how to do TAPE IN EXTENSIONS

June 07, 2017

in this week’s blog, we’re connecting our dear friend amy with GORGEOUS LONG LOCKS with TAPE IN EXTENSIONS. we’re trying out a new product for extensions. they’re european virgin remi hair, so they feel absolutely amazing! in fact, they’re coming soon to our nvenn line :)

back to the extensions. as you can see, amy has shoulder length hair. she wants long locks that look NATURAL and SHINY. to do that: we’re refreshing her hair color, putting in the extensions, and cutting her extensions and natural hair to work with one another.

in addition to using the extensions to lengthen her hair, we’re also going to make sure she’s styled before we let her leave the chair. watch the video, read the blog, and tell us what you think in the comments! <3

COLORING the ROOTS and STYLING the HAIR

to cover amy’s roots, we’re using ¾ 7jc + ¼ 7n from j beverly hills with a 20 vol.

we're mixing two colors because want to account for the heat from the scalp. the natural heat from the scalp will boost the color at the roots to create a warmer color than what was previously expected. To account for this, we add 7n (neutral) to balance out the root color making it a true 7gc (gold-copper).

we let the color develop for a full 25 minutes before washing her hair out.

before we move on to the extensions, we’re going to prep the hair with nvenn’s REPLENISH. this awesome rejuvenating oil helps protect the hair from damage and MOISTURIZE the follicles.

simply warm it between your fingers before applying throughout your hair. pay special attention to the ends of your hair! that’s where you’ll need the most love.

after we’ve applied REPLENISH, we move on to a NEW PRODUCT: VOLUME. this weightless activator will give you all the body you need for big curls or beach waves. simply apply evenly throughout your hair before styling.

putting in the EXTENSIONS

start at the bottom of the hair and leave about an inch to inch and a half around the entire perimeter of the head. if you don’t, the client won’t be able to tie their hair back without seeing the extension tabs! with a perimeter around the head, you’ll still be able to tie the hair back and hide the tabs so no one can see them.

personally, we like to put the extensions in a v pattern. we’ve found that this gives the most NATURAL FLOW to the hair.

back to the EXTENSIONS: we’re going to use two tabs of extensions on the bottom. when you’re sectioning for your extensions, you’re going to want to make sure that you take a thin enough section on the hair that the extensions will tape evenly around them. on the other hand, you don’t want the section to be so thin that the hair pulls the extension.

the BOTTOM of the HEAD

use the photo above for an example of the amount of hair you should section. once you’ve got your confident in your section width. take the first extension and apply it underneath the section as close to the root as possible. press down lightly afterwards. then take the second extension and apply it directly on top of the first hair extension making a sandwich.

the CENTER of the HEAD

after you finish the first layer, time to move up. section off about an inch and half and continue the v pattern.

with the thicker section, you’ll be able to incorporate more variation between your extensions evenly across the head. it needs to be even from left to right to ensure that her hair sits naturally.

from there, we’re going to work around the section line and put the extensions right next to each other.

when you get to the front of her hair, you’ve got important decisions to make. you don’t want to take the extensions to close to the front of the head or they will be visible when the hair is pulled back. you can leave this out for now and figure it out once all the other pieces are put in. you might decide to incorporate half tabs in the front to finish the look and add some more hair around the front.

the TOP of the HEAD

the top of the head is going to be different for every client. you’ll need to variate your strategy based on their head shape and how they wear their hair. for amy, we’re going to do a smaller section in the center back before doing one larger section on top of that across the top of her head

for this smaller section, we’re repeating the previous step with her head shape in mind. this fills in and blends the back of the head where she has more short layering. take a look:

as we approach the very top of the head, we do the last larger section. we want to be careful to not extend the widest part (parietal bone) on her head, so that the tabs are easily hidden and not visible. this will also be applied using the v section.

we start about an inch and a quarter away from the front of the head and work towards the center of the back. then, we’ll start from the opposite side of the head and work our way in again. after we’ve completed that.

now it’s time to go over your work and fill in any gaps. we can in amy’s case, we need to fill out the front as well as some of the gaps in the back.

BLENDING the EXTENSIONS

the last step is actually cutting the hair to ensure that your extensions look like a natural head of hair. this is one of the most important parts of extensions. what we’re doing with amy’s hair is blending her hair in with the length by layering and texturizing her hair and the extensions.

cutting the extensions properly will create a seamless look between the natural hair and the extensions. it is also important to texturize every layer of her natural hair so that it sits nicely with the extensions.

and now, the FINAL RESULT: