Has anyone ever noticed that how the big companies are stealing all the really good technique ideas from the stylists.

One technique that is being ripped off is Raphael Basante's visions.  They all say that they invented poly baseed extensions but I don't ever remeber seeing them before he came out with them.

Actually, I think Raphael's method is good.  I wore it in my hair with no damage.

I tried Gemtress' version of the seamless weft that was similar to Raphael's and they called it the Ultratress 1 method.  I think it was Raphael's idea and they helped him market it, until they parted ways.  Now Gemtress has what they call the Ultratress 2 method, where you sandwich the client's hair between two pieces of the seamless weft.  I have some clients wearing that method, and again, there's no damage involved.

When it comes to a wefted application, I would much rather do a seamless weft such as the Ultratress 2 or Raphael's Visions than  machine tied, bulky weft.  Seamless wefts are ultra thin, just hair that's injected into a very thin polyurthane strip.  Very light in the hair and zero bulk.  I use the Pro Flex 2 double sided tape on the seamless wefts, and a little bit of the Gemtress brush on adhesive.  With the C-22 solvent, there's no problem removing it.  I wore them for 12 weeks, with no problems.  If I didn't like the convenience of my clip ins, this is the method that I would be wearing.

Anyone seeking a wefted method should check it out.  I think superhairfactory is selling seamless wefts now too.

Since I'm new here I'm not sure how this forum works, but my question is for metalgirl.

I'm a bit interrested in Raphael's method of applying hair extensions, but I don't own a hair salon or anything, and they seem to only sell to salons. I wonder if you know any retailer of this tape-on thing? Do you need to buy the hair seperately, or does it come as a kit? Is there any limit of how short hair the carrier can have? (course I know that one cannot apply extensions to extremely short hair, but will about 2 inches do for this method? )

Well, that was a lot of questions hehe. Wish someone can answear 'em

I think that Cybermane sells the Ultratress seamless wefts on her website. It's not the same as the Raphael method, but it also a good one.

http://www.cybermane.com - www.cybermane.com

If your hair is just 2" all over, I think it would be very hard to get the extensions to look natural.  Although, you would have the best shot at it with the seamless wefts because they do lie so flat against the head.

Rae- the Solvent for the seamless wefts is just the orange oil stuff, c-22 or Gemtress sells what they call Amber solvent.