Just a few celebrities and TV personalities that Pacific Hair Extensions has serviced

Shiri Appleby, Actress in HBO's "Girls" and NBC's "Chicago Fire"

Kristen Prout, Actress in "Twilight"

Kristina Matisic, Oprah Winfrey Network's "Shopping Bag"

Sarah Chalke, CBS' "How I met your Mother" and "Scrubs"

Jessica Amlee, CBC's "Heartland"

Ellen Muth, Showtime's "Dead Like Me"

Parris Goebel, world renowned choreographer & actress in Step up: All In

This blog article is written by Kristina Matisic of Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag and Beauty Call about our hair extensions. She is still currently wearing them.

Hair to there

Pretty much everyone has something they don't like about their body, something they wish they could change. For me, it's all about the hair. I have been follicle-challenged since day one. At first, being a bald baby is cutely androgynous. After a year or two, the "Is it a boy or a girl?" comments get a little old. When I finally did sprout a few stringy strands, it was always thin, fine, and there wasn't much of it. All I ever wanted was for it to be thick and long.

Fast forward almost 40 years: I decided to do something about it.

At the start of Grocery Bag, our makeup artist suggested I try clip-in extensions: real hair, dyed to match my own, sewn onto a barrette and then clipped into my hair. I decided to take the pricey plunge. (About $400 for two back pieces and two side pieces. Read my blog about them from a couple of years ago.) The hair went in in the morning and out at night, when I was so relieved to unhitch myself and give my head a good scratch.

My clip-in hair extensions

I had avoided getting “real” extensions for a few reasons:

• One, I’d heard the appointments were agonizingly long and I can barely sit at a salon long enough to allow nail polish to dry.

• Two, I’d heard that it costs thousands of dollars. I was also worried it would be damaging to my hair.

• And lastly I didn’t want anyone to be able to see it.

On the set of Grocery Bag with the house cat, wearing clip-in extensions.

Yanie made a good case. First, let me tell you that she’s a head-turning beauty with the biggest head of hair you’ve ever seen. She’s had extensions for decades. She assured me it isn’t damaging to my hair, if it’s done carefully and properly. Track extensions are a lot less likely to be seen than bonded extensions, which is where individual strands are bonded or glued directly onto your own hair. 

Four years and three sets of clip-ins later, my clip-in supplier Yanie at Pacific Hair convinced me to try semi permanent extensions. Here, the weft of hair is sewn onto a section of your own hair that is woven to act as a base.

With images of thick, long, and luscious hair dancing in my head, I took the plunge a couple of months ago before my summer vacation. A holiday is exciting at any time. But a holiday with good hair? Unprecedented.

I got one weft with one ounce of hair on it, with the aim of making my hair look thicker and rather than longer. (Most people get at least two wefts and often more than one ounce on each.) I figured less hair was lighter and would do less damage to my existing hair. The cost was $200 for the hair and $200 for the first install, so to speak. 

The “fitting” took about an hour. Ouch! The weft was sewn in so tight I thought they were throwing in a free face-lift. The first few days were not fun and I took Advil to wrangle my headache. Because the extensions extended around the back and to the sides of my head, I ended up sleeping, if you can call it that, on the wee area between my eyeball and my temple.

About four or five days in, my hair grew that tiny bit needed to ease the tension. And there I was, all blissfully thicker haired, roaming the streets of Prague. Even later, swimming in the Adriatic, the extensions stayed firm and unobtrusive. At least according to my boyfriend, who was asked the moronic question, “Can you see my hair?” every hour or so. 

Enjoying the sunset, and my new weave, in Croatia, Summer 2011

With extensions, you have to take a bit more care when you’re styling your hair, so as not to catch the brush on your track. You also have to make sure you rinse your hair well so no shampoo or conditioner builds up in the extensions, which can lead to an itchy scalp. And you have to dry it thoroughly. Other than that, care is easy-peasy.

Eight weeks later, I went in for a tightening: as hair grows, the weave eventually becomes too loose and can be harder to manage. The same weft is taken out and re-sewn, tightly again. This time, the pain was minimal. The appointment took half an hour and cost $75.

The Verdict?

Let me just say, I luuuvvvv my new hair. It’s easy to deal with and looks natural. But it’s not like when I walk down the street people say, “Look at the mane on that one!”

When I’m going out at night, or filming, I do put in one of my old clip-ins for added volume and thickness. Which has got me thinking – and here we go down the slippery slope – I could get another weft put in; I could get even more hair!

I’m hesitant, still worried about damaging and breaking what little real hair I do have. So that’s my question to you, readers. Have you had a weave? What’s your experience with it? Did it damage your hair? I’ve heard that maybe I should leave this in for a while, then take a break, say in a year. If you have any advice, I would love to hear from you.

Rab, Croatia, Summer 2011, with extensions

Female hair loss comes in dozens of different forms, but affects millions of women all over the world.

The most common cause of hair loss is androgenetic alopecia (AGA), also known as male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness.

Alopecia
The condition where hair loss is on some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Called spot baldness due to bald patches in the first stages, 1-2% of cases can spread to entire scalp; Alopecia totalis. 50% of patients’ hair will regrow in roughly a year without any treatment. While we cannot provide any medical treatment, we can offer hair replacement until the hair fully grows back or until medical treatment is complete.

Before   After

Hair Replacement Solutions: Depending on the extent and positioning of hair loss on the scalp clients may opt for either a hairpiece (small, medium or large) and/or hair extension package to add fullness to areas where the hair is thinning. We can work around the patches to attach hair to ensure that patches are not visible. We can also create a piece to cover a patch of any size, whether it be large or small. Some do find that their hair has grown underneath the hair piece and/or extensions due to less visibility and stress. Installation can be done semi permanently with a non evasive micro braid that circles around the area of hair loss. 

Female Pattern Baldness
This form of hair loss is usually limited to the front, sides, or crown area of the scalp. Unlike male pattern baldness, hair tends to thin rather than fall out completely. At least 40% of North American women will experience hair loss by the time they are 40 years old.

Trichotillomania

“Trich” as it is commonly known, is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, facial hair, nose hair, eyebrows or other body hair, often resulting in noticeable bald patches.

Before After

Hair Replacement Solutions: Similar to alopecia and pattern baldness, depending on the extent and positioning of hair loss on the scalp clients may opt for either a hairpiece and/or hair extension package to add fullness to areas where the hair is thinning. We can work around the patches to attach hair to ensure that patches are not visible. We can also create a piece to cover a patch of any size, whether it be large or small. As we cannot guarantee that this replacement will stop the compulsion, we can offer temporary or permanent replacement until treatment is complete.

Alopecia Totalis/Hypotrichosis
Is the loss of all head hair. Its causes are unclear, but it is currently believed to be an autoimmune disorder. The hair generally does not grow back.

Ready for a change? Book your free consultation now! No bonds, no glues, no adhesives, no messy sprays and no surgery!

Hypotrichosis

A condition in which there is no hair growth. Unlike alopecia, which describes hair loss where formerly there was hair growth, hypotrichosis describes a situation where there was no hair growth in the first place.

Cancer Related Hair Loss (Chemotherapy)

Most patients undergoing chemotherapy will have hair loss within 10 to 21 days after treatment begins. As this sudden loss of hair can be quite a shock to many patients, time and care should be taken to select a wig based solution that looks natural, is comfortable, and easy to style. Synthetic wigs are an excellent solution for those who prefer to not have to style their hair daily and/or are looking for a transition into human hair wigs. Human hair wigs can be custom made to fit the size of your head exactly or can be ordered in stock.

Silicone caps are formulated to suction to your head so that you may shower, swim, sleep and play high impact sports with a wig on without fear that it will fall off. Silicone wig caps can be individually hand-tied with human hair and with the wearer’s specified length, colour and style. The caps are extremely lightweight and breathable – perfect to wear all times of the year. Overtime, the base itself stretches a very minimal amount.

 Silicone cap     

Male Hair Loss can begin anywhere between anywhere between the ages of 20 to 45 and this is generally called Male pattern baldness. Hair loss develops in a series of stages as in the crown area, the front area or a combination of both.
                                                                
Hair loss Solutions: Depending on the extent and positioning of hair loss on the scalp the wearer may opt for a hairpiece to add fullness to areas where the hair loss is the most obvious. Hairpieces can either be stock or custom created to fit the client’s head shape very comfortably. With each installation a blending cut is done to create a custom style that suits the wearer (as seen in the photos above).

Traditionally, hairpieces get a bad reputation for looking like a “mop top” or being uncomfortable. Hairpieces have very much advanced over the years as now and are incredibly realistic looking. This is due to the fact that most human hairpieces are mono tops or hand-tied, meaning that they look as if they have a scalp line, can be parted any which way and can also be attached semi-permanently or with clips.

With semi-permanent attachment the wearer may sleep, shower and engage in high impact activities with the hair piece and will only have to have it maintained roughly every 2 months. The life of the hairpiece itself can range up to a year with proper care.

Remy hair is a breakthrough process in harvesting and manufacturing of human hair used in the wig and hairpiece world.  Remy hair uses only the finest and most beautiful human hair, which is cut from the head and specially tagged “Root End First”.  Throughout the entire manufacturing process, the hair is kept root end first, eliminating common problems such as matting, tangling, dullness, and weaker hair shafts.  The human hair used in manufacturing other than Remy hair is not handled root end first, causing the cuticle of the hair shaft to become tangled.  To compensate for this, the hair receives an acid bath, which almost completely strips the hair shaft of cuticle, leaving it much weaker, and easily broken.

Buyer Beware!

Not all hair that is sold as Remy and Virgin actually is, so be careful!  Unfortunately, because most hair extensions are coated with silicone during processing, it is extremely difficult to tell just by sight and feel whether a certain grade is Remy or not.  Usually, upon washing, Remy grades are tangle free.  Virgin hair is usually only sold in ‘ponytails’, by the ounce, and is never bagged or pre-wefted (sewn into a curtain).  It also does not have a uniform look and feel to it.  By its very nature, its colour and texture will not appear to be man/machine made.  Virgin hair is available at Pacific Hair Replacement Salon because we have the means to sort, custom blend and weft it here for you.  Of course, if something seems too good to be true…it probably is.  ‘Virgin’ hair being sold at extreme lengths, and at unusually low prices is probably not virgin at all

Remy Virgin Hair - this simply refers to remy hair that has never been died before.

At Pacific Hair, we carry four grades of hair under the description of Remy Hair. These are as follows:

Remy Virgin Indian – Available in 10” – 32”, this is finer than the Remy Virgin Malaysian hair.  It is available in wavy to curly, and stays incredibly soft wash after wash.

Remy Processed European – Available in 18” – 30”, this is Virgin Indian or Malaysian hair that has been processed to feel like European Virgin hair.  This grade has the closest feel and texture to our Russian hair.  The standard grade is bone-straight, but it is also available in a beautiful curl.

Remy Virgin or One-Stepped Processed European – Available in 10” – 28” (longer lengths are in limited quantities), this is the finest hair that we carry.  It is available in several textures and colours ranging from black, brown, dark blonde to very light blonde…if you are lucky!!!

Because blondes are extremely rare, we often have a wait list for naturally lighter shades.

Do you install weaves at the salon?

Pacific Hair's extension method is called the 'Free Flow Hair Extensions'. While the method is similar to a weave, (installing a micro braid and sewing a curtain of hair on top) on average we only need to install 2-3 rows, still providing you with a substantial amount volume and length without the bulkiness. At your first appointment a trained stylist will conduct the installation as well as a detailed cut to the extensions to blend in with your own hair.

How much do extensions cost?

You are unique, so your extension package should be as well! Every package varies in price depending on your current length of hair, color, volume and length, color and volume you are looking to achieve! We offer free consultations at the salon so we may asses what will be the right package for you.

Will extensions damage my hair/Is my hair too fine for extensions?

Most of the inquiries we have coming into the salon are for people who have just finished chemotherapy, have alopecia, trichotillomania, female/male pattern baldness and psoriasis related hair loss. Due to this, it is extremely important that we have a technique that doesn't have any bonds, glues or adhesives or anything that may further damage already fine/weak hair. This method allows for people to keep their extensions and/or hair restoration in for years at a time without worry that it will deteriorate.

How long does my hair have to be to get extensions?

To do an extension installation without a hair piece, we suggest your hair fall just below the earlobe

I need coverage at the top of my head, what can be done about that?

This is what we call hair restoration with a hair system. We will asses the area that needs coverage and prepare a hair piece that is large enough to cover the area. These hair pieces can also be installed semi-permanently, because of this you are free to sleep, shower and be active in them without fear it will fall off or get damaged. They are undetectable and have natural parting that is free to be changed at any style. If you choose, you can also add extensions to your hair system for increased volume, but it's not necessary.

What kind of hair does the salon use/how long does it last?

At Pacific, we only use Remy Hair. This means that when we receive the hair, all of the cuticles run in one way and it hasn't been colored or coated with silicone. If need be we will do a one step color process, which still does not cause any damage to the hair. On average our clients keep their extensions for a year and a half to two years before replacing it completely. That being said, around the 6-8 month mark is generally a good time to add hair to restore volume that you may have lost. Remy hair is available in curly, wavy and straight densities.

How often do I have to come in for maintenance?

Average maintenance is every 7-8 weeks, with appointments ranging from one hour to two hours.

What kind of products can I use on my extensions?

Essentially you can use any products on your hair extensions as they are human hair, but there are products that we strongly recommend will improve the life of your extensions. It is very important to use products that don't have any sulfates or parabens in them, as those chemicals dry out your hair in the long term; since your extensions aren't receiving natural oils from your scalp it's very important that you use products that nourish your hair. We provide free samples at your first installation so that you may compare with what you currently use.

What colors/lengths are available?

Remy hair naturally comes in black up to light brown. Blonde virgin Remy hair is extremely rare to obtain and often has wait lists for 2 years. If need be, we can color the hair in a one step process to obtain a blonde without damage to the hair. Lengths of Remy hair come in lengths from 14'' - 32''.

Does an install hurt?

Some people may experience a bit of discomfort that generally lasts maximum 2 days. Similar to after effects of a Brazilian wax, discomfort is different for each person. Also similar to a way, with each maintenance the wearer will find that discomfort is much more manageable.