Earlier this year, I wrote about the painstaking process that was parting ways with my beloved, but terribly damaged, platinum hair and finding my way back to my natural, dishwater blonde roots. It’s been an emotional journey, but as The Fray profoundly wrote in their 2005 hit song, “sometimes the hardest things and the right things are the same.” The only thing that was of consolation to me during that time was that I thought it would just be a matter of time and patience while healthier hair grew in.
Fun fact: I thought wrong. So wrong. Shortly after going to the darker side, my hair started breaking off to a point where I was nearing mushroom cut territory and became a dead ringer for Chrissie Hynde. (I love Chrissie Hynde, but her iconic, choppy shag did not love me.) I felt helpless in the face of hair that was snapping off like twigs in the harsh winter wind and knew I had to act fast. Chopping it all off into a pixie cut was not an option, or at least an appealing one, so I started considering extensions.
See? Not good.
Enter Christina Oliva, who most people may know as “Hair Goddess” and who stars on TLC’s reality series aptly titled, “Hair Goddess.” At 18, the Staten Island native started a hair extensions business out of her parents’ garage; now, she’s one of the most sought-after hair extensions specialists in the world, and recently opened shop at Olivia Christensen Salon on New York City’s Upper East Side. I knew if I was going to get extensions, I wasn’t going to trust just any old Joe Schmo to glue bundles of hair to my already traumatized scalp.
It’s a good thing I didn’t. Let’s pretend for a second that hair extensions are cars (and as a New Yorker, that makes hair extensions MUCH more vital to my existence). Russian and Indian hair would be the Rolls Royces of hair extensions, and everything else would be, oh I don’t know, a 1998 Chevy Blazer. (No disrespect to 1998 Chevy Blazer owners, but, you get the picture.) According to Oliva, there is a huge black market wherein people try to pass off Blazers as Rolls Royces, if you will, when in fact, they’re not even Blazers. They’d be something far less chic: We’re talking hair from a human cadaver, “hair” comprised of yarn and string, or horse hair. Now, I don’t know about you, but none of those scenarios sound appealing and quite frankly, the whole corpse situation sounds like something Sargeant Benson should look into. Anyway, I digress.
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The moral of the story is that one need be careful when considering hair extensions. One of the things that makes Oliva so sought after is not just her skill but the quality of her product. When I went in for my initial consultation she decided to use Indian hair that was custom blended to match my color and natural texture. (Sidenote: It also air-dries with really pretty, beachy waves.)
And then came the actual installation. Oliva uses the microbeading technique, which is much less damaging than extensions that are glued or sewn in. It was quick and painless. But because of the beads, I have to be super careful with the products I use. Sulfates are a big no-no, as are oils and anything that might cause the beads to slip out such as products containing hydrolyzed silk, wheat protein, or silicone. Since getting the extensions installed, I have lost a few strands, which Oliva reassured me is normal.
Operation “Make Christina Have Hair Again” complete!
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The whole process from start to finish took no longer than 2 hours, which is a low-key miracle because I went in with just a few fried strands on my head and came out looking like Rapunzel’s peasant cousin (peasant only because I don’t live in a castle…yet). Over the past month or so, I’ve felt like a whole new woman, somewhat of a goddess if you will, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed whipping my long hair at all parties who lament over how long it takes me to get ready now that I have hair.
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