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View Full Version : Fake it till you make it - Who here has extensions and how do you use them?



Heatherzilla
May 21st, 2012, 09:02 PM
Well last night I spent a few hours putting a set of micro ring extensions in for my sister and it got me to thinking about ways I could use extensions in my hair. I've never bothered getting any because I figured it would be near impossible to get something that would look similar to my natural curl pattern, but I'm thinking I could probably use some to make some awesome updos I can't currently do at my length. Does anyone here use extensions to create awesome updos, or use extensions at all? I'm wanting to know about your experiences and how you make them work for you.

Also, if anyone has hennaed their extensions I'd be curious to know the results since I'm a henna head and I'm not sure it's possible to get extensions anywhere near the colour my hair is.

julierockhead
May 21st, 2012, 09:53 PM
I've totally been tempted by these clip ins
http://www.luxyhair.com/
they have red that looks like a henna red, and they are human hair to you can henna them

WANT

Faux
May 21st, 2012, 10:07 PM
I had the Paris Hilton Bandit extensions while I was growing my hair out and I loved them. You can find them on ebay for cheap. Long hair gives me so much confidence, so I had to cheat when it was short!

carmac21
May 22nd, 2012, 03:13 AM
I have considered this.
If I could see them and feel them in a shop I would buy some, but i'm not keen on buying them over the internet.
Also I would need to know exactly where they came from.
I think in India and Russia poorer families are exploited for their daughters long hair, which is cut off for a low amount of money, and sold at a high price in the beauty industry.

faellen
May 22nd, 2012, 03:22 AM
I have some Foxylocks clip-in extensions. They're great quality and look really natural. Unfortunately as I am growing out my natural colour they are no longer a good colour match, but here's a pic of when I wore them:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/madamedysmorphic/hair/DSCF6523_rs.jpg

Carissamarie08
May 22nd, 2012, 03:28 AM
I have had extensions of all kinds for almost 7 years now. I've actually collected a whole trash bag filled with extensions! I've used the clip in kinda and the fusion kinds. I have my own personal glue gun to fuse the extensions into my hair myself.

afu
May 22nd, 2012, 04:11 AM
Faellen those look great on you :) If my hair was naturally in the 1s I would definitly be tempted to try some

Rocket22
May 22nd, 2012, 07:15 AM
I wore extensions for years!!! I have an entire album of just my extensions. I loved wearing them and it gave me hair I will never be able to achieve (thickness) I did them myself which made it much cheaper, although the hair I bought was very very expensive. But on the bright side of buying that quality of hair is it will last forever. :)

MonaMayfair
May 22nd, 2012, 07:43 AM
I love extensions on other people, but I haven't got any (like Heatherzilla I've never seen a color that would match my henna/cassia'd hair)

However, now being sick of the red (and after lightening it up a lot with honey - still very red though) I'm thinking of trying to cover/disguise it as much as possible with a brown semi permanent.

If I can get my hair a medium to darkish brown (not my natural color, but I've got a craving for it at the moment) I'd totally get extensions if I could find a match.

Incidentally, I DID dye clip-in bangs with henna and cassia (human hair) but I just couldn't get them to match. I bought them in "light auburn" which was the right level of lightness, but not red enough. When I dyed them they were TOO red...

Tota
May 22nd, 2012, 08:22 AM
I was thinking about getting them. Because I'm a very slow and careful thinker my hair grew during that time from chin to APL :) I felt comfortable with myself at that length so I decided not to get extensions and to just wait and see how long can my own hair grow (I never had hair longer than APL before). But if anything bad ever happens to my own hair, I have absolutely no problems with getting extensions. I would prefer the fusion ones.

Heatherzilla
May 22nd, 2012, 08:24 AM
I love extensions on other people, but I haven't got any (like Heatherzilla I've never seen a color that would match my henna/cassia'd hair)

However, now being sick of the red (and after lightening it up a lot with honey - still very red though) I'm thinking of trying to cover/disguise it as much as possible with a brown semi permanent.

If I can get my hair a medium to darkish brown (not my natural color, but I've got a craving for it at the moment) I'd totally get extensions if I could find a match.

Incidentally, I DID dye clip-in bangs with henna and cassia (human hair) but I just couldn't get them to match. I bought them in "light auburn" which was the right level of lightness, but not red enough. When I dyed them they were TOO red...

I think the way to dye extensions with henna would be to buy ones close to your natural colour and then henna them rather than buy something auburn and henna them to try to get them to blend. I don't know if all the processing extensions go through would effect how they take up colour, I know some of the cheaper ones are coated in silicone to make them feel nicer. I tried to henna some bright red extensions to make them look less clown red and it didn't do a whole lot colourwise. I might borrow some of my sister's old extensions to see what colour they henna to when I touch up my roots tomorrow.

BunnyWabbit
May 22nd, 2012, 02:44 PM
I wore extensions for years!!! I have an entire album of just my extensions. I loved wearing them and it gave me hair I will never be able to achieve (thickness) I did them myself which made it much cheaper, although the hair I bought was very very expensive. But on the bright side of buying that quality of hair is it will last forever. :)

.... I know that user name! I seem to remember being on an extension board with you quite a while back.


So yes, I too have worn extensions in the past. I contemplated getting them again (mostly used a glue in method) but I didn't want to spend the money on quality new hair, coloring the hair to match etc especially when I work out so much now (I found it difficult to pull back my hair using the kind of extensions I preferred). It was a big process and my now ex-DH helped me with it a lot. my current DBF isn't useful in that particular sense, so I decided it let the idea go for now. I still have BOXES of extensions in various red shades, synthetic dread extensions, and all sorts of hair goodies that I want to sell off in the not too distant future.

akilina
May 22nd, 2012, 02:53 PM
They are just so irritating and uncomfortable to me. I feel like it gets all knotty and matted at the nape and you have to carry around a brush and brush them out every so often.
I would love to wear them if it weren't such a pain in the behind. Also the part that bothers me is that my hair is truly not that thick or long so it just makes me hate my own hair even more.

QMacrocarpa
May 22nd, 2012, 04:31 PM
I have no experience with extensions, but there are lots of interesting style tutorials with extensions on youtube, like lilithedarkmoon's (http://www.youtube.com/user/lilithedarkmoon/videos?query=extensions).

beachgirlla
May 22nd, 2012, 11:25 PM
Do not ever do it please, the so called keratin hair extensions, or the ring or lok or celebrity or the like, they will damage your hair and thin it out, sometimes permanently, I have had hair extensions for years, I would pay like $1200 every 6-8 weeks to get them done, they lie to you that you can reuse them blah blah, but trust me I could never reuse them as they get very dry ashy looking even the ones that claimed to be natural, Indian, Russian ...., the lady who did my extensions before I stop back in Dec was making like $20,000-30,000 a MONTH !!, more than a dr claiming her celebrity extensions are the best blah blah, my hair looked awful, very thin from roots, everytime she takes them out and give me one day rest so next day I get new ones, I would look at my hair and cry, no matter what I did, the hair would stay at above chin length, 7 years and it stayed on that length, I finally connected the problem with the extensions and I'm now for the first time in 7 years and for around 5 months without these damaging extensions, my hair is getting much thicker and is LONGER, 3 inches since Dec and much healthier.

I do not know about the clip on ones, these may be much less damaging.

Bunnysaur
May 22nd, 2012, 11:42 PM
I have a set of hot pink clip in extensions, but they're only about as long as my hair is now. I only wear them for a pop of color every now and again.

morrigan*
May 22nd, 2012, 11:49 PM
i only have some fake dreads which are far too long for me, past hip if i put it on, and two green clip ins.

Heatherzilla
May 23rd, 2012, 01:52 AM
Do not ever do it please, the so called keratin hair extensions, or the ring or lok or celebrity or the like, they will damage your hair and thin it out, sometimes permanently, I have had hair extensions for years, I would pay like $1200 every 6-8 weeks to get them done, they lie to you that you can reuse them blah blah, but trust me I could never reuse them as they get very dry ashy looking even the ones that claimed to be natural, Indian, Russian ...., the lady who did my extensions before I stop back in Dec was making like $20,000-30,000 a MONTH !!, more than a dr claiming her celebrity extensions are the best blah blah, my hair looked awful, very thin from roots, everytime she takes them out and give me one day rest so next day I get new ones, I would look at my hair and cry, no matter what I did, the hair would stay at above chin length, 7 years and it stayed on that length, I finally connected the problem with the extensions and I'm now for the first time in 7 years and for around 5 months without these damaging extensions, my hair is getting much thicker and is LONGER, 3 inches since Dec and much healthier.

I do not know about the clip on ones, these may be much less damaging.

Did you notice damage the first time you used permanent extensions, or was it only after you'd been using them for a while that you noticed? My sister has had microlink extensions once before, and didn't notice damage with them and now has a new set after giving her hair a few months break. I doubt she's going to want to keep getting permanent extensions but it's something to be aware of.

ladylovecraft
May 23rd, 2012, 01:58 AM
I have clip in extensions that I use for events and photos sometimes. They're my goal length so it's nice to have a sneak peek at what my hair might look like when it's through growing. : )

I'll also probably still wear them when it *IS* goal length to add some volume as my hair isn't the thickest.

MonaMayfair
May 23rd, 2012, 04:04 AM
I think the way to dye extensions with henna would be to buy ones close to your natural colour and then henna them rather than buy something auburn and henna them to try to get them to blend. I don't know if all the processing extensions go through would effect how they take up colour, I know some of the cheaper ones are coated in silicone to make them feel nicer. I tried to henna some bright red extensions to make them look less clown red and it didn't do a whole lot colourwise. I might borrow some of my sister's old extensions to see what colour they henna to when I touch up my roots tomorrow.

Yes, maybe I should have tried that. Oh well, I'm done with red hair now (as soon as I can get rid of / cover up my henna,lol

Incidentally, when I said I'd like to get extensions, I was only thinking of clip-ins. I wouldn't risk anyway more permanent, especially as my scalp's really sensitive.

Paranda Belle
May 23rd, 2012, 05:38 AM
I have some very low quality fake one that I bought to make hair rats with, but I have yet to make them!

I would like to try some clip in bangs/fringe one day.

amylou
May 23rd, 2012, 03:20 PM
I have some human hair extensions. They are the glue-in kind. They are reusable. I used to glue them in, but I noticed that it would make my hair even more thin than it already was. The glue damages the hair I guess. And it was so annoying to pick glue out of my hair for weeks afterwards.

I still use them, but I don't attach them to my hair. I just do updos and hide the tracks inside the updo so no one can see. It works a lot better. The only complaint is that I can't wear my hair down with the extensions anymore, but at least it's something. I don't wear them all the time, but when I do, I never attach them anymore.

I imagine the clip-ins are less damaging than the glue-ins, but they are probably still a little damaging. The way I do it, there's no damage.

Silverbrumby
May 23rd, 2012, 03:26 PM
i have real human hair extensions from Ebay which where made in either hong kong or china. They are fabulous and only cost around $24 dollars. They increase my hair dimension by over 2 inches if I put them all in but that's not practical. I usually use just a few for special updos and they are fabulous. Don't waste money on synthetic.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-8pcs-90g-REAL-REMY-CLIP-IN-HUMAN-HAIR-EXTENSIONS-2-dark-brown-/221029841486?pt=US_CSA_MWA_Wigs_Extensions&hash=item337667ba4e#ht_6579wt_908

lundmir
May 25th, 2012, 02:36 AM
I have some clip ins I made myself. I bought honey/light brown human hair, then hennaed it and dyed it red to match my own.
I do like them, but I only wear them to special occasions.

They are wavier than my hair, but the difference isn't noticeable.

I think all the time that I'd like to have some permanent extensions, but I'm afraid of the damage. My hair color varies a lot from my deposit only dyes, so there's that to consider, and my above average growth rate. I don't think it's worth it. But I do miss long hair.

red-again
May 25th, 2012, 02:58 AM
I have some headkandy clip-in ones. I got them in espresso which as you'd rightly imagine is darkest brown. They were far lighter and with an ashy tone not a warm red undertone ( I hendigo) so looked obviously fake. I hennaed and ndigoed two step on them and they were then the right tone but not the right shade so I bought a box dye. And now they are pretty much exactly the same colour! They are superb quality but like most of the others who have replied, I would only wear them occasionally - I think if you place them gently and remove them carefully and wear occasionally, you will not get much/ any damage. I would personally though, stay away fro getting any bonded into your hair - I had eyelash extensions done in feb this year and lost so many lashes and could feel the glue as they grew out too. Made me pick at them even though I knew it was damaging to do so, so if you imagine the same on your head, where your hair moves much more freely, I'd imagine you'd feel them more and play with them more too than you would eyelashes and could do untold damage to your eyes. I will post a pick later of mine in for you to see.

Bagginslover
May 25th, 2012, 03:11 AM
I really want some clip-ins. I owuldn't get permanent ones, as the upkeep would be prohbitively expensive for me, and the damage puts me right off. The ability to have longer hair for just one night is very appealing though, especially as I have a ball coming up in July....hmmmm

red-again
May 25th, 2012, 04:55 AM
I really want some clip-ins. I owuldn't get permanent ones, as the upkeep would be prohbitively expensive for me, and the damage puts me right off. The ability to have longer hair for just one night is very appealing though, especially as I have a ball coming up in July....hmmmm

I can heartily recommend them, good thing with headkandy and I haven't tried any others so they may offer the same is that in he box there is a big pouch containing all but one of he extensions, in the small pouch there is one extension which you can take out and try for length and colour.

lundmir
May 25th, 2012, 02:17 PM
I really want some clip-ins. I owuldn't get permanent ones, as the upkeep would be prohbitively expensive for me, and the damage puts me right off. The ability to have longer hair for just one night is very appealing though, especially as I have a ball coming up in July....hmmmm

I do recommend them, I use mine only on special occasions, but I'd wear them a lot more if I didn't have to match my hair to them so often.
I use temporary colors, so that's my issue, but if your color doesn't vary, they are definitely a good investment.

Silverbrumby
May 25th, 2012, 03:07 PM
I highly recommend the clip in ones I posted about above. The hair is human and good quality. The clipping in process a snap and they don't hurt your hair at all.

Desdesdes
May 25th, 2012, 03:40 PM
I wore extensions for years. I primarily purchased from Wagnan Primus and Extensions Plus. They only sell human hair. I primarily used the sew in method. I did see some slight tension damage, as well as some over all slight weakening from heat styling to blend my hair with the extensions. Not enough to make me stop using them, though :)

When I decided to loc my hair I also started with human hair extensions done by a stylist.

My daughters all still use them occasionally. One of my girls just headed out to dinner with some curly purple clip in extensions that perfectly match her hair pattern :)

heidi w.
May 25th, 2012, 03:56 PM
Those who have extensions glued in or sewn in or something along those lines are going to discover that when the extensions come out, the ends of their hair is more than likely frayed and needs to be cut back, or all the damage comes out. This kind of goes against growing hair longer.

But what do I know?

heidi w.

lolot
May 25th, 2012, 03:56 PM
i have never used them and i have tought about it, but i think they look kind of fake when your hair is way shorter and it shows the line between real and fake hair.

also i would feel fake, i would be embarrased if my bf notice, because you have to remove them while you sleep, he once told me he doesnt like fake girls so i think ill stick with waiting for my hair to grow

Elenna
May 25th, 2012, 04:06 PM
You are risking permanent damage to your hair follicles that could result in thinner hair. Growing real hair takes time & patience.

Silverbrumby
May 25th, 2012, 04:17 PM
i have never used them and i have tought about it, but i think they look kind of fake when your hair is way shorter and it shows the line between real and fake hair.

also i would feel fake, i would be embarrased if my bf notice, because you have to remove them while you sleep, he once told me he doesnt like fake girls so i think ill stick with waiting for my hair to grow

I do a lot of co-play dress up so fake is fine for that. For some of my steampunk period outfits I need a more elaborate head of hair and the clip-on hair extensions fit the bill. No damage and easy to use.

Buddaphlyy
May 25th, 2012, 09:16 PM
I'm wearing braid extensions right now and I love them. Hair is an accessory to me. If I want to try something crazy or different, I use extensions to do it so I won't have to damage my own hair.

What other people think of extensions or extension wearers have no bearings on what I choose to do.

MonaMayfair
May 26th, 2012, 06:00 AM
I'm wearing braid extensions right now and I love them. Hair is an accessory to me.

What other people think of extensions or extension wearers have no bearings on what I choose to do.

Well said!!

PixxieStix
May 26th, 2012, 03:17 PM
I have thought about getting the clip in kind for days when I just felt like my hair was never going to grow and I wanted to feel like a long hair again, but I've resisted. I don't think I could find the right color to match, and the time it takes to put them in, well, I'm lazy. :p

ladonna
May 26th, 2012, 04:07 PM
I have thought about clip in's, but decided against them because my hair so thick that I do not think extensions would work for me. I my hair was longer and I wanted to add thickness then I would buy some. I buy little colored clip in extensions for my daughter that I think are cute, so I might try those someday.

akilina
May 26th, 2012, 04:30 PM
The main reason I don't like using my clip ins is because when I use them I have to straighten my own hair and the extensions (the clip ins dont care.) and this just contributes to all this damage I am trying to avoid :P

Long_hair_bear
May 26th, 2012, 04:35 PM
I have purple streak extensions as bleaching my own hair is out of the question, but I seldom use them.

Gingerbear
May 26th, 2012, 06:36 PM
I used to have the keratin bond extensions for several years and they didn't thin my hair at the scalp, but they caused terrible breakage--especially when they would get taken off. I also think if you have thin hair, your thinner strands rub against the hard keratin nub and that adds to the breakage. Since the end of last year I have been wearing human hair clip in's from Sally's Beauty Supply. The whole set was around $100. I used to wear them just for going out because I was nervous about damage with frequent use, but now I pretty much wear them almost all the time (5-6 days a week). I have not noticed any damage or breakage whatsoever. I read online you are supposed to tease or backcomb your hair before putting the clips in, but I don't do that and the clips have never fallen out. I will say I couldn't really find an exact color match, but I wear them for thickness, not length, so I think they just look like highlights/lowlight variation in my blonde hair. I will also say they were a little too wide for my head, but I just trimmed down the width and put a little bit of super glue on the end of the weft so it didn't fray. Voila! They take literally 10 seconds to put in and 2 to take out. Salons that do extensions can make a set of custom clip ins to match your hair color and head size exactly, but I have done fine so far with the ones from Sally's. I thought about ordering from one of the online places, but I wanted to see the colors in person.

Heatherzilla
May 27th, 2012, 04:29 AM
Well I attempted to henna a few old extensions today with less than amazing results. I have a feeling these might not be entirely human hair. Parts of the extension have hennaed just fine and parts are still brown. Considering the extensions were pretty cheap I'm not too surprised, but it's still annoying. I might try again with different extensions to see what kind of colour match I get. I want to be able to use some to achieve epic updos I can't currently do.

Gingerbear
May 28th, 2012, 03:51 PM
From what I understand, even if it is real human hair, they coat the hair with some kind of coating so that the cuticle lies flat and it has a healthy "virgin" hair look. I think the coating seals off the hair and probably doesn't let pigments penetrate.