Why are my Nano beads losing their colour?

August 2, 2018August 2, 2018Leave a comment

Our beads are very good quality, but you may every once in a while have a client mention their beads have turned gold – or perhaps you’ve had it happen to yourself. This is caused by the paint literally being stripped off the bead usually from an additive in your shampoo. Yes, even if you have an amazing, salon quality, big name, shampoo, with the highest approval ratings, that all the celebs use, this can still happen. And it is no dis on the shampoo at all – we know there are super amazing shampoos out there (like in some of the Moroccan oil line) that have these additives.

Their purpose in shampoo ranges from to create a lather, or act as a thickening agent, or even to keep it from freezing during shipping. There are such small amount of these chemicals that they aren’t going to ruin your hair, by no means, however, there is enough to strip the paint off the beads after a few washes. If you notice this happening, or a client mentions it – that should be the very first thing that comes to mind. Especially since if it were a common problem (batch issue) on our end, it would be happening to everyone, not just one girl, every once in a while.

I did a quick experiment where I submerged half a dozen of our non-silicone nano beads into a container of acetone (nail polish remover), a container of water with purple shampoo, and one with water with hand soap. After an hour, nothing had happened so I left them overnight. By the next morning, all of the beads remained unscathed, in fact the only thing that happened was the acetone had eaten a hole through the plastic container and melted a bead into the jar yet beads remained exactly the same. Not a speck of paint had deteriorated.

Medications and Drugs
Another reason beads may change colour, is from chemicals being carried to the hair follicle through the bloodstream. Several medications, like antidepressants, birth controls, and acne medications, can be the culprits of this, as can Vitamin A, and narcotics. These toxins are so potent, that they will not wash out, and in fact, hair follicle drug testing is a much more effective and reliable method than blood and/or urine testing (for drugs), and can detect toxins that have been in the follicle for months.

I hope this gives you a different perspective on why beads may lose their colour – and as always,

Why are my client’s nano links sliding out?

July 13, 2018Leave a comment

There is little doubt that nano links have been a revolution in the hair extension industry. They have provided an alternative to old fashioned methods like; tape-in’s, weaves, fusions, etc. as a way of attaching hair extensions in a non-damaging way. Since they were originally developed for medical hair loss solutions, they were specifically engineered to accommodate the most brittle, and weak of hair, while remaining discrete and promoting healthy hair growth of the natural hair.

Attached using a tiny painted metal bead, the hair extension is secured to individual strands by clamping a section of natural hair. The result is long lasting, discrete hair extensions that are comfortable to wear, safe for your natural hair, and easy to remove.

Nanos are usually a very secure method of hair extensions that also allow clients to care for and style their hair however they chose to: high ponytails, braids, updo’s, and because of the quality of Hair Flair’s hair, even perming the hair is an option. For all of these reasons and many more, are what makes them such a popular choice, however as with any kind of beauty or hair treatment there can be the odd exception to this rule. It’s important for you to understand the possible cause and solution to help better deal with clients.

Slippage is one of the most common issues that you may come across. Here are the causes and solutions to most of these issues.

Lets cover some of the top reasons why your clients nano might be sliding out

Conditioner

We all tell our clients during their consults that they are to come in with clean, dry, hair, on the day of their appointment, but we sometimes forget to tell them to avoid using conditioner. (They can on their ends, but not where the beads will sit.) Most conditioners contain silicone: it is the silicone in the product that gives hair its soft, shiny, and easy to manage texture, but since it coats the hair in a very fine layer, it can certainly cause the beads to slide easier than if the hair is bare and clean.

Not using enough of the client’s natural hair in the bead

This is a very common cause of the extensions falling out prematurely. Ensuring that you have enclosed enough of your clients hair is not only key to making sure the bead stays in place, it is ensures that there is enough natural hair to support the weight of the hair extension. It is not “easy” to thread the bead into the hair. If it is sliding on easy for you, you are likely not using enough hair. As a general rule the thinner the hair the more you will want to pull into a bead.

Silicone Beads

We know a lot of you use our silicone lined nano beads, and that’s fine as long as you understand they A) can’t hold as much natural hair because the silicone fills up a portion of the bead, and B) silicone’s are slippery (think of other products that have silicone in them; non- stick cookware, hair oils, personal lubricants etc.) So if you can work with non-silicone nano beads, you should.

Not clamping down hard enough with your pliers

Another thing I have noticed is girls will unintentionally clamp the beads onto the bond too lightly. Because it is unintentional, you may not know you’re doing it until a client mentions more are falling out than expected.

When is it the clients fault?

If you straight up ask your client if they have used conditioner, or oils, around the bonds, or have washed their hair too much, or have brushed their hair too rigorously, etc., they will feel on the defense and assure they have done nothing wrong. Instead, ask them about their aftercare routine without giving them any indication of what the right or wrong answer is. If they are in the chair, ask them to show you how they brush their hair. Ask them when they condition, do they start at the scalp and work their way down? (because they should not be applying to their scalp at all) Ask how long it is left on for. This way they are a lot more likely to be honest with you then if they feel like they have a finger pointed at them.

Excess Oil

In the very rare occasion, it may not be the fault of your installation, nor the client’s aftercare routine. Sometimes our clients may just plain have too much natural oil. Often, extensions can help better distribute these oils because there is now more hair to accommodate the oil with. Sometimes though, the excess oil sitting on the client’s hair can cause the hair extensions to not hold very well at all. This is going to cause inevitable slippage that your client will be disappointed with, especially if they were not pre warned. You can advise your client to use a dry shampoo on their roots to help control the oil between washes.

Can I Colour my Hair Extensions?

February 28, 2018March 22, 2018Leave a comment

Something we are constantly being asked is, “can I colour my hair extensions?” The answer is yes…and no. Our Premium line of European extensions are of the upmost quality: True remy, 100% cuticle intact, real human hair, so the integrity is bar none.

When you process any hair, it negatively effects the hairs integrity, and the same rings true with our hair extensions. So it should come as no surprise that we don’t recommend it. Can it be done? Absolutely. In most cases it’ll turn out fine, but should always be done at your own discretion, and for this reason we cannot guarantee the hair if you decide to alter it. Instead, we suggest if you want highlights or lowlights to add a bundle of extensions in the colour you want. This way you are not over processing your hair and still getting the same result.

Can I highlight my hair with Extensions?

It is not recommended to highlight the extensions (as we’ve already mentioned,) however If you are touching up your own highlights, it is best to just get them in your crown and a few around your hairlines. Extensions are covering a large portion of your hair so it’s better to not highlight that area and let your natural hair grow out healthy. If you are adamant that you want your full head highlighted, the best route is to take your extensions out and have your entire head highlighted, then have your extensions put back in.

Can I add low lights to my hair with extensions?

You can add lowlights into the extensions, just try to avoid the bond. The extensions are quite porous and will suck up the colour quickly, so keep an eye on them.

Can I tone hair extensions?

In most cases, toning your extensions is the best option if you just want a slight colour change. It is not as harsh as fully processing the extensions with a colour treatment. If you are applying toner to your entire head make sure that you rinse the bond area very well and dry the bond area immediately. Click here to read our blog for step-by-step- instructions on how to do this.

Can I get my roots touched up with hair extensions in?

When touching up your roots, try to colour the areas that you can visibly see. (crown and hairlines.) The rest of your hair is covered by extensions, so won’t be very noticeable. If you feel that you need the roots done on your entire head, the best option is to take out the extensions and do a full root colour, then reinstall the extensions. Another option, if your stylist is comfortable doing this, is to have them slowly work through your head (with the extensions in) and apply colour to the regrowth only. It is important not to get colour on the bonds and make sure they are using a gentle colour.

Colouring Extensions Recap

Depositing colour is recommended, and bleaching (or lifting) is not recommended
Do it at your own risk, and don’t get colour on the bonds as it can cause the bonds to breakdown faster than they normally would.
Go to a professional to ensure no colour is touching the bonds and that a quality product is used.

Hair Extensions and Shedding Hair

February 14, 2018March 22, 2018Leave a comment

“Will hair extensions cause damage, or hair loss?”

This has to be the number one concern we hear in regards to hair extensions, but Hair Flair’s nano link extensions are the latest technology and were specifically designed for thin, fragile hair. They are the safest, most discreet hair extension option on the market and when fitted correctly by a trained professional, maintained regularly, and cared for, they will not cause any damage to your natural hair.
“If that’s true, why when my hair extensions are removed, do I see a bunch of my natural hair come out?”

The answer is simple.

The average person will lose around 50-100 hairs per day as part of the natural hair cycle. You only have to consider how often you clear out your hair brush to realize that you naturally lose a lot more hair than you realize on a daily basis.
With that in mind, I want you to picture one of your hair extensions clamped on your natural hair with a bead. Your natural hair is still going to shed those hundreds of hairs every day, but instead of coming out in your brush, or falling on the floor, in your bed, in the shower, they remain trapped within the bead with nowhere to go. Over the 6-10 weeks that you have your hair extensions in those shed hairs are going to add up!

Think of it this way: After a month or two (or three) when your hair extensions are due to be moved up or removed, you would have naturally shed around 12,000 hairs, a lot of which have not been able to free themselves from your hair extension bonds.

So for this reason when you come to your maintenance appointment, you’ll undoubtedly notice a lot of natural hair coming out with hair extensions, and this is COMPLETELY NORMAL. The hair extensions have not caused your hair to thin, and have not caused your natural hair to fall out.

Keep in mind that when you are wearing hair extensions for weeks, and months, at a time, you become accustomed to the feeling of having very thick, full, hair. When your hair extensions are removed it is easy to forget what your hair actually looked and felt like before. Just as it took time to get used to having extensions, it will also take time to re-adjust back.

Shedding is just the nature of the beast, however if at any point you do become concerned, contact your hair extensionist. A professional hair extensionist will have many years of experience in dealing with this, and will be able to answer any questions you might have, and really just put your mind at ease.

The key to hair extensions is also in finding a professional, reliable, hair extension specialist who is fully qualified, knowledgeable, and practiced. A simple look in the classifieds or social media platforms, and you will be bombarded with people claiming to be qualified specialists, so do your research and find somebody you feel good about and you’ll have no worries.

The Most Common Aftercare Mistakes

February 11, 2018March 22, 2018Leave a comment

We at Hair Flair Extensions, often tell people to treat their extensions the way you would treat your natural hair, and to not overthink things. The quality of our European hair and the method of installation makes them very easy to work with, however there are a couple of exceptions. Please read on to find out the most common aftercare mistakes and how easy it is to avoid them!

Sleeping with wet hair extensions

Do yourself and your extension technician a favour and do not fall asleep before your hair extensions have fully dried. Your hair is at its weakest when it is wet, so when you go to sleep with your hair wet or damp the roots can become intertwined, and will dry that way. Over time this will cause matting, because your bonds will becoming tangled. For you, this will mean a longer, and more painful maintenance appointment as your extension technician will have to spend a lot of time detangling (a lot of girls charge by the hour too.) As gentle as she is, there will be pain to you and breakage to your hair.

Conditioning your scalp

Another common mistake is over conditioning; rather, conditioning the bond and scalp area. After your extensions are installed, feel free to wash it normally, but you must remember to only condition from the mid lengths to the ends. If you put conditioner on the bonds they will break down faster, product will begin to buildup in the bonds, and the extensions will fall out easier since they’ve been lubricated.

Brushing too rough

Avoid taking your brush and yanking from the scalp downwards. It’ll cause stress at the bond and could pull the extension out prematurely. Instead, grab a section of hair and hold it taut, like in the photo, and brush starting at the tips working your way up. When you get to the top, hold the actual bonds as best as you can to complete brushing.

Too much heat

Never allow the hot stream of air from your dryer to sit too long in one place (near the bonds) as this can melt bonds over a period of time. A better idea would be to dry your extensions first using the cool setting. Same goes with your other heat tool; straighteners, curling rods/irons, etc. Avoid hitting the bonds with your tools – if the bonds do get overheated, the little metal bead gets stuck in the keratin bond and can be a lot harder to remove for your technician, resulting again in a more painful maintenance appointment for you/ potentially damaging your natural hair.

Over-toning and purple shampoo

A toner is basically is a semi permanent colour, so it does contain a small percentage of peroxide. We all know you blondes love your toners because they reduce brassiness, but beached hair requires the lowest volume so as not to cause damage. Our extensions do take well to toner, however you need to find someone who really knows what they are doing and has experience. Purple shampoo can certainly be over used as well resulting in dry, brittle feeling hair extensions so use with discretion.

Purple Shampoo and Hair Extensions

February 11, 2018March 22, 2018Leave a comment

Purple shampoo, the staple product for all of you beautiful blondes. With those icy tones trending big time, a good purple shampoo is a MUST and it’s all about the pigment.

What is purple shampoo?

If you are a blonde you should know what purple shampoo is and if you don’t, you’ve been missing out. Purple shampoo is used to make blonde hair ashier ( think more grey or silver and less yellow). You may think why do I need this? But if you have ever coloured your hair blonde you may have noticed that when it was freshly done the blonde was a perfect cool ashy blonde. But with time your blonde faded to a yellow blonde that you weren’t so fond of. Well purple shampoo can help your hair from turning the dreaded yellow colour and keep it nice and ashy if that’s the look you desire.

Using purple shampoo on your hair extensions

Can purple shampoo be used on extensions? Well yes of course but there are a few things you need to know beforehand.

Keep in mind that purple shampoo isn’t intended for daily use. Wash your hair with purple shampoo once a week or whenever your hair needs it, and keep using your regular shampoo between uses.
Hair extensions are very porous, so purple shampoo will deposit fast. That means that you shouldn’t leave the shampoo on too long otherwise your blonde can turn grey. Apply shampoo liberally to your hair and let it sit for 1 to 5 minutes. If your hair is very yellow, let the purple shampoo sit for about 5-7 minutes. If it still isnt the colour you want then apply again. Rinse your hair with luke warm, or cool water. This will close the cuticle of the hair, sealing in the colour and leaving hair smoother and shinier.
Overuse of purple shampoo can have damaging effects on hair extension bonds. Dont use it too regularly and try to keep it away from the bonds and just use it on the lengths of your extensions. Below is an example of a hair extension bond that has been weakened and is breaking down because of the overuse of purple shampoo.
Make sure your purple shampoo is sulfate free and a professional line. Purple shampoo can be very drying and using a cheap brand will not only wreck your bonds but also dry out your extensions.

What if your hair extensions turn grey or purple?

In the event your extensions soaked up too much of the pigment, another wash or two with a clarifying shampoo will remove the excess purple, keeping in mind clarifying shampoo isn’t necessarily healthy for your hair either, so try and avoid getting yourself into that situation.

Pre-applying purple shampoo to hair extensions

Most hair extension colours are naturally warm (yellow) so you may want to pre purple shampoo the extensions before installing them. Here are a few tips if you want to apply purple shampoo to extensions before they are installed.

Start off by making sure the extensions are bundled, brushed out, and have some sort of protection around the bond area. In the picture below you’ll see one bundle of Hair Flair Extensions nano links in #60, platinum blonde. We have secured the bond area with a paper towel held in place with an elastic band.

2. Fill your sink or wash station with a few inches of hot water and pour the purple shampoo into the hot water. Mix up the shampoo in the water until there are no clumps of shampoo and the water and shampoo is mixed thoroughly. Keep your extensions bundled and just swirl the hair through water. This will allow the colour to deposit evenly from root to end.

3. Once you achieve a colour that you like rinse the shampoo off to see what the underlying colour is. If you are not happy with it, put the bundle back in the purple shampoo. Repeat this until you are happy with the colour after washing away the purple shampoo. The longer you do this/ leave the hair in the water, more product will be deposited in the extensions. It doesn’t take long for them to go from icy blonde, to purplish – grey, so keep an eye on them.

Result:
Regular Hair Flair bundle of #60 on the left, toned bundle of Hair Flair #60 to the right.

What purple shampoo should I use?

When it comes to purple shampoo, money talks. Professional and salon brands are going to give you better results, so keep this in mind when you make your purchase. Some blondes swear by locking it in with a purple conditioner, however, as the purple shampoo does most of the work, we think it’s OK to use any conditioner you like. Check out our recommendations for purple shampoo here

Mane University Beauty Works Seminar with Jen Atkin

November 9, 2016November 13, 2017Leave a comment

We are so excited over here, you guys! BIG things are happening and we just had to share.

Our master trainer/director of sales, Jody MacDonald, has been hand-picked to attend a private and intimate seminar with none other than Jen Atkin! Jen, along with other special guests, will be on hand providing “how-to’s” for hair cutting, styling and extension application. She will be talking about extensions, giving advice for making hair look fuller in photos, and explaining the correct way to place and cut extensions.

Jody will have a rare glimpse into the world of Hollywood’s top hair gurus. She’ll have the opportunity to pick their brains, learn about their must-have products and expert tricks of the trade, and glean the secrets to their success.

If you are not familiar with Jen, you will no doubt have heard of some of her top A-list celebrity clients: The Kardashians & Jenner’, Chrissy Teigen, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Lily Aldridge and many, many more.

Jody is jetting off to L.A. this evening and will be reporting everything along the way, so make sure you stay tuned to all our social media!!

-The Hair Flair Team

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