Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of Ash After Dark. I'm your host, allie Scott, and today I'm going to tell you guys the craziest thing and you're not going to believe me, but it is true. So let me explain. Hair extensions help me lose weight. It sounds insane, right? How can hair extensions help somebody lose weight? Well, let me give you some backstory.

Speaker 1: 0:28

So when I really started deep diving into my business I am a hair extension specialist, I am a salon owner, I am a hustler and in the hustle and bustle of life I really just put my health on the back burner. I wouldn't eat all day long and so then at night I would binge myself and, honestly, me not eating and then binging it really made me gain weight. So I gained in like a two-month time period I ended up gaining 40 pounds. That's a lot of weight. So I stopped going to the gym, I stopped eating really in general, and then I would eat really late at night and again, yeah, so I lost a ton. I not lost, I gained a lot, a lot of weight.

Speaker 1: 1:16

So here's the thing when, if you are somebody that you are like more of a curvy girl, or if you are somebody that you already like, might, you know, feel a little bit more insecure about your weight, like, just I'm out here to say, hey, you're not alone. I've definitely been in that spot before where I'm like, wow, I'm not feeling the most confident about my body and I'm also not going to pretend like I am. That's my other thing is like my biggest thing is me coming and doing podcasts and being on social media, and just being more authentic is that I don't want to sugarcoat things and I want to tell you from my experience where maybe somebody at that timeframe could be like, oh my gosh, it's not too bad, but I am five foot nine and I was almost 200 pounds and I'm sorry to me Also, it doesn't matter. I, I was unhealthy, I had gained a lot of weight and so I just happened to be a lot more self-conscious because my body had changed. So if you're a woman and you kind of get it like when you have a baby, like your body changes and not that that's ever a bad thing, it's a beautiful thing and it's a wonderful thing. We're always evolving. But let me tell you at that time it was not evolving for the right reasons and it was also just not healthy.

Speaker 1: 2:29

I couldn't keep doing my job that way, it hurt to stand. I was always so tired, I just felt so bloated. I hated looking in front of a mirror because, let me tell you my job, in my career I'm in front of people all day. I'm in front of a mirror all day. So it matters to me. It matters matters Like, I take pride in, like how I look and how I show up. That matters to me.

Speaker 1: 2:50

So how the hell did a hair extensions help me lose weight? Well, I, at the time, was not wearing hair extensions, my hair was short and I just felt I did not want to go to any like public places where I would maybe see somebody that I went to high school with or see somebody that I knew, because I was really embarrassed. I grew up as a cheerleader. I grew up, you know, yes, of course, always been like a tall, more curvy girl, but I just again, like I was not. I was really just embarrassed and that those were my feelings at the time. So I really held myself back. I missed out on some of my like I have two stepchildren and I missed out on some of their sports because I didn't want to be seen. I didn't want to go and see, like people that I knew that I didn't, that were going to probably talk bad about me later or I didn't want to have to, like, run into somebody that I didn't know at the store so and that might sound dramatic, but that's just where I was at and I'm just being honest and open about it. So when I decided, okay, I really want to make a change in the change in my body and just kind of love myself a little bit more, it all happened when I invested in hair extensions for myself.

Speaker 1: 4:07

So when I first invested in some hair extensions, I felt a little bit more proportioned. I felt a little bit more hidden and honestly, at the time people were just looking at my hair and telling me how beautiful my hair is, that it kind of gave um, a little bit more body. Like they weren't looking at my body so much, they were looking at my beautiful hair. So I always have had super long hair, really thick hair. I've always put on a ton of wefts, because then people would go and they'd comment on that and that just made me feel really, really good and so I got a little bit more confident and so to this day, like I actually don't wear a ponytail super often because I still have those little tendencies, I got a little bit more confident and so to this day, like, I actually don't wear a ponytail super often because I still have those little tendencies of feeling a little bit more insecure about, hey, if my hair is up then my body is showing and again I know I'm 32, but it still is an insecurity of mine.

Speaker 1: 4:57

I'm really tall. I got made fun of um growing up for being really tall and I think also because I was always around, because I did cheer and I did figure skiing, I was always around people that were just like these small, petite humans and I just I envied them. I just wanted to be like that. But that wasn't in my cards. I always looked older. I always was just more curvy. I got boobs really early on. I I remember I even had like a doctor. I had a doctor and a personal trainer both asked me oh my gosh, you have implants and I didn't. So I always was just like, also had like big boobs, like I was just a really curvy girl. So I know for some people, if you don't have that, you can be like, wow, I wish I had that, but honestly, it just made me more self-conscious, I think too, like where I grew up and how I grew up. It wasn't really I didn't want a lot of attention on my body. I definitely feel like I was, for sure, more sexualized as well, which is why I kind of wanted to hide the curves, the butt, the boobs, like I wanted to kind of hide, and then just the weight gain and wanted to hide.

Speaker 1: 6:04

So I got hair extensions and I cannot even begin to tell you how much that just transformed my life. So I get hair extensions and I cannot even begin to tell you how much they'll just transform my life. So I get hair extensions and I'm feeling like, okay, people are noticing my hair. They're not noticing so much about, like, my curves or if I gained weight, or what my body is or even what I was wearing. I could have beautiful hair extensions and wear sweats and I still would look like a 10. Like I'm telling you, it just was a whole different ballgame for me.

Speaker 1: 6:30

So then, once I started wearing my extensions, I started getting a little bit more confidence and a little bit more confidence in just like how I looked and how I presented myself. So from there I was like, okay, well now, because I don't feel. I don't know if you guys have ever felt like this, but for me it was like I'm almost so self-conscious to go to the gym and have to restart. It's almost embarrassing to me. So I never wanted to restart ever and I was like, okay, I feel like my hair extensions kind of hide me a little bit. I have the most beautiful pony.

Speaker 1: 7:04

If I do put it in a ponytail and I tried to trick my brain of of, okay, if I go to the gym with this really beautiful hair, then maybe, just maybe, that also could be a little marketing tactic as well. The extension method I do is honestly the most elite on the market. I've been around the hair extension industry for over a decade doing them myself and wearing them myself. The extensions that we do are insane. We do so many things different from other artists. We customize, we have blends Like you can put your hair any which way. We really care about your scalp health.

Speaker 1: 7:41

So I also thought, you know what, if I went into the workout space and I went into the fitness space and people could see my hair, okay, well, okay, well, then, maybe two that could help me with my marketing. So I kind of tried to like trick myself as well, but I also knew at the end of the day, I really did need to get a little bit more healthy. So I felt more confident and I was like, okay, so I'm going to start going to the gym, but not any gym, because again, I still wasn't feeling confident enough to be able to even go to the gym. Down the street I lived, I like I had moved back to the city that I'm in currently and after seven years, and there it's kind of it's where I grew up, just like people went to high school with like that's where they all lived and they all it.

Speaker 1: 8:25

So I didn't want to run into anybody that I know, um, just because again, I still had a lot of body, I don't know, just embarrassment. But I felt better with the extensions. So I was like, okay, I'm going to go and I'm going to go to a gym. It was like 15 minutes away, in a different city, I didn't know anybody, I would go really early in the morning. But that's the thing is, I started by going to a different gym, farther away, because it made me feel more comfortable, confident, and it made me feel more, just like okay, like I can do this, and it was just a step in the right direction.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So I started going to the gym because that's the that's the hardest part. If you've ever been somebody that's been a little bit overweight and out of shape, starting is the hardest part, just because, again, you know, if I like to do classes, I'm like what am I doing? I don't know what I'm doing and again you can just feel really embarrassed. So I did. I went to the gym. I went to the gym 15 minutes away, with nobody that I knew, early in the morning, and then I started becoming consistent at that, and then I started feeling a little bit more confident. A little bit more confident and then, slowly but surely, I was able to start going to a different gym that was a little closer to me. Then I kept going, kept going, kept going, and then I was like, okay, I want to do these certain classes, but I was nervous about, you know, the people like, okay, also on social media. I'm like super active, like I, like I. I again like that's just something that I have personally always struggled with is like just body consciousness and like just feeling really secure being as tall as I am and as as curvy as I am, and so I was on this health journey, so I kept going.

Speaker 1: 10:11

So then I ended up starting to go to gyms that were more of a private gym people I knew. But I did. I was like, okay, I had to kind of trick myself, like, okay, I'm gonna transfer my marketing, but the only reason why I could get in that door is because I had hair extensions. And then I remembered like sometimes at the salon some girls will wanna take out her hair the night before and then the next day we'll put them back in. We'll just have one night without the extensions. But let me tell you there's no way in hell I would ever do that. Because I was like, well, I have to go to the gym in the morning, and I can't go to the gym in the morning if I don't have my hair extensions in.

Speaker 1: 10:48

Because of just how I felt so fast forward that's been like I don't know six years in the making. Like since then I did, I was able to become more consistent, I was able to do all the different things, like I have now probably lost like 50 pounds in six years. It definitely didn't happen overnight, but me to be able to start going to the gym and feel confident to go to the gym. It all started when I had hair extensions. It just made me feel a little bit more hidden and a little bit more secure and now it's just a part of who I am. So the purpose to tell you that is not that, hey, hair extensions need to make you into a different person. Hair extensions are not for that. Hair extensions are just to help bring out your true beauty that you do know is on the inside. To help bring out your true beauty that you do know is on the inside. It's hard not to compare and it's hard not to be hard on yourself.

Speaker 1: 11:45

I grew up in the era of America's Next Top Model. I always wanted to be this skinny, sick, thin person. I'm like, I'm tall, I better be skinny and I just that wasn't in my cards. Like even now, even though I've lost like 50 pounds, I'm still a size eight and I'm five nine, like I'm the smallest I've been in since I had my son. And even then, like there's just certain things that how you grow up and your mindset, like sometimes you can be a little bit more insecure. So just know, like I just want to always live my best life and be my best self, but sometimes there's other things that are going to help us get there, and for me it was extensions. And, as cheesy as that sounds, unless you are a woman that you have felt a little bit more like you wanted to hide or a little bit more nervous to put yourself out there.

Speaker 1: 12:31

You need to try hair extensions and if you have them for the thickness but you're still feeling a little bit that way, let me tell you, try a longer length, like, just have it be your little security blanket for just a moment, so that your true beauty from the inside can come out on the outside. Keep going and then you can stay consistent and then, honestly, then either you can keep your extensions in forever or you don't even have to have them, but just know that there are solutions. Have them, but just know that there are solutions. And, to be quite frank, the solution is definitely getting your extensions done at my salon, like I try very hard to stay more educational and humble and but I just have to say a few things about hair extensions and who to choose as an artist, just like a personal trainer. I would never choose a personal trainer to teach me how to lift weights. If they were obese, I never would.

Speaker 1: 13:31

So when you're choosing a hair extension artist, choose somebody who, number one, has actually invested in all the certifications do they take? Like it's your hair, it can be. It can be damaged so quickly and I know that because I've seen it first play, if I've had it happen to me and I've seen it. So, number one, do they actually invest in themselves? Do they pay money? Do they go and travel and go places? Do they keep up with their craft? Number two, are they wearing hair extensions themselves? They're not wearing hair extensions, then, honestly, I can't trust you. You don't know how it feels, you don't know how it looks, you just don't know. So how could you be offering a service like personal training without actually being fit? Or how can you offer a service like personal training without actually have you know about macros or you know you've lost it, you have had a transformation or that you have been in the fitness world.

Speaker 1: 14:24

It's so easy these days to learn hair extensions and unfortunately, it's very oversaturated, especially my market. Next thing I want you to look at is my hair extension specialist. In quotations do they have? How many colors are they putting in my hair and does it blend? Are they installing one color? Are they installing two, three, four, five? All of those things matter.

Speaker 1: 14:50

So, just when you are researching a stylist, just remember you cannot put a price tag on confidence. You cannot put a price tag on beauty, price tag on beauty. And if, especially if, you are wanting to have hair extensions to feel more confident and to feel more beautiful, the worst thing in the world that can happen is you actually now playing small because your hair extensions don't match, or your hair extensions don't feel good and they're giving you a headache, or your hair extensions are too heavy, or your hair extensions don't blend because it's not matched. So really take those things into consideration when you are choosing a stylist. At my salon, each individual stylist has invested over $15,000 minimum inside of just their hair extension education. And it's not just the money, it's just what they do each week. It's how we live, it's how we breathe, because it's so much more about just your life than just your hair. So hair extensions did. Hair extensions helped me lose weight. Hair extensions helped me, my inner insides and my internal beauty be able to show more on the outside, and because of that, I'm able to speak more, I'm able to be able to be a leader, I'm able to make a difference. So if you're somebody and you are struggling and you're maybe feeling a little less confident, maybe feeling a little bit insecure, just know it's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing how we were raised, how we've grown up and the world that we live in. It is totally normal.

Speaker 1: 16:25

You can find me at Allie Scott Hair Studio on Instagram, facebook, tiktok, all the things. Alliescotthairstudiocom is my website, contact me. You can even find me personally on Instagram at Hair Artist Allie, and let's help your inside match your outside. That's all for tonight, you guys. I will see you next week for another episode of Ash After Dark and in the meantime, again, don't forget, come and follow me on my social platforms. At Hair Artist Alley, I'm on there constantly, every single day, and I'm just here. My purpose there is to just be authentic and vulnerable and tell you how it is and also educate you in the process. Good night, and I will see you guys next week.