In my hairdressing life there are two things that I have come to realise:
1. I am, in fact, a hairdressing nerd, reveling in facts about cuticles and cortex’s and all the sciencey things. I spend hours on my Mac going deeper and deeper into the World Wide Web in search of information and have often squealed with delight upon discovery of a particularly surprising fact about hair.
2. To truly understand something you need to experience it for yourself. I’ve ventured into many salons as a ‘client’ and had so many beauty treatments that, should a vacancy come up at Elle as a beauty tester, I would probably be over-qualified for the job!
After meeting a fellow nerd (this is so rare and exciting) Karen Harper, from Extreme Lengths, (aka the extension queen) I take the plunge and sit still for two hours, preparing to embark on a life changing experience…extensions!
Loads of the pop stars and actresses I’ve worked with have had their hair enhanced by extensions (of course I could never divulge who, as this would be indiscreet). I’ve learned that everything is different when you are working with them: from the products you apply to the drying techniques – everything reacts differently! One day, while blow drying a client, a stray one landed in her lap (the heat was too high!) and it dawned on me that I needed a better education in extensions.
I have used weaves for years and years, and ponytails and wigs, but these single applications of real hair that are discreetly applied… well it’s a whole new area to get nerdish about!
So off I trot to Westbourne Grove to sit in Karen’s chair, while she masterly applies hair from three Russian ladies’ heads! I am proud to say at least one was a virgin!! The soft ashy blonde tone had never seen a colourant! She matched the texture that I have (I call it beachy wave, my mum calls it unbrushed mess) and the blend proved insanely good. I left the salon with long wavy locks that look sexily dishevelled, with not even a glimmer of WAG about them.
Back at Haris I succumbed to having another two inches cut off. Benjamin ‘blended me’ with a razor technique and it’s taken them to a whole new beachy level.
At 6 am the following morning I desperately tried to tuck my new do into a Speedo swimming cap (difficult). Feeling very over protective of my new locks I didn’t make it to my 30th lap, instead opting to spend more time in the shower cleansing them! The minty fresh shampoo is lighter than anything I have used before and forget the massage action that I learnt as a junior…Karen has taught me a whole new technique! As I lovingly apply my special conditioner (not too close to the joins, just through the ends and top) I ponder on whether to change the name of my blog to “My extensions and I”…
