Hair extensions have developed a bad rep in recent years…which was why creating Sitting Pretty just made sense for founder Taryn Melissa. “I feel like hair is such an important part of our identity, and having amazing hair just changes the way you feel. It makes you feel confident, and feminine,” she said of her move into the beauty industry. “I’ve worn hair extensions since I was 16 years old. So, I’m an avid customer. But I never felt like the hair extension brands really understood me or spoke to me. The industry needed a rebrand.”
That’s where Sitting Pretty comes in.
“I had a vision of a hair extensions brand focused on educating people on how to make hair extensions look as natural as possible,” she explains. When it comes to hair extensions, barriers like being high maintenance, damaging your real hair and cost, as well as difficulty choosing your colour and thickness, were all important factors to take into account.
By utilising the unique halo method, Taryn and Sitting Pretty now lead the pack in every hair extension category. From achieving a natural look, to minimising hair loss, to creating a low maintenance and affordable product… “the halo literally bypasses ALL these [previous] barriers. They’re super easy to use and so comfortable to wear…they make doing your hair so much fun,” she says.
What are ‘halo’ hair extensions?
The concept, explains Taryn, “is like a headband with hair attached. The hair is at the back of your head, running from one side of the temple to the other attached at the front by a clear wire. Your hair sits over the band which covers it up. It essentially sits on your head, like a hat, and your hair drapes over it to hold it firmly in place.”
“I was working and a customer brought one in and showed me how it worked. Needless to say I was shook…She said she got it overseas, so I did some research, bought a sewing machine, some wefts of hair and fishing line and made myself the first sample halo. The rest is history,” says Taryn.
Not only is the halo revolutionary when it comes to appearance, but one of the biggest benefits is minimising hair loss, a common criticism of hair extensions in the past. “Hair breakage and hair loss are sort of inevitable when using other types of hair extensions,” says Taryn. With traditional application methods requiring gluing, clipping or attachment onto the existing hair, “you can imagine the long term effects… Having something weighing on your hair day in and day out when brushing, sleeping or washing, causes a certain amount of stress to the hair follicles, which in extreme cases can lead to Traction Alopecia, which is hair loss caused by the hair being pulled in the same way for a long time.”
“The first and most important is that other hair extension methods physically attach [to your hair], this attachment causes breakage…as well as the ability to cause bald spots.” In speaking on the halo method and the point of difference, Taryn says “because the halo doesn’t attach to your hair, it can’t ruin your hair. It’s perfect for those girls who are [conscious] about managing the health of their hair.”
How and why do they look more natural?
While the halo is the first step in creating natural looking extensions, the quality of hair is also a top priority for Sitting Pretty.
“The reason our halo looks so natural is because the width of the band gives you [the right] amount of hair on the sides to frame your face,” she says. “We have three customisable thicknesses, so they can be used to achieve an array of different looks.” Additionally, Sitting Pretty encourages people to “trim [their extensions] and cut layers to blend with their own hair” for a seamless addition, says Taryn. Plus, as the halo is a single hair piece, once you’ve trimmed it once, “it’s done, because it sits in the same place every time.”
When it comes to the brand’s devoted and quickly growing customer base, Taryn credits the brand’s unique offering as their point of difference. The term “remy hair” has become a vague quality descriptor amongst industry professionals. However, Sitting Pretty have redefined what the term means and thus the standards they adhere to.
“Remy hair can mean a range of things depending on who you ask,” she explains. “We use a very high grade of Remy hair, which we call ‘Professional Grade Remy Hair’. In breaking it down, this means a few things; the first of which is that Sitting Pretty halos are made of high-grade, real human hair, which is never mixed with animal hair, synthetic or other low quality fibers,” she says. Other factors include the use of a multi-strand colouring system, which helps blend the extensions into natural hair. It also means the hair can be coloured, (but not bleached) and styled with hot tools.
While Taryn says these factors mean halos last between six and 12 months, quite often Sitting Pretty customers only return after two to three years.
With innovation like this, we’re sure to be one of those returning customers. Shop the entire Sitting Pretty collection here.
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