Amongst a sea of clip-ins, tape-ins, and even micro-bead individuals, keratip extensions reign supreme.  If you’ve followed me for a while you might remember that I’ve gone through quite a few crazy hair transformations in the past– barbie blonde, bubblegum pink, etc.– which left my hair pretty damaged.  I had crazy breakage and my hair wouldn’t hold evenly to color, leaving me with a splotchy, mousy shade of brown.  I was due for a change.

In this transformation my hair was toned and dyed a few times to create a base brunette and 18″ keratip extensions were added for length.  I can’t even tell you how much more confident I feel now that my hair troubles are sorted, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to go for individual keratip style extensions above the rest.  Watch my Vlog below to follow the process!

Keratip 101

• is a protein bond, softened by heat
• most lightweight
• least damaging
• easy to remove
• last 4 months – 1 year (depending on how well you take care of them + how quickly your hair grows)
• can be placed as long as your hair is long enough for a ponytail

The Process

The first step for me was selecting my hair.  I purchased 808 Keratip Extensions from The Hair Shop in soft wave, 18″, and 1B (shade soft black).  They also offer ‘straight’ and ‘deep wave’ hair textures, so you can best match your natural hair type.  The hair I purchased was 100% Virgin Remy Hair, which means that it is real human hair and not at all synthetic.

The already tiny individual wefts were then cut into even smaller pieces for a more natural look, a process that my stylist Maribel said makes a huge difference but is often overlooked.  A heat gun molded the keratip into a soft putty, which was then placed and rolled around small sections of my hair one-by-one.  Once all of the wefts were placed, a process which (for my extremely thick hair) took nearly five hours, my hair was cut and layered to blend seamlessly with the extensions.

Post-Care

The first night it feels weird to sleep, almost as if you’ve had your hair in a too-tight ponytail all day, but it definitely isn’t painful.  By day two I couldn’t feeling the extensions at all, and I definitely couldn’t see them.

They recommend washing the hair only once a week, but that wasn’t realistic for my lifestyle.  I try to do a full wash once a week and every other day just wash my crown.  The most important factor that I’ve found is keep them detangled; I have curly hair and if I skip a few days of brushing they can easily matte up.  I use a soft bristle brush for my crown, to gently brush around the keratip bonds, then use a harder metal brush just for the tips.  I oil them and deep condition them just as I would my real hair.

Special thanks to Maribel Nuñez at Sabino Salon for revitalizing me and taking my hair to a new level.  She was so sweet, which is important when you’re spending 8 hours at the salon with someone!  I’m the type of person who asks an excessive amount of questions and she answered all of them so thoroughly and with patience, all while skillfully placing my extensions.  If you’re considering extensions of any type, or you’re in need of a hair transformation yourself, I definitely recommend contacting her for a consultation.  You can reach her at Sabino Salon 562.697.8100, or on instagram at @lovemyhairbymaribel!

xx Lauren

(I am a beauty ambassador for Sabino Salon and some of these services may have been provided to me for free, however, all opinions and words are my own)