hi guys,

I had my consult yesterday for Great Lengths and am getting them put in next Monday!!.  The extensionist was wonderful and her before and afters were impressive.

 She is going to use 16' hair in three different colors.  The total will be $1800 but i feel it is worth it. 

She said because of my a-line bobbed cut she will use about 7 bundles to blend it in and may have to cut some of my own hair through the sides a little to blend.  She said she also breaks apart some of the strands so it is not so thick in certain areas of my head.

I get all of the Great Lengths hair products included.  I noticed the brush was boar bristle, don't I need a special looped one? And I also forgot to ask her how to wasg my hair before the install?  could someone please give me some advice on this?  Also , is the Anti tap a must do after each wash? Does it really make a difference? I have a water softener installed in my house..just curious

Thanks,

K

I wish people were paying me $1800 for extensions!  I couldn't charge that much and not feel like I'm ripping the client off.

Anyway, ditto what Marie said, if the stylist said you can wear the extensions for more than 3 months I would reconsider having her do your hair.

Not sure about the anti tap, but if I was spending $1800 on a hair-do that's only going to last 3 months, I'd smear mud on my head every day if that's what the recommended care plan was!

Good luck, we hope it works out for you!

Why is it so bad to leave the extensions in for 6 months?  I mean what would it physically do to my own hair?  She told me 4-6 months for sure.  She has them in her own hair and they have been in for 5 months.  I didn't think they looked bad at all.  Please advise..

thanks girls , this board has been so wonderful .

PS  I definetly will take b/a pics to show.  It is fun watching others post theirs as well.

K

Personally I have never been able to go more than 11 weeks with any strand method. Normal wear time for me is around 9 weeks. By that time there is so much new growth, and the bonds are getting too far away from the scalp. The longer they are in the more new growth you have, and the more chances of tangling and matting at the root. Also its easy to catch with your comb/brush and yank em out when brushing...been there done that! And as the natural hair sheds, you have less hair that the extension is atached too, putting stress on the hair that is left supporting the extension. Also the further from the scalp th bond is the more visible they become.

Three months is the MAXIMUM time that I would advise anyone to wear extensions before removing and redoing.

Question...you obviously saw her bonds? So how far away from her scalp were the bonds? At 5 months the had to have been MORE than an inch away from her scalp.

let me ask you something ...did you compare prizes of great lenghts salons?

i went to different great lenghts salons (in switzerland though) for free consultations

for 180 strands of straight blonde hair (cold fusion) 613 24" long all salons were on the official great lenghts homepage

the prices were different i still from 1800 up to 3000 for the same method same amount same hair quality etc. i think thats crazy

how can the prizes be so different for the same thing

A boar bristle brush should work fine.

The reasons you shouldnt leave extensions in your hair for longer then 12 weeks are as follows...

A. It looks bad.  The longer the grow out the more visible the bonds are

B.  Matting.  I usually dont leave my extensions in longer then 2 months then I do a total takedown and redo, and even as anal as I am about detangling and proper washing/conditioning, I still have to pick the mats out like a mofo.  There have been several people who came here seeking help because they left their extensions in too long and had terrible matting, and that can cause serious breakage and damage to your hair.

aimee wrote: how can the prizes be so different for the same thing

Comission! If someone is working in a salon that is based of comission(let's say 50/50)...they have to mark up in order to make it worth their while. If they charged $400 dollars for labor, they would only get about $200 for their labor...which is ABSOLUTELY not worth it! In that amount of time, generally 4 hours, you would make more doing cuts or color services...plus more heads= more tips!

That reason is why I left my last salon of 5 years to go solo...booth rent. I know for a fact that my old salon will mark up GL hair 100% and he still takes his %55! How's that for rape? Damn bastard!

I remember my Great Lengths guy & I became friends so he would do them at his house on his day off and charge me about HALF!  We both made out because he worked on commission at a Red Door Salon

Anyway, that said, I agree with the other ladies, as your hair gorws, not only will the bond become a little visible, but the stress on your hair may cause breakage.  You will be able to judge for yourself hopefully. 

Also, have her cut ALL of the bonds.  It looks so much better

ETA:  My guy would snip them not only in HALF but then snip half off of the TOP too..the bonds would be sooooo tiny!  I loved that!

Do NOT leave any kind of extensions in for more than 3 months!

Our natural hair sheds every day, we all know that because we see the hairs in the shower drain, the hair brush, etc.  Well, when you have hair extensions in, your natural hair within the bonds still sheds, but can't fall away, since it's bonded with the extension hair. This will cause 2 things to happen if you leave in extensions for more than 3 months:

*Those naturally shed hairs that are caught up in the extension bond will start to form a dread at the root area

*The extension bond after 3 months is now hanging by many fewer hairs per bond because of the hair that's been naturally shed.  Let's see, heavy bond dangling by a few hairs, sounds like a good way to get breakage to me...

Your stylist told you the same GL LIE that the company GL trains their people to say, that you can wear these things for a period longer than 3 months.

  You see, GL just wants to be able to  over charge innocent consumers like you, and the only way to get people to pay these ridiculous prices is to tell them they can keep these extensions in longer than what 'professional' , non GL extensionists agree is safe for the natural hair.

If you wear these things for 4 months, you will see some damage.  If you wear these things for 6 months, I'd bet dollars to donuts your natural hair will be a disaster.

Procede with caution!

thanks for all your input and advice everyone.  we will see how the hair does after three months.  I don't want my hair damaged in any way. 

She called to tell me my hair arrived today.  I asked her about washing it before the install.  she said she would do all of that for me.

i also ordered one of those looped brushes from haircandy.com , just in case...

i will post b/a pics when i get them in. i'm so excited about monday!!!!

k