All about my Hair Extensions

I've wanted to make a post about my hair extensions and how I style and care for them for a while now, but I've never known where to start. This post will be a basic guide to what I have learned over many years of being a hair extension patron; I will no doubt add more posts in the future if anyone has any questions.

I've been wearing hair extensions continuously for almost 4 years, which sounds like a lot of effort, right? I actually really enjoy wearing them and have tried many styles, from synthetic mix, to human hair and body wave hair weave. My hair is naturally very thin and will not grow past a certain point, however, as I mentioned in my recent video on hair care, it's finally growing and the condition is improving rapidly. Yet I still wont ditch the extensions, and here's why:

before and after

WHY WEAR HAIR EXTENSIONS?

You may be considering extensions, and there are many different uses for them, as I will list below:

- To increase hair length

- To increase the volume of your natural hair

- To add highlights or lowlights

- To experiment with different hair colours

- To protect your own hair from continuous styling

before and after

WHAT TYPE?

CLIP IN

I personally swear by clip-in extensions. They're the least damaging route to take, the cheapest and they allow for variation in styles. Although I'm sure many of us would like to wake up with mermaid hair everyday, let's face it, it's much more practical and comfortable to have hair extensions that are taken out at the end of the day (never sleep with clip-in's in). The clips are unnoticeable if you attatch the pieces correctly. I've worn clip ins in various styles, synthetic, human and body wave, and they've always lasted longer than any other method

MICRO LOOP

Micro loop extensions are my next favourite alternative, however, without getting them done at a salon they can prove to be a lot of hard work. Luckily, I had help from my family to put them in but they took about 4 hours, even to do my thin hair. They lasted for about 4-6 weeks on me, and it was lovely waking up with long hair, however the upkeep would be easier if you had a hairdresser as a friend or family member
GLUE IN
All I can say about gluing in wefts of hair is: PLEASE DON’T. It could rip your hair out and leave you with bald patches. It is incredibly uncomfortable and I would recommend clip-ins over this method.

HOW TO ARRANGE THEM

Highest wefts for thick (right) and thin (left) hair

When applying hair extensions, you will need to distribute the longer strips towards the back of the hair and the smaller ones on the sides, just over the ears. If you have thin hair, to conceal the extensions you should not go much higher than the top of your ears as the clips may show, however, if you have thick hair, you will need to place the wefts higher up, to dispense them more evenly.

STYLING

You can style human hair extensions just as you would your own hair, whether this is with or without heat. Remember to protect it with heat defence spray and treat it well. Extensions blend best when your hair is layered or feathered, and for optimum results your hair should be chin length at the least for seamless blending.

CARE

Caring for your extensions allows for a longer duration of life. Use conditioning masques when washing them and allow to air dry and avoid using heated tools on the hair as often as possible to keep them soft. Using products, such as hair spray, sparingly will enable you to wash the hair less frequently, which will extend the lifetime of the extensions.

WHERE TO BUY?

I used to buy my extensions on ebay, however, after continuous nightmares with sellers I've been looking elsewhere. You can find a range of styles on a website called www.besthairbuy.com, who have a youtube channel. This cuts down hassle with ebay!

So that was my basic guide to Rapunzel-esque locks. If you have any questions for a later post please leave them below and I will try and include them in the future.