A good friend and colleague of mine at Village Hair Design has recently started offering Cinderella Hair Extensions as a service in our salon. Laurie Stribling traveled to Chicago for training and has been a Cinderella Hair Extension wearer for several years. I didn't think that extensions would really be something I'd ever try, but after growing my hair out for several months now, I've found myself itching for a change. Here I am before having the extensions. You can see how long, or rather how short, my hair was before the process.

So about a week ago, I spoke with Laurie for a consultation. We picked out a color using swatches. I was amazed at the wide variety of colors available. I wear my hair very blond, and we were able to find a color that matched perfectly. Cinderella hair is 100% human hair and of excellent quality, so it can be washed, curled, flat ironed, or blow dried. It can even be colored! You can choose lengths of 12" to over 20". I chose the 12" length. Baby steps.

My appointment was yesterday. I was a little nervous, but the process for bonding the extensions to my natural hair was absolutely painless. The bonds are made from protein and are melted onto the natural hair with a special tool. These bonds stay put for up to four months and grow out as your hair grows out! When it is time to replace your extensions, the bonded hair is easily removed with special tool. Laurie placed three packs of hair in my head, and the process took about two and a half hours. Then Laurie cut my extensions to blend with my natural hair and give me the style I desired.

I am thrilled with the results! I have decided to order a fourth pack of hair to be placed in the back to thicken the back of my hair up a little. Laurie will order that hair and place it in the next week or so.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on maintenance of these extensions, how they wear, how comfortable they are, and if I continue to like having long hair.

More on Long Hair

• How to Place Temporary Extensions
• Long Hair Photos
• Get My Newsletter

Photo © Kendra Aarhus

I think I've mentioned before that I absolutely love Halloween. I was thrilled when we were invited to three Halloween costume parties last weekend! I just thought I'd share photos (and apologize for the poor quality of the last photo, we forgot to take pictures and had to snag some from friends).

I was the corpse of Anna Nicole Smith and my boyfriend went as the corpse of Michael Jackson. We both wore wigs, made our faces look dead, and wore homemade coffin contraptions.

Halloween Ideas

• How to Wear a Halloween Wig
• Sarah Palin's Updo
• How to Create Sexy Vampire Hair

Photos © Jessi Mart

Online ordering and scheduling has taken over the world. Gone are the days of making a phone call when you want airline tickets or even a pizza! I'm a big fan of not having to small talk, chit-chat, or even having to be sure that I'm perfectly clear about my desires and expectations. I like that when I order a pizza online I can choose my toppings with the click of a mouse, rather than relying on some kid that hates his job to write down the correct options.

Online scheduling has been available in salons for a while now, but I've noticed an increase in salons offering this service. I recently decided to give my clients this option and chose Schedulicity.com as my provider.

I like Schedulicity because the rates are reasonable ($29.00 per month for a single provider) and they let you give the program a try for 60 days before charging you a thing. The program sends an email reminder to the client before his or her appointment and as a provider, you have the option to control when each client can schedule and how far in advance they have to cancel. You can list your pricing, hours of operation, and services provided. There is also a handy email program that allows you to easily communicate with your clients. Super cute email templates are included and look very professional and can be customized for the season or occasion!

I'm excited to give it a try and am interested in what you think about online scheduling. Would you use it if it were available at your salon? Do you think it's impersonal or convenient?

I'm considering switching away from the hair color system that I use in my shop to a certified organic color line. I plan to give the All-Nutrient line a try later this week on a couple of clients willing to let me experiment. I'm curious to know from my readers: would you appreciate an organic hair color line, assuming (of course) that the results were at least as good as your normal color? Would you pay more for organic hair services? How much more would you be willing to pay for organic? 10%? 50%? How important are environmentally friendly and organic hair products to you?