The Ultimate Look We Love: Sade Soldier of Love Video

Have you seen's Sade's New Video
Click to watch the brillance
OMG!!!! OMG! No one could do it better....ever. We love the hair,the lasso, the music and the imagery. The debut is less than a month away! But we've already pre-purchased the album on amazon.com

Sunny's Hair & Wigs in India: Going Direct to the Source for the best Indian Hair

This past October, Dafina Memberr of Sunny's Hair & Wigs traveled to India. On a beauty mission we interviewed her on her experience sourcing Indian hair for Sunny's Hair & Wigs

Q. What prompted you to travel to India?

A. Sunny's has been purchasing Indian hair for over 8 years and we have a great relationship with our vendors in India and we felt that it was time to solidify our understanding of the process of collecting and wefting the hair. India's also an amazing country with a dense and rich history so it was good to be able to travel for business and for fun.

Q. What part of India did you travel to?

A. I traveled throughout India. We started in Mumbai and then I traveled bymyself to a very very remote part of India to visit the factory. It required two additional plane trips once I was in Mumbai and then a two hour car drive.

Q. What were your most lasting impressions of India?

A. India was just a very calming place to visit. Although I expected to be overwhelmed by the amount of people and the density in which they live it wasn't. What was more incredible to me is how deep the roots of the religion and culture are. We visited caves that had carvings from the year 400 A.D. depicting various gods in Hindu culture that are still relevant now. That was incredible especially coming from a country that is so new relatively.

Q. With all the recent attention focused on Good Hair do you think the film accurately depicts the hair industry?

A. It's weird because Good Hair hits so close to home as a film because I grew up working in the family business and it does show how much of our lives our hair can consume, especially as black women. But, as always when there is a comedic angle to films certain things can be embellished or exaggerated for effect. I didn't love the part about the girl getting her hair cut off in the movie theater. Most Indians I spoke to don't know anything about a black market trade




Q. What surprised you the most about your trip?

A. The factory employs over 1500 women. It was intriguing to see how in such a remote part of India a demand for a rather obscure product has created an employment opportunity for women of all ages. It was so nice to see the groups of women working together of all ages. I remember learning about globalization in school. It's often presented as this awful process but it was nice to see a positive side of globalization. I was pleased to see that manufacturing jobs that are typically male jobs were benefiting women.

Q. How is the hair collected?
There is a temple in Tiraputi, and in fear of completely misrepresenting the history I will say that it's a beautiful story and practice in which people donate their hair to show thanks to the gods of the temple and it's their way of helping the god of that particular temple repay his debts that he took on to have a dowry to give for his wife. But as I said... a lot is lost in my understanding of the story.



Any tips that you learned about beauty from India?

I was astonished at how much effort women put into having beautiful hair. I always assumed it was genetic but women use a lot of Aruyvedic products such as oils with Amla, Shikakai, and Bhringraj oil on their scalp and hair to moisturize and condition their hair before washing. Overall, there isn't a lot of chemical processing and heat styling so women have healthy hair.


Q. So what regimen's would you suggest to women who use Indian hair to continue the maintenance regime?

That's a great question. I recommend to stop using such harsh shampoos. Many women in India do not use shampoos but rather use Neem and Shikakai,powders diluted in a water bottle or fruit vinegars to shampoo their hair. This protects the strands from stripping it of its natural oils. I'd also recommend to not go overboard with heat once you purchase the hair. Hair is hair and it is fragile. So if you use heat make sure you deep condition the hair and especially use a thermal protectant.



Any other general beauty tips?

Oh no...you are opening a Pandora's box. I went to a natural spa called Nirmal Herbal. And by natural everything was fresh and edible. The cucumbers and potatoes they put on my eyes had to be cut within two hours in order to used. The almond scrub was freshly ground almonds. I have never had such a "natural" glow from a spa experience ever.
My tip is to look around you for natural solutions to skin and beauty. I think we tend to discount natural solutions in the US.

Stay tuned to Sunny's Blog for more about Natural Hair Solutions!

Humidity Insurance: Curly Hair Care Suggestions for Summer Heat

For many Sunny's Girls it's been a long hot summer (excluding our NYC Sunny's Girls) but for most of us I think we realize that instead of fighting humidity maybe it's time to embrace it.

Summer climates can be brutal on straight hair styles. The moisture in the air swells the hair shaft reverting our original textures.

This summer many of us have resigned our straight sleek hair fantasies and embraced curly hair extensions. Constantly using heat to straighten your hair can wreak havoc on your strands.

We recommend the following products to embrace Summer Humidity:

Curly and Fine Hair: Bohyme French Refined

Curly and Textured Hair: Indian Hair Natural Curl
Curly and Natural (Not Relaxed): Bohyme Brazilian Wave

Products we Love for Indian Hair

We love love love Indian Hair at Sunny's Hair. In this economy we are all about upgrading to Indian Hair because while it costs a little more initially, after one or two reuses it more than pays for itself and starts to save you money. The key is to take care of your hair and realize that it's been stripped of its moisture source...the scalp and the nutrient oils it once received from the sebum.

So... we love products that are used by Indian women because it keeps a consistent regimen for Indian hair and ensures that your Indian hair lasts as long as possible. We generally recommend that women not use products that they'd use on their own hair on their Indian Hair. We generally hate mineral oil and petroleum on any hair let alone Indian hair. But we love products such as extra Virgin Coconut Oil and very gentle shampoos without Sodium Laureth Sulfates.

But... I have a new Indian hair product that I'm loving: Coconut Amla Revitalizing Hair Treatment
Here's a little blurb from the product description:
"For shiny, thick locks women in India rub it in! Amla that is! This “divine” fruit, also known as Indian Gooseberry, is one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C. Just a touch of this extract on your lifeless locks brings a natural shine, soft texture and rejuvenated health. Hair stays strong with anti-oxidant rich Grape Seed and Neem oils, while Coconut oil and Henna make each strand extra luscious! It’s a miracle for your mane! And don’t forget your body – rub in any leftovers for touchable skin softness!"

Why Take This Journey:

Coconut Oil: nourishes
Neem Oil: soothes scalp
Amla Extract: rejuvenates
Henna: adds volume and shine
Grape Seed Oil: protects
Avocado Oil: moisturizes scalp

The product retails for $45 and is available at Global Goddess Beauty.

Why we love Virgin Coconut Oil on Indian Hair

Recently three clients of Indian descent came into Sunny's to pick up hair. We started talking to them about what they do to take care of their, considering that our biggest seller is Indian Hair.

Most of the hair we sell is from Southern India where they are known for growing long wavy and curly hair. The area is also known for its abundance of coconut trees.

The women told me that Indian Women don't put a lot of heat on their hair and also swear by extra virgin coconut oil. They recommended rubbing just a little bit on the ends every few days or using it as a pre-wash conditioning treatment.

So at Sunny's we have decided to try this regimen on our Indian Hair Extensions. And we all agree that coconut oil is amazing.

Let's first disclose that prior to using coconut oil, we strongly discouraged women from using any type of oil on Indian Hair. For the most part using oil on Indian Hair just overwhelms the hair shaft. Oils in the US tend to be filled with cheap fillers such as mineral oil or petroleum that clog the scalp and cuticle of the hair shaft. Many people who experience tangling with Indian hair do so because they use oily products that they would use on their own hair.


So... imagine our reluctance about using Coconut oil on our Indian hair extensions. But we all report after using it for about 3 weeks just as instructed we have noticed the following:

1. It has eliminated dandruff: We all have varying degrees of dandruff but we have all noticed that using a tiny amount of coconut oil on our scalp every other day we have completely eliminated any issues with dandruff.
2. It give our own natural hair a healthy but subtle shine: Not only does the coconut oil give the Indian hair a nice sheen it also works wonders on our hair that we have left out of our extensions. I personally put a little on before flat-ironing my hair with a FHI and it didn't sizzle the hair nor leave it heavy and greasy.
3. Our hair actually absorbs the oil: This is the best part... there is no grease spots on our pillowcase or chunky heavy hair that has been coated with oil. After rubbing it in... it just melts into our hair shaft.
4. It eliminated the annoy post extensions itch: Three days post weave it is typical to experience itching. With the coconut oil, no such fate!
5. The ends are tame: Sometimes Indian Hair if left untrimmed has split ends but we noticed that the coconut oil works to tame any split ends and leave the hair looking healthy.

So the unanimous consensus is that Coconut Oil on Indian Hair is simply amazing!