Clip-on hair extensions were all the rage when Beth Orenstein returned to work as a hair stylist after an illness in the late 1990s. Applying the extensions was time consuming, and since Orenstein had not yet built up her client base, the other hairdressers often asked her to pitch in when women wanted the service. That serendipitous event has led to a full-fledged business for Orenstein, whose Woodland Hills company, Hair Incorporations, now specializes in hair replacement techniques for women who are balding. Hair Incorporations has grown five-fold since it opened in 2000, now employing three stylists. And the salon is currently undergoing its second expansion. But Orenstein’s specialty began almost by accident when she started applying extensions, not to women who just wanted a more glamorous look, but to those who needed to cover bald spots. “Women at the time went to men’s hair replacement centers,” said Orenstein of her start in the industry about 10 years ago. “It was hit and miss for a long time. But I had a group of very loyal women letting me do research and development on their heads.” According to the American Academy of Dermatology, some 30 million women are affected by hair loss, either through illness, genetics, hormonal changes or other conditions. Nationwide, about 3,500 studios and salons work in the area of hair replacement, but the majority of hair restoration services are targeted at men or handle both men and women, although that is changing, said Darla Smith, vice president of International Hair Goods, a manufacturer of hair replacement products based in Chanhassen, Minn. “In the last two years, there have been more specialized women’s studios popping up,” said Smith. “We’ve had a lot of men’s salons have to convert to women’s to get business because now, it’s okay for a guy (whose hair is thinning or balding) to shave his head.” But women experience hair loss differently than men, and that difference is what Hair Incorporations has always addressed. “Beth is so feminine, so caring,” said Smith. “She’ll spend hours designing to make it just right. We do a lot of her custom work, and her orders are so much more complex than the normal studio.” Emotionally, women’s hair loss is still a taboo subject, and the physiology of women’s hair loss is different often occurring in patches across the whole top of the head. “They’re miracle workers,” said Laura Katz, a client of the salon whose hair loss stemmed from weight loss and a pregnancy. “I didn’t know where to go. And they just made such a difference with the way I look and the way I feel.” When she began experimenting with different solutions, Orenstein was a stylist renting out a station at a Valley hair salon and helping women who simply wanted to have more hair by applying clip-on extensions for special occasions and such. Experimenting She noticed that the clip-ons did not stay on the heads of women who didn’t have enough hair, and she started jury-rigging solutions by tying commercial hair to the hair already on the head. “Covering the top of the head is very different from puffing up the hair and augmenting the hair you have,” Orenstein said. Pretty soon, Orenstein was developing a variety of techniques to solve different problems. “She’s an artist,” said Susan H., a client, who, like many, is especially enthusiastic about the fact that, since discovering Orenstein, no one need know that she is balding. “We all don’t walk out looking alike. Others shave your head and glue the hair on. That’s not Beth.” Orenstein, who was experimenting in a typical hair salon in the early years, began to face a unique problem. The more women discovered her services, the more difficult her job became. Most women experiencing hair loss do not want to visit a salon and sit side by side with women who are getting their plentiful mane blow-dried. “I could not do their hair in public in front of everyone else, so I was working at night,” Orenstein recalled. “That got to be difficult on my family.” The owner of the salon put up a wall to give Orenstein some privacy, but curious customers would peek over the wall. She left the salon for another that was able to provide her with a private room, but Orenstein still had to take customers to a common shampoo area, something she likens to asking a woman to walk around in her underwear. When her husband and daughter located an available space in the French Quarter center on Ventura Boulevard, Orenstein and an esthetician who had been working at the same salon decided to partner up to lease the space. In 2006 each of the women applied for and received a $25,000 micro-loan from the Valley Economic Development Center to open the salon. Client donations The funding was not sufficient to fully appoint the space, but Orenstein’s clients, and in particular, one customer who was redecorating her home, donated many of the things she needed. “I got beautiful chandeliers and marble sinks and French doors and lacquered kitchen cabinets,” Orenstein recalled. Orenstein figured she could make do running the business with an assistant, but it quickly became apparent that she needed more help. “At first I thought I would just have a big, private room and put a bell at the door and we would pop our heads out when someone rang it,” Orenstein said. “In the first couple of weeks it was a mad house with people coming in.” Orenstein soon hired a receptionist, and within a year, business had grown to where she had to expand again. Today, Hair Incorporations employs three stylists in addition to Orenstein and an independent contractor who rents out space in the shop. More recently, Orenstein has expanded her services as well. Women experiencing hair loss due to chemotherapy began hearing about the shop through word of mouth, and Orenstein, on a limited basis, was offering wig fittings. Now she has added a line of wigs as well. Hair Incorporations now provides a number of different hair replacement products as well as scalp treatments. And business continues to grow. Hair Incorporations clients, ranging in age from 3 to 70, come from as far away as Virginia, Houston, Utah and Washington. “I’m getting to where I don’t always have a chair for a client to sit in,” said Orenstein. “So I have to expand again.” Orenstein’s own personal life has also been marred with tragedy and loss. During the years she was building her business she lost her parents and her in-laws, and her own health problems began flaring up again several years ago. Orenstein looks at it all philosophically. “If I can get through what I’ve gone through, I can go wherever I want to go,” she said. She has taken up invitations to be a guest lecturer for other stylists, and she is exploring new technology to bring into her shop. “My goal is to have it become a place that other women who want to own salons can look at and learn from my triumphs and failures,” said Orenstein. “I’d like to mentor people the way I’ve been mentored. I’m at that point where I’m ready to give back.” Hair Incorporations Year Founded: 2000 Revenues in 2000: $39,576 Revenues in 2005: $254,000 Employees in 2000: 1 Employees in 2005: 4 Driving Force: Advancements in hair replacement technology are providing many more options for different types of conditions and problems. Goal: To meet the needs of women, whatever the hair loss problems they are experiencing.
