Wedding Wednesday... The Moses' Weddng...coming soon

I had the pleasure of styling for one of my really close friends last weekend in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was such a beautiful bride. The day was perfect, the sun was shining, humidity wasn't too high and things ran pretty seamlessly.

Nothing could steal the joy of the happy couple. The wedding venue had outdoor and indoor facilities. They opted to utilize both facilities. The ceremony was outdoors, along with the cocktail hour and the reception was indoors. 

The venue had a whimsical feel, which is what the bride wanted from the moment she started planning. 

This style of the wedding was so fitting for her. It was simplistic, classic, and elegant. 

 It was refreshing that it was intimate and not over-the-top. I like intimate weddings because you have the opportunity to interact with your guest and it's not as draining for the bride and groom. 

The bride and I had a trial appointment a week prior to the wedding and decided on a style that would be soft and fitting for her theme. 

She wanted extensions but clip-ins, so that for the honeymoon she could wear her natural hair. I added clip-in extensions and was able to create a beautiful soft, up-do. Below are  a few pictures of the venue. Next week I'll feature a more in depth post on how we achieved the brides final wedding day look.

   

Wedding Wednesday... The Secret behind hair extensions (Part 2)

Last week I talked about the business behind the billion dollar hair industry. There is so much more to say in regards to the business side of it. I have educated myself in how the process works and how people are becoming so successful in this industry.
You do have to do your research if you want a supplementary income.
Research is vital in making sure that you end up with a quality product.
Quality=Longevity
A higher price doesn't always reflect a quality product.
The market is over saturated now, so the hair is being massed produced in order to keep up. The hair quality has drastically declined and your Brazilian, Indian, Mongolian, Peruvian, Moroccan, etc... hair extensions are coming from factories in China.
There are wholesalers that are selling hair for $10-20 per bundle and you "the customer" are paying
4-10 times the price.
However the customer trying to purchase the hair is in a difficult position because you want to get whatever is readily available. The average person isn't going to invest the time and energy going to research how they can get wholesale hair extensions. You are going to get hair that is familiar and has a good reputation.
The downside to buying the hair wholesale is that there are so many suppliers. All the hair isn't created equally. The hair despite it being labeled as "virgin remy ____ hair", it's been processed. The hair has been altered to get the curl pattern that you are seeking "deep wave", "loose curl", "body wave" etc...
It's not neccessarily bad hair, but it's not what you think it is. The hair in the beauty supplies are machine processed, it's not technically "human hair", but it works just fine.
I want to educate you on how this billion dollar industry works. It's all about brand marketing and producing what consumers want.
You want to look like your favorite celebrity, well it comes at a price.

Wedding Wednesday....The secret behind hair extensions (Part 1)

The hair industry is a multi-billion dollar business. It has become an obsession, everybody wants the best quality extensions at the lowest price. It is over-saturated with people trying get a piece of the billion dollar pie.

Years ago the market was much harder to tap into. There was only a few people that had access to get the hair directly and they in turn would sell it wholesale to individual distributers. The hair quality was raw, unprocessed and would last for multiple installs. 

The hair is mass produced because of supply and demand. Hair extensions have been machine processed for years. The hair that is sold in beauty supplies has been artificially manufactured for more than a 2 decades. When the hair started coming from India and sold through individual distributers, then the hair industry blossomed. 

That's when you noticed that every one that you knew became hair distributers. People that had never been knowledgeable in the hair industry could tap into it. 

Hair could be sold to anyone that wanted to buy it. You didn't need a permit or license to buy hair and distribute it. People are making as much as $100,000 a month just selling hair extensions. They are becoming instant millionaires, thanks to the hair industry. 

I don't understand why people don't respect people that are haircare professionals. 

There is a lot of value in our craft. Hairstylist that are doing bare minimum can easily make $50,000 a year. If you incorporate doing extensions and distributing hair you can quadruple that number. 

The market generates $1.5-2 billion dollars in the United States as of 2013. 

Micro Bead Extensions

Micro bead extensions have been around for a few years now. Its a great alternative to clip-in extensions, bonding, or sew in extensions. There are a couple of different ways these extensions can be applied. The first way is using hair on a weft and the second way is individual keratin tipped hair. This is a technique that just about anyone can achieve. Its non damaging if done correctly. It's great for people that need a little fullness or even length throughout. Micro bead extensions can last up to 3-4 months. I have provided a link below to show you how the individual extensions are applied. In the pictures are the micro bead extensions on a weft.

http://coloredhairextensions.net/hair-extensions-micro-beading-by-www-hairspray-ie/ 

Extensions, cut, and style  by Serena J.