In May of this year I was looking into the idea of having hair extensions. As you can see in the picture above on the left, I had short, BLONDE hair just last year. My hair is naturally pretty dark and before I decided to start going blonde (which I knew would be a long process) my hair was a very dark eggplant color.

Needless to say, it was a long, hard process to take my hair from that to blonde. It took from December to August and my hair looked and felt like straw when I finally got it blonde. I had to cut it and cut it and cut it even shorter just to try to get the breakage off. The part that really stinks though is that all through the process, my hair really didn’t feel too unhealthy until the last time i got it bleached and achieved the level of blonde you see in the pic at the top. That’s when my hair went to crap.

I had wanted a long, past the shoulders bob and wasn’t able to even grow it to my shoulders in the time span of 9 months due to getting more and more breakage. I had let my blonde grow out during those 9 months and the only color that touched my head was dark brown to cover my grays. I felt like growing my hair out was going to be impossible and had quite the longing for Sleeping Beauty-esque hair. It was at that time that I decided to go down the path to extension-ville. I have a pal who does a fantastic job with extensions so I called her and set up an appointment!

I purchased the extensions on my own. One of the perks of being a certified hairstylist is the access to awesome products at wholesale prices. I bought Bohyme- Luxe Remi hand tied extensions. I got 2 packs of the 14 inch, silky straight extensions. These extensions are made from human hair which is equal parts creepy and convenient. I decided to name my hair Sheila. It just felt like that would have been her name. I know, I’m weird.

The perks of having human hair extensions is that you treat them just like you do your own hair but with a little more care. You wash them, dry them, brush them, curl them, straighten them, but you need to add more moisture to them than you do your own hair. I put hair oil (prefer Kenra revive oil) on them twice a day, morning and night to keep them healthy and shiny. I sleep on a satin pillowcase and only only use satin scrunchies or the invisibobble.

PROS AND CONS OF HAVING EXTENSIONS

PROS

The obvious. You get instant long hair without taking the 1 to 2 years to grow long, beautiful hair.
Doubles or triples your hair’s thickness. Rock those super thick pony’s or ballet buns with ease.
Get a boost of confidence with the hair of your dreams.

CONS

1. They are pricey. They are so fun to have but they sure are an investment. As we are entering into the holiday season, which means extra expenses, I need to take a break from the cost of my weave. ;)

2. The hair has a shelf-life. Hair is already dead but when it is still a part of your scalp, your hair receives your skin’s natural oils and nutrients that it needs to be healthy. The extension hair doesn’t get those nutrients so you have to really take good care of it. My extension hair is starting to look a bit shabby and feeling dry. Since I got them put in in May, they went through the summer getting sun exposure, salt water, chlorinated pool water, sweat, etc. I tried to take care of them the best I could but I truly think they’d have lasted longer if I didn’t get them in the summer.

3. For some reason, the hand tied extensions made my scalp really itchy, especially when I wore my hair up or when wearing a hat.

4. It’s hard to clean your scalp with extensions meaning you have to get used to a little build up living on your scalp.

5. Expect a mild headache for the first couple of days after getting hand tied extensions.

Would I try extensions again? Absolutely! I’m actually considering invested in some human hair clip ins to wear any time I’m feeling like mixing things up.

Hope this was helpful to anyone considering extensions!

love,

Melinda

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