Warning: This post isn’t about nails.
I started wearing my Lock n Long Hair Extensions on June 9th. It is now August 8th, so basically I’ve had them in for 2 months. Before I ordered them, I found it really hard to decide if I should get them or not.
I am in no way a professional, so I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to install them or take care of them. Most of the reviews online were by professionals, or people who have had extensions before and knew a bit about what they were doing. Therefore, I’ve decided to give you my very unprofessional and unexperienced opinion on these extensions.
Purchasing:
I have pretty dark hair but I would never call it black. I knew it was darker than the darkest brown, but I didn’t think I would be the Black Beauty. I sent off an email to them including some photos of my hair, and within minutes I had a response saying that I should buy the Black Beauty and if it didn’t work, I could exchange it for a different color. I bought the Black Beauty and it matches SO WELL. People have a hard time believing that it’s not all my natural hair.
The package arrived within the time expected and it was overall just a good experience with the company.
Application:
The website and many bloggers claim that you are able to install them and tighten them yourself in 15-20 minutes. The extensions come with pliers and some beads and a link to a video to watch. When I actually got all of these things in my hands, I basically had a “no way” moment and called over one of my girl friends to help me out.
We watched the video 3 times and then got to work placing the extensions on my head. Once we both thought a section was in the correct place, my friend would pull the hair through and clamp the bead (which she said was actually very easy). There are 4 sections of hair in the package I bought, and it took us close to 45 minutes to get them all in. Once they were in we cut them the same way she shows on the video with some very sharp scissors to blend with my original hair.
That night I had a really hard time putting my hair into a bun to sleep in, and sleeping was actually really painful. My head felt like it was twice the weight as normal and I had a bunch of little plastic bits poking into my head. I was not okay, but I dealt with it. Turns out, we had just installed them too tight (I said we watched the movie, we didn’t necessarily follow directions).
Wear:
I had them in for about 3 weeks before I needed the extensions to be tightened. It was a weekend and we were at a festival when I noticed. There was a bit of growth all over, but one of the beads had let go and one of my back pieces was basically dangling and I had to keep it up with a bobby pin for the day. It wasn’t noticeable to anyone except me apparently.
The next day I enlisted my wonderful boyfriend to help me fix the situation (I tried unclamping one bead and I couldn’t do it within a few minutes so I gave up). He used the pliers that came with the set to fix the one part that had come loose. It took him quite a while because the bead just would not pop open. He refused to do anymore until we went out and bought new pliers. We ended up getting these from Sallys because he liked the little circle area that is used to open the beads easier.
Since then I have to get him to tighten/move some beads at least once a week. We figure the first time the beads were clamped too tight so that is why they stayed in place so long. Now the beads are loose enough that brushing my hair will sometimes make the extensions come out of place, but the beads are now a lot easier to open and fixing it takes less than 5 minutes.
Washing:
It’s terrible. Maybe you already know how to wash extensions because you have had them before. I still have no idea how to properly do this. After the first week I had build up on my hair by where the beads are to hold in the extensions. It was really gross, but no matter how much I thought I rinsed my hair, it would just never be completely rinsed and the shampoo would dry up. I don’t have a solution for this, but I do know that having someone help you wash your hair once a week is a lot better. They can see where it is rinsed and where it isn’t, and they are able to really get in there. If anyone has ideas to help me, please message me (:
Care:
Before bed I will brush out my hair, put in a leave in conditioner, and tie it up in a high pony tail or a bun. As long as there are no knots in my hair before bed, it seems to be fine in the morning. If my hair gets wet, I make sure to brush it out before it gets wet (if possible) and after. Im sure this is the same for any long hair, but before this I could barely get my hair into a pony tail so I didn’t really have to worry about knots.
I am also really careful about which settings I use on my heat appliances. For blow drying my hair i use the medium heat after coating my hair with a heat protector and make sure that everything is completely dry before using my curling iron. I then will apply more heat protectant and curl my hair on a medium heat, making sure not to leave it too long near the roots (I don’t want to melt the beads) or the tips (ew dry ends).
Overall thoughts:
Overall, I kinda love these. I know they seem like a lot of work, and they are, but I would never be able to grow this hair naturally. My one big problem with these is that the connecting plastic part (connects the bead to the extension) is white and my hair is apparently black. If the wind blows my hair, or if I don’t tease my crown enough, you can see the white plastic sticking out (the boyfriend calls it “seeing my enhancements”). I really love that I don’t have to go to a salon for the install or the upkeep. And the price point is amazing for such nice quality hair. If you are considering trying these, I think you NEED to try them.
Before:
After:
