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If you’ve been following along on Snapchat you probably noticed my hair is looking a bit longer and fuller lately. I’ve gotten tons of questions on my hair and I’m SO excited to be talking about my new obsession: hair extensions! Honestly this has been one of my most fun posts to date. I wrote not that long ago about how bored I was feeling with my hair. I love having long hair so I wasn’t quite ready to cut it off. Cue to hours of trolling Instagram for inspiration and I came across Kim (@KNRStyling) who I’ve been following for a while and she has so many hair inspo posts. Give her a follow if you love hair. I went to Kim’s blog to browse for more hair pics and came across her posts about beaded hair extensions, here and here. I was interested to know more because one of my favorite bloggers to follow is Kathleen from Carrie Bradshaw Lied and she recently talked about getting beaded extensions too.
I set up a consultation with Kim to talk about extensions and see what was right for me. The consultation took about 5 minutes where she got a feel for the texture of my hair and the thickness. Some hair just doesn’t work with this type of extensions and she needs to see your color in person to figure out what works for you. Kim did two full rows of extensions for my hair which added about 5 inches. When I came in for my appointment, she touched up my highlights and custom colored the blonde extensions to match my hair. She mixed in blonde extensions with some darker blonde for lowlights to match my hair. I have to say the color is absolutely perfect. It can’t be easy to match blonde hair and Kim did an amazing job.
As someone who has zero experience with extensions I had quite a few questions for Kim throughout the process so I included them all to hopefully answer all the questions you could have about getting hair extensions.
Before & After
How long does it take to get extensions?
I went for my consultation and about 2 weeks later went back to have them sewn in. The appointment to get them sewn in took about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. That includes Kim doing my balayage, toner, sewing in the extensions, cutting, and styling. My previous stylist could take that long to do all of that minus sewing in extensions. Also other methods of extensions can take like 6 hours to do which is a big reason why I’ve never been interested in them before.
What makes sewn in extensions different?
Beaded extensions are different than other types because they are actually sewn into your hair without doing any damage. No tape, glue, or anything harmful. I’ve never had any extensions of any kind because I didn’t want to damage my hair. And I never tried clip-ins because I just have no patience and never bothered. Kim puts little silicone beads throughout your hair making each “row” and then sews in the full weft of hair to those beads. You can run your hand through your hair and pull it up without anyone knowing you have extensions.
Do I need to buy any special products for them?
Nope. You treat them like they are your own hair. Although the one thing you will want to buy is a Wet brush. Kim recommended this to me and it’s like life altering. It’s just a regular brush but keeps your hair from getting tangled. I recommend getting one even if you don’t have extensions. My hair was constantly getting tangled before and now with more hair than ever I have no problems thanks to this brush. The best part is that it’s like $10 and you can get it most places.
Aren’t they super heavy? Do they make your head hurt?
I was really surprised to find out how not heavy they really were. I was worried they’d be heavy and give me a headache, like wearing a headband too long. They are only really heavy when my hair is soaking wet, but that just seems logical.
Can you use dry shampoo with them?
Yes, I use dry shampoo pretty much daily. My hair takes twice as long to dry now, so I avoid washing and drying it every day. That means dry shampoo is still my best friend. I love Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo because it is amazing and keeps my hair clean. I also use Living Proof Perfect Hair Day shampoo as well because it keeps hair cleaner longer for oily hair.
Can you still wear a ponytail?
Yes, I have worn my hair in a ponytail a lot. I work out almost every day and when I run I sweat a ton, so I have to pull my hair up. I’ve also worn it up for work because one of my main objectives of getting extensions was to have a giant curled ponytail.
How often do you have to go back?
You go back every 6-ish weeks to get them ‘tightened’ and to have your color touched up. So not really different than coloring hair. Since these extensions are sewn into your hair, as your hair grows your extensions will “grow” too.
Final Thoughts
I love having my extensions and definitely recommend them if you’ve been giving them some thought. They are a little expensive when you first get them because you are paying for the hair, but the hair lasts about 6 months. Absolutely worth it.
I honestly left Kim’s salon feeling amazing with my new long, thick hair. I don’t think I realized just how much I really needed the change. I’ve gotten tons of compliments on my hair over the past 2 weeks and no one can tell that it’s not my real hair, something I was worried about as a blonde. When I just do my normal curls on my hair I definitely feel like I’m Victoria’s Secret fashion show ready/Gigi Hadid 24/7 and I’m totally 100% into it. It’s a great reminder that a small change can completely change the way you feel about yourself. Sometimes you just need to do something for you. I feel like I’ve totally fallen back in love with my hair and could not be happier.
Has anyone else had extensions before? Any experience with beaded rows? Or have any other questions about that #ExtensionLife? Leave them in the comments! Thanks for reading!
xo – Tracy
