Tape In Extensions Review
There's nothing worse than writing up an amazing story and then your smart phone freezes and it gets deleted! Lesson learned, don't write blogs on your phone Lindsey! Anyways, sorry for the delay but here it is!
I went to a six hour class to receive certification in tape-in hair extensions with a company called Twisted Fringe. I've been wanting to dabble into the extension world because I thought it would be a great addition to bridal services. Every girl wants to look amazing on their wedding day right? That means having the hair of your dreams to go with it! After the class I decided not only was I trained on how to install, maintain, and remove them but I would also like to have the actual experience. I never want to bring anything into the salon that I can't speak from experience about. It's just not my thing.
My Experience:
When I first had them in, I hated them! It felt very strange and they were heavier than I was used to and I just wasn't sure about the whole thing. After a week passed I got used to feeling the tape close to my scalp and then I started to like them. They behaved just as my normal hair in terms of drying, curling and even sleeping! When shampooing I would slide my finger tips into my scalp horizontally so not to pull on the tape. I did not shampoo as often as I normally do and doing so I found that after about a week my hair did not get as oily as it used to. I've always been told, and told clients as well, that if you could hold off the first week of not washing your hair it slows down the process of your body producing sebum and thus you wont be so oily, so often! Anyhow, I'm a night time shower person and they do not recommend sleeping in wet hair extensions, that is unless you wear a braid to bed and that was what I found the best way to allow them to dry. After the first week I really did enjoy having long hair again! It curled beautifully and it was one of those 'I feel pretty' feelings!
The tape ins are made with a medical grade adhesive tape on the top of the hair weft and they get sandwiched together with a small section of your hair. They go in really easy and they were very easy to maintain. The recommended time to leave them in is 4-6 weeks and I thought I would just see how long they would actually last. Well, I'm quite confident that the tape themselves would last a long time but as your hair grows behind the tape it gets matted. That's the problem. I waited until about the seventh week and that was a mistake! There is a alcohol based spray that breaks down the tape for easy removal. I used that and simply peeled the two wefts of hair apart. As you can see in the photo above there were hardly any pieces of my actual hair removed during the process. However, another lesson learned, I did the removal by myself and couldn't see some of the pieces I was peeling apart. Therefore I peeled apart the hair wefts but the tape stayed and I had a bit of a mess on my hands! So other than that I think it was all around a good experience and I would use these type of extensions. I think I'd like to experiment with some different types in the future as well!
The Investment:
Hair extensions are definitely a luxury service. The initial investment is for the hair alone. When a client would come in for an extension consult we would first match your hair with Twisted Fringe's 100% remy human hair. We would make sure your color and cut is fresh before installation, then we would place the order for your hair. Typically you'd need about 4 packs of hair costing around $79 per pack. I used about 3.5 packs for my hair so it really depends on why you want extensions (thickness, length, fill in thin spots etc.)to see how many packs you would need. Once your hair came in about two days we would then have you come in for the installation. Which this service is free at the time of this blog as an introductory special as I bring this into my business for the first time. However typically this is a $150 fee.
Then after your 4-6 weeks is up we will remove your extensions, update your color and cut if needed, I will wash the hair, re-tape them, then re-install. This fee is also $150. The hair can be used up to 4 times.
In summary, I personally enjoyed wearing extensions, nobody ever knew they just said "how did you get our hair to grow so fast?' and it was fun! If I was a bride I would be all over this service for my wedding! But for just my day to day style I would probably not deal with the whole install and removal as busy as I am in the salon! (Hey I can barely get my hair colored as it is!).
If you are growing your hair out, finding thinner spots after having a baby or going through a medical crisis, getting married or just looking for the confidence boost then I would highly recommend tape in hair extensions! If that's you, send me an email at lindsey@lindseyholcomb.com and we'll chat!
Until next time...
