I Cheated...

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Okay, I started off with short angled bob, the kind in which back of my head was shaved... I entered awkward phase soon after i had that haircut; so far i've been struggling with clip-in extensions, hair dye, styling tools etc. to make myself look and feel better with my hair.

But yesterday, i literally gave up :( i went to a good hairdresser and got my full head permanent extensions installed:
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8986/resm1.jpg

Yeah, i went from shoulder to tailbone in 3-4 hours!

But of course, however natural it looks, it feels far from natural...whenever i put my head on pillow i feel thousands of pins poking me on the head...I also cannot wear all kinds of updos, cannot use oil anywhere near my roots, need to have them removed and reinstalled every 2-3 months and restrictive stuff like that :rolleyes:

I'm happy though, since my hair nightmares have ended and i'm no longer depressed about my hair.

The point of this post is:
DO NOT CUT YOUR HAIR. Seriously. Long hair is always an advantage.

[Speckla]

That looks so real and beautiful. Atleast you got good quality beautiful extensions. I wouldn't be able to tell if you hadn't said anything.

[Elfe]

Wow, it looks so real and beautiful.
And extensions are a good thing if you are so unhappy with your short hair.

[Bene]

I've never had extensions and I'll never have them, but I have questions :bigeyes:


Does your head feel heavy? When you go in to have them re-installed, will you have to trim because of damage or will you be able to keep any length you've achieved? Was it expensive? How does washing work? What about combing or brushing?

[Addy]

I did this too when I had a nightmarish cut a couple years ago! I used clip-ins

Just be careful because everytime you have them taken out, you will notice a good bit of thinning. It's the only downfall to perminant extensions. :(

[Unzadi]

Looks very natural - I never would have been able to tell.

[Elphie]

The hairdresser did a beautiful job, those look great!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

thanks everyone! your posts made me feel better with this whole thing :)

Elfe: yes, i was very unhappy, to the point of depression :(

Bene: well, my head is in mixed state of mind :D it does feel heavy because it didnt have all those years to adapt itself to the new weight of hair ( plus, since i have very dense hair, they had to use 2x more hair to cover all my hair)

I got these installed yesterday, but yes, as my hair grows out, these little clamps should move upwards to the root so that they won't be visible.

Trim? nah, i don't think i'll need it; my hair's virgin and non proccessed so its quite strong; i've seen bottle blonds removing theirs without any visible breakage (due to extensions). The best part of extensions is that you won't go through short hair states; you'll take them out one day and say WHOA my hair DID grow!

Yes, it was expensive. lets say, around 300 dollars...
I don't know how the heck i'll wash it! :( I'll probably just wash the roots so that sebum won't melt the keratine bonds.

as for combing, they gave me a paddle brush which is very easy on the hair. I prevent tangles by keeping my hair in a braid (like you guys do lol) so it isn't a major problem.

Addy: Well, that's not thinning,it is caused by your natural shredded hairs not falling out due to the clamps that hold hair together. Once they take these clamps out, 3 months of shredded hair will be released, resulting in a huge hair loss :p

[Amara]

It looks lovely! :) What a nice way to pass the time until you're happier with your own length.

[vindo]

Those are pretty and natural looking!

Just keep in mind that if you want long healthy hair in the future you have to be careful playing with extensions since they can ruin your own hair.

[dearladydisdain]

Wow, that looks great! Makes me wonder how many people IRL with enviable hair actually have extensions. :lol:

[Kris Dove]

Wow! Those waves are so natural looking, I could never tell you were wearing extensions.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Amara: haha yes, that's the best part of it. :cheese:
Emichiee:yes i know, you pull extension, you're pulling your own hair as well...i always keep hairs in a braid and remove tangles to prevent that.
dearladydisdain: LOL you wouldn't believe :D but i don't think anyone here has them in, this is the only place you cannot find someone faking long hair :p
Kris Dove: İnvisible to the eye, but not for me :mad: they always remind their existence by hurting my scalp. :rolleyes:

[LawyerGirl]

They look great! I have had extensions but they itched so badly I couldn't keep them in for more than 2-3 weeks.

ETA: And because they lasted such a short time, they end up not being worth the expense for me. But they would work nicely for a special occassion.

[Roseate]

Wow, hairdressing magic! It does look good. And 300$ for three months' worth of long lovely hair isn't that bad. Enjoy!


Well, that's not thinning,it is caused by your natural shredded hairs not falling out due to the clamps that hold hair together. Once they take these clamps out, 3 months of shredded hair will be released, resulting in a huge hair loss :p

I had never thought about that before, that must be a ton of hair that comes out! I don't even want to know what 3 months of my shedding looks like, it would be a huge pile of hair.

[little_acorn]

They look great :flower:

[ericthegreat]

I'm young hairstylist, and I have assisted in and also have applied myself individual fusion hair extensions, so I've seen all the various hair color and hair cutting techniques used to blend your real hair with the extension hair.

Even with my trained eye, I have to say Dreams in Pink that your stylist did a great job! The only shorter sections of your hair that stand out are in the very front which are your bangs, and that of course makes for a very natural looking head of long hair.

They look very beautiful on you. You will of course need to get used to feeling and the weight of all those bonds on your scalp, but give it 2 weeks and you'll get used to them. And you shouldn't feel bad at all for getting extensions. Now you know that you definitely want your hair long. These extensions are a nice treat to ease your yearning for long hair while you wait for your real hair to naturally grow longer.

[heatherdazy]

Wow, your extensions were only $300? For the hair AND the installation?!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

LawyerGirl: thank god mine isn't itching!!! i cannot even touch my scalp right now, let alone itching LOL

Roseate: you can use extensions for as long as the keratin bonds and the hair stays healthy, meaning you can use them for years and years with proper maintenance :) but you need to reinstall those hairs every 3 months or so because roots will be showing ;D

and yes, tons of hair DO come out in every removal, which is why all girls scream around saying EXTENSIONS ARE BAD, THEY MADE ME LOSE ALL MY HAIR!!!..:D

little_acorn: Thanks!

ericthegreat:Yes, the stylist i went to was specialized in permanent extensions, i knew i could trust them :) (i should also thank my super dense hair that covers up pretty much everything you put in LOL)

And yes, my scalp feels kinda sore right now. Lets hope it gets used to this new stuff attached to it :cool:

heatherdazy: ...and the haircut :D i said i'm gonna pay via cash so, they made some discount :cheese:

[LawyerGirl]

Dreams In Pink mine itched terribly because they were sewn in, not bonded like yours! If I do it again, I may go your route, though I didn't have any trouble washing my hair.... I just washed it like I usually do.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Dreams In Pink mine itched terribly because they were sewn in, not bonded like yours! If I do it again, I may go your route, though I didn't have any trouble washing my hair.... I just washed it like I usually do.

i see...i guess they dont do sewn in extension here, never saw it. But yeah, all methods have their ups and downs; i guess sleeping is much easier with sewn in extensions, considering that i have around 260 little metal clamps attached to my roots :rolleyes:

[YoginiCelestial]

I thought the topic was about cheating! Haha!
Your extensions look so real. I would have never guessed that you had extensions!

[LawyerGirl]

i see...i guess they dont do sewn in extension here, never saw it. But yeah, all methods have their ups and downs; i guess sleeping is much easier with sewn in extensions, considering that i have around 260 little metal clamps attached to my roots :rolleyes:

No, not really... it really hurt to sleep because they were sewn in so tight... :rolleyes: For sewn in extensions, your natual hair is braided very tightly into cornrows and then the hair is sewn in (very tightly) to the cornrows so the hair extensions are flush with the scalp. And though it hurts a little less as it starts to grow out, it begins to pull at your scalp...

[jojo]

they look so realistic, do they not give you headaches?

[vindo]

Emichiee: yes i know, you pull extension, you're pulling your own hair as well...i always keep hairs in a braid and remove tangles to prevent that.



Well not exactly...extensions can cause damage in many ways. More the longer they are worn.



Dreams in Pink:
".. i have around 260 little metal clamps attached to my roots"


1. If Metal clips on hairbands can cause breakage by not even worn peremanent and around larger sections of hair, those definetly can. Each one of those 260 strands is tightly wrapped and stress is added to those bonds by every move..especially things like sleeping on them.

2. We all know long hair can be heavy and ultra heavy hair has caused some women traction alopecia. But the good thing with natural hair is that the heaviness is distributed among the 100 000 hairs you have on your head..evenly.
260 clips do pull very strongly on your roots, so watch out for any signs.

I have conducted studies on women that had damaged hair after wearing extensions. Some of them wore them for a while and their hair was in a horrible condition. Many really suffer strong breakage, one woman went from natural shoulderblade to a bob...here hair was so thinned that merely a few streaks were still long.
In a more severe case the woman ended up with alopecia, large bald spots all over her head..at least 50% were bald.
Out of all those women, many now finally grew natural long hair, some can't give up extensions and one will not grow hair ever again.

I know this sounds horrible, and I don't want to scare anybody. But there is a risk, and I want people to know what could happen so they see the signs before it gets bad and make the right decisions.

I wouldn't want your dream turn into a nightmare.

And since you in fact DO hope for long natural hair in the future and are not someone who likes to experiment a lot with styles and does not worry much about the hairs health, it is better you know. Even only a bit of breakage is something that would bother most long hair lovers.

[vdhendrix]

i cannot belive there not your real hair!!!!

[Toadstool]

Elfe: yes, i was very unhappy, to the point of depression

Dreams in Pink I'm very glad you feel so much better with your new long hair!
however if it made you actually depressed perhaps some form of counselling might be an idea? My appearance used to totally rule my life and doesn't now through therapy. Just a thought.
Either way, it looks good!

[Naters]

Wow that looks absolutely gorgeous!! I wanted extensions too but their just too pricey for me.

[JCFantasy23]

Looks lovely!

[2peasinapod]

:bigeyes:WOW! Add me to the list of people who can't believe that's not your real hair! It looks stunning!!!

[natt i nord]

Wow, the hairdresser did a very good job. I wouldn't have been able to tell if you hadn't told us.

Will you get new extensions after the 3 months passed by? Or do you think the new growth that came until then will be enough for you to feel good again?

Good luck and have fun with them, it looks absolutely great! :)

[JamieLeigh]

I think it looks real, and very nice! Don't worry! Even we who are very long already struggle with hair envy....things like hemline and thickness can plague us. Hair worries don't magically disappear when you gain length, trust me. :p It's rare to find someone who is honestly perfectly happy and content with the hair they have. :flower: