Why do celebrities' hair extensions look so terrible? I'm thinking of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Don't they have money and stylists?
—DR, Traverse City, Mich. via the inbox
You speak as if the only type of hair extension in Hollywood is the ratty kind. You would be wrong. It's very, very common for all manner of celebrities—A-list, B-list, and Kardashian—to have extensions, from Nicole Kidman and Cameron Diaz on down. Miley Cyrus has quite a decent headful of work, for example.
The reason why people like Britney and Lindsay do not? Well, how's this for an inside lock, er, look...
Most experts in this field must know how to cut and color hair while they're applying hair extensions; otherwise the finished product can appear jarring or simply fake—a waste of a full day at the salon. (And, yes, that's usually how long it takes to get a decent set of extensions—even for celebrities. That and, say, three grand.)
"The biggest mistake a stylist can make is saying, 'OK, you have brown hair, so here are some brown extensions," explains Kristina Barricelli, extension specialist at Gemini 14 salon.
When she does Cyrus's hair, for example, Barricelli makes sure to include three or four different shades of brunette into the mix.
Now let's talk about bad extensions.
Off the record, celebrity stylists tell me that one unfortunate star, who shall remain nameless but vaguely guessable, is her own worst enemy when it comes to her hair.
The star's extensions experts do a terrific job. But, I am told, the star does not allow the team to cut her hair to realistically blend the disparate pieces. The result: a head that looks like two eagles have been fighting over the nesting rights.
As for LiLo, the problem is slightly different. I asked Barricelli about what she thought of Lohan's extensions.
"Lindsay tends to like to wear her hair all one length," Barricelli noted to me. "If she were to get the right cut, with some layers to all movement into the hair, it would be a lot more believable."
Kate Gosselin could use a better hair job, too.
"You really need at least four inches or more of hair to start with," notes Ashley Anna, Great Lengths styling expert. "And since her hair was shorter than that, her hair looked like a mullet. Right now you can see where her own hair stops. A good option for her while growing her hair out would have been a lace front wig, which is what Beyoncé wears."
Maybe when LiLo finally has some, uh, free time her first stop should be at Barricelli's place?