476: Hair Loss, Hair Thinning, and Fun Solutions with Ensemble Hair Founder Jessica Hallock

If you're experiencing true hair loss, it's usually an inside out issue. So I recommend working on inflammation such as like taking fish oils, Vitamin D, iron is a huge component. Getting enough protein in your diet and switching to methylated vitamins that you're not necessarily processing. Well.

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Welcome to Midlife Conversations. I'm your host, Natalie Jill and I'm passionate about having amazing conversations that matter to us midlife women. On this podcast, I do what I do best Taking complicated health topics and breaking them down simply so that we can optimize aging together. I share actionable steps to help you thrive in what I believe are our best years to come. Join me as I interview the most inspiring people living their best midlife years and dive into essential topics like hormone changes, health optimization, weight management, blood sugar, emotional well being, relationships, beauty, and so much more. One of the best topics I've ever brought up to my audience. I'm bringing up again because it's all about hair. Yes, the hair on our head, especially as we age in midlife. So many questions about hair. Now, first of all, first, full transparency. I actually have extensions in my head as we talk, mostly for fullness, not necessarily for length for me. And they're not coming out of my head. I've had them, I've had them for, gosh, about 20 years. But just like a lot of women in menopause, I'm starting to get that thinning on the side of my head and in my parts and have been really exploring and experimenting what things I can do to have that grow back, to have it fill in. And as I started sharing this on social media and on my podcast and on YouTube, more and more questions and suggestions started to come in. So I've been really in this theme of let's explore why do we lose hair? What can we actually do to restore it? What are our options? And does it have to be so time consuming or expensive? So, so today I thought I would bring on my new friend Jess Halleck, who is the founder of Ensemble Hair and also Jess Salon in Arizona. But she is an expert when it comes to all things hair. And if you're watching on YouTube, you're going to be in for a nice show because you're going to see some things here too today. But I have a lot of questions for her and I think you'll enjoy this conversation. So thank you so much for being here today, Jess.

Absolutely. I'm so excited to talk about this.

So I want to start with why the heck does this happen? Why do we lose hair? It's like a, a, this cruel joke. It's this, like we, we become wiser as we age. And Jess, you're younger than me and I know a lot of your clients, but I know you hear this complaint. What the heck is going on? Like, after 50 here, I just started losing it. What's happening?

Well, honestly, it's not just happening at 50 anymore. It's happening so much younger. And, and most of my Clientele is more 35 to 65. So this is not something that's exclusive to a certain age group. But more often than not, it's inflammation. So it used to be purely just aging or, you know, traditional alopecia. But more often it's an inflammation response. It is an imbalance of hormones. It's stress related. But I feel like if you sneeze, you lose hair right now. So you're not alone.

You know, it's like I didn't even realize it. It was this gradual thing over time where I'm thinking, do I have a. I was joking with my husband. I have a five head. I'm like, my head used to be a forehead and then now it's a five head. And it's not that our forehead grows, but I did look it up on ChatGPT. It's a real thing. Your hairline starts moving back slightly, so we might not notice it day to day. But if you ladies, I don't mean to freak you out, but look at your photos later. Like, go look at a picture of you in high school and then look at it now. Our foreheads are five heads. That's what happens. And then I see on some, I don't have this part, but some of the women, their part starts separating. And then also that's really common, the side thing. Like, definitely I'm losing it more on one side than the other. And then also just thinning in general. Like, it feels like your hair doesn't grow as long as you once could grow it.

Yeah, I feel like that's more what's common is the all. All over thinning. I feel like people were. If they were losing it in a specific area, they could. They could narrow down what that was happening. But it's all over thinning. They're like, I literally have half the hair that I did last year, and I don't know why. So I feel like that's more the conversation that keeps coming up.

You know what else is a cruel little joke? In menopause, you start losing hair on your head and it starts growing in other places in your body.

Don't tell me that you find a whisker. You're like, what?

Okay, thanks.

Why we're not relocating. That's not the plan.

Yeah. Okay, so, okay, first, so I know you see clients all over the place. And I want to start with like, what can be done. There's so many options out there. And I know I shared recently how I experimented with one skin's peptide, their OS one and I actually didn't think it was doing anything. And then over time I, when I looked at pictures, I did see a noticeable difference on where I was applying it. But how do people decide, like, what do you know about like Rogaine or pills or like nutrition? Like there's all these things like what do you know about hair growth and what can we do?

I think a lot of those things work. The catch is usually just you have to keep using them. So I suggest starting something along those lines. I do feel like serums, serums work better on retention and stimulating, but they're not necessarily going to generate new hair growth. That's more like something you're going to ingest, like a neutrophil or a Rogaine. Rogaine's really aggressive. I have heard that it, you'll kind of probably get hair everywhere. Neutrophil seems to have like when you.

Take a systemic or when you apply.

It, like if you, when you take a systemic that it can make hair grow, which is a good thing, you know?

Well, it depends who you ask and where it's growing.

Totally. But serums, if you're, if you're like, I have hair, I feel like it's just clogged or if you have a, you know, a really clogged scalp or something, then, then serums are great. But if you're experiencing true hair loss, it's usually an inside out issue. So I recommend working on inflammation such as like taking fish oils, vitamin D, iron is a huge component. Getting enough protein in your diet and switching to meth. Methylated vitamins that you're not necessarily processing well. And then apply something topically, whether it's as mild as a rosemary oil or taking something stimulating like the new skin or divvies similar to that. But yeah, you can attack it from both ends. I just don't recommend doing too many stimulants at once because you can't really track it and it could be too much at some point.

Yeah, and I want to also specify we're not talking about alopecia. Like alopecia is a specific autoimmune that we, that is a different. And that's when you've got the, the patches of baldness or you're actually losing all of your hair. That is not what we're addressing here for this specific conversation. But I'm talking specifically about age related. We start seeing changes. So assuming your diet is on point, you have dressed inflammation and all those things. I know also a decline in hormones and I know this part's not necessarily Your expertise, Jess. But a decline in hormones can affect hair loss. Same with women that jump right into too high levels of testosterone. I don't know if you've heard that, but when you do too high levels, you can actually lose hair, too.

Yeah.

It's okay, though. I mean, also, if you're getting any type of autoimmune flare up, too. I've seen it. Even when I had clients in my chair, if they were starting to thin dramatically, sometimes their thyroid was off, or if they had a PCOS or something like that, then it can be related. It's like I said, it's related to so many things I've also heard recently.

Because I know GLPs are really, really popular now. The weight loss drugs and that I'm also hearing can cause some weightness. But I don't. I. It's my understanding, and this is not a talk about that, but it's my understanding it's not necessarily the GLP is doing it. It's the too quick rapid weight loss and being malnourished. So going back to what you said can also create us losing hair.

Yeah. I actually was on a GLP1. Well, I'm still on it now. I'm microdosing. But when I first was more aggressive, I was really diligent about eating enough.

Okay.

And keeping up on that. And I feel like that's why my hair. I didn't experience a ton of loss. So I do think that's the best proactive thing you can do if you're on a GLP1. But that's definitely made it more across the board. I'm getting approached about extensions all the time because everyone's trying those things out, and I think they're so great. But it is a side effect is you can. You can have some less hair. What about.

I know I'm going to ask you a lot about extensions. That's. That's where I'm going to definitely lead into here. I have so many questions there. But before we even get into the extensions, like, before extensions were even a thing.

Like, and.

And I. Gosh, I've been dealing with extensions for, like, 20 years. You weren't even born yet. I'm just kidding. I know you're in your.

But you were.

You were kid. But back before extensions were really a thing, we still had issues with wanting to replace hair. What did you see in the hair industry going wrong? Like, what's not supporting healthy hair as we age? Like, I'm curious about how highlights or color all of that is Affecting it or is it?

I think the high maintenance color is obviously affecting. So if you're bleaching, it's a vicious cycle. I don't believe that depositing color is as damaging. So getting your grays covered, you know, I would, I would keep doing that. But as far as the highlighting goes, especially if you're a dark brunette or you're wanting to be a really light blonde, I'd be more conservative. I think we abused it in the early 2000s where we were just highlighting every six weeks. So anything you can do to prolong that going more like 12 weeks with highlights and just doing, you know, a root melt in between and just kind of getting used to lived in color rather than something right to your root, that helps a lot as far as the hair industry goes. But topically, nope. I don't feel like any products are necessarily going to affect your hair loss because that's another thing that people need to decide. Are you, do you have damaged hair? Do you actually have hair loss? So hair loss is what's growing and becoming more common unfortunately, but not really hair industry specific.

So for. Okay, but then when we talk about hair damage, and I want to ask about that too because that also can make us look older and, and I, gosh, I. You guys have all seen, if you're on YouTube, you see it. I have like massive breakage up kind of by my bangs. And the reason I have that breakage is from beating my hair into submission. Like literally taking a flat iron or taking a curling iron or whatever and you know, really doing that. What do we need to know about heat tools and things like that?

So I'm really passionate about this topic specifically just because I feel like you can get really, really good results if you just go back to blow drying with a hair, a hair dryer and a bore brush. So why a bore brush? Like with bore brush, it's more gentle, so it'll smooth out the cuticle. Especially if you have frizz or some curl, it'll. You get the best results long time for, for a longer period of time if you're doing wet to dry styling. So if you're getting a blowout done, that's why you can go to dry bar and it'll last, you know, four to five days rather than letting your hair air dry or doing a rough dry and taking a hot tool to it. It's, it's similar to if you're, if you were to get your clothes steam pressed. Okay. Versus if you're ironing them after you Iron. The wrinkles will come back a lot quicker as soon as they hit humidity. But if you get them properly pressed, because it's a wet to dry process, it lasts a lot longer and your hair's the same way and it's so much less damaging. And bore brushes are great because it mimics if it's true bore. It's a natural bristle. And so your hair responds really well to it. It absorbs heat instead of conducts heat. When you're using, using a synthetic fiber and a brush, it's, it's all those things come into play if you have naturally wavy curly hair and you're trying to smooth it out. So I'm not a fan of hot tools as far as a flat iron curling iron, just sparingly, but picking up like those air curlers and stuff I think are great.

So I've definitely been doing all of this wrong as I know some, some of you all like, I literally do everything wrong. And, and then I, and then what I do is not only do I rough dry it, I'll then smush it with the flat iron and then I'll take the curling iron and then I'll spray it with hair. Like I do all the things wrong. So that's why it's like straw right here. I, I'm very aware of that. But when, when is it all marketing gimmick? When you hear things like ceramic flat iron or ionic flat iron or curling iron, is that doing anything?

I'd say most of the time that's marketing, especially when I've looked and looked into getting things made. It more has to do with the coating on the irons. I do feel like ceramic is nice. It's a little softer and forgiving.

Okay.

Basically, when you see a barrel that's really shiny, it has no protection on it. So if it's more of a matte finish, then it probably has a ceramic coating, which is just another layer of protection for your hair. It also glides through your hair a lot better. So I, if you're not as comfortable with a hot tool, start with ceramic. I feel like that's best. You really only see people using the shiny irons if they're professionals. And I, I think they're way less forgiving. So I wouldn't start there.

I didn't know that. Okay, so if we, if we are going to keep beating our hair into submission, we want a not shiny hair tool.

Yes. And we ceramic and we want to.

Ideally first dry with a bore brush and a dry. That makes sense versus doing What I'm doing with the rapid dry and then doing it.

Yep.

I think women as we age, like if I look at my daughter's hair because she's 18, it is super shiny.

Right.

And as we age, I can see women's hair is not as shiny. Now what is that from coloring grays or what is that?

So your hair is losing moisture. So the problem with a lot of the products, topical products out there, is that they are protein focused. They're biotin, their keratin. And if you do too many of those things, even ingesting vitamin biotin, I don't recommend that it dries out your hair. So with aging, you're already just getting drier. In general, you're seeing it with your skin and everything else. So your hair is the same way. So if you're losing shine, put hydration back in. So using anything that's got oils in it, butters like it depends on your texture, what's going to be the most responsive. But in general, if you're at a store looking at something to strengthen your hair versus hydrate, reach for hydrate over strengthening pretty much every single time if you're aging.

And then you mentioned a bunch of the things that I also, I realize now I'm doing wrong that have all the. What were the ingredients like silicone or is that what it is that inherit the shiny stuff that's in products is that that's making it worse.

Coating it with silicones is not great. But most of the products are. Have biotin and keratin in it.

Okay. Keratin is what it is. Yep.

Yeah. And your hair is made of keratin. But too much of a good thing is, is not a good thing. So I would rather get your protein from your diet and then just with your hair, work on hydration.

Got it. Okay, talk to us about the extension history and just to. I know when I first got extensions, it was my gosh, 20 years ago. And I was embarrassed that I had them. Like, I didn't want anyone to know I had them. It was kind of, it was a newer thing. At least I thought it was newer. And they were these individual ones. And then I thought back even before that. I remember in the 80s and 90s, I had friends, moms who did wigs. Like they literally wore wigs. It feels like extensions have become very, very common. Like anytime I see a woman in their 40s or 50s with long healthy hair, I would say nine times out of 10, it is some form of extensions. And I think it's very confusing to people. Like, there's so many different types. Can you give us kind of like an extension 101, what they are?

Yeah. So there's, there's DIY, which is something you do yourself, and then there's permanent. So permanent was pretty much the only thing out there aside from clip ins back in the day. And I do feel like the stigma is gone. It's not so much a secret anymore. We're sharing about what we're doing to look a certain way, but. And more people need it. It used to be more of a want you'd get extensions if you were just being extra. And now it's, I just want to feel normal, so I'm getting extensions. So in permanent, there's an array of methods and it really depends on what you need specifically. So tape ins, the individuals which are keratin bond or itip. And then there's wefts. And wefts have really gotten popular because they give you the most coverage with the least amount of attachment points. The problem is some stylists will attach too much hair to those wefts and it causes too much tension which. Which will give you. It just adds to your. Your thinning problem. So making sure you're getting the right method that goes with your hair type and what your needs are, very educated. Stylist helps. And then as far as the DIY goes, it used to be clip ins or wigs. There was nothing in between. Yeah. So halos came out about 20 years ago and there was only a couple brands that started with that, and those were great because there was no attachment point. So it just sat on your head, which is great to not cause any damage. But there's clip ins, there's toppers, which are basically like a partial wig. So it's not going to cover all of your hair. For some people it will, but the intention is to work with your hair.

Okay.

And then there's accessories like ponytail pieces and bang pieces. And there's been a lot of thinning categories added to extensions. So it used to be just a wig or a topper. Now there's like thinner, more modular options depending on where your thinning is. And each brand kind of has its focus of what it does. But if you're shopping extensions, you should know that if you haven't found what you're looking for, it's probably out there. Just keep looking. It's just finding the right, you know, the right fit. Yeah.

When you look at permanent extensions, what is your feeling on them as far as Damage to our hair? Is it technique? Is it the kind do they damage if they're done right?

Like what?

That's very confusing too. Like, some people swear it damaged all their hair and some people say, I think for mine it's like actually protected my hair. But I'm. I'm wondering your thoughts as a professional here.

So I think there's two sides of it. So it's the technique for sure. If you have a stylist just, you know, being quick and not paying attention, of course that's gonna cause tension. Let's say that you do have a good stylist. Most of the damage I feel like comes from just prolonged wear. If you, even if you're being gentle and it's just tugging in the same position for years, anyone should take a break. But what you don't realize is when you're heat styling your hair with extensions, your hair usually comes halfway down to the length that you chose. And where you're focusing the curling iron or the flat iron is usually mid strand to ends. So even though you're not damaging the ends of your extensions, you're torching the ends of your natural hair, which can keep this vicious cycle going. So if you have extensions, just make sure that you are not doing that. And then you really should see a lot of growth. With permanent extensions, it's more just if you want to invest the time and money into that. But if that, if you cannot live without them, then I think they're great as long as you're finding the right fit with extension and stylus.

So when I've shared about my breakage here or my hair loss on the sides, some people said, well, that's your extensions, but I want to share. My extensions don't even touch those areas. So typically your extensions are like, they start almost like above and behind your ear and go around. So there is no extensions in that front area. So that. That's not the case with me. I have seen some pictures of what you're talking about though, where people use too many wefts on something or it's too close to the scalp or they're just not being cared for and it can actually rip your natural hair out. But it sounds like that's really technique related.

I feel like it. Unfortunately it happens a lot, but it is technique. So I would start there first before you decide I need to totally ditch these. But anything with adhesive I would stay away from. Unless you are dealing with, with a educator, like someone top notch. But other than that, if it's More of a bead with sewing then.

Yeah.

Just make sure they know what they're doing. Yeah. And stay away from where you know you're thin already.

Now, I doubt anyone's listening to this or watching to this. That is like anti. Looking better for our age or hair because you would have tuned out at the very beginning. But in case you are still here, I just want to share. I'm from. My personal opinion on aging is however you want to age is amazing. Like, there is no right or wrong on how we age. What I think is very wrong and annoying is women judging other women about how they choose. So whether someone wants to be all natural or do all the fake things, whatever, I think it doesn't matter. I think we all get to age the way that we choose to. It's a privilege we get to. So I want to just kind of say my stance on that. My personal opinion is women do look healthier, more vibrant when their hair is shiny and full. I just, it's a, it's a noticeable thing. When I see dull, broken, thinning hair with, with it, it does age people. Just like I would say that about skin. That's not taken care of. That's just my, it's my opinion. I don't know, Jeff.

I, I 100 agree. And I, and it blows my mind how many women won't let themselves feel that way. I feel like when we're. When I'm consulting with people, that's the first hang up usually is like, I mean, can I. Is it okay that I want the longer. Is it okay that I want more hair? And it's like, yes, like, give yourself permission because you only get, you know, one life, one body. Like, do it. Do what makes you feel good and honestly know that everyone else is doing it.

It's an instant makeover. You all especially, like, if you don't want to do the lashes, whatever. It doesn't matter if you go from the thin, dull, not shiny, breaking hair to like, you've got more fullness. Whether it's length or just more fullness, it is night and day how it makes a woman look and feel. And, and I say feel because if you're more confident and you feel like it just, it puts you in a better mood, you're better at everything. That's, that's, that's my feeling around it.

I 100% feel that way.

So this is literally not an infomercial. I asked Jess to be on this show because I'm so fascinated with her product line and everything. So it may sound like an infomercial for a minute, but I want to. I want to talk to you about the Halo and Topper idea, because this is. To me, this is a game changer, and I didn't really understand or know about this. So when you look at extensions, you all. One of the big issues with extensions. My husband jokes that I have a Ferrari on my head, and he's not probably too far from the truth. I mean, if you think about it, I've had extensions for 20 years. I probably do have a couple Ferraris on my head. It.

They're not. It's.

It is not just. They're not just pricey, they're time consuming. Like, you have to deal with them every few months or sometimes every four weeks or It's. It's like an ongoing process. I'll tell you, I have the wefts. And if you're on social, you can. I mean, sorry, if you're on Instagram or YouTube, wherever you're watching this, probably YouTube, you can see if you're on podcast, definitely look on YouTube. But I have. It's like these Sony in wefts. I have two rows of them right now. And for that specific kind, it requires you have to move them up every four to six weeks and you have to totally replace them every six months. So the hair is there, but you have to do that. So what happens is it's not just the time, it's the money. So what Jess came up with, and this is really cool, and I want to show you first that you didn't know I was going to actually do this on video. If you're listening on podcasts, you're missing out. So you might want to come back and definitely listen on YouTube too, and watch here. So I'm going to show you guys, this is so funny. I'm going to pull it out right now. It's not a toupee, it's a topper. So Jess recently custom styled this topper. If you're not watching it on video, it's this hair piece that literally clips on your head the way you'd put a Brett in. So, like these little breadths, you can see that, and it clips right on. And it can make. Not just bangs, it can undo a receding hairline. It can create full. It can cover damaged pieces. And I'm sitting here doing this without even seeing myself on camera. I'm looking at Jess when I'm just going to do it. It has a little part that lines up with your part, and it Literally, you snap it and you clip it and it has. But look at this. If you guys are watching, look at that instant shine and fullness right here. And even highlights. And it brought my forehead down a little bit. And I know I probably didn't do that to your exact way, Jess, but I just wanted to show people how easy that was. So tell us about this topper idea. Because I was joking calling it a toupee, and you're like, it's not a toupee. Talk to us about the top. The topper idea, where this came from.

Well, the topper's so great because at first people thought, I have to be like balding to knit a topper. No, you just have to want more hair. So there's different densities, different sizes of caps. The one that you're wearing is our middle thickness. It's machine sewn. But we have hand tied options as well. So if someone's like really thin, I usually push them to a hand tied because it looks more natural on them. But that's the point, is that you have options. And then we custom color them. So. So to get those highlights the way that they are, we had to start with a blonde piece.

Okay.

And color it that way so that it would match. But that's the key to looking for toppers. You need something that's customized because it's on top of your head, so it's not forgiving and blending. But the topper is nice because it's. It can clip onto your. Your natural hairline. You can place it as far back or forward as you want. Or there's also topper bands that are kind of like a headband that you can attach it to if you don't want to put any tension there. But they're, they're really easy to use. I feel like it's more of a mental game of I'm wearing a topper.

So let me tell you guys why I got it. I got one of these. I got one for a couple reasons. One, I have to stop hurting those side pieces of my hair in front of my bangs.

It's.

That's not amazing. So what I decided is if I do this when I want to curl or do that, it just, it takes all that pressure off my natural hair, so it's not hurting it. The second reason I got it is I am self conscious about my forehead. It's becoming a five head. And I liked that I could play with this. And actually, I'll have to get more from you because I'm now It's like a styling thing. You want to do different, different kinds. But I, I realized you can place it in different ways to almost make a different hairline or to add bangs. It's pretty cool. So. But the other reason. And you didn't even say this to me, Jess, but this was the best thing ever. You know how you all. If you color your hair, you know, it's in every two or three week commitment, you start getting those grays. You don't have to do that. You can wait. You can. And cover it up with this instead of wood spray, which makes your hair totally greasy and dirty. Do you have women that get it for that reason?

Oh, yeah, I have, I have women that are like, I travel a lot and I'm. My hair is great on day one and crappy after that, so I want to wear something that looks amazing all the time. And it's. There's so many applications, so it just snaps on.

So you guys, I have like a. So I have kind of an aggressive one. Mine has a lot more. It's a full topper. But she, they have them, she has them that are smaller than this. So they're just the front being piece or just a small piece there. So it's, it's just wild. I also like that you can play dress up in a way and be different styles and colors and without damaging your own hair.

Oh yeah, stop. Stop ruining your hair and just do it with extensions. I mean, even if you had the permanent extensions, I'm sure your stylist was like, oh, let's just add more lightness here and not on, you know, your natural hair. So I. People just gotta open their minds a little more to the options.

So if, what do people do wrong if they hear this and they're like, oh, a topper would be cool.

But.

But obviously you can just go on Amazon and find stuff. But what would be the problem with doing that or just buying something on TikTok shop or whatever?

Well, any hair extensions, but especially toppers, you're going to see a wide range in quality. Okay, so you definitely want real hair, human hair, ideally customized. If you're buying something just out of the box, ready to go. I mean, if you're getting something cheap, just assume it's not real, even if it is not a regulated industry as far as wording. So if they say it's remy hair, it's 100%, whatever.

What does that even mean, Remy hair?

When people say that Remy means it's human hair. Okay, but it doesn't mean that it's 100% human hair. It could be 50% at least. With synthetic, it could. And you'll know once you've bought a few, you'll realize where the quality comes into play. If you're someone who's just a one and done it was for an event, then maybe that'd be fine. But if you want something for, you know, everyday wear, you want to invest in quality.

Okay, so now I want to talk about the halo. So the halo has been around for many years, but it looks like this. It's an actual full set of extension with a. It's like a fish wire. If you're looking on YouTube, you can see this. It's like a fish wire. Give us a little bit of background on this.

So the halo is nice because that is probably the most applicable to everyone. And if they're a little nervous about starting with extensions, a halo goes underneath your hair. So it's not visually as shocking if. If you were to do a topper, if you weren't ready for that. So a halo is nice because you can place it underneath your hair. It's not a. There's no clips. At least on mine, there's no clips. You don't need it. It's adjustable with the wire. So if you don't have any extensions in, it can give you just fullness, no length. You can add a lot of length. There's a lot of options and density and. And length options. But it goes underneath your hair and it just blends in with your hair is the point.

Okay, so you guys, if you're watching on YouTube, I want you to see how easy this is. So what I'm going to do here, I have two rows of extensions. So Jess taught me to go. Because I have two rows. I'm going to go under the first row. That's what you said, right? Yeah, the first row. So I'm picking up the first row of my hair and I'm just going to. Gonna tie it in a little knot real quick with my ponytail holder just to get it out of the way. So if you're watching on YouTube, you'll have a nice little show here. Then what I do is I slide this just like on top of this little bun. I'm interrupting this episode for just a moment because I want to shout out one of my show sponsors, the Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club. And you can find them@getfreshnataliejill.com now you're going to want to listen to this because here's the Deal. We all love olive oil. And the problem with supermarket olive oils is with olive oil, the four most important words to remember is the fresher the better. And that's because olive oil, olive is actually a fruit and olive oil is actually a fruit juice. Did you know that like other fruit juices, olive oil is at its peak of flavor and nutritional potency when it's fresh pressed. But supermarket olive oil sits on the shelf for months, even years, growing stale, dull, flavorless, and eventually it turns rancid acid. So the solution is fresh pressed artisanal olive oils shipped directly to you from each new harvest. And you can receive this literally right at home. The world's most delicious artisanal olive oils, direct from gold medal winning small farms right at harvest time when the oil's flavor and nutrients are at their absolute peak. This is the super cool idea behind the fresh pressed olive oil club. It's the brainchild of T.J. robinson, aka the Olive Oil hunter, as he calls himself, which is very fitting. And as a midlife conversation listener, they are offering a super cool special, an introduction to his club. TJ is willing to send our audience members that means you a retail size 39 bottle of one of the world's finest artisanal olive oils fresh from the new harvest for just $1. Just $1. Like you help him cover the shipping and you get it for free. Best of all, with TJ's club, there's never a commitment to buy anything now or ever. And you can cancel your membership anytime time. So you can try a bottle for just $1 and taste the difference yourself. You get this@getfresh nataliejill.com now, there are so many health benefits of olive oil, y'. All. You know, it lowers heart disease risk, reduces the LDL, bad cholesterol and triglycerides, helps prevent type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, high blood pressure. There's so many things. And it's high in antioxidants and strengthen our immune system. It's also yummy. It's yummy. I pour it on my eggs. I poured on everything, y'. All. I poured on everything. It's so good. And olive oil is also high in mono unsaturated fat, which does not oxidize in the body. And it's low in polyunsaturated fats, the kind that does. So it's a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, proven to be among the healthiest in the world. It has zero carbs, so it's ideal for low carb ketogenic paleo. However, you're eating and flavor. Any chef will tell you fat is where the flavor is, especially when you use a fresh, fresh, healthy fat from olive oils like this makes many dishes more delicious, including, my gosh, all of your favorites. Any salad you're having fish, you can put it on steak. You can put it on everything. It's good. Anyways, take advantage of this awesome offer. Go to getfreshnataliejill.com and you could do the $1 trial. Just. I just want to show you guys how easy you could literally do this in a car while you're a passenger. I'm just gonna put it on just like that. Okay. Then I'm going to pull out the ponytail holder. Voila. And I'm going to take a comb and just to pull out. Am I doing this right, Jess? I'm just going to undo my hair so it's not showing. That fish wire kind of. You're brushing it out again. I'm doing it kind of messy, but I want you guys to see how long and thick and highlighted. It just added to my hair.

Super quick and easy.

Quick and easy. So what I figured out when you did this to me is the first thought, and I'm not fully committed yet, Jess. But my first thought was, well, why do I even need extensions? Like, what's the point? Why couldn't I just do this all the time?

Right.

However, I'm not there yet. So what Jess suggested was, well, you could go down or actually, our friend Chalene suggested this too. Said go down to one row. It cuts your cost down, cuts the time down. And you could just do this when you want a little va va. Boom.

Yep. A lot of people just want extensions to, like, feel normal. And yeah. If. Unless you're married to the length that you have. But the one downside side with permanent extensions is you're stuck with the length that you chose. Yeah. So if you went down to one row, then you could have more flexibility to add length with a halo with it and then just have more of an everyday length that maybe isn't as difficult to manage from day to day.

And I love this too, because, look, it's like, gives you this full ponytail or whatever. So this last. The time I was recording, I was. Had had a surgery and I was offline for a little while, and my hair was super dirty and gross, and it had definitely past the day of. You can get away with this. So we were going to dinner, and I thought, well, wait a minute, I didn't have time to wash my hair. And I didn't feel like washing it. So I instead not only put the halo on, I put the topper on top of the halo. So I was like double fisting. It's double herring, I guess. Double herring. I put it and I, and I, I wore it all out and it looked great and it felt great. And I was always afraid, is it going to feel like a wig? And it doesn't. Didn't at all. It just felt like I had extra thick hair.

I feel like most people, it's just, it's a mental game of like, does anyone gonna know like, I'm wearing one right now.

Oh, you. I could see you can't even tell. Okay.

Yep. So it just fills out my length. Yep, yep. Gives me like an inch. But I wear it just every day for more fullness because why not?

Do you have any real like the permanent extensions in or you just do the halos now?

No, no, I just do the halos. I was doing permanent for a long time and, and I installed permanent ones for a long time. But then I just like the variety of having different lengths and thicknesses. So this is better.

So what about taking care of something like this? What's the maintenance on these?

Very minimal. So that's a huge plus if you're contemplating permanent extensions, is that you only wash the halo. Specifically you wash every 12 to 16 weeks. The topper, if you're wearing it most of the week, then I would wash it every six weeks or so. It's experiencing more elements, but very, very minimal. So otherwise you'll just store it on a hanger, put some oil on it. It holds its style really well. So if you have really fine hair and you're like, my hair, you know, I can'. It won't hold. Then lean on the extensions to hold your style because it will. So super, super easy maintenance. And then you only replace them. It depends on how often you're wearing it. But if you were wearing it every day, then you'd replace it every 12 to 18 months. And if it's less than that, then they last up to a couple years. So it just depends on the person.

Okay. So my biggest fear with the halo, so help you understand this would be. And I'm sure I, I know I'm not the first person to say this to you or ask is that you're out, you're feeling glamour us, you've got this great hair and you go dance and it falls, it breaks and falls off. Does that happen?

It. No, no. Okay. No. I tell people as Long as you're not going upside down, we should be fine.

Oh, or in a convertible, maybe on a converter.

Well, yeah, I mean, I rode mine on a roller coaster. I did. Like, yeah. I just kept my head pinned to the back, but it didn't go anywhere. Okay. But yeah, so I wouldn't worry about security. It's, it's a fishing line, so it's not going to come off.

Off because it would grab a big fish. Is that. I guess, yeah.

Okay. It's. So it's really strong. Worst case scenario, like if it's someone's wedding and they're like, I don't even want to think about it. You could sew a clip or two to it just to reinforce, but you don't need it, so it should not fall off. It's not going anywhere.

Do you have to have a certain length of hair to be able to use these or a certain amount of hair?

As far as a topper goes, no. Unless you are. It depends on how thin you are. Like, I work with a lot of post chemo patients and, and they'll. It just. You'll know when you're ready for a topper. Other than that, it really just needs a few hairs to latch on. And then with a halo, it needs to be, I'd say close to chin length, but it really depends on how your hair's cut. So if you are like really thin on the ends. Okay. You have a lot of hair up close, then you could probably go a little shorter. But that's, that's the point of consulting is that I can tell you like, it needs to grow like another inch or we can, but this, we can only add 2 inches. So there's just parameters.

Could a halo and a topper be better than a wig for people that have been wearing wigs and struggling?

So honestly, I've never worn a wig, but I do get that feedback. A lot of I wore wigs and I'm so done with it. I want to wear a topper and a halo. So from customers perspectives, they prefer it. I don't know if it's just it breathes better or you have more options. But yeah, you definitely could fully transform your hair. I have clients that are growing out pixies and they'll do a topper with a halo at any length. I even have clients that just have, have tons of color variations just for fun, like platinum all the way to Bern. So there's a lot of options.

If you were totally bald and doing a wig, like you've Gone through chemo radiation. Like you there. This is something. Or you. Or alopecia. Could you do a halo with the topper?

With the band. You with the band? Yes. So you'll, you'll know, because the nice thing about where this attaches to is it kind of clears that whole top center where you. Most people get the alopecia, and it attaches outside of that. So the topper band, it has a little slit in the front where you attach the front clip, and then you do need the back clips. But if you're wearing it with a halo, you can attach the back clips to the halo. So there's a, There's a way to do it if you, if you're totally bald, I'd recommend a wig. If you're. But if you have some hair coming back in, it can, it can be really short. It only needs to be, like an inch or two long for a topper and a halo to work together.

So, Jess, I know your company is ensemble Hair, and we're going to talk about how people can do a consult there. But let's just say someone's like, okay, I, I don't. I was really interested in the beginning part of this conversation. Like, they're like, I want to grow my hair. I. I'm really committed to that. Then maybe they got their eyes open about using a bore brush and the ceramic, you know, and not the quick drying and all that. They just want healthier hair. Is this, could this help with that transformation? Like, could this help protect during that?

Yeah, I, I would like to think that when you wear extensions, you are less concerned about your natural hair. It's. If someone gets a really bad haircut or it's really damaged, then if they just have the vis that they want in the mirror, then they're not as, you know, neurotic about, like, I'm going to curl this one piece and I'm going to do all the things. Just leave. Just leave it alone. So I. At ensemble, we talk a lot about addressing all the other concerns and healthy hair care, because even though we don't sell anything in that category, but just because it goes hand in hand, so our extensions aren't damaging, we also don't want you to be ruining your hair with other things that you're doing. So this, this helps a lot because it's not putting more tension on your hair, and it lets you give your hair a break week.

Okay, well, you guys, I'm convinced. I mean, I, I got not just the halo, but I did the topper and now I'm already. I'm already thinking. I was just. I texted Jess over the weekend. I'm like, my daughter's 18 and she keeps asking about extensions and I'm like, absolutely not. Like, I'm not. I am. I don't want her to do that at 18 and then feel like she needs them forever. And also, my gosh, the time and the expense. But right away I was like, wait, this would be a perfect thing for an 18 year old because it is temporary. It is a lot less expensive and they. They get tired of it. It's like they're tired of it. It's. Or they can change it out. Do you have many. Do you have that age group coming in for them or is that just.

Yeah, yeah. My own 16 year old, she has a halo because same. It's crazy how early they want these extensions.

I know they're in right now and.

It'S such a better cost effective option, but it's the same way that you're like, oh, I don't want to start something too early. And then they kind of have this hair dysmorphia of like, I need this. So I think it's important to have something that you view somewhat as an accessory just for the mental aspect too, especially with, um. But this is a great cost effective option. It's not going to cause any damage. It. They are so hard on their hair already. They don't know because they haven't. They haven't experienced the damage yet.

So they look, you guys, I'm taking it off as we're talking. Look, just boom.

It's like taking your bra off at night.

That's it.

Just let it go.

Just like that. I like that. You can also hang it up. You can hang it up and style it. But see, this is what. So if you guys are looking on YouTube, you can see my natural hair color or my colored hair color that it is now is a lot darker. But what we did was we highlighted these versus highlighting my real hair so it doesn't damage my real hair. So. Because when you put this in, it blends through. It just gives me those lighter shades, which already made me think like, oh, I could do this with a red one or I could. You could do different colors. That's kind of cool. Do you have people that do that? And it's kind of like an outfit change. They have different.

Yeah, I have a couple clients that do Topper and halo combinations and they have so many. They just.

Yeah, I mean, that's fun. So they can change all the things. Can you do that? Can you take someone with my color, like dark hair, and do that? Can you do those extreme things?

Yeah. On my Instagram, one of my popular videos is that I. I pull my hair back into a ponytail and then I attach colors that are not even remotely close to mine, but I do a topper and a halo combo just to show that it does not matter what your hair looks like underneath. Yeah, you can. You can do anything. If you're trying to work with your color, then there's parameters. But even then, clients that are like, I don't want to color my hair for a year, give me like a fall option and a spring option then. And, you know, I'm. I'm a hairstylist, so I. If you're sending me some inspiration, like, we. We can do just about any. The only parameter, and I do have to say is that we don't have gray blends. So that's something that we're working on, but we don't have that yet. So if you.

Okay.

If you want to. If you want to.

If that would be cool to do that, to have gray and silver blends. That would be cool.

Yeah. It gets asked a lot. Honestly, I have a list, a waiting list going.

Yeah. Because that's. I think that's actually pretty. When people have their natural gray or silver, but. And it's long and thick and shiny and all that. That's actually a great idea.

Yeah. Yeah. So other than that.

That's wild. Okay. How if somebody wanted to try this out and they wanted to have. Because Jess recommends. And I do too, now that I have them. Is you. You want this custom for you. It's really important. So it's. And I know you said you do them remote, but how does that even work? Like, how can someone do one remote? And how can you actually help them over zoom or whatever it is? They're not in your chair in Arizona.

So we do everything through messaging. And you're actually consulting with me, but you go on my website, I have a form that you fill out, and it gets you a response, you know, immediately. It's a quick questionnaire. And then I get pictures from you. I ask you, what are you looking for? For extensions? Most people tell me a little bit of a backstory of, you know, what they're looking for and why. And then I send examples for color. I send some videos of thickness options. I just start recommending and then. And it. We come to an agreement pretty quick because I feel like I'm really good at knowing what people are looking for. And then if you need help, I have hundreds of videos on my website categorized so that if you're struggling with something you, there's care videos involved and I'm always available if someone needs support so they just message that same number. And if someone's like I. So I need help with placement.

So like okay, like I just sent you. One of my friends, one of my friends, Amy went to you and she said that she did a consult and she ordered. I don't remember what she said she ordered, but she said she ordered something. So what happens? Like I know you custom color and do it based on video, but what happened if it gets, she gets it and it doesn't like fully blend, does she take it to her hair person to style and cut or what's the process there?

So for her specifically too, she, she's kind of undecided on where she wants to go with her extensions. And so because they're customized, I am happy to make adjustments to them. I like to give myself room to do that. So what I told her is I'm going to send you this extension. We're going to color it conservatively to see what you think and then, then you'll. I'll send it back to me and I'll add more dimension to it if it needed to be cut a little shorter, more layering added. So you're not just gonna get a piece and then it doesn't work out and you're screwed.

And you can do that with them not in the chair. So they don't have to be there for you to help get that right.

We ship all over the world and we probably at this point do 5% in person and the rest online. And I can tell from a console from the get go if we're gonna need maybe a two revision setup with toppers that's a little more common if they're like, I think I want this but I' I'm or I think I want it to be dark, but I'm not sure. So then we'll be conservative with coloring because I can build on it. So they are final sale because they're customized but I can make adjustments to the color and cut after they receive it to make it perfect. So having that, that's how confident I am in the support and that in making someone, you know, happy is that I'm not going to leave them hanging high and dry with a piece that they have if, if the color's not right. So that's Something we do.

Got it. You all, I highly recommend, do a consult with Jess. How do they. How do they find you? Where do they go? Go to fight to do this because.

It'S a free consult, right? Yeah. No pressure. No pressure. And some people that just want to find out information and then reach out when you're ready afterwards, go to ensemblehair.com. you'll see inquire right at the top. You fill out that form, and I reach out to you within minutes. Or you can also text Halo or topper to 480-581-8242. And that also jumps the line as well.

So that number one more time, and I'll put it in the show notes. But what was that number that they called?

Call. It's 480-581-8242. And text Halo or Topper.

Halo or Topper. That's amazing. But don't write a whole thing because it's probably automated. So don't. Don't give her your story on the text. Right.

I can see your responses. The beginning of it is a quick questionnaire before I jump in.

Got it. Okay, y', all, I think this is the. The birds, the cat's meow, the bird's wing. I don't know. I think this is so cool. I. I don't know. I think I had seen Halos in a mall a long time ago, and I might have bought one when they were first a thing, and I didn't like it. They've come a long way, and I wish I knew about this a lot earlier. I think it would have saved me a lot of time and money. And, y', all. I did. I wanted to have her on here because, you know, I'm trying to help y' all look and feel your best in midlife, and this is one of those hacks that I think is really important to know about it. Jess, by the way, this is her business ensemble hair, but she also has a salon in Arizona. It's called Jess Salon, where they do extensions and full service. So she's not against the regular extensions. I just like this as another option that's more affordable. It's. You could change it up more, less maintenance. All the things. Anything I missed, Jess, that you want.

People to know, just don't be afraid to ask questions. I feel like a lot of people don't start this journey because they think, you know, I need to know more before I start. And you. You don't just come with your education, where you're at, and then just ask questions. And know that there's never too many questions and I'm happy to help. And you're not wasting anyone's time. So inquire and and we'll just see where you're at.

I forgot to ask one important thing. Curly hair. What if somebody has really curly hair? Can you do that for them?

We can as long as it's not like a coil. So that I and I have. I always tell people that if I can see it right away, but like a natural wave or a beach curl or even just most curl, it'll work because we can air dry and diffuse the halos and the extensions or I can heat style them in a way to m mimic your curl pattern. You just have to restyle it once you washed it.

But amazing. Okay. And I will. In the show notes, I'll link up Jess's information, but I'm also going to link up that Oso one one skin stuff because it did make a difference for me. Like it definitely made a difference on my side. I did not think it was working until I saw the difference and then I'm like, okay, wait a minute. So I'm doing both now. So awesome. Thank you so much Jess and enjoy everyone. If you guys do end up doing a consult with her and you get it, please tag me in a photo. I want to see these. Tag me and Jess on a photo on your Instagram. I want to see how you look. Thanks everyone.

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