The Care and Keeping of Tape-In Hair Extensions

[Rose Lin]

As with almost everything you do in life for the first time, the theory of keeping my hair extensions looking great was a little bit more difficult than I imagined. Of course, there were a ton of fringe benefits as well.

Here are a few things that I learned over the next month:

 

They can get pretty warm.

Suddenly, you have twice as much hair laying on your back and neck than you’re used to. Plus, extensions are attached in thick layers on the lower part of your head. I’m not going to lie, I got pretty toasty wearing them, especially since I had them installed right as when the weather started to get hot. It’s almost feels like you’re wearing an oddly-shaped hat of sorts.

This isn’t always a bad thing though – if you get chilly very easily, the extra hair can almost function as an portable warming device for your shoulders and head!

 

They were so fun to style.

Having a head full of thick, healthy hair was incredibly exciting when it came to playing with fun hairdos. My hair looked great in its naturally straight state, but looked fantastic curled into loose waves. Fishtail braids looked fancy and dramatic. I could build a bigger top knot than anyone else I encountered. My previous limp, lifeless hair that looked awful air-dried suddenly looked earthy and cool without a blow out. Even lazy high ponytails suddenly looked fashion-forward and chic!

Flexibility.

Nice tape-in extensions are made from human hair, so don’t be afraid to use your straightener or curling iron on them. You can even dye or highlight tape-in extensions!

Time was an issue.

Another thing about extensions that took awhile to get used to was how long it took to detangle and blow-dry my new ‘do. I used to be able to take and shower and finish blow drying in less than thirty minutes. But with my extensions, sometimes I’d go to bed with damp hair and wake up with it still feeling moist in the morning.