Hair Extensions (and Hotel Room Raccoons)

A listener production.

Only do what we wanna know. Ish. Where do you wanna go? Where do you wanna go?

Hi, everyone.

Hey, everyone. Bec and Jess here. Welcome to vanish. Welcome. And we are doing this amazing podcast talking about everything vain. Because at the end of the day, we want to look and feel great. So we're a bit vain ish.

Yeah, not completely vain, a little vain, and. Yeah. And I feel like there's such a stigma about wanting to hide. That you actually want to look and feel good. We're made to feel like it's really frowned upon, but everyone does it. Whether you color your hair, whether you shave your legs, whether you pluck out your grays, you put makeup on, it's all to look and feel better. So let's just embrace it because it is what it is.

How I look and all that. Because at the end of the day, we didn't wake up like this.

We did not wake up like this.

We didn't. And most people don't.

I didn't wake up smelling like this because I am wearing your singlet.

Yes you are.

And it smells like your house. So when I walk into your house, there's this specific smell. And it is your washing detergent.

Oh, yes. Because you have a weird thing about washing detergent.

No, but your whole house smells like washing detergent because you're a crazy laundry lady.

I am, and I always put my clothes on the line inside and not out, because I don't want the smell of air to infiltrate into my clothes.

What's your aversion with the smell of air, anyway? And sorry, what is the smell of air?

It just smells like nothing. The big thing for me is like in your hair. Your hair just smells like hair and there's just no fragrance in it like that just makes me. I get the biggest ick from it. Yeah. And it really sets the tone of my day. Like, if someone has stinky hair, I'm done.

Or stinky breath. You've come to me before and you're in a foul mood. And I said, what, babe? You didn't get your coffee. You're like, no, such and such came in and breathed on me. They had bad breath and it's triggered me.

Triggered me, and I'm done. Like, I almost need to go back to bed, have a nap and reset and wake up. So I don't know if it's because diagnosed with ADHD, your senses are in hearing and smell is a huge thing. Yeah, so it really sets my tone of my day. So smells is just my. Yeah.

Do you know what helps with bad breath in our family? One of my kids went and for medical reasons he had he had the worst breath.

Right.

As soon as he came out. You know, like that little newborn vanilla breath. This kid didn't have it right. It was foul from the beginning. He ended up getting his tonsils taken out and now his breath. He could breathe on me all day. It is so good. It's sweet. Like ice cream.

Oh, I love that. Yeah. I'm gonna go smell his breath.

Yeah.

Do you.

Know what? It's me.

What?

That dirty, oily hair smell.

So I feel like that smells a bit airy.

No, it smells oily.

Oh, really?

Yeah. And salty. Oh, this is another one.

Oh, my God, what else is there?

That or I would say, do you know what? This is random. I love the smell of portrait of a lady. You know that fragrance? It's really bougie. It's bloody expensive. You get it from Mecca. And whenever anyone walks past me with this smell, I love it. But when I wear it on myself, it gives me a headache and it makes me nauseous. Really? I have to have a shower and scrub it off. Really? Yeah.

But you like it on somebody else.

But on everyone else. Have you ever had that with a fragrance where it smells good on everyone, and then you put it on and it's rank?

Yeah.

Yep. What are your other ex and aversions. And they don't have to be smells.

I think a big ick for me is and it is back to a smell. Thing is, when the kids get in the car after a day at school, there's like this stale fart that's in their clothes. I don't know. And you go into the classrooms and they smell this.

It's a stench, but it's a feeling. Yeah, it's warm and moist. Do you know what it is?

Stale farts. No.

It's puppies. They smell like puppies.

Yes. Oh!

Ah!

So then I get my kids in the car. The windows are down. I'm so triggered by it. Then I get inside the house and I make them take all their uniform off before they sit on the couch. It's all washed, so I'm constantly doing washing because my kids are literally wearing the school uniform. One day I will not have them wearing it in the second day.

No, but your kids wouldn't do that anyway. Your son is the cleanest, most incredible little hygienic kid I've ever met. I wish my kids were more like him. He walks in from school and he goes straight to the shower.

Straight to the shower. He's going to make his wife so happy. I've trained him well, so well. So going about like my thing of ex of smell and everything. And mine is a big thing, is hair.

Yeah, hair is icky. It's icky. You know, when you're walking behind someone and they haven't washed their hair and it's all separated? Oh.

Gross, gross gross gross. I have to say, the funniest thing I've ever experienced with you was when we were in New York, um, not long ago. And I walked into the apartment and I'm like, we're very clean humans, but we are together when we travel. The biggest trash bags.

Without kids.

Without kids. Like we are messier than our children.

Freedom. Yes. And we can get away with it because the kids aren't there going, oh my God, mom, look how messy you're being. Because there's no one judging us.

No one's judging us.

Go crazy. Yeah, it's so liberating.

So liberating just to be kids again and just trash a room. So. Yeah. So we were getting ready. We went out. We went out all night or whatever. We came home around, I reckon 11:00 at night. We went to bed. Then you had to get up for a photo shoot. Yeah, and I got up mad, rushed running downstairs to get to breakfast in time because we were

A raccoon or a squirrel or something.

I literally thought raccoons had come into the apartment and had trashed the apartment and.

It had.

Died.

We are the raccoons.

Yeah, they had died in with all our clothes. And I found, like, four raccoons in our clothes. So I shut the door and I, like, regrouped. And then I opened up the door again to have, like, a little bit of a peek, and I looked and I was like, oh, my God, no, they're just begs fucking hair extensions. They were flung. I don't know, you must have walked in the room and just went, fuck this. And you've, like, pulled him out.

Where have we been the night before? I reckon we got in at 5 a.m.. I reckon we were very a little bit peddled.

I mean, yeah, it must have been.

Get this one.

Out, get.

This one out.

And I didn't have that because I have a weft.

Yes.

And you at the point didn't have a wig.

I had clippings.

You had clippings? Yeah. Every time I travelled with you. Yeah, every single time. And we always stay in the same room. There is always these dead animals, like, all over the room. And now I've realised they're just hair extensions.

And you know what? I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes I scare myself with them. Oh, okay.

Fucking scary.

Yeah.

And you don't leave him in a nice.

My husband calls it my animal. You've got your animal in.

Yeah. Literally, your fucking animals were everywhere. Yeah. So, speaking of hair extensions, we have got our amazing hairdresser, the Queen, the Queen Mary over who is going to come in today and talk about hair extensions. What are the best?

How to do it, do it, what they cost. There's so many different types, it's actually quite overwhelming. It is what the maintenance is like. And Marie is such a gun. So Marie's been doing my hair since I moved to Melbourne in 2008.

Wow.

Yeah. So a very, very long time. Going on 17 years of so many awesome hair memories together. I know she's been doing your hair for a long time as well. Yeah, she is a hairstylist, hair colorist to so many people. She looks after all the big celebs that she can tell us about. Hopefully share some cool stories with us. And yeah, yeah, part of I guess it's a really

Vain ish.

Marie. Over. Oh, hi. We're like family, babe.

We are.

How long have you been doing my hair for? I thought it was, like, 17 years.

Yeah, a long time. 17 years since your first jitendra's.

That's a lot of Brownlow Medals. That's a lot of Logies. That's a lot of shoots.

It's a lot of colours to.

A lot of colours. We did go ash blonde once. I was like, Marie going blonde. I want cool blonde. She's like, no, you've got really warm eyes. You can't go cool blonde. You'll look really bad. I said, no, you're giving me cool blonde. So I'm very obedient memory. She wouldn't do this now. She'd be like, fuck off, I'm not doing this to you. Okay then. Becky. Becky. With the not so good hair. Yeah, yeah. Made me ash blonde. And I was like, nah, I get it.

How long did it last?

I looked, I looked like a zombie.

She came back in. She's like, you need to color my hair back. And I was like, I was waiting for it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Told you so back. So now I just listened to her. She's the queen.

She is. She's never done a colour wrong on me.

Oh.

The best of the best.

The best. So so good. So, Marie. Over. Tell us, how long have you been a hairstylist? To the stars? Colorist? Just hair guru.

I've been hairdressing for about 26 years now. Yeah, it's been a long time.

Salon?

Yeah. Own salon for 11 of those years. I think the thing behind it, and to keep doing it is to really love what you do. And I think you guys both know that I still really do love what I do. So that's the main thing.

Yeah, I'm very passionate. Tell us about all the different people celebs people love to to know who who's in your black book.

Well, obviously you two. No we're not. No, we're just so great.

I'm talking like proper celebs.

I've been lucky enough to do some really amazing celebs. So, like Gigi Hadid is probably every time she comes to Australia. I do her hair and we still talk all the time. Like I'll speak to her on Instagram and stuff, and she's just the most beautiful celeb that I've had to work with. Lily Allen was one of them. Um, Rita Ora, Dua Lipa. Helena Christensen was an amazing one as well. Like obviously growing up looking at supermodels and then to be able to do a supermodels hair. Yeah, that was

You are known for your blowies, babe, right? She does a good blowie.

She does a good.

Blowie in the biz.

And you know.

What.

A good you know the up do the big pony.

Yeah, it's called the pony.

The pony? Oh, my God, they are. I'm. I'm going to get one one day. I haven't done it yet.

Haven't you done the pony?

I haven't done a pony.

Okay. But I'm going I'm going to paint the picture of an Uber pony. Yeah. So it's a voluminous pony which has a kick like an s-bend. So if you're looking at it from the side, it's not a pony. It's like an S or like a question mark. Oh my God. Wow, that's such a good explanation.

I'm impressed. I love that question mark, I love that.

So Marie, when I moved to Melbourne from Perth I was really shocked as this naive Perth girl so had come in at Chris. My husband was playing for the AFL team. Carlton and I had all of the Carlton wives and girlfriends over for when the boys were playing interstate. They all came over, we had dinner, we went out to a bar afterwards, and we were all sitting around

And no one wore them in Queensland.

Yeah, but these Melbourne girls, they were all clip ins. They looked incredible. They all had amazing hair, and it's almost like this little hair subculture that had been going on here. I don't know if Sydney's the same, if Adelaide's the same, but back then it was a real Melbourne thing. Everyone had their clip ins. So I was like, I'm going to get me some clippings. And I went somewhere.

But also lucky if it was real hair, because if it was not real hair, your whole you would have blown up in flames.

Because it did have that burnt hair smell. So like, legit, it was real hair. Yeah, but imagine if that had been like a sewn in weft or something. It would have been trouble. Are they in trouble? Anyway, ever since then, I've been intrigued by hair extensions, and I've noticed that throughout Australia. Now, like, everyone wears hair extensions, right?

Yeah, I just think it's a part of it's a it's a part of the routine.

What percentage of your clients wear hair extensions? Not just the celebs, everyone.

I think there's a good 60%. Wow. Yeah. So clippings are obviously more, um, easy to wear because you can pop them in and take them out. Um, wefts are easy in terms of if you don't know how to put them in, they're just in there all the time.

Sewn in.

Attached. Some people some people find that really hard to, you know, um, pop them in. So some people have had stuff happen to their hair, whether it's been broken or they've cut it off and they've realized that they don't want that length anymore. So that's when you have the more permanent ones. But like, even if you've got and I say people bring in photos and they say, this is what I want. It started with brides essentially. Um, because I think as evolution has happened, there's a lot

Packet.

In.

Your hair for.

That look. So because and I think realistically, like if you look at, um, any red carpet event like Golden Globes or, you know, like the Emmys or the Grammys. Like whatever it is, most people have extra hair in their hair to get the looks that they want. So and I think a lot of people were naive to that. And now a lot of people are realizing it.

Yeah. Social media also helps that. And and people are very honest about it.

So we started making them. So we started making made to order clippings for I mean I countless.

Oh I've got, I've got a whole suitcase of different animals.

Every, every.

Event.

That could be like, yeah, I've lost them. Can you make me another pair?

And my hair would be a slightly different color. And Marie's such a perfectionist. She's like, no, you're more brunette now, so you need a brunette one. I'm like, oh, just use this old one.

Yeah, she needs one for summer.

This old.

Thing. Yeah.

No, no, that's the wrong color. So Marie will make me a fresh one. Or then if I go slightly lighter. No, no, they're too dark. And she'll make me a blonde one. She's so sweet. She'll be there with her staff. And they're putting the matching foils in the extension. So it's like.

Perfect.

And seamless.

But it has to be, though. The other thing too is, is that like colors is an important thing. Like, we've all seen people walk down the street with hair extensions that look really obvious, like. And that is my biggest yes, that's my biggest nightmare. So I think clippings is easy for everyone to be able to wear. I mean, I've got them in today and and I've got heaps of hair.

With the clipping, you've got one long one that's about what, 20 20cm? It goes around the base and then you do little side fillers.

Yep. You can or you can like for me, I've got heaps of hair at the back. I don't need that. My hair's at the length that I want it. I literally just put the side ones in.

So you say 60% of your clients at your salon have extensions and out of your celebrity clients. Is it closer to 100%?

Yeah. There you go.

It's so transformative. I remember when I put my first clip in hair extension in it was Becky.

With the good hair.

Becky with the good hair.

But it also also gives us as a hairdresser. It gives you the flexibility to create anything.

So with our weft it obviously grows out as our hair grows. So every is it 6 to 8 weeks. It needs to be lifted because a lot of people, they want hair extensions. They don't know where to begin. They're worried about ongoing maintenance and cost. So clippings are probably the most economical.

Clippings are the most economical. They last the longest, you pop them in and you take them out. Whenever you have an event and they start from like the side fillers start from $149. So it's quite I mean, obviously if you wanted a bigger piece like it grows from there, but you can start having extensions in your hair from $149. Okay. It's the hair that costs the most.

Okay. And where's the hair come from?

All different places. Depending. Like if you want pure Russian hair.

Daria.

Dasha.

Yeah, that's.

That's a lot more expensive. Yeah, but most of the wefts that you get online or that you would put into your hair is a mix. So it's a mix of Russian and it's got like a couple of different things in there, a bit of Indian hair, like it's all mixed in together.

With amazing hair. The hair extensions you use, they're incredible because that's you've created your own and done your own collab with them.

Yes.

So tell us about it. Tell us about that.

So when it came to clipping extensions, I found that I'd always have to sew them because I didn't like the colours or I didn't like, um, the way that they were sewn. So I was like, they were like, well, let's do a collab. Let's create a brand together. So I've designed them to how I like them and so they're seamless. So basically the thing with the clip in extensions is that the colours that I've designed, being a colorist as well, I know how I want them to be.

And they blend well.

And also to their flatter, um, I didn't like sometimes they would stick out and.

So that you can disguise them. I don't like seeing hair extensions. And sometimes when I wear my if I wear a pony when I'm exercising, I can kind of see the bottom. And I try and I try and disguise it. And I remember I was on holidays with this little girl. She was ten and she came up to me. She's like, um, excuse me, I can see your hair extension.

It wasn't scarlet, was it?

Shame. I felt like, oh yeah, I just rushed when I put my pony up today and I didn't cover it properly. So I do love the idea of something flat and seamless that you don't see, because that is one of the cons of hair extensions, is there are some styles that you cannot wear your hair in because it exposes the extension.

But it's also where it's been placed as well. Like, I feel like the girls at your cell and they place it so well.

Yeah, I mean, we we've we've worked out exactly where to put them. Um, in terms of the clippings, um, you want them to be flat as well, because sometimes you can see people that are wearing clipping extensions, and you can see that it looks bulky. That's something you hate as well. I've got some clients that are like, I want to wear hair extensions, but I look like a Lego head, so make sure that you put them

Yeah. Yeah. One time Marie got this funny, funny glue, right? So I'd gone to the Brownlow. What year was it? A white dress. I just remember the white maticevski dress. Shoulder pads. Yeah. Pony. We did the pony. She glued in a metre of hair and. But it was a new glue. Right. What's the back story on that glue?

I went to a friend of mine who had that shop on Chapel Street, and I said, Olga, I need some really strong glue, because Alan White was out of stock and I usually used to get them from a guy called Alan White in Sydney. And there was no glue. So I was like, I went to Olga and I was like, I need something that's going to make it last all night. Well, it lasted for more than all night.

I lasted and lasted and.

Was getting text messages not only from you, but also from Nadia. And she was like, Nadia Bartel.

Oh.

This? It wasn't glue. Super glue? No, it was super glue. I was in a bath crying with a bottle of vodka.

Because I was like, use.

Alcohol and it was ripping my hair out and I was like, sobbing. And I got there and it was Smirnoff and I put it all over my head.

She's like.

She goes rubbing alcohol like vodka.

Na na na na na.

Name.

I do love hair extensions.

I just love that when you get out of the shower and it dries. It's it's like it's just done because there's so much it just looks good more often with no styling or no messing around, no fiddling. It just always looks good. And I'm addicted to them and I don't think I'll ever have them taken out. Me either. When I'm 90, I'll be in the nursing home rocking my extensions.

But I think you said, like you said at the start, you said it was very taboo a while ago. Like I would never tell people that I, you know, as a hairdresser, I'd feel like I couldn't tell you. Cheating.

Yeah, really.

There's so many different things that you can do these days, and I think that it's not taboo anymore. Like, we can talk about it like I used to be scared to tell people that I put hair extensions in your hair for your wedding because it was like. It was like, do we tell people like, do they feel like they're cheating? Like, yeah, but now it's not like it's.

Let's stop faking it.

Yes.

Like I was just born. Like I just woke up like this, mate. No one woke up like that.

No.

No way.

These vitamins I took did not do this.

Yeah.

In two days.

For the hair growth.

Did.

Not and added a meter of Russian hair overnight.

I think back in the day it would be like, let's look after your hair, let's take vitamins, do this or do that. We're in a world about instant gratification now, so everyone instantly wants to, you know, you guys know about all these beauty things that people do, but hair extensions is one of those things. Like, I want long hair. Great, let's do it. Let's do.

It.

Straight away. Kimmy K she is.

Yeah. She has short pinup girl.

She changes her hair.

All the time.

All the time.

And just backtrack there. I still feel like the vitamins and the supplements and the collagen and stuff, that's very important. And I take all of them.

Yeah, and they do work. But it's just that you help. They do.

Nothing helps. Like putting in a hair.

Where there is a little bit of like a people a little bit apprehensive because they're like, oh, hair extensions. Like what? There's the unknown because it has been taboo for so long.

Yeah. And also it's confusing. How much is this going to cost me? What's the maintenance? What's the outlay?

Yeah. How long is it going to last.

And is it going to damage my hair. And there's so many different types. How do I know which one's right for me?

If they're done right, there's no damage at all. No, that's. I strongly believe that if they're done right and now with how good they are, there is absolutely no way that they're going to damage your hair.

So how do you know where to find the right person to do them right?

I think there's so much information on the internet now, or there's so much information on socials. You'll be able to see if you look on their page and you know whether they're a salon that doesn't good or not.

So and hairdressers do. Every hairdresser can do them or is it? It's a specialized training.

No, it's definitely specialized training. You need to train people up to do it. And there was such a demand for it that we I was forced into doing it. And now that we're doing it, it's such a big part of our business now.

And you've got great staff who do it really well.

The girls are really good.

They've nailed it. I get mine done in like 45 minutes now.

So good.

They're like.

Okay, so which celebs do you think nail their hair extensions?

I mentioned before Kimmy K just I've spoken to Chris about it. Chris. Who's Chris? Chris Appleton is Kim Kardashian's hairdresser. He's a global ambassador of a product, and I had the opportunity to work with him recently. And I asked him, can you imagine any questions I asked about Kim Kardashian.

Would have been such a pest.

I asked him so many questions and he was just like, he's there's a there's a lady in New York that a lot of even Australians go to when they're in New York, and she supplies a lot of hair extensions. She is like gets them from she gets good quality, so she must get them from Russia. But she supplies to Kim. So Chris gets all these extensions. But when I saw his I thought I went around with a

Yeah, yeah. They've put they've put hair extensions on the on the map again.

Yeah.

You know, not made it kind of a taboo thing.

Is there a name for the feeling you get when you see your natural hair, when the extensions come out?

I think it's just it's kind of. It's like when you take your makeup off at the end of the night, I suppose. Yeah. Naked. You feel naked. What do you feel when you take your hair extensions out for that small, brief amount of time? How do you feel? Uh.

It's quite shocking, actually, to feel your hair without the extension in.

But. But both of you have both said this, and I've noticed this. Of both of you have both said it. You're like, oh my God, how long's my natural hair? Yeah. You don't even realize that it actually makes your hair grow.

Yeah, yeah. No I do. Every time I get my hair extensions out, I'm like, oh my gosh, my hair is so long.

I think the important thing to remember is and this is something that you guys both do because I tell you to do it, but is to make sure that you're getting regular maintenance on your own hair. So if you trim your own hair when you're taking it out, trim your hair, trim your hair stays healthy. And that I think it's when you don't touch your natural hair and you keep getting your extensions lifted, then that means you're not looking after your natural hair as well.

So regular trim.

Regular.

Anything else?

Treatments? I mean, um.

Good shampoo and conditioner.

Good shampoo and conditioner, I think.

Hold up, hold up. Is that is that BS? Right. Because I've been seeing some stuff. I've been seeing some stuff. Guys go down.

Algorithms changed.

So you know like obviously there's really beautiful shampoo and conditioner brands. And then there's some more supermarket brands that I love, right. Because they're cheap and cheerful and they make my hair feel amazing. And so many professionals say, don't use that. It's supermarket stuff. It's got silicone in it. It's bad for you. And I'm like, when I use it, it feels really good and my hair is really shiny. Have.

It just. It's like. It's like when you don't use, you know, you're not going to use a cheap moisturizer on your skin. So why would you use a cheap conditioner on your hair? Because basically all it's doing is coating the outside of your hair, but your hair cuticle, basically there's three parts of it. There's the the inside bit like the cortex. And then there's like the flesh bit and then there's the skin bit. So there's three bits to it. So the cuticles the outside layer that's

Yeah. Which I'm all about. Yeah. Yeah.

But I'm saying, like, most people won't use an inexpensive moisturizer on their skin. They just won't. They won't do that because they're like, I'm scared I'm going to age. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. It's the same.

With.

Your.

I guess, because it's not like, like because it's already grown out and it's dead. It's dead. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all good. Never heard of anybody. Looks pretty good.

That's the ish on her.

I must admit. Like, when I recommend, like an actual. There's different levels of salon brands that you can use compared to the supermarkets. There's the salon brands. When I do recommend it to the clients, they come back and they're like, oh, you were actually right. My hair does feel amazing.

It's amazing.

I have to say, being with you, my hair has grown. It's amazing. It feels good. It's healthy.

It looks good. Look at you whipping around your little pony.

Oh my God, look at me.

I'm loving this little style you've got at the moment.

I love it. I love it because my weft is.

Yeah, it's perfect I love it, it's so pretty.

It gives me a non-surgical eyelift.

Why are you whispering.

Am I it's giving me a non-surgical eyelift. Look at that. Do I look younger?

Thank you darling.

Thank you so much for popping on and talking everything. Hair extensions because it is like everyone's doing it. And if you're not doing it.

Do.

It. Get on to it and go see Marie and get her new hair extensions. Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. So hair extensions for me. I've been doing it for so long. I've tried them all. I've done the tapes, I've done the weft. I've done the clippings. I'm personally love the weft because I find it easier for me to style. And I'm never giving up on this. Like I will always be a hair extension girl to the day I die.

They look so good on you. You know, I did clips. I was a clip girl for so long. I'm talking, oh, 13 years. Only 12 months ago did I get a weft sewn in. And the reason I did is because I kept wearing the clips every day. You've got to get like a little comb and you've got to tease a little bit of hair to put the clip into. And because I kept teasing the same spot, you're actually quite rough. And there's a bit of trauma to the hair with that comb. And I thought, God, I'm putting

And it's definitely saved the trauma of me walking into a hotel room, seeing your extensions everywhere.

My animal is now permanently attached to my hair. So I'm loving myself sick.

Yeah. And the last few times I've travelled with you, I've not noticed any dead animals in our apartment.

Oh, good. I'm never going.

Back.

I'll be buried with this thing bloody sewn in.

Yeah, literally, if I die, can you go into the morgue and, like, lift it all up for me?

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Thanks, guys. We'll see you for the next step.

Only do what we wanna know. Same ish.