Comparing Systems

I only do the cylinder system with the best hair quality available.

More people thank me for this page than complain about the amount of text to read. It’s not mandatory, but for your benefit,

It’s all about the hair supplier and the coils. (Some chip and slip.)

I created this page because these are the questions I hear on the phone, in person, and through email. I did not create this page to “bash”...it’s just the reality of my experience.

Here are some descriptions about other hair extension systems:

The text here is from MY PERSONAL experience with the products. Maybe you or someone else had a different experience, but these words come from mine and what I hear during consultations and from clients.

I do not use ANY of the following locking hair extension systems....

The first consideration is a bond that holds the hair together. Harilocs and Eurolocs and are made of wax, and you can’t use conditioner with these because it disintegrates the wax very rapidly. When the bonds disintegrate, there is nothing to hold the hair together, so you will experience tremendous shedding and loss.

There are also bonds made of plastic which are not pliable, and when you clamp the cylinder shut, it breaks the plastic and there is nothing holding the hair together and you will have tremendous shedding and this type of bond is not REUSABLE.

Hairlocs is THE WORST company I have ever dealth with. I was certified by them, but do not use their products.

Microlinks are very large cylinders and are short so they don’t cover the bonds holding the hair together so they allow for the bonds to disintegrate rapidly as well. They also show through your hair.

Shrinkies....are plastic cylinders where the application process is the same as mine, but then you HEAT the shrinkie to your hair, and you have to reheat it again to remove it. Very dangerous heating anything to your hair as well as a lengthy removal process.

Keratin or Polymer Bonds: (Great Lengths, Hairdreams, SoCap, Cinderella, etc. Bonding IS Gluing...Fusion IS gluing)

I am accused of making this up...

Click here for my Great Lengths Emails to support my information.

The average cost for Great Lengths and other Keratin polymer bonds is $1,200 to $5,000 depending on the market you live in. I wore Great Lengths for two months and paid $1800 from a Park Avenue New York plastic surgeon’s office and the stylist had 20 years experience.

They told me they would last 5-7 months. I was losing them like crazy during the second month. I went back for more because I loved having long hair, and I was asked to pay ANOTHER $1800. I did not get them again, went online and found these, just like you found me.

• The definition of “glue” from Webster’s Dictionary is “Any of various similar adhesives, such as paste, mucilage, or epoxy”. The system uses glue (they also call it keratin, protein, fusion, sonic fusion, or polymer, but it's just marketing magic for GLUE).

• I hear a lot of complaints that the clients were told they were getting straight hair only to get it very curly.

• They have a new air pressure system for the application, but it's still heating a substance to your hair to secure the extension.

• They often tell you it will last for 5-7 months.

• You will need new hair in two to three months, unless your hair stops growing for some magical reason.  Please see my photo on the home page of the woman who didn’t come for a maintainence for seven months.

• If you wait longer than three months, there will be too much weight on the strand because of natural shedding, and your own hair will tangle, dreadlock, and pull your own hair out. I guarantee it.

• To remove them, they put acetone or alcohol on the bond, and break it with pliers. They'll tell you it's not glue. You decide. Oh, and you get to pay $150 - $200 per hour for them to do it!

This is the Great Lengths "bonding" system. Are they gluing it? This picture was from their website when I wrote this.

Great Lengths is probably the most widely known system throughout the world, and that fact amazes me. But Britney Spears is also one of the most famous singers in the world, and she’s not the best either. In one word...MARKETING. Marketing is an amazing psychology.

Weft or Track extensions:
A weft is a track of hair sewn onto a strip of cloth that is attached to your head with glue, or braids, or even the coils that I use. It may also be attached by corn rowing your hair and then being sewn into the braid. The braid is so tight that for at least a week (which is all I could take) you can feel your head pulse and it is very painful, and causes alopecia of the area as shown below on my client Indrani, who wore them for yeas.

As your hair grows, the weft will loosen up, be difficult to style, and even embarrassing because it will start to show.

My personal experience was that since I had to wash my hair everyday, the cloth strip never dried completely because it was buried so deeply in the braid and then it began to grow mold and it smelled.

This woman became my client after years of wearing the weft. See her balding. She is back to normal after about a year.
Gianna, every time I come to you, I feel like the most beautiful woman in the world! -Indrani

Brazilian extensions:
The "brazilian" system consists of taking a very large square of your hair and knotting it and merging it with extension hair. This is too much tension on your own hair and you may end up balding in spots, and you can feel it when you sleep and it will be very weird when someone touches your head.

These sections are too wide and stick out of your head and you will feel them as you sleep or God forbid, somebody tries to put their hand through your hair!

Fusion:
"Fusion" is a term greatly thrown around. Your hair can be "fused" with extension hair by braiding your own hair with extension hair, and then glued on top of that, or "fused" by glue or gel bonds with heat. It just means that it is merging your hair with extension hair.



THE REASON BRITNEY SPEARS SHAVED HER HEAD!

This is glue fusion. They feel like hard little balls on your head, and are very difficult to remove. They also fall out frequently because they take very little hair into the bond, and when your hair naturally sheds, they will fall out quickly. This was done too tight. See how they stick out and don't lie flat? When this woman lays down, her hair will pull until it starts to grow out, probably causing lack of sleep and headaches for her for about two weeks.

"Cold Fusion" is a term being thrown around now. Generally it's just a marketing term. Ask if there is any heat or melting going on with the system. They'll probably say no, but you'll know better.

Microchet: I saw this and couldn’t believe what people are selling out there. They crochet your hair through a tiny threaded circle with hair attached, and then TAPE the extension below the circle part. OY VEY! They fall out constantly wasting your time and money.

There is a really silly method whose name I don't know of, but what they do is lift up your hair, place a strip of extension hair on a weft on your hair, then lift up the extension hair, and then place another strip and attach it to the other weft, like sticking two velcro pieces together, and they claim it will last 8-10 weeks. I have seen this in person and my associate and I laughed so hard.

At the Hair Show in New York, and the term "adhesive" is now replacing the word "glue". Isn't "adhesive" glue also? You decide.

Just a note:
I often see clients of stylists certified in the system that I use. The stylists were not educated about textures and color blending, and the appropriate size of coils to use as well as placement. The clients lose the strands too often. It is my opinion as a person who wears this system, that you should not have to give your hair as much attention and concern as I have seen with other stylists like having to go back every two weeks to replace strands.

First, I would only choose a stylist who actually wears their product because they KNOW it. The procedure is tedious and I believe if you don’t have the patience to install it, you may get lazy and not insert the strands correctly, or close the coils in the proper direction so that they lay comfortably, and don’t itch your head, and keep your real hair safe.

As I state on the home page, please see several stylists for consults, ask lots of questions, and go with your gut. If they make excuses or can't answer logically, please leave, even if you are desperate to improve your hair. This system is very safe with absolutely gorgeous hair.

COME HERE LAST!

Click here for next page.