Charlene Blacer is one of the most talented and cutting edge hair experts working in the beauty industry today. At her salon, The Secret Mane, with locations in New York City, Philadelphia and Stroudsburg, clients are privileged with Charlene’s “secrets” for vibrantly healthy, growing hair. Charlene’s knowledge of extension and hair piece application, scalp and hair follicle treatments, coverage for bald spots and thinning hair, and individualized hair monitoring is unsurpassed by her colleagues.
Charlene works with women who are in need of serious hair repair due to everything from poor hair extension application by other stylists, malnutrition, female pattern baldness, chemotherapy, trichotillomania (obsessive compulsive pulling of the hair), alopecia and over processing. She also works with women who simply desire fuller, healthier and longer hair. Hair and scalp health is Charlene Blacer’s primary goal in working with her clients. Charlene has created the best scalp, hair follicle and nutrition based hair treatments available to achieve the trademark full, healthy mane that her clientele is known to have.
The Secret Mane’s hair extension clients do not suffer from the usual damage and matting that plagues most hair extension wearers. As a hair restoration specialist, Charlene has seen the damage caused by improper installation and maintenance of hair extensions. To avoid this, she applies hair extensions neatly, removes them gently and monitors clients’ hair condition and growth on a regular basis, post-application. Her methods range from using human hair to a lighter weight man-made hair, as well as various custom hair pieces. Charlene is a genius at covering thinning areas by attaching four hairs to each individual hair in the thinning area to create a fuller appearance. All treatments and applications are determined after Charlene conducts her in-depth personalized consultations. Her methods of hair extension application have been able to restore the health of her clients’ natural hair, resulting in hair that grows in stronger in 1 – 2 years; a result that is unheard of with hair extensions.
After high school, Charlene attended college as a nursing major while working in a salon part time. She soon discovered her passion for hair extensions, and helping to repair women’s self esteem through improving their appearance, Charlene became certified in many different types of hair extensions using human hair, synthetic hair and patented man-made hair. She also earned her certification in Great Lengths, Invisible Hair, Easy Hair aka EuroLocs, ProStyles, Shrink Links, MicroTab Seamless, Micro Point Solutions, Cyberhair, Amy’s Presence Wigs, Women’s Hair Enhancement, Men’s Hair Replacement and medical hair loss.
Charlene has also invented her own technique called The Flat Weave, which replaces the bulk and discomfort of traditional weaves. There is no effective technique currently on the market that Charlene Blacer cannot do. She is certified in all size hairpieces, grafts, skin mesh, monofilament materials and all types of wigs.
Charlene volunteers for the American Cancer Society’s Look Good Feel Better Program since 2003, and is a member of the Trichotillomania Learning Center since 2005.
June 5, 2008/Stroudsburg, PA/ -- Trichotillomania “ Trich ” Sufferers Gain Support And Hair Help From The Secret Mane Salon
Charlene Blacer, owner of The Secret Mane Salon, helps people struggling with Trichotillomania to regain their natural hair and their confidence.
Hair health and growth expert Charlene Blacer, has gone to extraordinary lengths to educate and support those suffering with Trichotillomania (or “Trich” as it is commonly referred to) while providing services that allow sufferers to enjoy a more aesthetically pleasing and natural looking appearance while their own hair grows back. Trichotillomania is a compulsive pulling of the hair, typically as a symptom of various anxiety related conditions, including obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD. People with Trich often wind up with patches of short hair, bald patches and/or thinning hair. This condition can create a destructive cycle of shame and embarrassment, and lead to more hair pulling.
According to expert Charlene Blacer, “1 to 2 out of every 50 people suffers from Trichotillomania, and many will never tell their friends, family or significant other. Most have never gone to a hair salon because they are so ashamed of this condition. They cut and color their own hair at home.”
Blacer has devoted much of her career to helping people with Trichotillomania. As a result, over 50% of her current salon clientele at The Secret Mane salon are comprised of sufferers of the condition. They rely on Blacer’s extensive knowledge of the disorder, her extraordinary hair augmentation talents and her stellar program for returning her clients’ hair back to a state of health and vitality. Charlene Blacer and The Secret Mane salon has created a formula which offers success for Trich sufferers. In The Secret Mane’s “Mane For A Year” (MFAY) membership program, a year’s supply of hairpieces and maintenance are all included. Unlike Blacer’s competitors, she never shaves a client’s hair, as she insists “this only defeats the purpose.”
According to Blacer, “During my MFAY program, I determine which hairpiece will work for a client’s individual needs. Once their own hair starts to grow in, I may change the piece or they can upgrade to hair extensions, or use the piece as a clip in.” Blacer goes on to explain the merits of her work on her Trich clients’ hair, “My work is amazing, and no one can tell it’s a hairpiece. My clients can swim and sleep in it. I have gotten clients’ hair to grow back as long as eight inches.”
Part of her hair rehabilitation program for her Trich clients includes gluing down the client’s natural hair underneath the hairpiece. This prevents Trich clients from being able to access their own hair, which helps to break the destructive hair pulling habit.
Charlene Blacer has also formed the non-profit organization, Help Me 2 Stop – www.HelpMe2Stop.org. The purpose of the organization is to help people suffering from Trichotillomania who do not have the financial resources to be able to restore their hair back to health. At The Secret Mane Salon, MFAY members get a year's supply of hairpieces expertly installed by a licensed cosmetologist, natural hair care re-growth monitoring, and monthly maintenance... all in a private and supportive salon setting. Since the MFAY program is not covered by most health insurance plans, Blacer continues to raise money through HelpMe2Stop.org for Trich sufferers in need of the program, who lack the financial means on their own. CyberMane, LLC donates 10% of profits from their Secret Mane Salon services & 5% from products sold from their Online Store.
June 26, 2008/ Stroudsburg, PA/ -- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Can Affect Your Physical Appearance
HelpMe2Stop.org raises money to help economically disadvantaged sufferers of OCD related disorder, Trichotillomania, to restore their hair and physical appearance.
Many Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Anxiety related symptoms can have a negative effect on one’s everyday life and social activities, but when someone has to “wear” their disorder in their outward appearance, it can make working and socializing unbearable. For sufferers of Trichotillomania, an obsessive compulsive hair pulling disorder, sufferers often have to face the world with terribly thinning hair and sometimes even with bald patches and stubble on their head. This is the result of a gripping compulsion to pull at one’s hair, many times ripping it from the root, and resulting in visually obvious areas of baldness.
Most Trichotillomania sufferers are women, and a woman’s self image and confidence are heavily tied in with her appearance, which is largely connected to the beauty, health and overall appearance of her hair. Trichotillomania or “Trich” sufferers oftentimes feel quite unattractive combined with their sense of shame, which compels them to continue this vicious cycle of hair pulling.
Hair health and growth expert Charlene Blacer has devoted much of her salon’s work to Trich clients, with over 50% of her clientele now being Trich sufferers. With Charlene’s extensive training and knowledge regarding Trichotillomania, she provides a safe and supportive sanctuary for her clients with Trich. Charlene restores the Trich client’s hair back to health, helps Trich sufferers to stop the hair pulling cycle, and creates a more aesthetically appealing look for these clients with the strategic placement of hairpieces and hair extensions while their hair is growing out. Blacer has developed a program she calls the Mane For A Year program, or “MFAY.” This is a membership program which offers these clients a year’s supply of hairpieces and maintenance while their own hair grows in. When hair is ready, Blacer transitions these clients to hair extensions, and eventually their own natural healthy hair. Unlike Blacer’s competitors, she does not shave the heads of Trich clients, as she states, “this only defeats the purpose.” Through the MFAY program, Blacer determines which hairpiece will work for each client’s specific needs. “My work is amazing,” asserts Blacer. “No one can tell it’s a piece. They can swim and sleep in it. I have gotten clients’ hair to grow back as long as eight inches.”
A member of the Trichotillomania Learning Center since 2005, Blacer has seen how desperately many of her clients need her support and her Mane For A Year program. Unfortunately health insurance does not cover her program, nor is there any other form of funding to supplement those who are financially not able to pay for the program.
To help economically disadvantaged sufferers of Trichotillomania who can benefit from the MFAY program at Blacer’s Secret Mane Salon, she has started the non-profit organization, HelpMe2Stop.org which raises money for people with Trichotillomania who are in need of these necessary hair treatments that can boost their morale and get them on the road to recovery.
For more information on how you can help and make a donation to Help Me 2 Stop, visit www.helpme2stop.org
