A DIY can never leave well enough alone...

I took out over 3/4 of the shrinkies and installed xsmall extentubes. Why? A change, I guess, and I wanted to touch up my color and try out more of the WaWa. It's official - I now have about 300 different types of hair in. Took me all farookin day with veggie oil and rubbin all the shrinkie glue out. I. Am. Exhausted. This is my last hair playday until I switch over to the PH. Anyway, here's some pics.

From the back after I layered it. I hate my layering razor from Sally's. It gives me the willies the way it scrapes down the hair so I used scissors and ran them down the strand vertically kinda snip sniping my way down.



Say hello to the Farrah Monster Bangs. They're my signature look that I always trim instead of letting grow out. Look! No links showing. Yay!



This is what I like. I did a complete overhaul of the underlayer. I'm pulling it forward and over the front of my face in this photo. Aren't those colors fabulous? That's a lot of WaWa auburn as the final lower layer.



And one more look at it. There's about 4 strands of I believe the burgundy (or dark red?) that I got from Kristin. Hair candy indeed! I wish my top layer looked like this but I'd never get my bangs to match.



Pooped. Going to bed now.

Amm that's beautiful. You are a pioneer of extensions. Did you stay up all night?
Just one thing, I'm sure you know, You really should use a fresh blade for every single haircut.. especially with synthetic because it will really dull the blade and Destroy the hair before you get to enjoy it.

Amm; The hair is gorgeous, great job! I think when a person gets "the hang" they can do their own hair better than anyone else ever could, and you're living proof.

I have some of the same questions as Jenny...I know it's too soon to tell how the links hold in comparison to shrinks...but what about comfort? When I first put in the micro-links I felt like I was sleeping on tiny pebbles. It took me awhile to get the hang of removal and I had several areas where I "chewed off" my own hair. For some reason the itch factor was pretty high to, but more so with the links from Notjustwigs as opposed to DrLocs. Maybe the metal composition.

When my PH arrives I'm doing the opposite...I'm removing the links and putting in the shrinks. I know it will be an all-day affair, and it's a Universal Law that when you have 3/4 of your head incomplete, your 10-yr-old calls to tell you about the program you have to be at in 20 minutes, your teenager brings the boy she wants you to meet in the bathroom when you have 4 bags of somebody elses hair covering the room, and your friend brings over some people she wants you to meet. This isn't fabricated...true story.

Amm -
The Farrah bangs are an inspiration!

I need to look into the XS Extentubes. I'm finding that the shrinkies are too large for the front of my hair. . I'm could not agree MORE that a DIY'er can NEVER leave well enough alone, so, of course I've been jackin' with mine also.

ALL: The curl is most definitely coming out of the PH that I have in, HOWEVER, once re-curled with a curling iron it's back in and is quite resistant. HOWEVER. . it is also QUITE easy to fry, which I've done. . .

sigh

Let the experiments continue!
!
Also I noticed that some of the parts of the "heat seal" are coming undone so I'm going over some of the ends of the 4-way braid with a shrinkie. I'm thinking that maybe pinch braids are the way to go next time.

Fina

Amm - On another note

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY 1000% CORRECT about using the nail glue over the LG tips. I just took one out, that I DID use the nail glue on (because I FRIED IT this morning with the curling iron grrrr) and the whole thing came out like a dream. . .no tugging, no sticking, NADA.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Fina

Thank you everyone!

Scotchy - yeah I stayed up all night. Doing hair is like crack. :)

Jenny - Probably about 100-150 small extentubes in dark & medium brown and I left very little hair out. What's out I will probably link up. The strands are way thinner than the ones I make for shrinkies but I purposely wanted a lighter head right now. Measuring directly at the top of my head, the first row of links is approx. 4 1/4" below the center part line. I do that so I can have a lot of free flowing hair on top so I can sweep the part on opposite sides if I want. And really, it looks deceiving but there's not a lot hair there and it's incredibly fine. Those are all my bangs. There's no extensions in there.

I do still have about 50 or so shrinkies in and I installed all the WaWa underlayer with shrinkies because I want thick strands so they don't look as piecey. My hair is unprocessed and stronger at the nape so it can handle the weight which is really a non-issue because it's synth and is almost weightless even when wet. I took out all the shrinkies I had put in just before Christmas (yes, they lasted that long!) that had slipped down or grown out and left in the ones I had recently maintenanced that were still close in and holding well.

I colored my hair with Revlon Colorsilk #61 in Dark Blonde. Instead of pasting it on, I combed it through so I wouldn't have one solid color.

The extension colors are mostly 18, 22 & very little 613 top layer, next layering is 12, 14, 24, 27 and the lower layers are 10, 30, WaWa in 27 & 33 with additional burgundy/dark red.

Most of the hair was layered already from previous cuts. I keep my hair stored in wrapping tissue and label it by color and "short, med, long." I just pluck out what I want and install pre-layered. I switch sides with each strand so I get a symmetrical look. I do little cutting now and this install I just blended it a little more. Typically, I buy shorter lengths for top layers and razor the ends for a natural look. It's cheaper to buy shorter and I end up with little on the floor. The longest length there is about 24".

I will be switching to PH if the colors are what I hope. It's sometimes hard to match these red/gold blonde tones as I'm sure it's difficult for you platinum blondes too.

The WaWa is working out beautifully for me. It curls like a dream and is as soft as butter. The problem I have is its color. Either it's too red or too blonde or too dark brown and there's no carmel/soft browns. I'd like to wear a whole head of it but I don't think I can blend it well enough for that. It's great as streaks and underlayer but beyond that my internal jury is out because of the color.

Delin - Welcome! I've never seen you before. Thank you very much. I've worn extentubes before so I know how incredibly comfy they are. Initially, they're tender after installing and I anticipate an itch as the week progresses. I haven't had an extension yet that doesn't itch or feel sore in the first week. My advice with shrinkies is to wear about 20 or so of them first and then take them all out at one time. Get an idea of how time consuming the residue removal is. It's ok when there's one or two but when there's a whole head to maintenance, it's a daunting task.

Bridget - WaWa arrived just a few hours ago. Thanks for getting it for me. I don't know if I can blend it. That blonde is so ... BLONDE! Yikes. I'll be trying it, though. :)

Was there damage from the shrinkies? Yes, there was some damage but very very little and none of the hairs broke off because of the shrinkie itself. Any damage was my own doing because I finger fiddle with my hair constantly. I am always driving or sitting at work with my finger in my hair separating strands (even when they don't need it!) and I KNOW I was pulling at some strays that wandered in from the sides. Also, removal can be tricky if there's any LG in the hair (please buy the remover if you use LG - I am serious.) I have pure acetone but I find that does not work as well as veggie oil. I don't like the way acetone makes my hair feel either. It evaporates into the strand and I can just hear it sucking all the moisture out. I keep a little veg oil in a small bowl, dip my thumb and forefinger in and then rub it into the area where the shrinkie was. Sometimes you have to rub the strand together with your fingers for a long time to work it out. That residue can be very stubborn and I think a lot of people would get very frustrated with this time consuming removal.

AMM!!!
I am in AWE of your hair! Can't wait to get my WA WA!! Thanks for being so generous with your experiences.
I'm glad you all mentioned it's normal for the shrinkies/tubes to feel funny...I thought it was me or my technique!
Yeah Bridget...I feel the same way about the nail glue/white residue issue.
Oh yes...I wanted to add Love your new pic Amm, although I will miss Zsa ZSa, and I can't forget Ms. Dolly!!

Emma, when I pretipped with the shrinkie to go into the extendtube (sz. med.) I had to cut the shrinkie in half because it was too large. I'm going to get med. extendtubes put in, prob. w/ the wawa hair, not positive on the hair thouh, I might go w/ a human. Good luck w/ whatever you decide!

Amm,

Your hair and haircut look beautiful You did a fantastic job with everything. Enjoy!!!