Michael Suba - Continental Hair

Earlier in the year, I was contacted by a long-time client. She asked me about the Contressa System and would it be appropriate for a teenager going through Alopecia. I told her that it was a perfect solution for alopecia, and many of my younger clients love it because it is so close to getting their hair back. One of my clients would wear it as a traditional wig, taking it off and on whenever she liked but when she would go away on summer courses she would have it bonded down so she would never be without it no matter what.

Well, that’s just what this young teenager wanted. The hair loss had been rapid and traumatic and with the Covid lockdowns, she was anxious for some kind of normalcy. She lives in western Ontario so it was thought best for her and her parents to go to the Sarnia Continental Hair. Vessela, who is an expert on this type of hair design, drove out to Sarnia to meet with her and take her measurements and specs. Since then Vessela has moved to Sarnia permanently and will be looking after her there. In 3 – 4 months all would be ready. (Update: Since the writing of this article, Vessela has become the manager of the Sarnia salon!)

So everything went smoothly. Until late May. The girl’s mother called and asked when her daughter could expect the delivery of her hair system. I checked my book and saw that it should be coming any time. I assured her I would call the moment it arrived. But several weeks passed and it did not get here. I saw that two shipments had come from the factory but her Contressa was not there. I contacted the designer in Milan and asked when I could expect it. He told me that I had already got it. That it was shipped three weeks earlier.

That kinda stunned me. I literally tore my office apart looking for it. I thought it must have come in and I put it away in another client’s spot. Or something. I could not believe that it had arrived and then was misplaced. The next day I was sent the tracking number and looked up my DHL portal to see when it was delivered. There was the problem; it had not been delivered. It was in a warehouse in Hamilton. For almost three weeks it had been there. I phoned my contact at DHL and she started digging. I do a lot of shipping with DHL and they are kind enough to assign me a contact that I can call when I need help. Unfortunately for her, she was just assigned and this was her first experience with me.

I checked the portal daily for any updates. After a few days, I called the girl’s mother to bring her up to date. I was told that if the Contressa was not delivered in a week then she would cancel going to camp. There was no way she would go with a regular wig. I gave her the tracking number so she could check on any progress herself. I also told my DHL contact what was in this shipment and why it was so important. She booted that info upstairs to her bosses (the girl’s mother called and made her case as well) and actually, that seemed to have moved the needle. I do not know quite what the problem was but suddenly it seemed to be solved. I got a call from my DHL person and she was ecstatic. The parcel had been released and I could expect it tomorrow. I checked with the portal and yes, there it was.

So I was relaxed for the first time in 9 days. Then, while I was at home watching Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm, my cell phone rang. I did not see a name but it was a 905 number. I checked the time like I always do when I am at home and the phone rang and it was 7:40. A voice asked if I was Michel Suba:

“Yes,” I replied.
“I am from DHL and I have a parcel for you.”
“Okay, Where are you?” I asked.
“I am in front of your salon.”
Really? It’s almost 8 o’clock why am I getting a delivery now?
“Can you tell me where it’s from?” I inquired
“It’s from Hamilton.”
I started to get a little exasperated. But he seemed to catch on.
“Oh, I see, it’s from Dermal Italy.”
This was The One!
“STAY RIGHT THERE! I AM ONLY THREE BLOCKS AWAY! I WILL BE THERE IN TWO MINUTES!”

I run downstairs and throw on my shoes, not even tying them. I run across the street to my car and race off. I get in front of the salon… and no one is there. I look around for a DHL truck but nothing.

“I think he scarpered.”

I called the number that was called on my phone. No answer. But this man gets out of a black car and asks if I am Michael Suba.
Did they send it from Hamilton with an Uber Driver? Whatever, it’s here. I take it home and keep it where I can see it. I do open it and, yes, it’s hers. I emailed the mom and tell her that “It’s here and it’s spectacular!”
The father, not trusting any more couriers, actually came by and drove it to Sarnia. Vessela applied it and styled it. She sent me photos (which I cannot show) and it looked lovely.

Sometimes you gotta shake the tree to get something loose.

Every year or so this happens to a client of mine. I am actually surprised that it doesn’t happen a lot more considering we work with virgin hair so much. But when it does happen it can be very traumatic. And all too often clients come to us after the fact when we are in damage control mode. Let’s see if we can change that.

Follow the instructions

When you are washing your wig or hair system, it might seem obvious, but you really are better off reading the instructions on how to care for it. Yet sometimes, even if you care for it correctly and even in an older piece that has been worked with for years, something can happen and the hair starts to tangle. This is more likely to happen with virgin hair.

The downside of virgin hair

Virgin hair is top-quality hair, prized for its natural beauty. One of the reasons for this is that it still has the cuticles on the hair shaft.

But it comes at a price.

Because the hair is knotted into the base of the wig or system, the hair shaft must be folded at the knot.* When this is done, the hairs on the short length of hair after knotting (what I call the “returns”) have their cuticles going in the opposite direction than the longer part of the hair shaft. When wet and agitated roughly, the cuticles will start to barb, and then tangle, and then even dread. This is usually not what you want to happen to your beautiful investment.

DON’T brush it

When you first see some hair bunching (wigmakers call it “flowering” because the loops of hair going back in on itself look like petals) DON’T DO ANYTHING! I mean this. Most people will panic and start trying to brush it out aggressively. This makes it worse by binding the cuticles together more.

DON’T condition it

Some will put lots of conditioner on it. That also makes it worse. The moisturizers make the hair elastic and when you try to comb the knots out the hair shaft will stretch out and then snap back, tangling the flower some more.

DO let it dry

So you literally do nothing. Nothing at all. You go watch some TV or do some gardening or call a friend. Just let the hair dry on its own. When that’s done the hair will be strong and you can work with it.

DO tease it out gently

You take a narrow tail comb, or I even use the tail of a colour comb, and gently tease the hairs out 1 or 2 at a time. It’s time-consuming but if you have stopped when you first noticed the flowering you should not have too much to do. Be patient. When you can have your comb fall through it you can try gently washing it again. Slow and easy. It should be back to normal.

Virgin hair is the most natural there is and I think that there is no better way to get a natural look. The terms “remy” and “virgin” hair have been abused and in many cases, the original meanings have been lost in a rush of marketing. But it does have its downside. Be careful. Don’t panic. It will be fine.

If you have any questions about caring for your wig, feel free to email me with any questions mi*****@*************ir.com, or on our Facebook page.

All the best,

Michael

*This is when the hair is knotted properly with the root to root and tip to tip (what the term “remy” hair refers to). If the direction of the hair is mixed then this is a much more serious issue.

Dear Continental Hair community,

We remain healthy and sane and hope this message finds you in similar spirits. Our top priority remains to ensure the health and safety of our team, clients and community – we all play a role in public health. We are closely following Government of Ontario announcements and have interpreted the “retail” aspects of their new guidelines as allowing us to open certain aspects of our services.

We take our responsibility to provide a safe, sanitary and comfortable salon very seriously and would like to familiarize you with our planned re-open policies. Not to worry, we will remind you of these new procedures via appointment confirmation and will need your consent to the relevant terms and conditions.

Arrival Time

Our biggest goal is to limit the number of people in the salon at the same time. Hence, we ask that you please attend your appointment by yourself and arrive 5 minutes prior as a waiting area will no longer be available. We will guide you to your assigned space and encourage you to stay in that area for your visit.

Limited Availability

To achieve the best social distancing possible, we will only be using only one client per floor and will need to make schedule changes. Right now we cannot perform any services that require a client and staff to be in proximity to each other. So no work can be done on your own hair or on a permanent attachment system. Only work on a detached wig or postiche, such as a wash and set or colour, can be done while you are at a distance. As our schedule is now a complete mess please be patient as we juggle everyone’s requests.

Protective Equipment

It is mandatory that you receive your service wearing a mask; please bring one as we will have limited quantities. Everyone working will also be wearing a mask.

For the sake of sanitation, we will be providing all clients with a protective layer, neck strip and towel.

Hand Washing & Sanitizer

Upon arriving, please sanitize your hands with either a 70% alcohol gel or soap and water at our designated wash station. We will be washing our hands before and after each client as well if necessary to leave and return during a service. Further, all relevant tools will be cleaned and disinfected before and after each appointment.

Health Check

We will confirm you are feeling healthy- no fever, cough or difficulty breathing. Also expect to have your temperature taken when you arrive with a contactless infrared thermometer. Any member of the team with a temperature above 99 Fahrenheit will be sent home, advised to seek medical attention and welcomed back when fever and any other symptoms of illness do not exist.

Limits to Personal Items

We ask that you limit your personal items to fitting into one small bag that remains in your assigned area. Please plan accordingly as no food or drink will be permitted and we will unfortunately not be offering any beverages.

Payments

To limit front desk interactions, prepare to pay for services and products with a wireless pin pad from your chair and make your next appointment requests via email.

Salon Environment

We are working hard to get our space health ready. We are removing all extra objects and furniture so that we can effectively clean throughout the day. We are committed to getting this evolving situation right. Our health depends on it.

Video Consultations

For those who would prefer to stay at home, we are offering video consultations to anyone interested. You’ll need either a computer with a webcam and microphone (most laptops are equipped with these) or a smartphone. Right now we use Zoom.

Please contact us via phone or email so we can make the arrangements!

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In the meantime, we encourage everyone to stay informed and follow the advice of health care officials.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Michael

To our Continental Hair community:

I hope this note finds you well! All of us are monitoring the novel coronavirus situation very closely and I wanted to reach out to all of you about what we are doing to keep Continental Hair salons safe and healthy for you and our staff and the community at large.

Although Continental Hair has always maintained a high level of hygiene we have enhanced these measures according to the latest guidance from the CDC, W.H.O, and our local public health officials. These measures include:

Regular disinfecting all high touch areas, including workstations, styling tools, capes, product displays, doors and chairs.
Lots of hand sanitizers. I mean lots. They are everywhere.
Continental Hair ensured that employees have the knowledge they need to stay healthy or stay at home if they are feeling unwell. These sick days will be paid.
The staff has requested that clients that are feeling unwell, or have travelled from a high risk area, to postpone their appointment until they are sure that they are well.
Clients can also avail themselves to masks that I have in the salon.

The fact is that there are many clients that come to Continental Hair that have compromised immune systems due to treatments, and the last thing we want is to cause them more risk, or have them become a vector to a hospital.

Many of our clients need to come and see us, that is the nature of this business, so we must make sure we take every precaution to ensure everyone’s health is the highest priority.

We are in a situation that has sharpened our focus on everyone’s safety and health. If you have any suggestions on how we may better serve this end, or any questions, please contact me.

Very best regards and thanks,

Michael Suba

President
Continental Hair Ltd

Many women have not even heard of this condition. They certainly don’t want to. You do not have to experience hair loss to understand how traumatic it can be. And although I do not have alopecia I certainly have seen a lot of it. Having grown up in this business I can safely say there are few people, excepting the most specialized dermatologists, that have seen more women experiencing alopecia areata/totalis/universalis.

I was inspired to write this note because a client of mine posted about her summer on Facebook.

When I first met her in the salon she was a teenager. The sudden loss of hair was devastating, but she surprised me as how stoically she took it. A couple years later she even modelled for a photo shoot and no one would have guessed that she had no hair. Over the past couple of months she posted about her summer. Her own kids (now teenagers) are having a great time at the water park. She posts selfies with her husband and her trip to Italy. I have to give my head a shake to realize that I have known this woman for over thirty years.

But then, when I started to think about it, there are a number of clients that have been with me that long. And I just don’t know where the time went. Some come in monthly like clockwork to have their wigs washed and blown out. Others I see every year or two (or longer) when they need a new one. There is even a client that bought her first wig from my mother back in 1982 and I have never met her; she just calls every once in awhile and orders her “regular” over the phone and I ship it out to her.

You need to know you are not alone. There are a lot of men and women that have this kind of hair loss and many put themselves out there to give you support and information. The fact that you might not know this is a testament to how natural the wigs they are wearing. Call The Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundation. Contact bloggers and pod-casters. They have been through this and are there to help.
You are still you. As odd as it might seem coming from a wig sales guy, its hair, and you are the same person underneath. You can still pursue the same dreams, the same careers, the same goals, the same happiness. If there is one thing my clients have taught me through these decades is that hair loss is not a barrier to anything you want to accomplish.
You can look the way you want. This is not the ’70’s. Hair systems have come a long way! There are all kinds of hair systems out there that deliver a natural look, in all price ranges. Like anything else you have to do your research and your shopping but we are not talking about your grandmother’s wig. There are still some clunkers out there but for the most part there is an excellent selection for you to choose from. You are free to choose the hair you want.

This is tough. I am not saying otherwise. All I want to say is that I have seen hundreds of women over the years and many now look forward to a visit to the salon.

Michael Suba

President
Continental Hair

When you are new to buying any product or service, it can be a challenge to get what is right for you. When I first started watching the night sky, I bought two useless telescopes before a found one that was right for me. I am sure that you have had similar experiences. It’s no different with hair.

The impetus to write this blog series comes from the fact that during the past year I have seen numerous examples of women who have purchased something that was not what they thought they were buying. It is very frustrating because they come to me to fix what they bought elsewhere and that usually is not possible. It goes to the quality of the product, and you cannot turn a Lada into a Mercedes.

So I have three stories to relate. I hope that they are helpful, and this by no means that I have a monopoly on beautiful hair. But as women’s hair enhancement has become more mainstream, more people see a “hot” market and want to take advantage of it.

The Postiche Lawsuit

The first story is about a dear client of mine. Her (and her daughter) have been with me for over fifteen years. They came in to see me last fall and immediately started apologizing to me. I asked them what the matter was.

The story goes, that since her husband passed away, she has not been able to afford the postiche/topper systems that I have made for her over the years. She decided to try another place. She showed them what “Michael made for her” and asked if this they could duplicate it.
“No problem,” was the reply, “That’s easy.”

Pictured below is what she received a couple of weeks later. It cost her $1,100.00:

Exhibit A: The Crime

She was handed this and told to bring it to her hairstylist and have it cut for her. When she showed this to me, I was appalled. I thought that this must be a joke. But she was close to tears. I looked at it again, and I tried to see if there was anything that could I could do with it.

My first impression, and it still is my opinion, is that this was the top of a wig that was cut off in a back room and cheap comb clips in a very amateur fashion were attached (yes, there are different qualities of comb clips).

The thread for the clips, their unexpected direction, it just indicated to me that this was just thrown together by someone that had no idea what they were doing.

And the hair! I had to do a burn test (something mah momma taught me) to determine if it was real hair or not. You use a lighter to burn some strands and can tell by the smell. It was hair, but it was not quality hair.

What’s worse, there was no way to style this hair. Below is the underside of a “Suzie” designed postiche/topper, and is what my client is used to receiving from me. You see the ‘polyester silk’ is the base material, and it has what is called a ‘French Part” to make the scalp look completely natural.

The French Part is challenging to make. The hair must be poked through the white silk and then knotted underneath, and then the knotting needle must be extracted without tearing the fabric.

It is tough, but the results are amazing when done correctly.

The ‘Suzie’ Postiche / Topper

So what could my client do? She could not wear this. And the salon she went to had stopped talking to her. They had “graciously” offered to make her a new one for several hundred dollars more, but my client declined.

I offered to take one of the old units that I still had of hers and re-condition it. I was going to forgo the cost, but she insisted on paying me for it. At least she would have something to wear.

It was essential to her and me. I have known her daughter for so long she has become a friend.

Case Closed

I heard the end of the story a few weeks ago. I bumped into her on Avenue Road, and she brought me up to speed. It was very stressful for her because she is the non-confrontational type, but she took the salon to court. The salon tried to argue their way out, but His Honour was having none of it. He ordered that my client receive a full refund. She was still wearing the topper that I had re-conditioned for her. She looked great!

What Should I Look For?

So let us go over how to avoid something like this happening to you.

See an example.

Remember, just because it is hair does not mean you are not shopping. See an example/sample of what is going to be made for you.
Try it on if possible. There is no way something off the shelf will give you a look you want without styling and colouring, but you can get an idea of where it can go.
Check the hair!

You can be told it is from Russia or Brazil. So what? Russian hair is usually not from high quality sources. Russian hair vs Brazilian? I can’t tell, and I’ve been doing this for some time now 🙂
Actually touch the hair. Does it feel nice? Does it look nice? Simple questions, and there should be simple answers.
And remember, the finished product should be like the sample.
The salon should take responsibility for the styling and finishing.

You should not just be handed something and told to go somewhere else. This should be included in the purchase price of the hair. You really are not buying a bunch of hair, you are buying a look.
What vibe are you getting?
Are you being rushed? Are they acting professionally? Are your questions being taken seriously? Are they pushing for a sale? You can go with your gut.

It is a good thing that hair enhancement for women is becoming more socially acceptable. I have never understood why adding something to get the hair you want was something to be embarrassed over.

But it does seem to be subsiding. And that is a good thing.

That being said, it can leave “nubees” (and even some veterans) in the game vulnerable. Take your time (I have had clients come back 20 years after their initial consultation). Don’t get into analysis paralysis, but don’t be rushed. You do not always get what you pay for.

Next story: Next week!