We've been inundated with calls from all over the world as a media storm has erupted over the revelation that in her Elvive shampoo advertising campaign, Cheryl Cole's hair is not just extensions - but fibre extensions.
The TV and press campaign illustrates Cheryl's gorgeous, glossy, thick hair with the inference that by using the product, purchasers could also achieve similar results.
This is why the media is in such a frenzy, alleging customers are being "cheated" because they'd never get Cheryl's hair without cosmetic help. In the manufacturer's defence, they've been clear that she's been using extensions and everyone's presumed that they were human hair, rather than fibre.
However, with extensions at least, in our experience it's impossible to achieve this kind of "perfect" look with the second-hand hair used in human hair extensions, which is why Cheryl's opted for fibre.
Why Mark Glenn's fibre hair?
In our opinion, our hand-made fibre has a multitude of benefits over using human hair for extensions, including:
- LOOK: Hair looks thicker, glossier and smoother and, more importantly, stays that way. Because human hair has a cuticle - which is often aggravated during processing prior to being sold - it's more likely to matt and tangle and take on a "frazzled" appearance in the weeks after you've left the salon.
- STYLING: It's much easier to style our fibre hair because it acts like your own hair should. In other words, it's dream hair. It holds curls, goes perfectly straight if you want it to and, because it reacts to heat, you can achieve some spectacular results with styling appliances.
- AFTERCARE: The hair is non-porous so any shampoo you buy is for the benefit of your own hair, rather than the fibre. Unlike human hair extensions, you don't need to buy expensive conditioners and aftercare products to keep the hair from losing its lustre.
- SAFETY: Our hair is attached and taken out without the use of any glues, bonding solutions or harsh chemicals - that's because we use a specialist braiding technique that needs two people working at once to achieve, rather than one. It's more complicated, but we think it's worth it. No matter how it's described, human hair is typically either attached with glue or some form of clip. And dissolving the glue during removal is typically done using an acetone-like product - i.e. nail varnish remover - with a clear potential for damage. Applied incorrectly, any hair extension method can damage your hair, but the horror stories you hear about breakage and traction alopecia caused by extensions is typically from the human hair variety.
- COMFORT: At around half the weight, our fibre is lighter than human hair, so it doesn't feel "heavy". Human hair extensions can feel quite "weighty" on your head and they also have a tendency to pull on your own hair and scalp, particularly when too much hair is glued or clipped to too little.
- IT'S NEW, NOT SECOND-HAND: For the same reason you probably wouldn't want to wear someone else's teeth, or wear their skin, our clients don't want to wear someone else's hair - particularly when they don't know exactly where it's come from and under what circumstances it was taken from their head in the first place.
- ETHICS: Human hair is a valuable and scarce commodity and, as is increasingly becoming known through various campaigns and investigations, has spawned an unregulated industry that typically takes hair from the poor in developing countries. Indian temple hair - one of the most prized varieties - has attracted much media attention recently for the questionable way in which it's sourced. You can learn more about this here ⇒
For some, human hair extensions are the only way to go and we'd never judge them for it. It's all down to personal choice. We'd advise anyone considering extensions to look at all the options before coming to a decision - there are pro's and con's on all sides.
And, in our case at least, we're just glad our clients share the same values and appreciation for the fibre alternative as we do.
