Volume I · Seated artist · San Francisco
The Method Has Her Name On It
Deb Monti
MONTI Extensions at MILVALI Salon & Cosmetics · Union Street
Ranked “Best Hair Extensions” in the San Francisco Chronicle’s A-List, year after year
The hair underneath is the part Deb Monti has always been interested in. She has been doing extensions on Union Street since 2002, and the rule has not moved once in all that time — no tight tension, no over-direction, equal weight across the head, and your own hair comes out of it in the condition it went in. In 2016 she wrote that down as a method and started certifying other stylists in it.
- 2002 In extensions since
- 3 methods I-tips, wefts, tape-ins
- 2016 Teaching stylists since
- Union St Marina / Cow Hollow
The work
The Monti Method, installed.
Every one of these is a Monti Method install, off the floor at MILVALI on Union Street.
“I was meeting so many women with extensions that were poorly applied, low-quality, painful, and damaging. The industry was gaining a bad reputation — and I knew something had to change.”
Curls kept as curls. Four textures in the MONTI line, each one delivered in its own. This was matched, not talked into behaving.
Shot on the floor at Union Street.
The row you are not supposed to see.
Mid-install at her station on Union Street. Sectioned clean, laid flat, even spacing, even tension, and a line that lies flat enough to part straight over.
Equal weight distribution is the whole rule and the one thing that cannot be fixed later. Weight sitting unevenly is what pulls, and pulling is what costs a hairline. Deb built a certification around getting it right, and MILVALI does not put an extensionist on the floor without it.
Everything else on this page started here.
Matched before it goes in. A blonde balayage weft held to a dark head under the San Francisco sign. Twenty-five colours in the line, so the shift gets built into the hair rather than lifted onto hers.
Long, curled, brunette into blonde. Finished in the chair, on the floor at Union Street.
Why Deb is here
Every extensionist on her floor was certified by her.
We go looking ourselves, city by city, for the artists we'd send a friend to. Deb is our San Francisco pick for extensions that protect the hair underneath.
Most artists learn a method. Deb wrote one. Monti Extensions & Academy has been running since 2016 — one- and two-day courses for working stylists and cosmetology students, in all three application methods, taught by the person who built them.
The rule she teaches is unglamorous and it is the whole thing: no tight tension, no over-direction, equal weight distribution. Get those three right and an install is comfortable on the first day and invisible on the fiftieth. Get them wrong and the client wears the mistake long after the hair comes out.
The hair is hers as well. MONTI extensions are single-donor Indian Remy, ethically sourced, gently processed and delivered in their own texture — three methods, four textures, twenty-five colours, so a match starts a good deal closer than it usually does.
- Her own method The Monti Method: no tight tension, no over-direction, equal weight distribution. Every MILVALI extensionist is certified in it before they take a client, and they install every day rather than once a month.
- Her own academy Monti Extensions & Academy, since 2016. One- and two-day courses for stylists and cosmetology students, across all three application methods.
- Her own hair line MONTI extensions: ethically sourced, single-donor Indian Remy, gently processed, delivered in its natural texture. Three methods, four textures, twenty-five colours.
- Two rooms MILVALI runs two salons — Union Street in San Francisco and Blithedale Avenue in Mill Valley. Deb is a co-owner of both.
What Deb works in
Three methods, four textures, twenty-five colours.
All three are Monti Method installs: no tight tension, no over-direction, equal weight across the head. Which one you walk out in depends on your density, your routine and how long you want between move-ups. That is what the consultation is for.
Microlink I-tips
Individual strands threaded through a bead. No heat, no glue and no solvents anywhere in it, going in or coming out. One-to-one equal weight, every strand free to rotate, and you can run your fingers from scalp to ends. MILVALI's signature, and the one that is safe on fine hair.
- Best for
- Fine hair, updos, versatility
- Wear
- Up to 12 weeks
Tape-ins
Pre-taped wefts sandwiched around your own hair. Quickest way in, and reusable many times over. A few sandwiches give a lot of volume, and there is a single-sided version for finer hair that keeps the weight even.
- Best for
- Thick hair, first-timers
- Wear
- Up to 6 weeks
Hand-tied wefts
A weft sewn onto a row of beads across the head. Deb's Classic and Waterfall techniques build a stronger foundation than a standard row, which is what buys the comfort and the wear. Hand-tied or machine wefts, either one.
- Best for
- Volume, thick hair
- Wear
- Up to 8 weeks
The feed
@debmonti.extensionistDeb posts the work as it comes out of the chair — new colour, fresh installs, hair four months on and still sitting where it was put.
If you want to know what you'll walk out with, that is the place to look before you book.
Follow on Instagram
Book with Deb
Start with the consultation.
Everything starts with an extension consultation. Density, length, method, and what it will cost you to keep it, all before anything goes in. Book that one first and she'll take it from there.
Book an extension consultationOr text her on 415 802 9230. It is the Victorian on Union with the steps up to the front door.
- Rate
- Consultations are free.
- Where
- MILVALI Salon & Cosmetics
2040 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Directions - Booking
- By appointment
Booking open online - Text
- 415 802 9230
- @debmonti.extensionist
Volume I
The finest, coast to coast.
Deb is one of the specialists in Volume I: hair extension artists across the United States, chosen by us, city by city. Every one of them does this for a living.
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