I have shitty hair. I always have and I always will. I came out the womb completely bald, and didn’t have a reasonable amount of hair to differentiate myself from a little boy until I was around two. My relationship with my hair has been a hate-hate one.
The texture is kinky curl ringlets on the bottom half, and weird frizzy waves on the top. It takes forever to dry. It blows up in humidity. I could never by the girl that hits it with a blow dryer for five minutes and walks out the door. The color is a mousy brown that I never really liked, so I began ruining my hair with bleach at a very young age. It started out when I was in middle school getting light blonde highlights, then turned into an addiction. I’ve been red, I’ve been platinum, I’ve been dark brown, I’ve had a pink streak. My hair has been through it all.
After one terrible bleach job by a very unqualified hairdresser, my hair was ruined. After that life-altering experience, there was only one thing left to do: cut my hair into a bob. After feeling ugly and depressed walking around with short, dry, fried hair, I entered the world of extensions. I became the master of clip-ins.
But since my hair continued refusing to grow past my shoulders, and my abuse of clip-ins was leaving me with bald patches, I knew it was time to make the leap. I got taped in extensions.
Before
Since the state of my hair was so tragic, I don’t really have a substantial “before” picture. But to get an idea I had just made the transition from red to blonde, and my hair was fed up with me. One side was an inch shorter than the other. It was breaking off like crazy, and I felt like it was getting thinner and thinner.
The photo on the left is with my stripper length clip-ins. The photo on the right is my natural. Don’t be fooled, those aren’t pigtail buns, there’s nothing on the other side. That little baby bun was all I had remaining.
The Application
Since my hair isn’t super long, I was going more for volume than for length. Realistically, I knew I could not blend super long ones without spending three hours on my hair each morning. The extensions I got are the 14″ Babe tape-in Remy (aka human) hair extensions in two different blonde shades.
Basically the way it works is you have two extensions that use a medical grade adhesive that sandwich your hair in the middle. They’re super light weight, and you don’t feel the pull like you would with clip-ins. The process should take under two hours depending on your hair. Mine was painless. Just a lot of sectioning and sticking.
After
Okay, please excuse this cringey selfie on the left, I never thought it would exit its way out my camera roll, but it’s the best photo I have of my hair down. It blends perfectly, and I don’t think anyone would suspect that this isn’t my own beautiful, thick healthy hair. Mwahaha.
Pros And Cons
Pros:
- You have hair! And lots of it!
- It looks, and feels real.
- The texture is versatile. Air dries with a slight wave, but is easily curled or straightened.
- You can get a feel for how fast your hair is growing as the extensions get pushed down.
Cons:
- You need to get a new shampoo and conditioner. Most contain sulfate, which loosens the glue.
- You have to hit your hair with a blow dryer after getting it wet. Water also loosens the glue. Sorry low-maintenance gals, you can’t air dry without hitting your root with a blow dryer first.
- You have to learn to brush your hair differently. You don’t want to tug at the root too much.
- In very rare situations, they can come out. My baby hairs on the bottom of my head refused to hold onto this extension leaving me with two little patches.
- Don’t expect to throw your hair into a quick high pony/bun without a few tracks showing.
- If you have a boyfriend and/or hookup, he will feel them if he attempts to run his fingers through your hair.
Worth it, tbh..
Image via Shutterstock
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Rachel Page
Rachel enjoys spending her time thinking about Britney Spears, whining about being single, and thinking about Britney Spears. She doesn't take to criticism well, so be nice or so she will cry herself to sleep! Email: rpage@grandex.co
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