My once fabulous hair is now thin, frizzy and unflattering. Nothing would fix it… until I discovered this simple ‘wonder’ treatment that took less than an hour to work – and the results have blown me away
There’s a photograph from my first week of university at the age of 18, where I’m grinning like mad and clutching my mortarboard during a ridiculous Hogwarts-style enrolment ceremony.
The thing that strikes me most when I look at that photo now is how absolutely amazing my hair looked. At the time is was very long, thick and undamaged. Did I appreciate it then? Of course not. But when I see it now, I can’t believe I ever had hair that fabulous, and slightly regret chopping most of it off and covering it with bleach within a few short years of the picture being taken.
The other great blow to my hair came via motherhood, although of course I don’t regret having my lovely children, now two and six. Pregnancy and the postpartum period did, however, downgrade my hair from alright to totally rubbish. It’s thin, it’s flat and it doesn’t hold a style.
For six years now I’ve had this extremely annoying section of hair regrowth at the front – what I can only describe as a micro-side fringe – which is frizzier than the rest of my hair and never seems to grow beyond a couple of inches.
Before having kids, I’d heard that your hair gets beautifully thick during pregnancy, only to thin out and then gradually go back to normal once you have the baby. Well, I got the thinning stage, but not much else; my hair was neither fantastically thick during pregnancy, nor has it gone back to normal in the years since.
With two little kids to attend to, I don’t have much (or any) time to spend styling my hair in the morning so, although I’m sure I could make it look much better with some effort, it’s very low on the priority list. The result is hair that looks unkempt and generally unflattering; not great when I go into an office full of women who look gorgeously groomed and appear to have at least twice as much hair as me.
The post-birth hair regrowth that’s been driving me mad for over half a decade…
… and how it was looking halfway through my salon visit
When I heard about ‘hair fillers’ I was intrigued. These are hair extensions, but not as you might know them. I have previously had hair extensions for my wedding in my twenties: a full-head of elbow-length extensions that made me look a bit Love Island (I adored them at the time, but I could never go back because they were so high-maintenance).
Hair fillers, by contrast, are designed to subtly boost the volume and body of your hair, with careful placement around any areas where you’re experiencing thinness. As well as being popular with postpartum mums like myself, many menopausal women love them too, as they can help balance out hair loss caused by rollercoaster hormones at this time.
Hadley Yates is London’s leading light when it comes to extensions, and I am excited to visit his Covent Garden salon to transform my disappointing mane. I meet James, another extensions pro, who shows me how much hair he will be adding to my locks. It looks like a tiny amount – I wrap my fingers around and it’s less than the size of a 20p piece – but when the extensions start going in I can see that a small amount makes a substantial difference.
James places the extensions around the front of my head, slightly away from my parting so that my natural hair will fall over them and disguise the bonds (to be honest, they are so small that I think you’d barely notice them anyway). He attaches each extension to a piece of hair of the same width, using a small, heated wand to melt the keratin resin bond that will hold it in place.
The whole process takes less than an hour, which I find amazing because I remember my full-head of extensions taking forever. At first, the extensions are much longer than my natural hair, but these are then cut into shape so they are completely disguised into my own locks.
Before and after I had ‘hair fillers’… I’m really impressed by the transformation
The finishing touches were to have keratin-bonded extensions applied to the front of my hair
By the end I’m so impressed by the transformation that I tell James I can imagine getting completely addicted to these extensions. He says I won’t need to, because he’s simply added back what I’ve lost, and my own natural hair will gradually regrow to look like this by itself. It’s an optimistic view, but I’m glad I know I have this back-up in the meantime.
In terms of maintenance, the hair fillers are as easy as James suggests. As someone who has no time for elaborate haircare regimes, I’m relieved that I can wash and brush them as normal. I can still use a hair dryer and straighteners – I just have to be careful not to put too much direct heat on the bonds themselves.
Plus, I can tie my hair up in a ponytail without the bonds being completely obvious. In fact, no one notices them at all – not my husband, sister or friends – which I am surprised but actually quite pleased by. I’m not sure I want people to say ‘Oh you’ve had extensions’, but I can see and feel that my hair looks much thicker and healthier, so hopefully people just think I’m having a good hair day, every day.
The hair fillers aren’t cheap – it’s £375 for the appointment at Hadley Yates Salon, although this is a specialist central London salon, so you can find less expensive options elsewhere.
However, I have always maintained that if you are going to spend big on one thing appearance-wise, then it should be your hair, because unlike clothes it’s the only thing you wear every single day. Feeling good about your hair can make you feel more pulled-together and confident in general.
Personally, I am thrilled with the results of the hair fillers, and would recommend them to anyone struggling with sparse or stubbornly-flat hair.
