DIY fusion

Great instructions Halo 

I read that a few of you would like to know about getting the fusion chips in stick form, I'm looking into it and I'll post it up when I find out

I'm a fusion DIYer for a few years now. Here's a few tips I wish I had when I started:

First I want to mention that I have had a lot of damage with fusion from not being careful enough with it.  I have a nasty habit of picking at the extensions without realizing what I am doing and constantly have to remind myself not to.  I also have been very rough on my hair when brushing it in a hurry after washing it.  And I swim a lot and let it stay wet all day. All very big NoNos.  When I behave and take good care of my hair I don't get as much damage.

I have hair that is anywhere from 2 inches to 6 inches long depending on what part of my head we're looking at.  I put on hair that is 18 to 22 inches long in some spots.  On the top layers of my hair I use shorter pieces but I am using hair that is a lot longer than I should.  I remember reading somewhere that using anything that is more than 4 inches longer than your own natural hair is too stressfull.  I use longer than that so that prob adds to the damage I have.

But I have had more damage from bonding wefts (the removal process plays a big part in that damage).  And since I have very fine hair braids show through which is fine for when I want them to show but not okay when I am trying to get the hair to look natural.  So fusion is my method of preference for a natural look.

A few things I learned along the way:

Go to a professional at least for your first application to see how it is done.  It really helps to see it done right.

Use good quality human hair.  It is less likely to tangle into a rat's nest after a few washes which means you are less likely to yank at it when brushing.

Make the sections small.  Huge chunks of strand extensions put a lot of stress on your natural hair.

Only add the same amount of extension hair as the size of the strand of natural hair you are adding to. (Does this make sense?)  Not sure how to word it clearly.  Don't use a giant hunk of extension hair and add it to a thin strand of your own natural hair because it will eventually pull out leaving a bald spot.

Use a shield when applying the hair!  Best 1$ you will ever spend.

 

http://www.hairpiece.com/product.asp?pf_id=XTN411

I like the purple individual shields from His and Her but they are 1.75$ and you can get clear for 1$ at hairpiece.com. Pricey for a little piece of plastic, but worth not burning your scalp or ripping out stray hairs by mistake.

On the upper rows of hair I go every other strand.  One strand of extension, one of natural hair left down.  Helps hide the extensions because they blend with the natural hair and there is less damage because half the hair is left alone.

I use very small sections and many rows which takes forever to do but looks better.

Invest in great conditioners and detanglers.  Helps with the brushing gently part.

Keep your hands busy with something during movies and while reading or riding in a car if you are a picker like I am.  If you notice you figit with your hair at certain times, find something else to occupy those hands.  One of my friends uses cuticle clippers to trim split ends while she's riding in the car.  Her idea helps me not to pick while I'm in the car. I hold drinks during movies and reading so that I don't mutilate my bonds with my nails.  Things like that make a big difference.

And this is how I do my extensions:

I buy hair on the weft because it is easier for me to blend. I use at least 3 different colors to match my color. I lay out one color of weft hair, then I place the next color on top, repeating until I have all the colors added.  I safety pin the wefts together and brush the hair out to make sure I have the right color blend.  Then I will cut a handful of hair off the pinned wefts and use small chunks for each extension strand.

I section my natural hair into a neat row.  Then I pull a small chunk of my hair into the shield and clip the shield into place on my head.

I use a hot pot from a craft store that I got for I think 6 bucks.

 

I melt one Mega Keratin Glue disk at a time in the hot pot.  I only use maybe 4 or 5 disks total for a full head of hair.  And that is with a lot of wasted glue left over that I throw out because it turns too dark from heating or gets strands of hair in it.

I pinch an equal amount of extension hair and trim the end off the top to make a clean straight edge.

Then I dip that edge of hair into the hot glue, only using the littlest bit of glue to coat the top.

I stick it to my natural hair and pinch.

Then I use a double sided heating clamp that I bought for about 100$ from hairpiece.com. They call it a purging tool.

 

http://www.hairpiece.com/product.asp?pf_id=APE147%5F3

I clamp the glue for a few seconds with the purging tool until the glue melts throughout the extension hair and my natural hair.

I wait a second so I don't burn all of the flesh off of my fingers, and then I roll the glue and pinch it to make a tight bond.

Let it set for a second and then remove the shield.

Finish the row, then do another row, and another until you are done.

It takes forever but I have had good luck doing it this way.

I concur about DIY fusion.  It's easy to make a debaucle of!  I just couldn't bring myself to spend over a thousand dollars on it, especially with such a short lifespan.  If I had that kind of money I'd get Ken Paves!!!  But I don't, so I had to figure out how to do it myself. 

Come to think of it, I think I generally use a 1:2 hair/glue ratio too, for longevity.  Obviously you don't HAVE to use that much glue to make the bond, but if you want it to hold up, it's better to use more. 

I'm really curious about the origin's of Kristin's fusion chips and how they are different than other glues.  Also if they could be bought in stick form.

Bridget wrote: Would you say that the fusion chips from Kristin is enough glue to saturate correctly and evenly on untipped hair??

Hi- I find that a 1:2 ratio works for me.  So in other words, 1 part hair strand to 2 parts glue; since the 1 part glue covers the top and the other part covers the bottom giving an even saturation.

Hope that helps, Charlene

PS. Bridget- Thanks btw for your sweet comment on my pic in the Balmain thread .  Would have shown my appreciation sooner but I've noticed that the topic starter was banned  which left me in a state of speechlessness .

OK...I have to add my 2 cents to the fusion talk, and I know some of you may disagree with me on this

(Bird I agree with everything you've said) and I do believe fusion is a complicated method, which is why I would not recommend fusion to a DIYer. Except for maybe a very experienced DIYer. It is complicated, and if your sectioning, tension on the hair, amount of glue, careful removal and all the other things you have to be careful of, are not done correctly you can really have alot of damage. And the sad thing is that sometimes you dont notice much damage with the first or even the second removal. Alot of times the real damage isnt as noticeable until after a few installs/removals when the damage is much more severe and visible.

I wont disagree that fusion can work well if done CORRECTLY. But I really dont think just anyone can do fusion correctly, and it takes alot of experience and practice to do it right. And unless you are really , really good at it, its not a good method to do on yourself.

BirdOfEden wrote: What brand of glue do you use?

I use Great Lengths pretips.  I've tried the Balmain, Mega, Cinderella, UltraStrands, SoCap and have done hot box fusions, gun fusions, pot fusions prior to saving my money for the professional classes.   In the end, my hot-fusion-clients seem happier with the GL. even after introducing them to newer hot fusion methods in the market today.  {hey whatever they want, you know...}

I also do cold fusion with pretips using metals.  For my homemade pretips, I use Bohyme's and Oran's glue.  Torain glue, I think is similar to Oran's.  Oran's gives off a sticky feel.  I hate to pretip and can't wait to take the Mark Barrington Shrink Link class. 

I use to buy hair by EuroLocs but not anymore because the pretips do disinergrated {they may have changed their glue, but I'm not sure and surely not interested anymore}.  Anyway, I am happy to take the Mark B. class since he has stronger pretips and he can pretip any hair {talk about custom order!}. 

Reading this thread reminds me of my past and how I used to hunt for the perfect glues and the perfect tools since I could not afford the professional classes.  That was over 17 years ago and back then the Internet was nothing.  I admire all the DIYs in their quest for "perfect hair extensions" who, like myself in the past, had very limited resources.  

-Charlene

Edited by CyberMane

Id also like to share~ when I had my first extentions put in Mel my stylist used a gun and I had a TON of shedding, I read here somewhere that the pot is a much better way to go becouse the glue will seep all the way through the actual hair rather than it molding just to the outer side...Ive had virtually NO shedding since she started to use the pot. 

OK. Good. I don't feel so clueless. I concur on everything you say and I do know what you mean, especially on point of not using *enough* glue, but then again, also not overdoing it.

Thanks for taking the time to put it all into words!!

Bird -

I concur with Cyber - VERY WELL SAID about the details of fusion that must be correct. Having said all that, and I know this is a PAIN, could you expound?

Many of us are not, um, trained professionals. Would you be willing to give a few pointers?  i.e. What is the proper amount of glue? What is a reasonable sized bond?  How does uneven tension occur? What is ideal sectioning? etc. etc. etc.

Many thanks!!! -Fina

I would like to try DIY fusion.  I had a bad expireance before, but that was because of the removal, I believe if I do it myself It will go MUCH better (the woman was literally ripping them out!)

Although to be easier on me I will get the nail hair, or pretip it with fusion myself before installing.