Ruby Talk

Hair extensions are a great way to easily and dramatically change your appearance and your hair colour. Today’s hair extensions are both attractive and affordable. They’ve quickly become one of the world’s most popular and glamorous hair styling options, and the reasons are clear. Within minutes, you’ve given yourself a makeover!

Using clip-on extensions will give you immediate results. These hair extensions are available in synthetic or human hair, or a mixture of the two. Human hair extensions are recommended because you can dye them and style them as you would your own hair. Synthetic extensions tend to tangle easily, and you have to be careful when heat styling them. Truthfully, you may find that synthetic hairs resemble a doll’s hair more than your own! Human hair is more expensive, but definitely worth the added cost.

It’s also very important to select a texture that closely matches your own. Part of the challenge is choosing hair extensions that look as natural as possible, even if you have “grown” an extra 12 inches of hair overnight. You want it to look as if it “could” be your natural hair.

A hairdresser can add the clip-on extensions for you, but it’s really not necessary to go to a professional in this case. You can simply put them into your own hair. Start by forming three sections of hair: left, right, and back section. Securely clip the two side pieces out of your way so you can begin work on the back section. Draw a line at the nape of the neck, from ear to ear. Clip the hair above the line out of the way. Now select a weft of hair that is the same width as the part you made, and attach it to your natural hair by inserting the center clip into your hair roots.

Snap both sides of the weft to secure it, then insert and close the outer clips the same way. Gently brush the extensions into your natural hair. Release the hair above the extension and cover the weft with your natural hair. Make another ear to ear part and continue the process. You can put your side pieces in by making a horizontal part above the ears, attaching the wefts and continuing upwards.

You can opt for a full head of extensions, or strategically place a few pieces in areas where you would like more volume and fullness. Adding extensions in a different colour than your natural shade gives the appearance of streaks or highlighted hair, depending on the contrast in tone. The extensions come in different lengths, up to 24 inches or longer.