Okay...So shrinkie install done by my mom ( our first time)went reasonably well except for the fact that I dont think I have ever yelled at my poor mom so much in my life, as she accidently burnt me quite a few times! Between me screaming, " I FEEL THAT!!"  and her screaching about her burnt fingers...my hair turned out beautiful! lol. It's been 5 weeks, lost 5 so far but I am ready to takedown and deep condition and color my roots. My mom is DREADING doing them again and I wanted to ask a few questions to ensure a "smoother" installation this time. So here goes!

1) Is there anything we can use to guard my poor scalp from little "oopsies" other than the round plastic guard? That thing is so warped from the heat of last time...not to mention it is a pain in the a**!! lol

2) How close to the scalp should you actually apply the shrinkie? We are used to the Hairlocs training on how far up to go...is it the same with shrinkies? My hair, though fine, seems to grow so fast so Mom tried to get them pretty close.

3) Does anyone use something to GUARD their fingertips? Rolling those suckers really does burn! We had the Doc's iron set about 3/4 of the way to the highest setting. God forbid if it was at max!!

4) Brushing-- Hairlocs pounds it in your head to "brush the roots" with a boar's hair brush. I gently went over the shrinkies a bit...but is it necessary or does it encourage breakage? Any tips on keeping the strands seperated and the shed hairs from "grabbing?"

5) Ok..what's the vote here? On the shrinkies..ROLL or SQUISH? I found them to be a bit uncomfortable ( especially first week) being so hard and round. Will they stay in as long if you just "mash" them?

Sorry for ALL the questions you guys! But you all have been so helpful in the past! I would sooooo appreciate any of your advice. thanks again!

hello-

i have used hairlocs hair to apply amms shrinkies and they worked great,

what i did was this-

thread the shrinks onto the threader, get as much hair as you can with the threader, making a nice clean section, put the hair into the shrink,i go up as far as i can and then drop it about 1/4 from scalp,  then very lightly tap the iron onto the shrink with the hair in it to shrink down a bit, then re apply the heat onto the shrink and hold for like 10 seconds, remove heat wand and let it cool. i did not have to roll or flatten at all, i just shrunk it down and left it, it stayed in excellent on my client. after two mths of wear, we will remove, and deep condition and re apply.

i have never heard Hairlocs pound people to brush at the roots, they do say its encouraged to do so however i dont usually brush my roots and my hair is fine.

hope this helps. good luck

S

http://www.haircandy.net/fingers-lg.jpg - http://www.haircandy.net/fingers-lg.jpg

these are from haircandy,net but you can get them anywhere.

Thanks so much, Ladies for all your help!! I guess there are so many ways to do things it seems....it's all a matter of experimenting and finding whats best for you, eh?  The picture above will really make my mom sigh with relief!  We will definitely try your suggestion too, Tangles. To not have to touch the boiling hot shrink would be a Godsend! lol.. I just cant imagine how anyone wears ANY strand by strand method more than 5 or 6 weeks! My strands are twisting ( my hair is naturally wavy) and grown down quite a ways at 5 weeks! I think squishing the shrink FLAT could alleviate that some though. Thanks again!!

Tangles, did you go over the Hairlocs pre-tips with any Aleen's tacky glue or Liquid Gold at all for extra hold?