As a hair extension specialist, Priscilla Valles has spent the past 20 years helping women feel more beautiful. She earned her cosmetology license before she even received her high school diploma. Her celebrity clients include Reese Witherspoon, Christina Aguilera, Hailey Bieber, Halle Berry, and Kylie Jenner. But after the devastating loss of her husband, Valles stepped away from hair—and Hollywood. During her grieving process, she found healing in an unexpected place: with her horses.
Now she’s back behind the chair with her own extension line, Perlino—named after her beloved Perlino Quarter Horse, Matteo. She spends her days building women’s confidence alongside her best friend, Frankie. For Valles, work is more than a career—it’s connection. “I get to make people feel good every day, that in itself provides me with so much healing,” she says. Here, P (as her friends call her) shares the non-negotiables that helped her turn loss into legacy.
Credit:
Priscilla Valles
Spending Time With Animals to Reset Her Nervous System
For Valles, healing starts at the barn. She rides Matteo twice a week and describes horses as deeply intuitive animals, capable of sensing a human heartbeat from several feet away. On the days she feels especially heavy, she swears Matteo can tell. “He pulls me in for a hug,” she says. “He puts the weight of his head on my shoulder and sighs, and when horses sigh, it means they’re relaxed.”
That physical grounding and the exchange of trust between a 1,000-pound animal and rider has become one of her greatest sources of comfort. And the healing doesn’t stop there. At home, her two dogs—“my babies,” she calls them—get her outside daily for long neighborhood walks and oceanfront hikes. Movement, fresh air, and time spent with her animals aren’t luxuries for Valles; they’re essential resets.
Cooking for Her Family to Stay Connected
If the barn is where she finds peace, the kitchen is where she finds connection. Valles cooks at home most nights, and at least once or twice a week, her family—her mom, dad, stepmom, and her brother, Christian—gathers for a meal. “Cooking is a passion of mine,” she says. “It’s another creative outlet.” After her husband’s passing, those dinners became something deeper. Coming from a divorced family, she says the loss put everything into perspective. Petty differences dissolved, and what remained was closeness.
“They provide comfort and protection,” she says. “Just being around them provides me with healing.” For Valles, food isn’t just nourishment—it’s therapy.
Treating Self-Care as Essential
Valles is disciplined about tending to her body, especially after a season of profound stress. She gets a massage every Monday night—at home, no less—then goes straight to bed to reset for the week ahead. “There’s no room to work and do what I do in pain,” she says. (Valles spends long days on her feet, installing keratin tip, tape-in, and clip-in hair extensions on some of the world’s biggest celebs.)
She’s equally serious about her baths. Valles takes three—sometimes four—a day: one in the morning to start fresh, one after work to unwind, and another before bed. Bath and body oils keep her skin hydrated, but the ritual is less about indulgence and more about regulation. “It’s how I calm my nervous system,” she explains.
Protecting Her Sleep at All Costs
Sleep, Valles says, is foundational. Eight hours is the minimum. Her bed is intentionally curated—soft, layered, and cloudlike. “It has to feel like a big hug,” she says. After her husband’s passing, someone gifted her a body pillow. The addition transformed her sleep, providing both physical comfort and emotional reassurance.
She doesn’t drink alcohol. She eats mostly homemade meals. Every habit ladders up to the same goal: restorative rest. Because for Valles, healing isn’t accidental—it’s built into her days, one ritual at a time.
Rebuilding Strength on Her Own Terms
For a long time, working out felt impossible. Valles’ late husband owned gyms, and after his passing, stepping back into a fitness space carried too much emotional weight. But eventually, she found her way back—this time in an all-women weight-training class that felt supportive rather than overwhelming.
“That’s what helped me get back into it,” she says. She also runs along the ocean near her home, using the rhythm of her breath and the sound of the water as a moving meditation. Strength training, she says, isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about resilience.
As someone who has worn hair extensions on and off for years, I can honestly say I’ve never felt more confident than after sitting in Valles’ chair. The color match was seamless, the texture natural (it’s 100% Remy human hair), the length full and glossy. But more striking than the transformation was the intention behind it. Though her story is marked by loss, the drive and purpose Valles brings to her life and her work make her an inspiration in the truest sense.
Credit:
Heather Muir Maffei
