QuoteReplyTopic: Pro Tac .. Damaging? Posted: March 15 2007 at 6:53pm
Hey ladies.. so I'm finally fed up with my lack of hair (due to bleaching). Although my hair has grown A LOT (and for that i'm so thankful.. no one likes to sport the hair sticking up on top of the head look!) but it's so thin. It seems like pro tac is the easiest method but I want to know everyones experience with it. Was it damaging? Please get back to me!
sherrie215
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I would agree on that. Read the last post from Bunny Wabbit, you'll find out about the "downsides" of Protac, but also that it allows your hair to grow.
Well for me protac pulled out a lot of hair. I also had put it on three clients recently, and 2 out of the 3 lost more hair than they should have. I won't use it personally or on my clients anymore.
Also for me, after about week 3 of wearing protac, I got this insane constant itching. It was horrible.
Upon reflection I'm not sure if it was the tapes or the removal or just health causes - but I'm definately leaning toward health, since my current pony tail about a year ago would of been my pig-tail in size.
It is definately a method that need practice to perfect removal and one that requires you take your time. Its easy to blow through it and loose more hair than you might if you took your time. I also had a problem with the orange oil i used for remover because I have sensative skin - so i also had some itching.
disasterbarbie
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Upon reflection I'm not sure if it was the tapes or the removal or just health causes - but I'm definately leaning toward health, since my current pony tail about a year ago would of been my pig-tail in size.
It is definately a method that need practice to perfect removal and one that requires you take your time. Its easy to blow through it and loose more hair than you might if you took your time. I also had a problem with the orange oil i used for remover because I have sensative skin - so i also had some itching.
I was thinking of just putting in one row and cutting it short (so it doesn't look weird) and then seeing what happens to my hair. I want to try my best to keep it healthy!
disasterbarbie
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Well for me protac pulled out a lot of hair. I also had put it on three clients recently, and 2 out of the 3 lost more hair than they should have. I won't use it personally or on my clients anymore.
Also for me, after about week 3 of wearing protac, I got this insane constant itching. It was horrible.
Good luck!
What caused the protac to pull out the hair? The removal process seems to easy if you're just paitent.
I think what pulled out the hair is the weight of the weft, but the stickiness of removing the protac didn't help either. I am very patient and take my time when I remove them. I am a professional and carefully removing hair extensions is a very important part of the business that I am well acquianted with, since I do anywhere from 2-8 removals a week.
Protac is just a sticky mess to remove, regardless if you use acetone or oil to remove.
Oh no, I'm sorry if it sounded like I said you weren't being paitent. I didn't mean that at all!
I am just so confused on what to do. I become more and more self concious with my hair each day. It's about 17 inches long from the root but I don't know. I'd just love long hair! I'd hate to use ProTac and then ruin my hair. Was the hair loss on you and your clients very noticeable?
sherrie215
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My experience and opinions are completely opposite about the tape/weft methods vs. individual strand methods.
Being as my hair is already fine and brittle, I found I lost far more hair with individual strand methods. No matter which method I used. Other than rings which my sensitive head just couldnt handle. First I have far to many baby hairs and its nearly impossible as a DIYer to not get some of those little babyhairs crossed in the bonds no matter how careful I sectioned. Fusion was hard on my hair. So was shrinkies. But if individual methods was my only option I'd probably still do it since my hair is crappy to begin with, so its a chance Im willing to take. I also felt that there was more weight per strand since I needed MORE extension hair vs natural hair in the bond to create any kind of fullness/volume. And then if I didnt remove them at the appropriate time, there would be matting and tangling in the hair between the root and the bond (and for me an individual install could not go beyond 9-10 weeks and took HOURS AND HOURS to do), then I would occassionally catch a strand by the roots and yank the entire strand out.
With weft methods I feel that the weight of the wefts are more evenly supported across an entire row of hair rather than on individual strands. I can get more fullness my doubling up my tracks. I just feel that its more secure and less likely to pull out hair. Ive never experienced a big problem with stickiness. For me the tapes slide right out with acetone taking most of the stickiness with it. The rest usually washes out with 1 or 2 shampoos. Ive never experienced the tapes getting gooey with acetone, but I have had that happen with citrus remover, which may have just been my own body reacting to the citrus remover, I cant use it AT ALL. Ive never had any hair pull out with the tape method unless I got impatient and didnt wait 5 seconds for the acetone to thoughougly soak the tape. Yes I use acetone and Im generous with it, and I realize some poeple highly disapprove of using acetone on hair. I also use the acetone if I use LG for installing wefts. I have had really good luck with LG/weft installs too, although it is a little more work to remove and patience is key.
Right now my hair has more volume than it has had since I was younger. And I attribute that to 2 things. 1, using a gentler method of installing extensions (tape) and 2, Im not bleach/highlighting my hair every 2-3 months anymore.
Opinions will vary from one extreme to the other, you just have to do your research and decide with method is the best for you.
Personally, the chemical just scares me - for instance, I was always told to avoid using acetone in nail polish removers because it's a harsh chemical. Even the orange oil hurts my scalp so I want to stay away from chemicals. I'll probably use olive oil or another oil that breaks down the tape when I take down this install.
Sherrie is absolutely right, it all depends on your own personal hair and your goals for it. It takes time to experiment and you probably won't get it 100% right on the first try. But I know even in the few installs I've done (I'm on #4), I have learned a lot and I think I'm on the right track.
malibu
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I'm so sorry about the bleaching incident. We've heard this many times on this board and I think there's a lot of us who dye up that have experienced some degree of hair loss or damage because of it.
OK, here's the tough hair love comin' atcha...
Stay away from extensions.
(OK, don't throw your hairbrushes at me, ladies)
If you had hair you couldn't live with before, that lowered your self-esteem, that was so thin it couldn't be styled into anything even remotely close to what you really wanted, then yeah, dive into extensions.
If your hair was previously healthy and is now thin from chemical damage, be patient and grow it out.
For those awkward growing stages, try clip-ins as an alternative to give you the volume you're missing. Have clip-ins that are just a couple inches longer than what your hair is now so you can enjoy the extra length and grow into them over the next few months. You will so enjoy taking them out every night and being able to sleep in your own head. Not to mention how utterly remarkable it is to shampoo and run around with a wet head. Oh, those glorious extension-free days between installs! Ooooo, I had a moment there.
Add the supplement MSM to your diet. It is an internal hair tonic, I tell you.
Can tapes damage? Yes. Can rings damage? Yes. Shrink tubes? Sew ins? Fusion? Yes, yes, and yes. There isn't one method -not a one- that works for all.
So what's the status of your hair now? Are there new little peek-a-boos of growth coming from the breakage areas?
I think you are right. I thought about it and with my luck, I'll lose all my hair or have bald spots.
I've always had long thick dark hair but then right before 9th grade (im in 11th now) I wanted to dye it blonde, so I did. I made it lighter and lighter than last summer I said hey.. lets bleach it! It stayed gorgeous only for the first week.. then the roots came. So much hair broke off but when I see the damage some of you other ladies have had with bleach, I think I got lucky! If I could go back, I wouldn't have ever even dyed my hair!
Now, after going dark right before Thanksgiving of last year, my hair is on the road to recovery, haha. The bottom row that broke off is finally a few inches long. It seems like it took forever to grow that long (6 months) but I'm thinking it's probabaly because I bleached about two more times after the row snapped off, plus what was left was already probabaly VERY damaged. The short pieces in the front are growing out and I can now pretty much wear my hair, down, up, whatever and have it look nice. The sides still need some work as well as undearneath but otherwise, it's getting there. My hair is soft again and it even shines. As much as I want long hair now.. I think my best bet is to weight. I'm going to continute with my biotin and order some other hair pills that I heard work well from the long hair support section on this forum. Sure it might take years for my hair to be wonderful and thick but hey.. a lot girls just have naturally thin hair!
I'm hopefully going to trim a little bit off tomorrow and then see where it goes from there. I hope to have a nice head of hair by the summer (along with a rockin new body, hehe). Wish me luck ladies and I thank you all for your help!
i used to use acetone to remove protape/LG, but it was a pain because i have to wear vinyl gloves to protect my acrylic nails .....i use goo gone or orange oil remover /whichever one i grab first now and soak my head in conditioner
while i was still new i brushed too aggressively, didnt always get my parts made as cleanly, and was too impatient during takedowns.....i broke some hairs with all of that...but now i have it down pat (if i do say so myself!), and this last take down i syled my hair without extensions and my own hair really looks good.................however, it didnt look GREAT which i why i stuck the extensions back in!!!
i do think you will like the ease of a tape install.....do your research on install/care/removal and practice makes perfect
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