Props to all you DIY’er’s!!!

So, last night had all my tips layed out, heat clamp ready, hair sectioned... going along pretty smoothly, until it came time to loop my hair through the shrinkie!  I used the sheild to seperate my piece for the extension, even glued the extension tip to the inside of the shrinkie for a easier/quicker install, I even had my hubby helping me!  It took over an hour for 5 extensions in!  I said the hell with this and took them out, came out pretty good, used baby oil and it worked with no complaints. 

I going to have a friend come over hopefully tomorrow and have her do them for me!  I'm so bummmmmed!  I wanted these damn things in once and for all! 

Question:  About how many tips would you say I need for a whole head?  I have about 175, but they're pretty small. 

Major PROPS to all you gals that can do this yourself!! 

Sectioning wasn't bad at all.  I'm using the needle that I got from Dr locs for the shrinkies.  Yeah, I think 175 might be light.  My hair is just past my shoulders, adding lenght down to my hiney.  I found it extremely hard to use the heat tool while holding the shrinkie w/my other hand... I burnt myselft a couple of times...

I'll be back at it soon...

Edited by Bridget

Yeah if you were doing it completely alone with the heat toolt hat would be hard.  With the pliers i don't have to worry about causing any permanent damage. 
I'm doing shrinkies next and my Husband has promised to help so I don't burn myself or the house.  of course we'll see just how coordinated he is...

I agree, it takes considerable practice to be able to do the back of your head...but after awhile I think you develop a feel.  I don't use the shield, and definitely get some "strays" in where they shouldn't be, but overall it works ok. 

Necessity is the "mother of invention"...and as far as I'm concerned, these things are a necessity!   I've spent countless hours applying, un-applying, screwing up and having some success.  Really, it's become a hobby.  The whole time I'm applying a "new head", I'm thinking about what I'm going to be doing next time.

 

The thing with DIY is sectioning. You've got to keep hair out of the way that you're not dealing with.

Hair layout is another tip particularly if you're a person who wants layers. Have a vision in mind before starting and lay out the hair. All my hair is color coded and in paper tissues and labeled in lengths. Long 22"-& longer dark hair goes in on the bottom, 20" goes next,then 18" etc etc. My top layers are only 10-14". If you put in long strands on the top crown area, they will swing forward on you and flow away from the rest of the hair in that row. You'll look like a hair tard.

As far as like shrinkie application is concerned... section the strand, put your shrinkie on and then tap it with the wand until it shrinks down a little. When it's warm, that's when I insert the tip and I press down. The shrinkie adheres to the strand and you want to make sure it's lined up and then shrink it the rest of the way.

Sometimes I've had to do a strand over or I shrunk it down too much and the strand won't fit in but I'll get it eventually.

DIY takes a lot of patience. Never try to tackle a whole head install in one day. Take baby steps and do the sides with some extra volume and then try to master the length. Patience is the key.




Edited by amm

amm wrote: The thing with DIY is sectioning. You've got to keep hair out of the way that you're not dealing with. Hair layout is another tip particularly if you're a person who wants layers. Have a vision in mind before starting and lay out the hair. All my hair is color coded and in paper tissues and labeled in lengths. Long 22"-& longer dark hair goes in on the bottom, 20" goes next,then 18" etc etc. My top layers are only 10-14". If you put in long strands on the top crown area, they will swing forward on you and flow away from the rest of the hair in that row. You'll look like a hair tard. As far as like shrinkie application is concerned... section the strand, put your shrinkie on and then tap it with the wand until it shrinks down a little. When it's warm, that's when I insert the tip and I press down. The shrinkie adheres to the strand and you want to make sure it's lined up and then shrink it the rest of the way. Sometimes I've had to do a strand over or I shrunk it down too much and the strand won't fit in but I'll get it eventually. DIY takes a lot of patience. Never try to tackle a whole head install in one day. Take baby steps and do the sides with some extra volume and then try to master the length. Patience is the key.

Somebody please magnet this post. A better description there never was.

Hey Amm I'm really impressed with how you put your shrinkies in.  I'm definitely going to try that now thanks xx

Jenny, why do I not believe that your hair is as haphazardly sectioned as you suggest?

Seriously though.  I use lots of clips to hold everything out of the way except the row I am working on.  then I use my trusty 10 cent plastic rattail comb to make a vertical lilne for a section.  I then twist that hair around my finger a fewt ime and then put the hook on it to pull it through the ring.  Sometimes i end up with n ot enough hair to really support a strand but I don't have a lit of trouble with hair migrating from places it doesn't belong into my section.

I doubt this is fundamentally different than what anone else is doing, but if so and it helps so much thebetter.

:)al

Yup Mocha... I ended up resoting to my fingers too. For us gals with fine flyaways. Use hairspray...with a haevy alchohol content. None of that shine,silicone BS. Save that good hairspray for styling!