Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share some more details about my
hair extensions I recently installed.
I used a newer (?) method, which doesn't use heat and does less damage to the hair.
Here's a video about the experience.
It doesn't require any heat, and it's removable whenever you want them out. I bought 200 strands of 100% human hair (Remy) micro link/micro loop extensions and put them in myself.
The beads at the tip of the hair are matched to the hair color, so the extensions aren't all that noticeable. You don't have to stick to one color. You can mix and match if you like highlights or hair with a lot of colors.
Here's a great video on the concept of how to install your extensions. He doesn't use the exact "microlink" method, but the method he is using is almost identical in application.
and here's a great picture tutorial, taken from milleniumwig.com.
Basically, the red colored area is the parts that you DO NOT put extensions in.
Still confused? Then here's a great video on how to install the microlinks :)
I think I went through every single Youtube video regarding microlink hair extensions before I made my purchase. I bought my hair from a Canadian website called hairannex.com. I wouldn't purchase from them again, because I feel like the hair they sent me isn't A+++ quality as they make it sound like. The hair shed A LOT, and I dunno.. after a couple of washes, the hair already seems exhausted. It's my first hair extensions, so I wasn't planning on having them in for long, but at this rate, I don't think these will last longer than a month or so.
What you need.
- Your linked hair strands.
They come in various colors, lengths and weights. My color of choice was #1 Jet Black, and I got 150 of 20" (0.5g), and 50 of 24" (0.8g).
I would definitely recommend getting the higher weights (0.7 or 0.8 opposed to 0.4 or 0.5g) because once the strands start shedding, you'll only be left with a couple of hair strands per link.
- Hair extension plier.
I'm kind of iffy about this one. I bought a plier because I thought the hair extension ones were significantly different, but they're actually not. When you lock/undo your links, you can easily do it with a regular plier (that what I did). If you like things proper, I guess investing in these won't be a big problem :p
- A ton of time, and maybe someone who could help you out.
If you're a lonely trooper like me, try to set up your mirrors so you can see how you're doing back there. It gets tricky once you finish the first layer, because hair starts getting in the way and if you don't pay attention, you can end up looping unwanted hair and it gets messy.
I've already explained it in my video, but my hair cut wasn't ready for extensions.
Here are some pictures of my extensions before I trimmed the end of my original hair.
Here's how the original installation looked like.
It was a general wtf situation.
I was so bummed and disappointed, I didn't really know what to do with my hair.
(Yes, that's how wavy my natural hair is - it's like a wild child!)
So after debating if I should take the extensions out or not, I decided to go ahead and thin out the ends. I wasn't sure how well my hair was going to blend in with the extensions, but I went ahead and trimmed off a lot of hair.
Ta-da!!!
This is how well my hair blends in with the extensions. (I look kind of fat in this picture for some reason, but oh well ._.)
In some angles you can kind of see where my real hair ends, but I think this is wayyyyyyyy better than my initial result.
Overall, I am very happy with my new long hair.
At first, the pain and weight was overwhelming and very foreign. I would wake up in the middle of the night because I was pulling my own hair by rolling over it (it's not like I never had super long hair, but it's weird. It's a different experience with extensions). Managing all the hair in the shower was a challenge too.
Oh, talking about showers, people generally complain about how slowly extensions dry, but I haven't had a problem in that department. I think it's because Texas weather is still pretty dry and hot. I walk out of the shower and let my hair air dry for about 15-20 minutes and all of the hair is completely dry. I don't have to pat it dry or blow dry it, so that's the handy part of living in Texas.
I'm not perfect nor a professional. I sometimes encounter mistakes when I go through each strand in my hair to check if they are aligned properly. The great thing about these extensions is, you can basically unlock and redo them whenever you want to. I'll just simply unlock the 'mistake' link with my pliers and readjust the position and lock it back in.
I wouldn't recommend the place I bought it from because I don't think the quality is as great as they make it sound to be. You can research and buy them off of ebay or more safely
amazon (since amazon has better return services and what not).
I hope the video and post helped you guys out.
Cheers!
Catalina
