtle shade shifts
that may exist in their hair
– to get an absolutely
perfect match
5.
Ethics –
there’s a great deal of
mystery surrounding the origins
of human hair used in extensions
and it’s very difficult to
track the exact source. A common
source for top quality hair is
from female Russian prisoners,
for example
6.
Look and feel –
fiber looks and feels just like
real hair but is much kinder to
the hair and is much easier to
style and take care
of.
Question:
What percentage of your clients
gets hair extensions for hair
loss issues versus
fashion?
Answer:
The split is
approximately 50/50
Question:
You have developed your own
branded method (MG extensions)
for applying fiber extensions.
What is unique about your method
in comparison to other methods
available? Do you plan to patent
your application
method?
Answer:
We have a proprietary technique
for working with female hair
loss, for which clients visit us
from all over the world. For
fashion purposes, we’ve
amalgamated several different
methods and added our own unique
adaptations to create a technique
that creates a beautiful
look
Question:
Why do you feel that fiber
extensions are superior to human
hair extensions? Could you apply
human hair extensions using your
method if a client really
preferred human hair?
Answer:
See above. Apart from using
pliers and a metal clip (which is
great fun through airport metal
detectors and very uncomfortable
when you lay your head on a
pillow!) the only way to apply
human hair is with glue.
How can you
put a limit on learning more
about synthetic hair extentions?
The next section may contain that
one little bit of wisdom that
changes everything.
Question:
What training and
education is involved for
stylists doing MG extensions?
Answer We work in teams of two
people – a “lead”
and an “assist”. Team
members start out as an
“assist” and then,
after about 12 to 24 months,
progress up to a
“lead”.
“Leads” are the ones
that direct the work. Our
training is very intensive and
“on the job” to allow
team members to experience the
bewildering array of both styles
and techniques, as well as the
differing types of hair loss they
may encounter.
Question:
What are the legal requirements
in England for doing hair
extensions?Answer: Sadly, there
are no specific legal
requirements for hair extensions
over and above those for a normal
hair salon.
Question:
What are the minimum requirements
for someone wanting hair
extensions? Length of hair?
Stable hair loss? Have you turned
down clients for hair extensions
and why?
Answer:
We regularly turn away clients no
matter how much they want hair
extensions, if we don’t
think it’s going to look
sensational! For fashion work,
the main reason is length of
existing hair – for the best
results, the clients hair needs
to be at least 4 to 6 inches
long. This is because you need
existing hair to conceal where
the extensions are attached. For
our clients with hair loss, there
can be a whole range of reasons,
from too little existing hair to
hair loss that hasn’t
“stabilized”.
Question:
There are some hair extensionists
that don’t recommend getting
fiber extensions because of
esthetic reasons. Can you
describe the quality of the fiber
hair, where it is made and why
these recommendations are not
valid?
Answer:
We only use a beautiful, handmade
fiber that is absolutely
undetectable from the real thing
in look, feel and behavior.
It’s actually more expensive
than some human hair! Cheap fiber
is truly awful, akin to
“Barbie-doll” hair. You
only tend to spot bad extensions
– we pride ourselves on the
fact that, in general, no-one
even suspects our clients have
extensions and we have a large
number of celebrity clients that,
in some cases, even the media
haven’t spotted that their
hair isn’t their
own!
Question:
You mention on your website,
http://www.markglenn.com that the
fiber extensions do not damage
your hair and can even improve
the condition of your hair. Can
you explain how they can improve
the condition of your
hair?
Answer:
First of all, we don’t use
any chemicals. Secondly, your own
hair is “cocooned” and
protected inside the extension
and continues to grow as normal.
Thirdly, when the extensions are
removed, they just slide off your
hair leaving no mess or residue.
Because your hair has been
protected in this way over a few
months, the condition of your own
hair often improves.
Question:
What is the maintenance schedule
for fashion and hair loss fiber
extensions? What happens if you
do not follow the maintenance
schedule?Answer: For fashion,
you’d need to either remove
the extensions after three months
or have them removed and
replaced. Initially, the
extensions are attached at the
base of your hair. However, your
hair will grow at around half an
inch a month so the extensions
start to grow down your own hair.
If you
leave it longer than 3 months,
there’s a risk that the
newly grown hair above the
extension may start to matt and
tangle and, in the worst-case
scenario, dreadlocks. For hair
loss, the particular technique we
use demands that clients visit us
every six weeks for similar
reasons – the
“mesh” can start to
feel a little loose if it’s
left for much longer than 6
weeks.
Question:
If someone has very thick hair
and wants only to lengthen it,
why wouldn’t you just apply
the extensions to the ends of the
hair, instead of at the
roots?
Answer:
Because you’d see a
“bump” where the
extension is attached.
Question:
Can you treat fiber extensions
the same as your own hair? I.E.
shampooing, conditioning,
curling, brushing,
etc.
Answer:
Yes – wash it as normal,
blow dry, curl, condition, brush
– just like the real thing.
And because the fiber is actually
nonporous, you don’t need to
use expensive products on the
hair, e.g. conditioners, because
they’ll have no effect on
the extension hair itself. The
only thing you have to avoid is
direct, sustained heat e.g.
hot-iron straighteners etc.
Rollers etc. are fine.
Question:
Are there any restrictions? Can
you color or perm the fiber
extensions?Answer: You can’t
perm the extensions but you
wouldn’t need to – you
can achieve the same look using
rollers, for instance. Color has
no effect on the extension hair,
again, because it’s
nonporous. This is great for
clients who continue to have
their “roots” done, in
the knowledge that the color
won’t affect the extension
hair.
Question:
On an annual basis, what would a
typical client pay for Fashion
and Hair Loss Fiber extensions
including maintenance schedules?
Are the majority of the costs
associated with cost of the
materials or the
labor?
Answer:
Costs do vary from head to head
and style to style. Since we have
two people working on a
client’s head at the same
time, cost is predominantly based
on the amount of time it takes
with each particular client. On
average, a fashion client would
pay around GBP £1,500.00 per
year and a hair loss client,
around twice as much. And bear in
mind that you don’t need to
visit a hairdresser since we take
care of all this during
appointments.
Question:
Your Hair Loss fiber extensions
qualify for funding from medical
plans in England. Did you have to
go thru a certification process
for this funding? Have any of
your clients outside England
received payment from medical
plans in their country?Answer:
Because of the way the UK health
system works (which is funded by
the Government) it very much
depends on the attitude of local
health authorities rather than a
specific “test”. Some
health authorities are happy to
fund their patients, whereas
others are not, preferring the
cheaper option of providing wigs.
We’ve yet to have someone
from outside the UK who’s
funded by a health plan
etc.
Question:
Do you plan to offer training to
stylists outside your salon so
that other salons in the world
can offer MG
Extensions?
Answer:
Not at present, although
it’s something we may
consider in the
future.
Question:
Are there reputable
salons in the US that you would
recommend?
Answer:
Since the majority of our
techniques were developed
in-house and are therefore unique
to us, it’s unlikely
you’d find anyone locally
who does things in quite the same
way. The fact that, currently, we
have clients that visit us from
14 different countries, seems to
confirm this. I so wish I could
recommend others, but we simply
haven’t yet come across
anyone who provides a similar
result to a similar
standard
Thank you
very much Glenn for your valuable
input!! For additional
information about Mark Glenn Hair
Extensions, visit their website
located at
http://markglenn.com
When word
gets around about your command of
synthetic hair extentions facts,
others who need to know about
hair extenders will start to
actively seek you out.
About the Author
Perriann Rodriguez is the
founder of www.hairresources.comand
has published hundreds of
articles in magazines, newspapers
and trade journals. She is listed
in the US Register of American
Writers and the 2004 Who's Who of
Executives and Professionals
Article
presented by Bob
Pardue
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