Insta-hair
I had some hair extensions put in today at the Hair Braiding Studio on the ground floor of St Kevin's arcade, K'Rd. I first had extensions in the early 90s which were long white monofibre, and looked (and felt) like Barbie hair. I then had long black plaits that made a very effective weapon for beating off sleazy guys in clubs. When you're a stage dancer and not wearing a lot, it's a handy way of keeping men at plaits length.

My new flowing locks are black human hair that feels much softer than monofibre. I've been wondering about the girl whose hair it was. What did she look like, where was she from and why did she sell her hair? Rather then having it glued in, it's been woven and sewn into my own hair. My last extensions took over eight hours to put in but these were done in two.

It does take a bit of getting used to going from short to long hair. Like having to use a hairbrush again. I've been swishing it around like a three year old pretending to be my little pony. I've also been wearing girlie bunches and rediscovering the hair accessory. The best thing about extensions is I can abuse them as much as I want as I won't be toasting my own hair.

A reader has emailed me to ask if you can wash monofibre hair extensions. I used to rinse mine out twice a week and wash them once a week using specialist Dome Monofibre shampoo and conditioner. But you can also use gentle fabric liquid and fabric softener on Monofibre extensions as they are made from artifical fibres. Obviously keep the fabric wash/conditioner away from your scalp, and use a gentle shampoo & conditioner there instead.

If your extensions are glued in, then be careful not to let hair conditioner get too close to the glue, as it soften it and make your extensions slide out. If you heat style Monobribre hair it will stay in shape much longer than human hair, but be careful not to burn the monofibre. You can wash and style human hair extensions as you would your own hair.