QuoteReplyTopic: Install tricks to help with crown issues Posted: November 25 2006 at 7:00pm
Heres a few little tricks Ive used to help with the crown area.
For any of us with fine hair that sometimes find it harder to hide the wefts/tracks right at the back top of the head Ive found these little tricks help.
My hair is fine and my layers arent that long, so the first picture is NO extensions: YIKKKES. You can see the shortest layers. This trick works well if your hair at the top naturally brushes back as you can see in the 2nd picture (please excuse the stupid look, as I was making fun of myself in the picture)
Here is the result that I can get using this placement method. There is absolutely NO cutting or blending done to the hair in this picture: I used 22 inch hair all all rows except on the top U row and the short rows at the top, those are 18 inch hair
And here are pictures that I used MS paint to show how I placed rows. The U is the top row of my extensions and the lines at the back represent short rows that I added on the top back of my head. The extra rows fall really nice and hide the short layers. This is the easy version of the rows.
And here is the usual placement pattern I use with the short side rows and then with the top back rows added:
(Please forgive these terrible MS paint demos, but it was all a had to work with at the moment)
This placement works well for the first 3/4 weeks for me. When my roots start getting dark, its always harder & more work to hide the wefts in the crown area due to the difference in color near the roots with my finer hair. Also protac doesnt work well for me in this area. LG alone or tape/LG together works out well for me in the crown.
My next install I will be using this method again and I may try coloring top inch of the weft to a darker blond to help with the root color. Also Im thinking about trying the reserve method of install on those top back rows to help hide the track.
sherrie thank you for posting that, it really helps to see where you put the rows.....when you say that you use a LG/protac combo up top, how do you do that? do you just put the weft in protac as usual and then brush on LG on both sides of the tape, or just one side? also, on your top side rows...do the back edges intersect exactly with the short top back horizontal row ( sorry, ive gotten myself confused now, i hope that made sense!)
at first i thought my top layers just needed to grow longer to cover that crown area, but i realized that it doesnt matter how long it is there, my crown is always going to be thin :(
sherrie215
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just add a little LG to the tape before sticking it to your head. I only added LG to the side against my head on this current install, but next time I would add a little LG to the top of the tape too. The top rows stayed in place as long as the rest, with the addition of LG to the tape. Usually the top short rows only last 3 weeks tops for me with protac alone.
Nursie, the rows dont intersect perfectly...I try to keep them as neat as possible and as close as I can but they arent exact science! (Im not THAT good)
Ohhh, thanks for the great pics and diagrams, Sherrie. Yep, I've found that placing that last very high one across the back right at the top with side ones going across to the front kind of forces that thin hair to lay back over the weft and hides the thin area nicely. It seems counter-intuitive to have one weft up so high with fine, thin hair, but with the LG (and a covering weft if you're installing dark hair) it is almost miraculous how invisible the wefts are. You really have to match the wefts to your color though, and it does become more visible once you have roots in that area. I do a quick touch-up at about two or two-and-a-half weeks between installs just in the hair above the top wefts to keep the root problem at bay. I'm guessing you could do that with bleach as well?
Here's to the end of my BAD HAIR LIFE!
Naked Eye
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Naked Eye, my hair really isnt that thick. Its very fine, I have alot of it (except in the crown) but definitely very fine hair. Those pictures are immediatley after blowdrying, so it it looks full and fluffy. But it goes flat very quickly. Its hard for me to maintain any style with my natural hair because there is no weight to my fine hair and every style goes flat. I would need a TON of hairspray and teasing to keep the volume that you see in the pictures above...and it will still go flat after a little while!
Wow Sherrie that helps so much! It looks so professional and mucho dollars, I wish I had octopus arms and hands like you. I am too embarassed to ask a friend for help so my installs get a little better each time but I would love for someone else to do it. Trouble here is there really isn't anyone who knows how to use the tape and lg method. I was thinking of going to a local beauty school and seeing if anyone wanted the experience. Any recommendations? HOW DO YOU DO IT??? PS I colored the FR some neutral blonde shades and it turned out beautiful. I'm trying to get the hand of styling it. It really is so soft and nice...
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It gets easier with every install. But that is a good idea going to a local beauty school. I tried that with MY stylist (now former stylist, nobody touches my hair but me) but she had no real desire to learn, and didnt care how well she did the job...I quickly learned I could do it better myself!
What I've done is to get my SO to help. (Initially I was too embarassed to ask him, but I've gotten over it!) It makes the install so much easier. He knows NOTHING about extensions so I do all the work I can and just walk him through the parts where I need a third hand or an eye in the back of my head. I use a spare weft as a practice/demo weft to show him how and where I want a weft placed. I've even got him doing the LG syringe thing along the back when I'm sandwiching. I gave him a practice weft and the syringe and showed him the amount of LG I wanted on it and let him experiment with the syringe. After a few installs he won't be so nervous and it should be a breeze getting those wefts in. I'm guessing my installs will soon take less than 30 minutes, and this with using only LG to attach the wefts. Even now, after two installs with him helping, I've noticed the back is neater and has fewer little hairs stuck in the glue. After a bunch of installs I know I can do it myself but it is so much faster and cleaner to have an assistant, let me tell you!
Here's to the end of my BAD HAIR LIFE!
frenchie1
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Wow Sherrie! I always thought you had really thick and long natural hair because your extensions are undetectable! You've inspired me to do twice the amount of hair I have in now, I LOVE all the body! I'm about ready to start doing my own extensions because my cousin who has been doing them for the last couple of years is starting to get sloppy and they are not placed well and she's not letting the keratin melt in with my hair enough so they are slipping! I dread trying to do fusion on myself! It would probably take all day! I think I'll get some hair that's wefted and try this method. I've never tried wefts because I'm so afraid they will show at my crown, plus I have really thin hair. Is the hair you have on handtied?
uggh.....I always *shudder* seeing those pictures of me with no hair!
This method works for me sometimes....sometimes it dont. I And you need an EXACT color match as your roots, and enough hair on top to cover the tracks. I do like this method because I can leave the hair one length and dont even need layers if I dont want to layer. But most times my root color is much too brassy and the #613 wefts stick out too much that close to the top.
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