08.24.2012
My Hair Extensions: Grand Finale

As you’ve been reading, I’ve had Hair Dreams hair extensions in for the last several months and, as all good things come to an end, it was time for them to come out.  I couldn’t have been happier with the results and you can read HERE to see all my other posts and photos.  

The photo above is me (and my BFF Dawn) post-extensions and you can see that my hair, though shorter and finer, is still perfectly healthy and not damaged at all.  Pretty impressive after nearly 6 months of extensions!  The most common question I get is “well how long is your real hair?”  My “real hair” is actually quite long and grows really fast but I love my extensions for volume and thickness.  All fine-haired girls need to know that you can make your hair thicker with extensions and, since they’re made from real hair, the extensions actually blend really well into your natural hair…no one ever knew I had extensions in, trust.  I decided to give my hair a “rest” for 3-4 months and then I’ll go in for another round of Hair Dreams.  I can’t WAIT.

02.23.2012
Hair Extensions: Round Two!

before                                                        after

You probably read my posts last spring/summer on my first experience with HairDreams hair extensions and guys, I had to have them back.  I’ve never had a problem growing out my hair, in fact, my hair grows too fast (hello roots), but I’m cursed with baby fine locks that can fit between my thumb and pointer finger when pulled together.   The thing that people still don’t know about hair extensions is that they are actually amazing for volume and fullness. I have dreams of big, Vicotoria’s Secret model hair (who doesn’t) and even though that’s not actually very realistic for me (it would look incredibly fake), the extensions give me a ton of extra thickness that makes me less self conscious and also makes my hair look way better when styled.

This time around, I went to a HairDreams hair extensions artist, who lives in Venice, and she was a-mazing.  She used their LaserbeamerXP to apply the extesnions, which is a hi-tech laser bonding application system excusively used with HairDreams patented Comfort Point Bondings.  It was a little weird at first because you hear this weird laser (duh) noise and feel it moving your hair around…but the extensions went on SO fast and NONE have fallen out so far…it’s been about a month now.

While I didn’t have any issue with the hand application from hair extensions round 1, the LaserbeamerXP bonds up to eight sectional strands at a time and takes 50% less time than hand application…so it’s good for a girl on the go.

My extensions will last for about 5-ish months so stay tuned for another update next month after I go back for an “extension check up.”

LaserbeamerXP application for HairDreams

 

06.21.2011
Hair Extensions Update: The Finale

Nadine, Jamie C., Sydne, me at a friend’s surprise birthday BBQ

It was time. I laughed, I cried, I get my Hair Dreams hair extensions taken out.  You might remember my last update back in March, where I got “touched up” a bit and was told that I could keep my extensions in for another two(ish) months…I was elated.  Well it came to a point where they were way grown out and sadly, it was that time.  I never thought that I would’ve grown so attached to someone else’s hair but ladies, I did.  I can’t reccomend them enough and a big part of that was also my experience at The Doves Studio, who was amazing at matching the exact shade of blonde that I wanted, helping me with my questions and just having overall amazing customer service.  (Make sure to ask for Chris Rosario!)

But I digress, it was time for them to come out and yeah, I was definitely nervous about how my natural hair was gonna look after five months of having the extensions in.  The result?  Well it was certainly a shock to see how my natural hair didn’t look or feel the way it had with the extensions IN…but overall, my natural hair stayed extremely healthy with almost no breakage!  I immediately needed my highlights touched up and The Doves Studio was nice enough to give me a slightly darker blonde shade for summer (in the above photo).  I thought it might be fun to go slightly darker during the summer months and my colorist actually lightened my entire base color before putting the highlights in, making maintenance a bit easier.  What do you guys think?

03.24.2011
Hair extensions UPDATE!

So back in early January I got my very first set of hair extensions; it’s been about three months now and I’m still totally obsessed!  As far as maintenence and care, I’ve been following all of the rules that the staff at The Doves Studio told me (e.g make sure they’re not sticking together, don’t use too much product, etc.) and I’m really happy that I went with Hair Dreams since there were so many hair extension brand choices and it was hard to decide.  This is high-quality hair people, no one can ever tell I have extensions in!

I did experience about 10 pieces falling out after a month and so I called The Doves and asked if this was normal (it is not).  Turns out pieces do sometimes fall out but since so many had fallen out in such a short amount of time, they wanted me to come in and check them out.  In about an hour The Doves staff replaced the missing pieces and we realized that the hair they were attached to was probably too fine to hold the bond and since I got “touched up,” only one or two pieces have fallen out since!  Success.  I’m going to be majorly bummed when I have to get them taken out in a month or so.  Stay tuned for one more update!

03.24.2011
Hair extensions UPDATE!

So back in early January I got my very first set of hair extensions; it’s been about three months now and I’m still totally obsessed!  As far as maintenence and care, I’ve been following all of the rules that the staff at The Doves Studio told me (e.g make sure they’re not sticking together, don’t use too much product, etc.) and I’m really happy that I went with Hair Dreams since there were so many hair extension brand choices and it was hard to decide.  This is high-quality hair people, no one can ever tell I have extensions in!

I did experience about 10 pieces falling out after a month and so I called The Doves and asked if this was normal (it is not).  Turns out pieces do sometimes fall out but since so many had fallen out in such a short amount of time, they wanted me to come in and check them out.  In about an hour The Doves staff replaced the missing pieces and we realized that the hair they were attached to was probably too fine to hold the bond and since I got “touched up,” only one or two pieces have fallen out since!  Success.  I’m going to be majorly bummed when I have to get them taken out in a month or so.  Stay tuned for one more update!

01.04.2011
2011 True Life: I got hair extensions

So I’ve pretty much always been the queen of volumizing and thickening hair products which is why it was no surprise that I became very obsessed with the idea of trying out hair extensions.  However, I know most people get extensions for length…but I want them for VOLUME, sisters.  My hair, yeah…it grows super fast and really I can grow it out as long as I want to, but what do I dream of?  Soft, thick, glossy locks that I can whip around a la Willow Smith (yes, I openly admit that I want to whip my hair back and forth).

Enter Hairdreams Hair Extensions.  After vigourous research (aka reading beauty blogs and watching YouTube videos), I decided that Hairdreams would be a great brand to go with and that I wanted bonded extensions, which are meant to last about 4-6 months. The way my hair grows, I’m betting they’ll last me closer to 4 months but I’m certainly excited to find out!  Hairdreams sent me to The Doves Studio in Santa Monica where Chris, their resient extensions expert, hooked me up with some hair in two different shades of blonde, for that icy blonde highlights look that I covet.

photo: me (with new extensions on New Years Eve)

It’s been five days so far and the results are fantasticly amazing.  I nearly cried when I put my hair up into a high bun and (gasp) I actually had a BUN to speak of.  My other favorite thing so far is that I’ve literally only washed my hair ONCE since getting the extensions put in, which, if I can keep that up, will drastically improve the health of my actual hair.  Stay tuned for more updates on 2011 True Life: I got hair extensions.

 

Getting started at The Doves Studio in Santa Monica