Safashiongirl: hair

I used to have great hair before I bleached it, cut it and dyed it everything from black & white to rainbow. Today my hair is still thin and it's taking its sweet time growing but thankfully it's looking a lot healthier. I love experimenting with my look and have wanted to get some mermaid-worthy hair extensions for a while but my friends who'd had them bonded told me horror stories so I steered clear. I tried some cheap clip-ins before but I couldn't do much with them...I might have melted one or two XD. Anyway this weekend I got my hands on some proper clip-ins from Clipinhair and decided to do a review.

Product - Clipinhair 20'' (50cm) Straight Platinum Blonde 100% Remy Indian Hair Extensions and Tangle Teezer.

Prep - As you can see by the colour of my bathwater, I decided to tone a few of the wefts to create some difference in hue and better match my hair because I like to use purple shampoo to get rid of brassy tones. I washed the pieces, dried them with a hairdryer (Avoid this, rather lay them out on a towel to dry) and brushed them with the Tangle Teezer before I straightened my hair to match the extensions.

Placing - I scrunched up my hair on the top of my head and then started at the back by placing a 2-clip weft on the bottom of my hairline. I then placed a 3-clip weft on top of those, followed by a 4-lip weft above the previous ones. I then put 2-clip wefts on either side of my head (above the others) and added 1-clip wefts above those. You can place the 4-clip weft at the back above the last clips but I was pretty happy with amount I'd already put in.

Pleased? - The extensions were very easy to put in and the whole procedure was quick. If they're put in correctly, there's no pulling and you're only aware of them if you try to feel them. I loved how they responded to my toner and I'm stoked that I can use styling tools on them. Are they obvious? Well, they will look as good as you've styled them and while I'm not the best at styling (total slacker honestly), I was pleased with the result so I can only imagine if I really went to town! I like that you can continually customize your look with as many or as few clip-ins as you like but the best aspect for me is that there's no hair damage. They slid out nicely when I removed them while my cheaper extensions used to hold some of my other hairs hostage so I'd find myself removing my own strands with the clips. Another plus is that unlike those shiny (look at me!) silver clips, Clipinhair clips match the colour of the extensions.

Bottom line: you get what you pay for with clip-ins and a once-off investment is worth it. If you get bonded extensions, you're going to be paying a lot more, replacing them and will end up damaging your own tresses. I'm sold and I can't wait to curl them for my next night out! If you're interested in Clipinhair, check out www.clipinhair.co.za for more info. They also sell crazy colour clip-ins and hair chalk so my credit card and I need to stay away for the time being!