ProStyles/ ProHair class was awesome!! Really enjoyed the
day, with the two trainers from Atlanta. They are very
informative and thorough about seeing you achieve the perfect
heat seal. They took you through it step by step, and you would
not move on till they okayed it. Then they had you move on to
the next phase of the heat seal. There were 8 in our class, but
they went around and checked every single one of us……it
was almost like having a one on one training session with
someone. They really cared that you got the perfect seal, and
not just they were there because you paid the money to attend.
Considering the class was $99 for the basic class 1 …..and you
also get to keep the mannequin you work on, it is well worth the
money. To be able to attend class 2 you have to purchase a kit
which includes the second class for free. If you do not buy a kit
you have to pay to attend the class 2 ($250). You have a choice
of the Basic kit, Deluxe kit, or the Salon kit. The kits range from
$579 - $1399 only if you purchase within the first week after
your first class. Otherwise the kits are a few hundred more
each in price. . Once you complete class 2 they consider you a
ProStyles affiliate.
PROHAIR FIBER EXTENSIONS
COLOR RING
The color ring has 36 colors consisting of natural colors and
party pack colors.
LENGTHS / TEXTURES
The fiber comes in 3 textures and 2 lengths…...
Straight, Natural Wave & Curly in 30" and it comes in extra long
lengths in a Straight texture only in 48”……. All the fiber is
bulk/loose.
*No wefts available*
PACKAGING CORRECTLY
They said it is extremely important that you make sure to take
the fiber out the packet the correct way. Always Removing the
staple first from the top of the package. Take out the fiber,
unravel (for the curly textured fiber, unravel with your spread
out fingers, starting at the bottom working your way up) and
then cut the fiber off completely underneath the elastic band.
Always lay the fiber down keeping the fiber in a long straight
line so it doesn’t get a chance to tangle up. Any fiber left over
must be twisted in a spiral motion from top to bottom, and then
bring the ends together and the fiber will automatically wrap
around in a twist by itself. If you have not spiraled the fiber
enough it will not twirl by itself, when you join the ends
together. Once you have achieved this, then put the fiber back
in the package and store. They said if you do not pack the
unused fiber like this, then you might as well throw it away. It
will become one big mess and ball up otherwise. The fiber is
packed this way to maintain the curl or wave in the fiber.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT COLORS
First of all it is very important you choose your colors in
daylight, preferably outside as this is the best form of light you
can have. This will ensure your color choices will be much
more accurate in the end.
They suggest you never just use a block color (as is) from the
color ring unless it is the perfect shade you need. They are very
into blending at LEAST 2-3 colors and more to compliment the
client’s hair. The trainer said he was all about color for his
clients and would choose 5-6 colors total. He is the person who
did most of the models you see on the website page.
When you are lengthening the hair, you want to choose colors
that match up with the ends of the hair. If you match up with the
base/roots you will have a line of demarcation, which you don’t
want.
First off, eliminate and take away all the colors that are not an
option. You are now left with the possibilities. Lay all the colors
that are options on to the ends on the hair. You first want to
choose a base color (the color you see overall), then you want
to choose a tone color (the next color you see in the mix of the
hair) and then you want to choose a glint color (the color you
see when the sun shines on the hair). This is the main 3 color
choices, they suggest you pick and of course add more if you
want.
HANDLING THE FIBER
They recommend you just take a small portion of the packet to
blend at a time incase you choose the wrong colors and waste
the whole bundle. Holding the bundle in the dead center in one
hand, then use your other hand to pull apart a small section.
Place the unused fiber giving it a slight twirl on the ends as you
lay it flat on the table (still holding on to the fiber you just pulled
apart) This insures the fiber stays together and it does not start
to separate too much. When you pick up the fiber you always
want to hold it in the middle. The ends of the fiber must line up
as evenly as possible at all times. When the fiber is not in use
you can always tie it in a loose knot in the middle until you are
ready to package it again for later.
BRUSHING THE FIBER CORRECTLY
For brushing, hold the fiber in front of you (tightly fisted in the
middle). Starting with small strokes on the bottom. (with the
brush going in a more backward direction…never flipping up
the ends, as you will cause the fiber to ride up and want to
tangle). Move up the fiber always brushing back towards your
elbow. This is the correct way to brush the fiber. Then turn the
fiber to the other side and repeat. Brush always in a backward
motion.
COLOR BLENDING
Mixing, say 50% base color, 25% tone color and maybe 10%
glint color. They said it was good to just half down the amounts
of each color you add on…in the order of importance. Starting
with the biggest percentage of color (base) and halving the
next amount (the tone color) and then decrease to about 10%
for the glint color.
Place the base color centered in your palm, add the tone color
directly on top of the base color. Always making sure your ends
match up perfectly in length on both sides. Close your fist and
turn your wrist around (fisting your fiber dead center
pointing towards the ground). Take the conditioning mist spray
and mist the fiber down lightly. Then take the blending brush
and start brushing as described above, mixing the two colors
together. Now turn your wrist up (like you were going to box)
and while you are holding the fiber fisted in front of you…thumb
the fiber around, spreading it out over your fist, then brush
again.This helps to give you a better blend.
Then separate the bundle of fiber in the middle and pull apart
with a nice tight grip of the fiber. Place one bundle back on top
of the other and keep repeating (he said it was like shuffling
cards). You have to take great care to match up the ends
evenly each time. Once you have done this several times over
and over, then cup your fingers together (one hand
overlapping the other-so your thumbs come together and
overlap...cupping the fiber). Start mushing the colors together
with your thumbs and spreading it out slightly, mixing the colors
into each other as you go (where you still have control of it).
Then once again, separate the fiber in the middle again and
pull apart. You can switch the fiber around and place that
bundle on top of the other. Again keep the ends matched up
evenly on both sides. Keep mushing the colors together with
your thumbs. Repeating this technique until you are happy
with the blend and there are no streaks left in the fiber. Only
then do you move onto adding the next color, which would be
your glint color. Again use the spray mist and brush through.
Repeat ALL the steps above until you have a perfect color
blend.
You can add as many colors as you want, but this is the
general rule of thumb. Keeping the fiber taunt and matching up
the fiber ends evenly as you work, will insure a happy blending
experience with bulk/loose fiber. You should lose/waste no
fiber if you follow these directions correctly.
TEXTURE BLENDING FIBER
You may have hair that doesn’t quite match the fiber textures
available. You can make your own blend here. Say you have
someone who is in-between wavy and curly you would add
50% of each texture together to create the perfect texture
match. Or use the percentage needed depending on the end
result. You may need 75% curly and 25% wavy. Mix according
to your needs.
You have to make sure you separate the curly fiber really well
with your fingers first before starting to blend with the natural
wavy fiber or you will have a big tangled mess.
Once you have selected you texture %’s and bundle sizes
(holding the fiber fisted in the middle) spray the fiber lightly
with the conditioning mist. Now very gently start at the ends
brushing the tips only very gently until they allow the brush to
pass through. This will not move as fast as the color blending.
You work at it until the fiber starts allowing you to get the brush
through the fiber easily. You will feel it start to slide through
moreeasily with each stroke. Once you are able to glide
through the entire fiber then turn the fiber around and repeat on
the other side, with the same exact steps above.
When you have blended the fiber to the desired texture,
then you can hold the fiber and choose how much of the curl
you want to put back in. By selecting random strand and ringlet
ting it with your finger twisting it right down the fiber and then
releasing it, It will give you that doll like curl. They said it looks
more natural when you don’t ringlet every single strand. As it is
very rare to have a person with each curl perfect and smooth.
There is usually a mix of more messy slight frizzy curls. So you
will just do enough to create a perfect match to the natural hair.
CUTTING/TEXTURIZING THE FIBER
The trainer said it was easier to texturize the fiber as you
completed each section (approx 4” in length). He pulled out the
section of fiber and natural hair combined, and start
backcombed (about 2-3 strokes back). Removing the natural
hair completely out of the way, forcing it up the hair shaft. Then
you used the Feather razor. Gently slithered down the fiber
shaft, tapering the ends to have a more human hair look. This
will ensure you blend your natural hair and fiber together,
giving the best overall look.
OR
If the length is real long and you want to eliminate the length,
grab a 4” section and slide your fingers down the fiber shaft. Go
down a little longer than the length you want, and cut straight
across with the scissors. (cheap pair only). You can go back in
with the points of the scissors and chip up into the hair ends
making it edgy and uneven. Then again, following the same
steps above for using the Feather razor, First, backcombing the
natural hair out of the way and then gently slithering down the
fiber shaft with the razor tapering the ends like before. Creating
a perfect blend between the natural hair and the fiber.
You can cut afterwards but they thought it was far easier to
texturize and cut as you go along.
TOOLS/PRODUCTS FOR USE ON THE FIBER
Hair Dryer - Can use on a lower heat or you can use on a
higher heat- but you MUST move it around very quickly.
Hot Rollers
Denman Bristle Brush
ProHair Conditioning Mist- use 2 times daily and brush through
hair
ProHair Shampoo
ProHair Conditioner
* CURLING IRON/FLAT IRONS NOT RECOMMENDED*
HOW LONG CAN THE HEAT SEAL EXTENSIONS BE LEFT IN
THE HAIR?
No more than 3 months is good
THE HEAT SEALS ARE GENERALLY 1/2” - 1/4” SQUARE IN
SIZE. CERTAIN TEXTURES LIKE OVERLY CURLY, A.A HAIR,
RELAXED HAIR MAY REQUIRE LONGER OBLONG BASE
SECTIONS IN THE TOP AREAS TO PREVENT TOO MUCH
VOLUME. HEAT SEALS ARE ABOUT 3/4 – 1” IN LENGTH.
**IF YOU WANT TO LOOSE SOME OF THE SHINE, THEY SAID
YOU CAN WASH THE HAIR IN HOT WATER AND IT WILL
DULL THE SHINE**
I will update this page when I go on the second class.
It's interesting that there was so much of a focus on "handling" the
hair, but not surprising, in a way--it's such a challenge to keep that
bulk perfectly neat and aligned. I also never thought about color
matching to the very ends of the hair, but it makes perfect sense.
I also never thought much about texture blending--dunno why. But Isaac
actually mixed a tiny bit of some straight synth hair he's trying out
right now with my 50mm/Dome Classic last time, and it all blended quite
well. I thought the straight might stick out like a sore thumb, but I
suppose if it's all blended well enough, it's good.
So when's the next class for you, girl? And are you going to purchase the whole kit, or pay the upfront fee?
Thanks for all of this great information, SAS! It sounds like a wonderful class for a terrific price.
:)
mochachip
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I will be going to the next class at the end of April. I ordered my
kit yesterday !!
I also asked them about the 48" length being of a different
quality and they said ...."No".....It's the exact same as the 30"
quality. He said because it is so long and the weight can pull it
down, it may not hold the curl as long as the 30". He said He
has never heard that before.
I asked him about steaming the hair and he look at me
stumped...and said .....you can steam the hair? I was telling
him about Isaac and how he steams your hair. He said well,
you learn something new every day!! He was going to go and
buy one now. He wanted to know if Isaac uses tension when he
uses the steamer on you and how he does it..........???
I think steaming is pretty standard--at least for the Hairpolice
people, and that's where Isaac was trained, so.... In fact, I think
Boogiemama does it, too, and she does the heat-seals, so it's fairly
common among these synth folks. I think the advantage of the steamer
over the blow-dryer is that you run less of a risk of singing the hair.
The steamer also seems to leave the hair feeling a bit more silky and
moisturized than the blow-dryer, but both will help to smooth out the
ends and leave the hair pin-straight.
I wouldn't say there's any tension involved, beyond the brush, of
course, which does provide some tension, I suppose. The steamer nozzle
and the brush are being moved simultaneously through the hair, in a
similar style to a blowout, starting with the bottom layers and moving
toward the top ones. It almost looks as if you're vaccuming the hair,
if that makes any sense. Just let me know if it doesn't, and I'll try
to clarify.
I actually have that Conair pro steamer, but I haven't used it on my
hair yet, since it's still looking pretty good. I have been using it
for at-home facials, though (dunno if this is advisable, but....).
:)
Edited to say: As with a synth blowout, I imagine one of the keys to
successful steaming is gripping the ends well (since that's the hardest
part to get a grip on, so to speak). Rae pointed this out last week in
a related post, and it's a good point to remember, I think. So perhaps
this is the "tension" element he was inquiring about? :)
Edited by Jenny_RR
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Hmm...I'd say barely touching is about right. It's very close to the
hair, that's for sure, but he didn't apply any pressure from the actual
nozzle that I remember; just the pressure of the steam, I suppose. And
just to make sure we're on the same page, it's that wide
vaccumy-looking attachment. :)
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I don't think steaming it too often will do any harm...moist heat is
pretty gentle to synth. Maybe not more than once a week- you shouldn't
need it more often than that, anyway. Also keep in mind that pulling it
straight will result in losing the wave (if you have one), unless you
put it in rollers or a braid and steam that right afterwards.
Yeah, ditto what Rae said. I told Isaac I bought the steamer and steam
rollers, and he didn't feel the need to warn me, so I think the steam
is fairly harmless. That said, I don't think you'd want to do it too
often either (for the reasons Rae cited). :)
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