Her Secret Hair Extensions & Replacement

09/06/2025

“Every woman with ‘difficult hair’ has a different difficult-hair story, but mine goes like this:

My hair is a chaotic combination of frizzy and straight, dry and oily. My hair is thin, but there’s a lot of it, and it can easily end up in bird’s nests and tangles.

It can’t grow long and lush like princess hair, because it starts to break around the time it hits my shoulders. I can’t just grow it out and put it in a ponytail for convenience—because I don’t have enough hair to fill a standard rubber band. I can’t keep it in an easy bob, either, because the shorter it gets, the puffier it gets. My hair always baffled my mother (who cut it short for her own convenience when I was a kid, causing me to constantly be mistaken for a boy—which I hated), and as I grew older, it baffled me, too.

And thus began my lifelong search all over the world for hairdressers who could ‘do something’ with my hair.

The author of City of Girls and Big Magic talks about how she made the bold decision to break out the clippers and find her own version of beauty.

03/21/2025

Thanks to Salon Today for sharing my story as a hair loss specialist and the hope and healing I’ve been blessed to share with others.

“Since the beginning of her career Helen has created hair weaving creations that cover existing bald spots and induce growth of the bio hair. It’s important to recognize the impact African-American women’s creativity and outside-the-box thinking have had on hair loss solutions.”

Jo Owens was intrigued to learn about a 'new' hair replacement solution until she figured out it was a technique African-American stylists, including her sister Helen Owens, have been doing for decades. She's here to set the record straight.

03/11/2025

“‘People with hair loss should see dermatologists who specialize in hair loss disorders. Would you see a ‘board-certified clinician’ for heart disease or a lung disorder? No, you wouldn’t. But it’s ‘just hair,’ so the thinking goes that anyone can be trained to do it and nothing very bad can go wrong.’”

Newcomers in the brick-and-mortar baldness space are seizing on the widespread availability of effective pharmaceuticals to fight hair thinning.

“The dermatologists [we] spoke to said pharmaceuticals are the most powerful defense against common baldness, [which is] the lay term for androgenic alopecia, one of the most ubiquitous forms of hair loss. Many of them also offer PRP (platelet rich plasma, in which the platelets from a person’s own centrifuged blood cells are re-injected into the scalp in an effort to stimulate hair growth), considered ‘the weakest of the treatments available for androgenetic thinning,’ according to one doctor. Studies on PRP’s effectiveness in treating hair loss have had more mixed results than many sales pitches let on.

In a letter published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, several colleagues reported that one in 15 patients who came to them seeking PRP were affected with scarring alopecia, a form of hair loss best addressed with a different therapy—without which they risk permanent hair loss or scarring.”

Inside the shiny new brick-and-mortar med spas trying to capitalize on receding hairlines.

02/15/2025

“Beauty pros like Helen Owens are changing more than just the beauty industry – they're changing what the standard of beauty itself looks and feels alike. Helen has continually made a difference in the lives of people everywhere – not just with her made-to-spec cranial prosthetics, but also with her platform that reaches those searching for encouragement, empowerment, and ways to overcome their own challenges.”

Meet Helen Owens, a black beauty pro changing the industry & our much anticipated guest for Elite Beauty Society's exclusive BH Month Q & A!

02/04/2025

“The reason some people can grow long hair and others can’t is that the length of the anagen phase varies significantly between individuals. This phase typically lasts between two to seven years. How long the phase lasts depends on several factors.

Says hair transplant surgeon Dr. Zefar Cetinkaya: ‘Genetics is the most significant factor, as your DNA dictates the length and growth rate of your hair. Your ethnic background also influences hair growth characteristics. For example, people of Asian descent often have a longer anagen phase and faster-growing hair compared to those of African or Caucasian descent,’ he explained. “

"There’s no magic trick to growing it past what your genetics allow." So save your money on those hair-growth supplements.

01/01/2025

“I now understand that in the pre-bad-haircut part of my life, I attached a lot of my thoughts and feelings about femininity, softness and my identity to the hair that I had — something that I didn’t know at the time (and wouldn’t have believed if you told me). As with most changes, there was, of course, a life lesson embedded in this haircut.”

"I walked out of the appointment stunned, trying to smile, and promptly began to panic as soon as I stepped out of the period of the show and back into the real world in 2024."

12/12/2024

“Armani Latimer is cheerleading without a wig for a special cause. This was the first time Latimer danced without a wig at the game.”

Armani Latimer of 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' danced without a wig for the first time after revealing her alopecia diagnosis on the show at the Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals game on Monday, Dec. 9.

11/19/2024

- The holidays are just around the corner and I want to take a moment to let you all know how much I appreciate you! Whether you’ve subscribed to my website, followed me on Instagram, my podcast, or are part of the She-Compass or Her Secret Hair community, I’m so glad you’re here! I’ll be us...

09/14/2024

“Dr. Sinclair tried cutting minoxidil pills into quarters. To his surprise, the low dose made her hair grow but did not affect her blood pressure, the original purpose of the higher-dose drug.

He subsequently lowered the dose more and more until he got down to effective doses of one-fortieth of a pill and began routinely prescribing the drug. That first patient still takes it. Dr. Sinclair reported that low doses of minoxidil prompted hair growth in 100 successive women.”

Dermatologists who specialize in hair loss say that the key ingredient in a topical treatment worked even better when taken orally at a low dose.

07/05/2024

“CBS News Philadelphia anchor Aziza Shuler shared a secret with viewers that she was keeping for most of her life. Shuler revealed she has alopecia, which caused all her hair to fall out when she was 12 years old. ‘For me to lose my hair in middle school, it was embarrassing. I felt ashamed and frankly, I felt ugly.’ Shuler started wearing wigs to hide her alopecia. Now, she has made a monumental decision to ditch the wigs.“

Inside Edition is television's longest-running, top-rated, and most-honored syndicated newsmagazine. #1 in News and Politics on YouTube (Tubular Labs).

04/06/2024

“After looking at the structure of Lock's hair, they were able to confirm that it was uncombable hair syndrome, an extremely rare condition that causes the hair to grow with a very soft and easily breakable texture. Lock is one of just 100 known cases of the condition.

16-month-old Lock Samples is one of just 100 known cases of extremely rare uncombable hair syndrome

03/03/2024

“‘When kids lose their hair, they lose their confidence. Everybody has a story in these locks. And the 1000s of other people have a story with their own hair. When we donate it, this story lives on and it gets to bring confidence to these kids.’”

The 2019 event set a world record for most hair donated and co-founder Chris Healy and Lindsay Barto, seek to surpass that in 2024.