Derbyshire hair extension specialist in final of two competitions
Lauren Loomes currently runs her business from a cabin in Belper, but will take the operation to new heights when she launches a salon this summer.
It’s an exciting time for the skilful 33-year-old who won this year’s Prestige Hair and Beauty Awards national final and UK Hair and Beauty Awards regional final.
Lauren said: “After only three and a half years in the industry and having passed my nude weaving course, my wig course and my meshless integration course, it was amazing to find out that I had been shortlisted. for hair extensions of the year 2022.
“I’m really shocked but excited because this can take my business to another level. It’s a pat on the back for the hard work I’ve put in. I’m only from a small town and it doesn’t there aren’t a lot of people doing what I do.
Hair extensions are the biggest part of Lauren’s business which is called Loxy Locks Hair Extensions & Wigs. She said: “They are popular and all ages have them. Hair extensions become more discreet, flatter, blend better and you can have them dyed perfectly to match your own hair.
Lauren offers five methods of hair extensions – bare weave, LA weave, nano rings, tapes, small tips and micro rings.
She said: “Nude weave is smart and brand new to the market. It’s a weft system that’s sewn in but the beads and threads are invisible so you can’t see any connection when it’s in the hair. You can wear your hair in ponies and buns without seeing any extensions and that’s what sells it.
“Most of my clients for hair extensions are female, there are a few males and three transgender.”
The mesh-free integration system offered by Lauren is intended for people who have lost 70% of their hair due to alopecia, chemotherapy, pregnancy, menopause or male pattern baldness. Lauren said: “It’s like a wig basically built on their natural hair. It is fixed and can stay in place for a year and there are maintenance appointments every ten weeks.
Lauren makes wigs from human hair either by hand, which takes about four hours for each item, or by machine, which takes twice as long. She said, “I love doing wigs – it’s really therapeutic.”
In addition to making natural looking wigs, Lauren’s line includes brightly colored wigs that will turn heads. She said, “Pop colors like hot pink, blue and yellow are for people who want to change up their style to be bold or a bit different.”
Her clients for wigs range from a 15-year-old who wanted a new look to a woman with alopecia in her late 70s.
Opening a lounge in her garden at The Fleet, Belper, will give Lauren four times the space she currently has in the cabin. Lauren said: ‘My plan is to have my wigs and toppers on the wall and people can come in one by one by appointment only and can either have a trial session and walk away with a wig that day , or I can write details and make one.
Lauren, who is married to Paul, worked as a cleaner at a care home in Belper before she got pregnant with her daughter Devon, who is now six. She said: “I wanted to work for myself so I could work with my daughter. I once went on the internet looking for online courses. I have always loved doing hair and saw this course to do a five method hair extension course in Nottingham with Maxwell Melia so I booked. I had my driving test the week before so I drove there and passed my course on the day.
“From there I worked in The Hair Room at Langley Mill for eight months. After that I didn’t want to pay the cost of the chair anymore so I went mobile. I did mobile for a little moment, then my father-in-law Paul built me the hut in the garden during the very first confinement, ready to be reopened when we could return to work.
