I have always been a typical girly-girl, and as such, have kept my hair on the longer side for the majority of my life. In fact, one of my cousin Mary’s favorite stories to tell about me when we were little is how we would compete on who had longer hair. She is a genetic freak with the most magical, thick, strong, gorgeous fucking hair you’ve ever seen, so I was in a losing battle from the womb. But it didn’t stop me from trying. So as we’d sit on my Grandma’s couch comparing who had longer hair, it would always be her, and I would cry. Literally. Now, we were 4 or 5 years old at the time, but still – get your shit together Susie! I digress. Right before I met my husband, I had a quarter life crisis and whacked my hair off to just above my shoulders and dyed it platinum blonde. And since then it’s been a quest to have long but also healthy hair that’s closer to it’s natural dish-water blonde color. Now as I approach 37, I have come to terms with the fact that if I want my baby-fine hair to look healthy, I will never be able to grow it super long because it really does need regular trims. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and get some fake ass hair glued to my head, and I regret NOTHING!
Picking what kind of extensions to buy: I’ll be honest here, I just asked my stylist. My stylist Christina has also become a friend over the past decade. In fact, after I had my aforementioned quarter-life crisis, I immediately regretted my decision to cut all my hair off and bleach it within an inch of it’s life. So I went into Beauty Brands and made an appointment with the first girl available, which happened to be Christina. Since then, she has opened her own salon, Beaut Studio LLC, and I vow to you and to her, no matter where here hair career takes her, I will follow her to the ends of the earth. Since she also has fine hair she knows that when I say “trim”, I mean, “a half an inch or I’ll cry like I did when I was five years old with Mary!” I also let her play with color and have her add in reds or dark browns depending on the season and our moods. She is a hair genius. On my wedding day when she was still at Beauty Brands seven years ago, I paid her under the table to just come do my updo as well as my bridesmaids’ and mom’s hair because I didn’t trust anyone else to do as good of a job as her. So trust your stylist. If you don’t have a regular stylist, google the top brands of tape in extensions and do some research and read reviews to find what will suit you best.
Christina recommended Donna Bella hair. So I went online and bought 4 packs of it and went to see her yesterday to get them “installed.” (Like it’s a fucking engine.) Below are some pictures of the process:
Before you go to get extensions put in, know that it will be a longer appointment, especially if you have to dye your natural hair in any way to match the extensions. I like to have my hair darker in the winter so I definitely needed highlights added in to blend with the tones of the Ash Blonde extensions I chose. I was with Christina for about three hours from start to finish! So bring a coffee, call in the hubs to watch the kids, and relax.
The installation process: Your stylist will start with clean hair and section it off starting at the bottom. Depending how thick your hair is, they will add in the amount of wefts that they think is necessary. Christina sprayed my natural hair with dry shampoo before putting the tape on my hair to help keep oils away from it. Once all the extensions are in, your stylist will cut the extensions to blend in with your real hair. My natural hair hits right at my boobs so it’s definitely not short, but it’s also not as long as these extensions. So Christina just used a razor to trim everything and blend it all together.
Taking care of your extensions:
Get a proper fucking brush: I bought a brush from Donna Bella when I ordered my hair that’s safe for extensions because it doesn’t have the little balls on the ends of the bristles that can tangle up your hair. You can find them anywhere though! Here is the one I got.
Use the good shit: I use salon grade shampoos and conditioners anyways since I like to take good care of my hair, and I definitely notice a difference when I use my normal salon grade products versus the shit you get for free at hotels. By salon grade I mean the brands you find at salons that cost more than 2.99 a bottle. Sorry Pantene and Herbal Essences, step aside! My absolute favorites are Matrix Mega Sleek, and Pureology, but I only buy Pureology on sale since that shit is expensive. I also throw Joico and Kerstase products in there too. I did read that you need to use sulfate free shampoos when wearing tape-ins, so as not to break up the glue bonds on the hair and cause them to slip. So double check that the shampoo you’re using is sulfate free.
Be cognizant of where you apply hair products. Christina told me to not put any oils in near the bonds, especially higher up in my hair. Since my hair is so fine I don’t normally do that anyways otherwise it weighs it down, but I do like to use hair oil on the very ends of my hair to give it added moisture. My personal fave is by Moroccanoil.
Don’t brush your hair like Marsha Brady. Doing a hundred strokes a day from root to tip will only damage that shit. When brushing your hair with extensions, you need to brush from ends to roots slowly and carefully so as not to tug at the extensions.
Don’t mess with it too much when it’s soaking wet. And you also shouldn’t wrap your hair up turban style in a towel when it’s wet. Let it air dry while you get dressed and do your makeup, then blow dry out whatever water is left.
Get yourself some dry shampoo. All the moms out there reading this say, “Do you live under a rock? I have kids. I exist solely on dry shampoo and coffee!” Good! You should. Get some dry shampoo and spray it on your scalp as well as near the wefts to soak up oil on days you don’t wash it. My favorite is from Drybar and I also love their dry conditioner even more than the shampoo!
Be at peace that you are giving up the “wash and go” days of yore. Say goodbye to just putting your hair in a high bun or ponytail, unless you want those tape in wefts to show and give away your dirty little secret. So on days that you skip washing your hair, if you want it up and out of your face, put it in a low ponytail or a braid. And it’s probably best to leave an updo with extensions to the professionals so that they can conceal the taped in wefts.
Braid it or put it in a low ponytail at night. You can also just wrap a silk scarf around it too but for me it’s just easier to braid to to one side and sleep with it like that. If you’re like me and you aggressively toss and turn and kick and punch like a warrior at night, your hair will get mangled if you don’t braid it or put it in a ponytail. That’s a good tip even when you don’t wear extensions.
If you don’t want to commit to getting extensions, you can also do clip ins! I have clip ins that I ordered from Zala about five years ago. I found them just by doing my own research and never knew anyone who tried them. But I really love the quality! I mean, it’s been five years and they still look great. Granted I wore them maybe once every few of months. I got the 20 inch ones which to me are personally TOO long and look a little Cher to me. There is such a thing as too long of extensions and if you’re staring at 40, you probably don’t want hair down to your ass. I liked to clip them in and do a side pony or braid to just add some thickness to my hair and it made it blend better than when I wore them straight. Clip ins are a great option if you just want to dabble with changing your look temporarily without all the fuss of tape-ins.
