When it comes to hair women often want what they do not have. Those with curly hair want it straight, those with straight hair want it curly. Those with short hair want it long but aren’t patient enough to wait it out – sometimes impulsively chopping off the half-grown mane and immediately regretting it afterward. But maybe it’s not about waiting patiently it out but rather due to the thinness of the hair, breaking and splitting whenever it gets to a certain length. Unfortunately, this means not everyone can have the length or thickness of her dreams. The reasons can range from genetics, nutrition to stress, or chemical colorings. Many women who want longer and thicker hair may be still scared to try extensions, because of all the bad experiences they hear from their friends and family or read about online.
We’re here to show you the most popular hair extension types, their advantages, and disadvantages.
Some of these solutions need professional help from a hairdresser whereas others you can do by yourself at home.
The first method we want to talk about is the tape-in hair extensions. You will need professional help to fix them up nicely. You’ve probably already heard of this kind of new method it uses thin strands of hair extension and tapes them to your natural hair.
The advantages: you do not need any tools and they are not positioned in place with heat either. If done well, you don’t have to worry about half of them falling out by morning either. If taken care of, they can be used multiple times.
The disadvantages: It takes at least (if not more) an hour to put these on, and let’s be honest, that’s a long time in this non-stop world. After attaching the extensions, they should not get in contact with any moisture for a couple of days, and even after that, you have to be very careful while washing your hair. On top of that, it can damage your hair, or cause allergic reactions or irritations to your scalp due to the chemicals used for the adhesives. Don’t forget hair grows over time, and since this is attached to your hair, you’ll have to go back, get it taken off and reattached, which isn’t too practical. As mentioned before this process may also constantly irritate or even damage your hair and scalp.
The sewn in hair extension is one of the oldest techniques there is. They divide your hair into sections, braid it and sew in the hair extensions to the braids.
The advantages: No chemicals are needed to attach it, so the possibility of irritation is low, and the hair extensions are reusable.
The disadvantages: The process is time-consuming, and the braids won’t be flat on your head, so bumps and lumps might cause an unflattering silhouette. In addition to that, because of the braids, you won’t be able to keep your hair completely clean either. This method also requires constant care, so you’ll have to go back every 2 months to get it re-sewn. This is not recommended for those with thin hair
Many of you have probably heard of heat attachment as well. During the attachment process, a 150-160 degree device is needed, which melts together the hair extension with your own hair.
The ultrasound hair extension is the modern version of this, and the only thing that differs is that instead of heat ultrasound is used to attach extensions to your hair.
The advantages: Often the process is enriched with keratin, which makes it less harmful. It isn’t obvious either, so you can confidently put it in a ponytail. It ensures relatively comfortable wear.
The disadvantages: Again, it is very time-consuming to apply and take off as well. The heat can damage your hair and if it is not handled by a professional, you will lose the beauty of your hair. When styling your hair you have to be extra careful, because the hot styling tools may ruin the hair extensions. You can only wear it for 3-4 months, and for those months be extra careful and not brush your hair near the attachments
With micro ring hair extensions, rings of hair clippings are used to pull your hair through them. After that, you have to squeeze the ring closed with pliers.
The advantages: You could call it gentle because no heat or chemicals are used which can damage your hair. When it gets taken off, the little rings are broken off, so best case, they won’t rip your hair out with it.
The disadvantages: If they are not done properly, it won’t fit properly and the rings might show. You can’t wear it in a ponytail, because then the micro rings may show and it isn’t the most comfortable either.
BUT there are also hair extension methods you can do for yourself at home as well.
One of these is the clip-in method. This is a better method compared to the ones mentioned above, but still not the best if you’re considering getting hair extensions. With this method, you can just clip the hair extension pieces to your hair.
The advantages: It’s a pretty quick solution, with just half an hour you can create much thicker hair done by yourself at home. There is no heat, no glue or micro rings involved, since you can just clip in the pieces, and the detaching process is relatively easy as well.
The disadvantages: To put this on you have to backcomb your hair, which is damaging for women with thin hair. A lot of practice is needed, and if you don’t place it on perfectly, or the clip isn’t adequate then the hair extension can fall out or move out of its place. It’s recommended to take it off whenever you go to bed.
The last hair extension type we’ll be talking about is the halo hair extension. We saved the best for last. It is an extremely easy solution, with many advantages. It takes 2 minutes to put on (flip in), and you can do it for yourself at home to achieve remarkable outcomes. It is even easier to take it off though, taking up about 10 seconds of your busy life. If this isn’t enough to make it the best solution, what if I told you it doesn’t do ANY damage to your hair at all? Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? No matter what condition your hair is in, this solution will never hurt your natural hair or scalp, so we can say with confidence, that this is the gentlest solution. Your hair will become thicker and longer within minutes, magically creating a beautiful head of hair. The wire is completely invisible while it holds the hair extension in place, so you don’t have to be scared of the hair falling out. As I mentioned above, you don’t have to be scared if you have thin or thinning hair, because even with that hair type this solution will fit beautifully on your head, without fearing for your hair. It’s a perfect solution for those who are hearing of this for the first time because it’s extremely simple to put on and there is no way you can get it wrong. Wear it for special occasions or every day if you like! If any of you are scared of irritation, this won’t cause any, since there are no chemicals involved, only an invisible stretch wire. We can confidently say that this is a great solution, which you can use at home for yourself without clips or glue and without sewing it in either.
Even if we’re biased, these are the disadvantages: It’s not recommended to sleep in it or do dynamic sports in it. For swimming, this is also not an ideal choice, but if you think about it, it’s so easy to put on and take out that these advantages outweigh the disadvantages. We know for a fact that that it is way more comfortable to sleep without hair extensions, who’s watching when you’re asleep anyway? Flip them in, in the morning in under 2 minutes, and rock the world.
