Faking It
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And the options abound — whether in terms of the method of
application, the type of hair used, or the particular bond used to
glue/clip/stick/sew them in. With this wide range of choices, however, comes an
abundance of differing opinions. So what’s really the superior method?
In our quest to understand the current extensions trends, we
were immediately referred to Shellee Mendes. Now the owner and a stylist at Salon
Monet (176
Newbury Street, Boston, 617.425.0009), Mendes has been beefing up Boston-area
heads with a little extra length and volume since we were in bangs and
pigtails. In fact, no matter which salon did your cut and color 10 years or so
ago, if you expressed interest in hair extensions, you were likely referred
along to her. These days, most chichi salons consider the weaving method (in
which extensions are sewn into tightly woven braids of the client’s hair) to be
little more than a passé precursor to today’s techniques, but Mendes plays a
master devil’s advocate. Her unique method of threading twists fake “filler”
strands with the head’s wispiest hairs in two or three rows of super-fine
braids. Sections of hair are sewn in from there in a chemical- and heat-free
process that Mendes swears up and down won’t damage even the finest locks. Says
Mendes, “It’s just enhancing what you have in the most natural way, in the
healthiest way for your hair.”
The more we asked around, however, the more stylists we got
on record raving about the Great Lengths brand, which they apply strand by
strand to the wearer’s existing hair by melting on a keratin protein at the
root. Of course, it’s all in whom you ask: some say it’s an ideal technique
because the bonding compound is composed of the same protein that makes up
hair, while others are quick to point out that the percentage of the compound
that’s actually made up of keratin is negligible. Marti Mercer, salon director
at G2O (338 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.2220) and Emerge (275 Newbury Street, Boston,
617.437.0006), is one of the admirers. “It’s quality hair. They’ve been around
for a long time,” she points out. “What I’ve found with other brands is the
quality of the hair is not as nice. It doesn’t hold the color, or it sheds a
lot. Great Lengths is just known for being a good, quality extension.” Across
the city at Spa Christine (699 East Broadway, South Boston,
617.269.0019), senior stylist and salon department manager Cherrisse Houston
concurs. “It’s a beautiful, natural look. It takes a lot longer [to apply], but
the results are phenomenal.”
Plenty of similar versions of the keratin-bonded extension
have popped up as well. Hairstylist Jana Rago of Salon Àcôté (132 Newbury Street, 2nd Floor,
Boston, 617.262.5111) is certified in the Cinderella technique, which differs
from the Great Lengths method only slightly in terms of the application process
and the bond itself, which is applied in a horseshoe shape so that the
extension, if too heavy, will slide out instead of snapping the existing hair
at the root. At G2O, stylists also offer the Balmain method, which makes use of
“wests” of hair, each a few inches in length, instead of individual strands for
a more accessible approach to extensions. (“Think of it almost as a sheet of
hair,” suggests Mercer, who recommends the practice for adding a large amount
of length that blends naturally with a shorter cut.) With fewer individual
pieces to apply, the process is completed in less time and therefore costs
less.
