Introduction to Microlink Extensions
Feel like you’re sitting in a college class on the first day of Fall semester waiting for the syllabus to be handed out? Well I’ve got my Uggs and team pride sweatshirt on, so lets get down to business. (Wait, you didn’t wear that kinda crap to class? Shit.)
Unless you’re blind, male or a new reader … you might have caught on that my hair tends to magically grow overnight. I wish it was some magic pill that I could share with you all, but in reality it’s just hair. Extra hair.
There are many (MANY) different types of extensions out there. From synthetic to human, from pre-bonded to wefted. Clip-ins, glued, sewn, braided and tension. This probably sounds complicated already.
Good news. I won’t be explaining all the different kinds out there. Cold hard fact: I’m not a hairstylist, I’m not trained in how to install these and I’m not even a self-proclaimed expert (shoot, darn.) but I do have some insight based on my own personal experience. I know, super legit.
Actually, better than good news. My personal hairstylist, Kelsi of Kelsi Does Hair, has installed my extensions for me twice now. She likes me a bit, so she’ll be helping me write up a series of posts explaining the process of installation and answering every question you can possibly think up.
Kelsi is a gracious person, and she also happens to be one of my best friends. We’ve known each other since the 4th grade, and though she now lives several states away, we’re still close as ever. Full disclosure: I did not pay for the labor or work to install the hair. I did however pay for the hair itself and for Kelsi’s plane ticket to come out here.
My extensions are pre-bonded 3mm human hair. What that means is I have nearly 200 “pieces” of real human hair attached (for lack of a better term) to my own hair. Each piece is about 3mm in diameter at the root-end. The hair in each “piece” is held together with glue that makes it look very similar to the tip of a shoelace. The glue is waterproof and does not touch your own hair.
These type of extensions (called pre-bonded or I-tips) can be installed in one of two ways. Either with chemicals, glue and heat — in which the tip is attached to your own hair using all of the above — or with tension. When I say tension, I mean that the hair is held in place by a tiny little metal bead that is clamped down with your hair and the pre-bonded tip inside.
These little beads are commonly called “microlinks” or “microrings” and they are just the right size to include the 3mm tip of extension hair with a little bit of your own hair that has been pulled fully through the bead using a special hooking tool. A pair of pliers then clamps the bead flat with everything secure inside.
Hundreds of pieces later and twenty or so rows up the head, and you have a full crop of someone else’s hair to contend with. I know that’s what you’re thinking. We’ll address that later on.
I know I just glazed over the whole process, which I swear I did intentionally. It’s not from a lack of sleep. Okay, it might partially be that. I will go back over the full process of installation in the next post. Complete with creepy pictures of the back of my bio-tronic head.
What I want to stress the most is why Kelsi only installs this kind of extension. Why I will only use this kind of (permanent) extension and recommend it to friends … it’s the safest option. Not only could you seriously damage your hair (at the darn roots!) but you can seriously injure your scalp and your hairstylist is even at risk using the other options available.
Glued-in or “fusion” extensions essentially require a very hot tool to be used to melt a bit of adhesive very near to the scalp and attach it to your own hair. It looks messy and dangerous. I was concerned that the chemicals in the adhesive and the extreme heat used on the hair would cause some damage to your natural hair, and Kelsi conferred. Also she pointed out that it’s not completely safe for your hairstylist, skilled or not.
Weaving hair is the process of sewing long wefts of hair to an individual’s head. The natural hair must be “corn-rowed” first so that there is a foundation for the weft of extension hair to be stitched to. These rows must be very tight, painfully tight. A scene from America’s Next Top Model comes to mind. Poor girl had the most painful experience and all she could do to make the pain lessen was to “pat” her head. Uh, no.
A microlink installation does not involve any heat, chemicals (other than the glue that is bonded to the extension hair, not your hair), tight rows or needles. The rings are metal, but you can get them silicon lined which helps them stay put better and cushion your natural hair.
So I bet you have some questions, for either me or Kelsi. Please, ask as many as you want in the comment section below, by email (rachaelreally@gmail.com), by twitter (follow me!), or through my facebook page — and please “like” the page while you’re there!
I will have a Questions & Answers post at the end of the series so please do not hesitate.
