By Jessica Mattevi on NBR Extensions
Growing up I always had the best hair. It would grow long, was always shiny and smooth. As I became older my hair slowly started to change. I noticed that when I would cut it, it wouldn’t grow back as quickly. Then I had kids. After a battle of trying to find extensions that worked for my hair, I discovered NBR (Natural Beaded Rows). Now, I am once again in love with my hair and get to share that with my clients! Read my story of getting NBR and how they have changed my life.
Growing up I always had the best hair. It would grow long, was always shiny and smooth. As I became older my hair slowly started to change. I noticed that when I would cut it, it wouldn’t grow back as quickly. Then I had kids. Ohhh man did that do my hair in. Pregnancy can be a cruel joke in the sense that your hair gets so thick and healthy. I thought maybe my hair was going back to the way it was pre adulthood. Boy, was I wrong! The baby came and about 4 months after, I was losing handfuls of hair. When I say handfuls I mean legitimate fill your hand FULL with globs of hair after washing it. Everytime I brushed it I was terrified to look in the mirror to see if I had any hair left. Thankfully I didn’t go completely bald, but I definitely lost the front of my hairline, and it thinned out everywhere else.
Then I had two more babies. My littlest is now 4 and my hair will probably never fully recover. My hairline is very sparse and receding a bit. I thought this was going to be the head of hair that I just had to learn to love and live with for the rest of my life. I am a hairstylist so good hair is my thing. So when I didn’t feel good about my hair it really did affect my job, and my relationships. I felt insecure and inadequate. That may seem silly or even crazy to you reading this, but it’s true. If you have ever experienced hair loss you know exactly what I am talking about. I know you're supposed to love yourself for who you are and the way God created you...but you guys. God created me with the best freaking hair and then it went to crap and I missed it.
I have done extensions on clients as a stylist for a good part of my career but never loved them on me. They were too hard to hide with my see through thin hair and really uncomfortable. The beads, bonds, or tape would always show themselves on a windy day, or if I tried to put my hair up. Braids, forget that. Impossible.
I started following a company called Natural Beaded Rows (NBR) about 5 or 6 years ago. I don’t typically just jump into things. So I watched to see if this was going to be another extension method that just blew over and never really stuck. Well, the work kept getting better, more seamless, and it was starting to become a really big thing. I decided to sign up for BMSCON4. It is their yearly training to train new artists in this craft along with business training. It was a massive investment, but I was ready, and I knew this could be a game changer for my hair and for my clients.
I was so excited to get these extensions installed in my own hair, so I too could experience what my clients were getting to experience with NBR. The problem, there is literally NO OTHER NBR ARTIST in my hometown of Duluth, MN or the surrounding areas. So I had to do the research and I found an amazing artist in the Twin Cities. I prepped all my own extension hair, jumped in my car and drove the 3 hours. I sipped on my hot tea and jammed out all the way there in excitement. As I sat in that styling chair and watched my hair slowly transform back into the hair I once had, my heart started to skip a beat. When my stylist turned my chair around and I saw myself in the mirror all complete for the first time, I fell in love. I felt in my own skin again. My identity was no longer only a mom, only a wife, only a business owner, only a stylist. (which are all amazing, and I feel so honored and blessed to be those as well.) I became Jessica again.
It is so easy to go through life so busy with the responsibilities of keeping your littles thriving and happy, keeping a happy home, being a happy and supportive wife, keeping my clients happy, all the day to day responsibilities and duties of being a business owner. In all of that I forgot self care for myself. I forgot that I too am my own person with my own needs and my own desires. That day I declared out loud and promised myself that I too am worth feeling confident. I know that I am worthy and I have been created beautifully in God’s image. I know that I am enough. I also know that it is OK to spend time and a little money on myself to give me confidence so I can show up 100% authentically for my family, friends, and clients.
You guys...NBR is not just a hair extension method that gives you more hair. It has been LIFE CHANGING for me. NBR is a system that helps transform your mindset, and gives you permission to invest in yourself again. Mama’s, it is ok to do things for yourself. That was my biggest hang up on getting them. Remember, I followed them for almost 5 years before ever getting the extensions. I did not want to invest the money because I knew all the different ways I could spend that money. Then I did, and I will never go back!!!!
These extensions are the most comfortable I have ever worn. I can wear them up even with my own wimpy hair with no issues of them “showing.” I can french braid them, I can wear them straight, I can wear them curly, I can wear them wavy. I can wear them any way I would like and not have to worry about people knowing they are extensions. I only have to wash my hair once a week now and heat style once a week. They are so low maintenance. I braid them at night to hold my curl pattern. Wake up and brush them out. That’s it! So easy. What used to take 30 minutes every morning, now only takes 3 minutes. They are soooooo freaking seamless and match my natural hair perfectly. Why? Because NBR artists are trained on how to create that seamless blend. Many extension artists from other methods don’t even color the extensions. They get them and hope that they match. If not ….well, that is when you see the girls walking around and you can spot them from a mile away that they are wearing extensions. Don’t be that girl...invest in yourself and a good artist and choose NBR.
XO-Jessica Mattevi
P.S. - The photo on the left shows what my natural hair looks like. People have no idea how little hair I have on my sides. Even with such little natural hair, my extensions are undetectable. The photo on the right shows my first time experiencing the magic of NBR!
