BellaSugar

Get Bright, Colorful Hair (If Only For a Day)

BellaSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:00:53 -0700

When I was a teenager, I was a loner, Dottie. A rebel. And like any self-styled outsider, I dyed my hair. Only through the world of Manic Panic could I possibly express my teen angst! Fast-forward to now, and while I love colorful hair - pink, purple, whatever - I stick to variations of my natural shade.

That's where these clip-in extensions ($10) come in. Whether used for Halloween or for feeling like a Hot Topic shopper for a day, they're an affordable and commitment-free way to bring more hue to your head. Or you could do it yourself, but considering the cost of supplies, it might be cheaper to just order online for the next time you need to express yourself through colorful hair.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Extensions: Part 2

BellaSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:02:31 -0700

Welcome to the second part of my interview with awesome celebrity and fashion stylist Kristin Ess from LA's Warren-Tricomi salon. Last time we talked about getting the right extensions for your hair color and texture, and today we're tackling some important rules for styling, maintaining, and using extensions that are good to know even if you're not in the market for extra hair. So just keep reading.

How do you care for extensions as far as brushing and styling?

Please brush your hair twice a day: Brush it in the morning, and brush it at night. I don’t care what you do, but you have to brush it. I also always encourage everyone to put their hair in a loose braid before bed, because the less it gets tossed around while you’re sleeping, the better. When you’re brushing, you should be using a natural boar’s hair. It’s just softer on hair.

With extensions, can you use them to add volume on top, or are they just for length?

It’s a very common misconception that you get crazy volume at the top of your hair. Extensions are heavier than your hair, so actually, you’re going to be flattening the hair on top if you put them there. Now, what you can do in order to gain a little volume is put some in toward the front on the side.

People often confuse their terms, too. They don’t mean volume, they mean density or thickness. You can totally use extensions for thickness. But your thickness is gonna be more on the sides and on the bottom than on the top. It’s up to you to do the top of your own hair.

For more of the interview, keep reading.

All About Lauren Conrad's Extensions With Stylist Kristin Ess

BellaSugar — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Kristin Ess of Warren-Tricomi Salon in LA has styled everyone from Rachel McAdams to the runway models at Marc Jacobs, but she's also known for her work on The Hills, and for Lauren Conrad's styles in particular. So when I found out that Lauren's perfectly natural-looking hair was actually Kristin's perfect extensions, I really wanted to speak with her to get the scoop about them. To find out how Ess works her magic, read more.

You created LC's extensions and her look. How did you start out using them on her?

The thing about extensions is that you have to have the exact right kind for your hair. When I started working with Lauren, she had a thicker kind of extension, and because she went to so many events, we were styling her hair a lot. Because of the texture of her hair, though, we kept having to hide the extension if she wanted to put it into a ponytail. We always had to leave a little bit of a poof and couldn’t do a tight ponytail, either, because the extension would pop out sometimes, or you would just see a lump. We were working around the extensions, basically, instead of the hair working around us. I told her, "Listen, I really want to put my thinner extensions in your hair." She had never heard of them, but she said "OK, I trust you. Let’s do it." So, we took the thick extensions out, we put the thinner ones in, and she's never taken them out since.

I had no idea they were extensions until recently.

You know what's so funny? I do a lot of interviews about Lauren’s hair, and sometimes people are like, "What do you mean she has extensions? Oh, I thought that was her hair." Meanwhile, people don’t realize that her hair is actually about to her collarbone.

How do you keep the extensions seamless and blend in the ends when her actual length is that drastically different? That’s hard to do!

Particularly with the extensions - first and foremost is color matching. I pride myself on that, because I can color match your hair exactly. You can always see extensions when they aren't perfectly color matched. So that's one, and the other is the placement. There's a certain way that you have to place the hair, and a pattern that you put them in. To have extensions look natural, you have to leave a little bit more room in certain places and put a few closer together. The reason that the ones I use are so great is that they're in two and half inch panels, and I can basically place them wherever I want.

I've got lots more from Ess regarding extensions, from the different varieties to how to care for them. Stay tuned for the additional details of our interview to come.

How-To: Create Colorful Temporary Hair Extensions

BellaSugar — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:00:52 -0700

Kate Freund is a comedic artist/writer/all-around talented lady who I found through her super-cute Magnetic Fields video. Most of her videos involve acting or music, but this one is a more straightforward tutorial on creating clip-in hair extensions. Kate dyes hers pink, but obviously you can go with any color you like. She's cute and easygoing, so check her out:

New Hair Extensions Are All About Kitty Pride

BellaSugar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:00:26 -0700

Being a cat lady is about to take on a whole different meaning. A new hair-extension technique aims to be chic and eco-friendly at the same time. By using cat hair instead of human hair in its extensions, San Francisco-based Lechaton Cosmeceuticals promises to create long-lasting extensions with fuller, natural color.

"I was brushing my cat, Princess Boom-Boom, when the idea came to me," said Maneki Neko, the inventor of the extensions. "Instead of throwing her shed fur away, I could turn it into a line of luxurious hairpieces." A few prototypes and Cat Fancy ads later, Purrfect Lengths debuted its collection of hand-woven fur extensions. They're softer than most extensions, can be worn up to nine weeks, and they're specially treated with a dander-neutralizing formula to prevent allergic reactions.

Business is booming, but to find out why some people aren't happy about these extensions, read more.

Each extension requires the fur of 12 cats (or 20 kittens); the cats are fed a high-protein diet to provide optimum shine, then gently shaven under the supervision of a veterinarian. Unsurprisingly, long-haired breeds such as Maine Coons and Persians are better-suited for the program than domestic shorthairs. "My celebrity clients wouldn't even consider going with extensions from a tabby," Neko explained. "The fur has to come from a breed recognized by TICA [The International Cat Association] or it's just not going to happen," she said, adding that a forthcoming lower-priced line of extensions would incorporate the fur of non-pedigreed animals.

Animal-rights advocates argue that Purrfect Lengths takes advantage of unsuspecting cats. "The feline community is being exploited," said an anonymous member of the Siamese Liberation Army, an underground protest group. "Here you have animals who are being paid in Tender Vittles - a clear violation of labor laws in itself - just so short-haired humans can have luxurious locks." But Neko points out that the cats would shed their fur eventually, and that her eco-friendly business creates jobs for previously unemployed cats. If you're interested in having your cat apply for the three-month Purrfect Lengths Lil' Shavers program, be sure to check out the deadlines and guidelines.

Source

Go Inside the Secret World of Hair Extensions

BellaSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:00:00 -0800

We see them on the heads of celebrities. We may even have them ourselves. But, when it comes down to it, do we really know where that hair comes from?

The March issue of Allure offers a story behind some of the most prized extensions, and it's not a pretty picture. More than 500 tons - yes, tons - of human hair come from Tirumala, a temple of the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism in southern India. Women grow their hair to their waists, then have their heads shaven as a symbol of religious devotion. After processing, that hair becomes extensions sold in posh salons in the United States.

Why do they have the hair? Since the ninth century, devout Hindus have visited the temple to pay respects to the resident deity through a procedure called tonsuring. This ritual head shaving is a gesture of devotion. By giving up their hair, they believe the god will then grant them any wish. Quite often, this is the first time that the hair, which has never been treated with anything harsher than coconut oil and herbal Ayurvedic soap, has been cut.

To get more of the story, read more.

Where does the money go? After being cleaned and processed, the hair is sold at auction and the temple funds schools and medical centers with their portion of the profits . . after part of the proceeds go to the various parties involved from the extension makers to the distributors. This makes Tirumala one of the richest religious pilgrimage sites in the world, earning about $20.6 million annually. Their chief accounts officer says, "Our deity is now the richest deity in the world."

Do the women know? When asked by the reporter, many of the women did not know what happened to their sacrifice at Tirumala, and they certainly did not know of the high price their locks can fetch. (After all, $3,000 is more than triple the average yearly per capita income in India.) While most of the profits do go to the temple, it doesn't sit right with me that the devotees are kept in the dark about this multimillion-dollar industry.

As the article concludes, I'm still pondering the final questions: Would it matter to them? Should it matter to us? Check out the story when you have a chance, and share your thoughts in the comments.

Does She or Doesn't She Wear Hair Extensions, Part VI

BellaSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:00:35 -0700

Back by popular demand is my sixth quiz about celebrity hair extensions. See if you can tell which of these women is wearing extensions and which ones are currently wearing their hair naturally. I'm so glad you think this guessing game is as much fun as I do. Good luck!

Source, Source, Source, and Source

Take the quiz

Does She Or Doesn't She Wear Hair Extensions, Part V

BellaSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:00:15 -0700

Welcome back to my quiz series about celebrity hair extensions. You guys seem to love this topic just as much as I do. Isn't it fun guessing who has naturally fabulous hair and who has a little extra help from the salon? I think when they're applied by a talented professional, extensions can look natural and gorgeous. Take my quiz and guess which of these famous faces is currently extended.

Source, Source and Flynet

Take the quiz

What Would It Take For You to Buy Paris's Hair?

BellaSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:00:00 -0700

You know who's really underexposed? Paris Hilton. It's almost as though we never see her. Fortunately for her legions of fans, the notoriously press-shy heiress has launched a new website, Paris and Sally, to promote her line of $69.99 hair extensions. It's about as subtle as a sledgehammer, too. Promises of "hotness" (whatever happened to "heat"?) attempt to pique your interest in extensions, and then there's this personal message from Paris:

Everyone should get the chance to be me. That's why I created the world's hottest hair extensions. Choose from ten fabulous shades and you will be a clip away from hotness.

The site is thoroughly and amusingly silly, but if anyone knows extensions, it's Paris. What would it take for you to buy her product?

Love It or Hate It? Stephanie Pratt's Punky Pink Extensions

BellaSugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0700

I can understand matching your lipstick and your nail polish, but matching your lipstick to your hair extensions? Stephanie Pratt from The Hills was spotted last night at the Pink Is the New Blog party wearing bright-pink hair extensions. Remember last Summer when Heidi had pink highlights? Methinks that she-Pratt is taking this soon-to-be little sister thing a bit too far. What do you think of Stephanie's punky pink hair?

Source