What’s the key behind New York’s glossiest manes? A visit to Queens — and $7,500 for an appointment with the Massive Apple’s hair extension whisperer.
From her Kew Gardens studio, stylist and educator Ester Yuabova has emerged as one of many metropolis’s most sought-after keratin-tip (k-tip) extension hair artists — her potential to revolutionize somebody’s look has purchasers touring from throughout and dropping a small fortune for an improved ‘do that may final only a few months.
Celebrities, influencers and everybody else chasing the wholesome, full look are beating a path to her door — together with singer Rita Ora, “Brooklyn 9-9” actress Stephanie Beatriz and supermodel Karen Elson.
And whereas the key to a trendy girl’s luscious locks may need previously been stored beneath, effectively, lock and key, the miracle employee is proudly dragging the method out from backstage — and splashing her purchasers’ transformations on social media.
“For years, extensions had a stigma — one thing to cover. Now, it’s like they’re a luxurious, a standing image — like a designer bag,” Yuabova, 34, advised The Submit.
Actuality TV star Devyn Simone — from MTV’s “Actual World: Brooklyn” and “The Problem” — is likely one of the many who proudly tout the work they’ve had carried out with Yuabova.
“I believed I used to be simply going to see her for my marriage ceremony, however now I’m happening my third 12 months along with her,” Simone advised The Submit. “She walked me by every little thing, helped me choose the right texture and colour, and made certain my hair stayed wholesome by each set up and removing.”
Dear because the process could also be, NYC-based influencer and actress Audrey Trullinger advised The Submit she’s been blissful to pay it, each three to 5 months — as she’s seen her hair develop again more healthy and stronger.
“Whereas it’s completely costly, if you happen to care about your hair well being and your confidence, it’s a no brainer to go to Ester,” mentioned Trullinger, who first began utilizing Yuabova’s companies in 2023.
“Her prep is intensive and on the day, you might be there from morning to nighttime. Ok-tips are an artwork and Ester treats them as such,” she mentioned of the ascendant hair-ess.
An appointment with Yuabova can final anyplace from 4 to eight hours, relying on how thick one’s pure hair is or what a shopper desires to get carried out.
These with fantastic strands can normally rock the extensions for about three months with out damaging their precise hair, whereas thick-haired gals can push it to 5.
Ok-tips, which Yuabova calls the “Birkin bag of extensions,” are strands of hair hooked up to at least one’s actual hair utilizing a warmth software to soften a keratin bond, the identical protein pure hair already has, which creates a powerful, versatile and undetectable maintain.
Relying on every shopper’s hair objectives, she’s going to add size or quantity by mixing totally different textured extension strands to imitate the pure hair sample.
Yuabova didn’t got down to grow to be one in all Gotham’s high groomers — she holds a grasp’s in medical psychology and had a profession as a licensed dependancy specialist.
Probably the most she’d ever carried out with hair was styling buddies earlier than weddings — no less than till she went on maternity go away in 2018, when she discovered herself fascinated with what to do subsequent.
After a $200 Groupon hairstyling course, cosmetology faculty and a ton of follow, by 2022, Yuabova, who got here to New York Metropolis from Uzbekistan as a toddler again in 1996, had saved sufficient cash to open her personal studio — remodeling a rundown bodily remedy workplace right into a luxurious haven for hair price in search of out.
“I constructed every little thing from scratch. No loans, no buyers, simply hustle and obsession with doing it proper,” she mentioned.
You received’t discover any typical, cheaper-looking hair extensions right here. These, Yuabova mentioned, usually come from India and are a mix of pure and artificial hair, like tape-ins ($150–$600), sew-ins ($200–$800+), or clip-ins ($20–$200). These are utilized to a shopper’s hair with quite a lot of painful teasing, tugging and pressure, which in flip causes a extreme quantity of injury to the hair and scalp.
Yuabova’s purchasers, however, pay high greenback for virgin hair — hair that’s by no means been dyed or chemically handled. This largely comes from third-party distributors in Russia and Ukraine, who supply lengthy locks from donors in these nations, in trade for cash.
“I handpick each bundle myself,” Yuabova boasted. “Hair carries vitality — I can really feel its high quality. I additionally cleanse each ponytail with an incantation.”
When visiting Yuabova’s small however stylish and eccentric salon, which is embellished with large black gothic type mirrors, pink rugs and ornate lighting, purchasers get the royal remedy — WiFi, TV streaming, snacks and even wine or cocktails — whereas they sit for his or her hours-long transformation.
For the reason that course of can take some time, company are inspired to deliver their very own meals or order supply — on the home. Yuabova sees only one shopper a day, so everybody will get her undivided consideration.
“Many purchasers have discovered me by way of social media. There wasn’t one particular second the place I blew up on-line, however I discovered my movies resonating with an increasing number of individuals after which working with movie star purchasers who discovered me from social media.”
And whereas a whole bunch inquire about appointments, she’s solely in a position to accommodate a comparatively choose few.
Yuabova deliberately retains her reserving window tight — solely three months out at a time.
“Hair can change quick,” she defined, “so if I booked six months to a 12 months prematurely, a shopper’s hair is perhaps in a very totally different state by the point I see them once more.”
Other than beautifying the celebs and the who’s who of New York, Yuabova additionally sells virgin (non-dyed), single-donor ponytails that she sources to different stylists. She additionally finds time to show the artwork of Ok-tips to a whole bunch of scholars — in and outdoors of New York.
Whereas most individuals within the hair sport need repeat enterprise, Yuabova mentioned that her objective is for purchasers to “graduate out” of her companies, that their pure hair grows stronger and thicker with every k-tip remedy — in order that they finally received’t really feel the necessity for extensions in any respect.
However whereas she’s working with them, she desires everybody to really feel snug with the method — and to know that it’s nothing to cover.
“We see celebrities and assume that’s their pure hair, proper? We envy it — ‘Oh, she’s so fortunate, she goes blonde sooner or later, brunette the following.’,” Yuabova mentioned.
“[I’m here] to normalize the reality — that inventive phantasm is feasible with extensions.”
