From Shampoo Girl to Beauty Boss: How Trisha Mendoza Built Her Hair Empire
The content creator and owner of the Trishafied Hair Extensions salon has carved out her place in the beauty industry as a hair extensions powerhouse.
Trisha Mendoza, salon owner and content creator, was just 14 years old when she started working at a salon.
Trisha, who was adopted by her aunt, had to quit school after her sophomore year of high school due to financial difficulties. She needed to find a way to earn a living.
“Ang mindset ko noon, yung buhay ng isang bakla, sa salon lang. Kasi syempre, hindi ako nakapagtapos—ano pa bang career ang pwede? Salon. Maghawak ng blower. So kailangan ko matuto mag-salon.”
She started as a shampoo girl at a neighborhood salon in Quezon City, earning just Php 20 for her hard work. There, Trisha started to learn all things hair.
Eventually, she would get a job at a salon in a mall where, she says with a laugh, she was finally making more than P20. The salon owner was incredibly kind, Trisha says. In fact, she was so kind and generous that when she closed the salon because she was moving abroad, she gave Trisha the salon equipment and supplies. “Yung mga gamit sa salon binigay niya sa akin. Doon ako nakapag-start sa bahay-bahay.”
“Trisha-fying” others
Kieran Punay
Kieran Punay
Trisha, then 16, would go to client’s houses or have them come to hers, offering treatments like hair color and rebonding. She promoted her services online, in buy-and-sell groups.
That’s how Trishafied was born. It was one of her clients who gave her the name. “You need a tagline—something connected to your name,” the client told her. “What about ‘Trishafied?’ Because your clients are satisfied.” It stuck. Since then, Trisha has “trishafied” countless clients.
She did it for years, and continued doing it during the pandemic.
It was also during the pandemic that she started offering hair extensions. Clients kept asking for them and so Trisha tried to learn how to install them, watching YouTube videos and practicing on herself, and later, her friends.
The first method she learned was micro-ring hair extensions, where she used tiny copper rings to attach individual hair strands to natural hair. Today, she uses knotting—a no-glue, no-heat method of applying hair strand by strand using elastic thread—or, if the client is willing to splurge, the lightweight, long-lasting diamond feather method.
Putting in the work
Kieran Punay
It’s painstaking work, taking hours, even involving cutting and coloring so the hair extensions would blend with the client’s hair. And Trisha mastered it.
Trisha uses only human hair—no synthetic hair extensions for her and her clients. During those early days, Trisha would go home to her province, Lanao del Norte, to buy hair from people. Today, she gets them from agencies who source high-quality human hair from all over the Philippines, as well as Vietnam.
The pandemic was a good time for her business, Trisha says. With salons shuttered and travel restrictions, the demand for people who made house calls was high. “During the pandemic, I was able to buy a house, a car.”
And after the pandemic, in 2022, she finally opened her own salon in Timog Avenue, Quezon City. She called it Trishafied Hair Extensions. People kept coming—including celebrities.
Trisha had always wanted to do the hair of celebrities. In fact, she used to send them messages that were often ignored. Now, it’s the celebrities who approach her. “Sometimes they’d see my old messages. Nagugulat sila. ‘Hala, nag-message ka pala.’ Lumalapit sila. ‘Oh my god, nag-message ka pala sa akin nung 2020.’”
Today, her favorite celebrity clients include Jillian Ward, Kim Domingo and Francine Garcia. You see them and other stars in transformation videos that Trisha shares on social media. “Hi, ‘nak,” she greets each client warmly, asking them what look they were going for and delivering stunning results.
Reaping the fruits of her labor—and helping others find their footing
Kieran Punay
Trisha has a staff of 20 working for her. She has trained them well. And soon, there will be more. She’s expanding her salon in Quezon City because her current 12-seater salon just isn’t enough to meet the demand. “Sobrang daming tao, sobrang daming nagpapagawa.”
She’s thinking about opening her salon for franchising to cater to more clients.
There are more people offering hair extension services now, Trisha says. She knows because she started what has become the biggest Facebook group for human hair extensions in the Philippines. She supports even her competitors by providing a platform for them to offer their services. “That’s also how I started—by promoting my services in Facebook groups. So I decided to put up a group dedicated to human hair extensions. Now we have over 100,000 members.”
Trisha, who has built a solid clientele base, no longer needs the group to promote her services. Instead, it has become her way to support other hair extension specialists.
Purpose and passion in every strand
Kieran Punay
Trisha has come a long way from being the 14-year-old shampoo girl earning just Php 20. “I think about that every day. I didn’t expect this to happen—pero unti-unting nagbago ang buhay ko. All I wanted when I was young was to get a stable job.”
But what she got is more than a job—she’s found purpose and passion. “I really love what I do. It’s not just about money. I enjoy it. Hair is really my passion. I love being in the salon, seeing my staff grow, and seeing clients happy.”
Trisha’s secret to success? “Maging mabuting tao, maging mabuti sa staff.”
Art direction by Nicole Almero, assisted by Mikiyo Ricamora. Beauty direction by Leira Aquino. Photography by Kieran Punay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Trisha Mendoza is the owner of Trishafied Hair Extensions, which specializes in high-quality hair extensions, attached by using a “knotting” technique.
She is also a digital content creator.
Hair extensions are cosmetic additions of real or synthetic hair that are attached to natural hair to increase length or volume, or add color or texture. They are applied using various methods and can be temporary or semi-permanent.
They are safe to use with professional application and proper care. If installed incorrectly, worn too long, or poorly maintained, hair extensions can cause significant damage to natural hair—including breakage, thinning, and permanent hair loss (traction alopecia). They may cause tension on the hair follicles and may contain toxic chemicals.
Hair extensions are safe when installed by certified specialists using proper tension distribution and high-quality human hair. Non-adhesive, low-heat application methods protect the hair cuticle from chemical exposure, though regular maintenance and professional removal are required to prevent tension alopecia or structural hair breakage.
Caring for human hair extensions in humid tropical environments requires sulfate-free, pH-balanced cleansing to protect both natural strands and attachment points. Regular detangling, lightweight moisture application to the lengths, and avoiding excessive heat styling prevent premature tangling and extend the structural longevity of the installation.
