Lets Talk HAIR: Extensions

Lets talk Hair !!! Hair to me is like an accessory. Even when your make-up isn't done or you're dressed like a bum- as long as your hair is nicely blow dried you'll always look fabulous.

I LOVE long hair. When I was in 5th grade my hair was down to my bum. In 7th grade I wanted "a change" and I decided to chop it all off; it was a trend in the 90's I guess and it definitely wasn't for me. I feel most attractive and feminine with long hair. Unfortunately it always seems like once my hair grows and hits the center of my chest it starts to look thin and unhealthy, so I end up getting a trim. It's like a revolving door; grow, trim, grow, trim and it never gets past that length. SO, I decided to get hair extensions.

Hair Extension Tracks

When I was 18 yrs old and working at the local Night Clubs as a door girl I would always put in "tracks" for the weekend.  Tracks are hair extensions that are attached by a seam that you can measure and cut to fit your head (pictured to the right).  They sell a glue that you put on the seam of the extension, make a horizontal part on your head and glue the track to your scalp. The glue is safe for all types of hair and whats awesome about it is that it comes out with conditioner in the shower. So I would put them ( 3 tracks ) in on a friday night and then take them out on sunday. I would also mix all kinds of colored strands in as well to match my outfits for that night; pink, white, black... The pack of hair cost about $60 for 18" hair and my favorite glue is called 007; probably $5 at most.  My favorite brands of hair are Outre and Premium Now.  The color hair I used was shade # 2.  They sell this hair in most beauty supply shops. Some people also get this kind of hair sewn in which lasts about 1.5 months TOPS. I've also had that done a few times and loved it.

Another kind of hair extension I used to wear was Jessica Simpsons clip in hair extensions called 'HairDo'.  These are great for a night out, event or party; but after the night is over you have to take them out.  They clip in under the top layer of your hair and to blend all you have to do is curl the top layer of your natural hair. They come in all shades, lengths, curly and straight, real and synthetic. Price varied on length and type of hair you choose.

Keratin Hair extensions "bonded"

 I currently have and LOVE bonded extensions.

Bonded Extensions are individual pieces of hair that have to be placed in one by one. It's a very long process but worth the wait. These extension last a good 3-6 months but they are a lot more expensive than the tracks and clip in extensions.

When on the East coast I go PLUSH Salons in White Plains. The girl who does my hair extensions there is Kristy. When on the West coast I go to Byron&Tracey salon in Beverly Hills and Melissa and Raz do my extensions there at the same time.  I used to use 18" hair but now I use 21" pieces because by the time I get angles and add layers the hair is about 2" shorter; and I want it long :)

Bonded hair extensions

What I LOVE about having hair extensions is not only does it make your hair look so much thicker and healthier, but when you curl your hair, the hair extensions hold the curl so much better than normal hair. Normally if I were to curl my hair without having extensions in it would fall limp in about an hour. With hair extensions in the mix it lasts all day!






Lately when I go to the salon Ive been having my colorists ( West coast -Tracey ) do what I call the "California Look" to my hair. Its when the top of your hair is darker and as you go down to the ends of your hair it gets lighter or "faded". It's very "beachy" and I love the look for summer.  So the last time I went to get my hair dyed and get new hair extensions put in they did very little highlights to my actual hair and used 3 different shades of hair extensions to create the "faded" look to the ends of my hair. This was 10x healthier than having to drench my hair in bleach to lighten it.

Now that it is becoming winter I am going to go a little bit darker. I still want to keep the "California Look" look but I'll just do it in darker shades. Im going to go and get new extensions and fresh color later this week so I will take pics from start to finish so you can see the difference and the process <3




XX
Jennifer