There are a few aesthetic trade-offs when having a baby and one of the most distressing has to be the hair loss. Here’s how to fix it
By Sigourney Cantelo
When you’re pregnant, the surge in oestrogen means that your hair doesn’t fall out at all. Then suddenly, post-bub, the hormones drop dramatically and it’s not uncommon to lose clumps of hair every time you wash it. It’s sad and distressing for many women. Even though it’s been fifteen months since I had my son Max, I am still in the throes of tress distress. Compared to the thick horses tail I had when I was expecting, my strands are now limp and lacklustre with annoying tufts of new growth that sprout horn-like from my hair line. Yep – definitely more frowning story than crowning glory.
I’d all but resigned myself to a life lacking in locks, when during a mummy playdate a glamorous friend of mine arrives sporting an impressive post-baby mane. I have to know her secret.
“Hair extensions – I get them for thickness, not length. They’re wefts, but they stick them in so they look more natural. Every six weeks I go to get them lifted,” she lifts her hair, revealing one of the inch-wide taped sections of hair that is blending seamlessly in to her own.
“You have to try them,” she says, whipping out her iphone and texting me the contact card for Shane Jones Hairdressing in Sydney’s Double Bay.
A week later, I front up to Jones’ salon, ready to be transformed. He explains that these extensions, Hairtalk, are superior to other grouped strands for a variety of reasons.
“The old ones tend to look spaghetti-like over time but these sit together, flat against the scalp, so they move more fluidly and look more natural.”
The German company source the hair from donors in India and have patented the unique application method. Other extensions are often bonded to the hair with glue or clips but Hairtalk use strips of medical adhesive tape, so they’re faster to apply, more comfortable to wear and easier to remove than other styles.
Dianne, who works with Shane, washes my hair, blowdries it straight, then sections it before applying a half head of extensions, which are 12 wefts around the sides and back of my head from ear height down. The application takes twenty minutes. She then trims the extensions to match my own hair. She has used two colours which blend seamlessly with my own so you can’t tell where my hair ends and the extensions begin.
It’s time for the big reveal. My hair looks thick and shiny – but since it’s been blowdried straight, I can’t notice a huge difference. I toss my hair and feel it swing, it’s satisfyingly heavy but not uncomfortable.
In bed when they’re flattened by the pillow they feel a bit tight but after a few nights I stop noticing it. Washing and drying them takes a little more work than usual – and the Hairtalk products are quite heavy to keep the extensions moisturised. Since I’m a bit hopeless at styling my own hair they look their best when I get a blowdry.
After the whole lock, stock and two smoking tong-barrels, I finally have the bouncy, fabulous Victoria’s Secret Angel-like glamazon hair. I call my husband and book a sitter, we need to take these babies out.
Hairtalk extensions range from $275 for a quarter head to $1500 for a full head of 55cm long wefts. Contact www.hairtalk.com.au or www.shanejones.com.au