Dear Jamelia: There are alternatives to human hair extensions!

Pop star Jamelia recently got herself some media attention by dramatically declaring that she’d never wear hair extensions again because of the “very real human costs” of obtaining hair for human hair extensions. “How did I know I wasn’t wearing a dead person’s hair?” she roiled in the Daily Mail. She even starred in a BBC show called “Whose Hair is it Anyway?” featuring shifty looking human hair dealers who take hair from dead people.

Dear Jamelia: There are alternatives to human hair extensions! And one of the best alternatives is Pro 10 made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair. Made with natural collagen, Ultima hair looks, feels like and has the best qualities of human hair. You can curl, blow-dry, wash, brush, comb, style and restore Ultima hair without tangling, and it’s affordable too.

As several commenters noted in the Daily Mail article “…All this hand wringing nonsense.”

Rock on Jamelia. Just switch to Pro 10 so you can keep having hair extensions as your “confidence booster” that “transform me from busy mum of two into my alter ego, Jamelia the pop star.”

Ask the Ambassador Stylists - Is a new Pro10 fiber coming out?

Question: Blayde asks: Is there a new Pro10 texture coming out? What is it like? What is the soft yaki like? is it similar to African-American hair, or is it viable for Caucasian and clients whose hair is medium thickness?

Response: Soft Yaki and some other textures of PRO10 hair extensions made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair are similar and close to African American hair. The silkier ones which are suitable for Caucasian customers are available in Yaki and ripple wave. You can see and learn about all Pro10 colors and textures here.

The brand name is of the new fiber is PROTA. It is available with keratin tips and was demonstrated at the recent International Beauty Show in New York. You may already be able to purchase PROTA from Beauty Essence

Pro 10 Ambassador Stylist Miho Kitajima demonstrated PROTA at IBS.

Thinking of a Radical Color Change? Try it On with Hair Extensions First

Tempting as it may be to try a really different hair color, or a radically new hairstyle, major appearance changes can lead to major regrets. Ask anyone who’s dyed her hair peacock blue on a whim.

So, if you’d like to try something like this great look, do it with Pro 10 hair extensions made with Ultima before you make the color permanent. You’ll thank me. I guarantee it. :>)

Hair: emotional, cultural, and asethetic issues

Easy as it is to fixate on appearance, the truth is, we are not our hair. Here’s an affecting version of the fabulous India Arie’s “I Am Not My Hair.”

Hair brings up emotional, cultural and aesthetic issues for just about every woman. We’d love to hear your feelings on the topic.

Some Ridiculous Myths About Hair

Some myths about hair and hair extensions could make your hair stand on end. Even some professional stylists, who definitely should know better, help to spread these tales. Here are some of the crazier ones, and the truth about them.

1. You have to cut your hair to make it grow faster.
If only I had a nickel for every time I fell for that one! Cutting your hair will only make it shorter. Hair grows about 1/2 inch a month whether you cut it or not.

2. Hair extensions will cause bald spots in fine hair.
With fine hair, says Pro 10 Ambassador Stylist Kimmie Lemard, hair extensions that are applied too tight, or are too weighty can cause breakage. Unfortunately, Lemard says, many stylists make extensions way too tight and use too much hair. Make sure you choose a licensed professional stylist, and make sure he or she takes your hair texture into account when deciding on the technique for applying and removing extensions. Read more hair extension FAQs here

3. Pluck one gray hair and three grow back.
Pull out one hair: only one grows back.

4. Eating the crust of bread will make your hair curly.
No one seems to know the source of this old wives tale, but all sources agree it’s pretty funny.

Sources: Top 10 Hair Myths, Snopes.com - Old Wives Tales, and LadyThrills.com’s 10 Ridiculous Hair Myths, Salon IQ

How to Make Your Own Clip-On Pro 10 Hair Extensions

Ford Artists’ Johnny Lavoy demonstrates how you can easily make your own clip-on hair extensions and shows you how to apply them to get gorgeous, long, full hair for a special occasion or just for fun.

Pro 10 extensions made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair are available online or at beauty supply stores, where the clips and thread he demonstrates also are available. There are more great how-to videos at Fordmodels TV

Beautiful Accessories for Your Hair Extensions

It’s hot and getting hotter. When you’ve got Pro 10 hair extensions you have lots of options for putting your hair up. But banish that ugly plastic Banana Clip/claw thingie from the drugstore and go to Longhairgirl.com for beautiful hair accessories, like this one. Then you can put up your newly long hair with great panache.

How to Tie Traditional African Head Wraps

Let’s say maybe your Pro 10 hair extensions made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair need a little touch-up you haven’t gotten around to; or maybe you just want to wear a beautiful, traditional Nigerian gele or try a gorgeous goddess wrap a la Erykah Badu.

Here’s a joyful music video by Skentele Lagbaja celebrating traditional Nigerian gele headwraps. For the how-to, here’s a popular video that shows you how to tie your own. The fabric she’s using is aso-oke, a traditional hand-woven African fabric. Here’s another instructional video showing how to create a head wrap using silk.

Hat tip to DailyKos

Bellasugar Celebrity Quiz: Does She or Doesn’t She Wear Hair Extensions?

Bellasugar’s fun celebrity hair extensions quiz is back. Take the quiz to see if you can tell which stars have naturally gorgeous hair and who gets a little extra help from the salon? Bellasugar says “I think when they’re applied by a talented professional, extensions can look natural and gorgeous.”

I know she’s right, because I work with some of the best professional hair extension stylists, and the extensions they do (like these) look completely natural. But I only guessed three out of six answers to the quiz right! Since I write No More Bad Hair Days blog, and see hair extensions all the time, I was sure I’d be able to guess them all. See if you can tell which stars have extensions, and let us know, in the comments, how you did.

It also would be fun to try to guess whose extensions are human hair and whose are Pro 10 hair extensions. When they’re Pro 10 Hair Extensions made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair, they look so natural even professional stylists can’t tell them from human hair.

Hair Extensions - the Movie

Move over Shampoo! If there ever was a reason to have your hair extensions done by a licensed professional stylist, the Japanese sci-fi horror movie, Exte: Hair Extensions, is it. The film, which runs through June 26 only at the New York Asian Film Festival is about black market hair extensions that continue to grow, and even attack their wearers. Starring Chiaki Kuriyama, who played GO GO in Kill Bill, the movie is kitschy, violent and shocking.

Trust me on this one: if you want non-violent hair extensions, stick with Pro 10 Hair Extensions made with Ultima Natural Protein Hair. :>)