30 Days with Tape-In Hair Extensions

^^ Before

^^ After

Ahh I’m so excited to be sharing my experience so far with tape-in hair extensions. It’s been a little over a month now that I’ve had them and I can’t remember what it was like to have short hair! Right off the bat, I have to say I LOVE them and plan on keeping them for awhile. I know I had so many questions and concerns before I got mine and I took to Google and YouTube to find answers. So today I wanted to share my experience so far with tape-in hair extensions, why I got them, products I use and more!

Why I Got Tape-In Hair Extensions

I’ve talked a little about my hair troubles before in this post. But to give you a little run down, I had super long hair about five years ago for my wedding. And like most brides, the second the wedding was over I decided to chop it all off. The lob (long bob) hair cut was super popular at the time and I had to try it. So I went for it and loved it!

Fast forward a couple of years and my hair dresser dropped the news that she was moving to LA. Insert major sad face :(. Do you know how hard it is to find a good stylist and one that you trust?! She did plan on coming back to Chicago every six weeks and was keeping a small clientele in Chicago and I could have stayed with her. But that meant I had to be super strict with my hair. Every six weeks was a big commitment especially when I was use to going every eight weeks. And if I was out of town the weekend she was coming, I would have to wait a whole 12 weeks!

So I made the decision to see another stylist for a cut and color. And that’s where I made the biggest mistake. This lady chopped my hair and gave me 5,000 layers. She razored the hell out of it, giving me short layers that have been impossible to grow out. I don’t regret many things in life, but if I could do it all over again I would never have gone to her. She made my hair weak and brittle from all the texture she added and it’s been impossible to grow back out.

And on top of it, I feel like my hair has just stopped growing. It use to grow so fast and I think all of the hormones from our IVF journey (read about that here and here and here) has really started to take its toll. So long story short, I have been craving longer hair for years now and when my stylist (I ended up going back to my original stylist) started talking to me about tape-in hair extensions, I was very intrigued. After one appointment where I picked her brain the entire time, I decided to get them at my next appointment. And here we are!

My Experience So Far

I absolutely love them! They are so easy to take care of and I don’t feel them at all. The day I got them, I was shocked at how light and easy they felt. You would think that adding all kinds of hair to your head, you would feel the heaviness of them, but that’s just not the case. They felt just like my real hair. I will say that they day I got them put in, my hair felt a little sore. The best way I can describe this is it felt sore like you wore your hair up in a high ponytail for the day and then took it down. But by no means was I in pain.

The first time I took a shower and washed my hair was a little strange. My hair stylist warned me that my hair would feel very heavy and that’s exactly how it felt. I felt like my hair was pulling me down. It was defiantly weird, but something you get use to very fast.

I actually find it way easier to do my hair now than when I had short hair. When my hair was short, I felt like I was always fighting with it. I hated how the bottom would flip out the second it got too humid or wet. And while I love how short hair looks curled, I just couldn’t get the hang of it.

I actually spend way less time now doing my hair then I ever did (minus blow drying it after a shower, but I will get into that). For anyone that knows me well, knows that I’m crazy about my hair and have always spent a ton of time blow drying my hair with a round brush and making it look “perfect”. But with tape-in hair extensions that’s just not needed at all. To style it I might smooth the top out a bit with a blow dryer and then I run a few curls thru and we are good to go.

Products I Use

Probably the biggest change has been blow drying my hair after I wash it. I have so much more hair now and it’s much longer, so it’s defiantly a process. I’ve only been washing it about twice a week now so even though the process is longer, I try to go longer in between washes. This is my favorite dry shampoo I use. When I do wash, I use this shampoo and conditioner which I swear by. Every blonde needs these two products in their life. You just have to be careful that you only apply conditioner to the ends of your hair and not at the root of the extensions. If you do, you are at risk for your extensions sliding out- yikes!

Once I get out of the shower I apply this heat protectant and brush with this brush. You have to be very careful while brushing because you don’t want it to get caught in the extension. So this brush is very gentle and I’ve found it to work perfectly. I let it air dry for as long as I can so I’m not standing under the hair dryer for too long. And once I get ready to blow dry I apply this (a little goes a very long way- you only need the tiniest bit!).

You absolutely have to have a good hair dryer. It cuts down on dry time and helps to prevent damage. This is the one I use and have had it for years now. I know it seems outrageous to spend over $100 on a hair dryer, but it is absolutely worth it. I would love to invest in this one some day because I’ve heard amazing things about it, but that price scares me haha! It takes me about 15 minutes to dry my hair now. The biggest challenge I’ve found is my extension hair is much more curly than my normal hair.

Once I’m done blow drying, I add some of this hair oil to the ends. The extensions can feel itchy (at least to me) and this helps to make them less itchy and keep them shiny. After that, I always add a few curls. I’m currently using this 1″ curling iron. I really need to get a 1.25″ curling iron (have been looking at this one or this one) because the waves will be a little looser and more full- I just haven’t gotten around to it yet! I’ve also found it way easier to curl longer hair for some reason. Once I have some curls I add this texturizing spray (it smells amazing) and finish with a few sprays of this hair spray. It sounds like a lot, but I’ve found it to be fast and rather simple!

^^ The day I got my extensions put in!

Common Questions

What are tape-in hair extensions? They are literally what they say they are! Each weft of hair has a clear piece on the end with tape on it. That is then secured between tiny strands of your real hair and taped into place.

What is the maintenance? Every 6-8 weeks I will need to have my hair stylist remove them and then re-apply them. This is because your natural hair grows out and you want them to be as close to the scalp as possible to avoid damage. I haven’t had this process done yet (I will get it done at my next appointment), but it seems super easy. She uses a special solution to remove the glue and then removes the extensions.

How long do they last? I will be able to use the hair for up to a year. If you take really good care of them obviously they will last longer and I defiantly plan on wearing them as long as I can. After about a year, you will need to buy new hair.

Do they hurt? Not at all. They were a little sore the day I got them, but after that I haven’t felt anything. I find them to be a little itchy at times. But I’ve found adding some hair oil to the ends helps them to not be as itchy.

Can you wash your hair? Yes! You just have to be more careful and wash in-between the extensions. And make sure you rinse well. Its easy for shampoo to get trapped because you have so much more hair.

Is it real hair? Yes, it’s real human hair so you can wash, style and blow dry as usual.

What kind of tape-in hair extensions do you have? The brand is called Hairdreams. And we used 7 packs of hair.

Will they cause damage to your real hair? I haven’t had them removed yet but they are not suppose to cause any damage to your real hair. They are suppose to be some of the safest out there, which is why I choose them!

How much do they cost? This will be different for everyone and I will be honest- they are an investment. My hair was around $400 for me. But I also have a ton of hair! So this will vary depending on the length you want and also the thickness of your original hair. And remember the hair will last for up to a year! And every time I go to the salon to have them moved up, that will be around $200. This will also vary because most stylists charge per weft of hair so the more hair you have the more it will cost. I’ve defiantly asked my stylist about other options moving forward in terms of coloring my hair so my bill can be less expensive haha. So I might be experimenting a bit with some balayage or a more rooted look going forward.

Does Kurt like them? He LOVES them! The day I got them put in, he told me he never really liked my short hair. I was like, what?! And it kind of makes sense because he would always show me pictures of when my hair was long and say how much he liked my hair back then. So he is on board!

Overall, I love my tape-in hair extensions and I’m so excited to finally have the long hair I’ve wanted for years now!