microrings or extenstubes are not plastic, they are metal. I cant remember for sure what kind of metal, maybe nickel, someone please correct me if I am wrong.
You pinch them shut with the smooth pliers then to reopen them you are basically just pinching them back open. You use a ridged pair of pliers to pinch them back open. I tend to use too much pressure reopening them with pliers and end up ruining the ring. I personally would suggest buying one of the tube openers that has the little groove/slot in it to hold the micro-ring in the correct position to open them back up.
I think the extendtubes are primarily aluminum with a nickle component (don't quote me on this, though).
It's hard to say for sure whether or not the extendtubes cause any damage, but I've never heard of the same complaints that I've heard of with Hairlocs and Eurolocs. They certainly won't turn your hair green, which is a plus. The only downside I've heard about extentubes is that 1) they can slip sometimes (although other people don't seem to have slippage); this is fairly easily remedied if you're doing it yourself, though, and 2) the removal can be a little tricky (you just need to be patient, though, and make sure you open the ring without clamping it back down on itself again). I hope this makes sense.
Eh, you'll be fine--used the smooth ones to close, the ridged ones to open. And try to practice a bit on a wig or test hair first. With all methods, I think practicing a bit in advance is key. :)
One thing I learned from trial and error on reopening the rings.....when you apply pressure to open them go slow, as soon as you feel the 'give' in the ring let off on your pressure right then or you can pinch the ring right back and somtimes makes it fold in half and then its a pain to get out. I havent used the tube opener that you can buy but Ive heard alot of people say it helps alot.
If you've folded over a ring, and you have a pair of big metal snips, you can cut the side off a link and slide the hair out. :) But yeah, otherwise, it's stuck in your hair. I suggest getting the RingX openers from HisandHer- they're only $12 right now, and work for the reular-sized rings.
They're probably the same pliers, or similar ones, so if the kit is a better price for the whole set then just get that, certainly. And yeah Doc's regular-size rings=medium extentubes. There's like a 1mm difference in size, but that's not enough to mke a difference.
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