Hair Extensions

There are four methods worth knowing about, and they trade convenience against how long they stay in. Clip-ins go in and come out yourself in minutes, which makes them right for occasions rather than everyday wear. Tape-in extensions are thin wefts taped either side of a section of your own hair; they sit flat enough to hide under fine hair and stay in for weeks. Micro-ring, sometimes called micro-bead, clamps small sections with tiny rings and uses no heat and no glue at all. Keratin or fusion bonds attach strand by strand and last longest, but take the most time both to fit and to remove.

Choosing between them is mostly a question about your hair, not your hairstyle. If you want length for a wedding and then your own hair back, clip-ins. If you want to stop thinking about it and simply have the hair, tape-in or micro-ring. If your own hair is fine or fragile, the honest answer is a lighter method and fewer strands than you might want, because weight is what causes damage rather than extensions in themselves.

We fit human hair only. Synthetic costs less and holds a curl, but it cannot be heat-styled or coloured, it shines under direct light, and it tangles in a way real hair does not. Human hair washes, dries and styles alongside your own because it behaves the same way.

Extensions get blamed for damage that is really caused by how they were fitted or taken out. Too much weight for the hair supporting it, rings or bonds fastened too tight, left in months past when they should have been moved up, or pulled out rather than removed properly — those cause breakage at the root. Anyone with active shedding, a scalp condition, or existing traction damage should treat that first. We check at the consultation, and if your hair is not in a state to carry extensions we will say so rather than fit them anyway.

They also need maintaining, which is the part people are least often told before they buy. As your own hair grows, tape-in and micro-ring extensions move down away from the scalp and need lifting back up, usually every six to eight weeks. The hair itself can be reused several times if it has been looked after. Factor that in when deciding, because the fitting is not the end of it.

The last part is the cut. Extensions straight out of the packet sit as a separate layer with a visible step where they begin. Cut and blended into your own hair, at your own length, they read as your hair being longer. That step is what separates extensions people notice from extensions people do not.