Hair extensions aren’t the only option available when looking at fine or thinning hair. Hairdreams creates amazing integration pieces using their 7 star hair that can be customized to fit the exact needs of each client. They are absolutely exquisite. I don’t use them on very many of my clients, but it’s a tool I’m very happy to have in my repertoire.

Just a reminder that hair extensions are available in a wide variety of fantasy colors and they are fade resistant far more than the effect of coloring your natural hair. I stock some wild colors but to be sure I have what you  are looking for it is always best to preorder by emailing me or setting up a consultation first.

ChristineDoesHair@gmail.com

This client is one of my favorites. She’s got amazingly long hair naturally but it just refuses to grow thick. We utilize a very small amount of hair extensions for her to create a more pleasing density without making it feel naturally heavy. Can you believe this is only SIX tape-in pairings! Most of my favorite hair extension applications are to add thickness and color rather than just creating long hair looks. It’s so rewarding to give people the hair of their dreams.

Remember my favorite Jellybean from my full blown balayage post? This is what we had been doing previously with her hair.

The upper photos are before pictures, and the two lower photos are the after images.

I like clipping the whole head into a loose bun or ponytail before starting on an application like this so I can see how the baby hair is really going to play with the overall look. Taking the time to check that definitely adds a lot of clarity to my patterning each time.

For her hair we used a 30 volume developer with a traditional powder lightener and Olaplex added to act as a buffer and prevent damage. I used a combination of paintbrushes and sponges to create depth and change dimension of the sections I was lightening by varying the saturation of the lightener in her hair.

I love the blended result from using so many different tools, a little extra effort goes a long way.

Most of us are familiar at this point with hair extensions but it may surprise you they can be used for more than just length. In this example three six piece packages of custom colored Hairdreams Quikkies were used to create this stunning change in overall density and tone.

Being able to fill in and elongate the shape of the pre-existing hair by having the hair extensions follow the original layering pattern gives us an overall look that is seamless and natural, especially with the augmented coloring effect of a subtle ombre on the extensions to match the coloring effect of her own hair and natural color fading to lighter tones.

Currently scheduled to be in the salon Elany Image from June 1st through the 12th.

Please call 703-440-8073 for the fastest way to set up an appointment, if you need to order fresh hair extensions please email me directly at ChristineDoesHair@gmail.com

I may be arriving a day or so early but these are the dates currently open…

Friday June 1st– FULL

Saturday June 2nd– FULL

Sunday June 3rd– FULL

Monday June 4th– FULL

Tuesday June 5th– open 12noon until close

Wednesday June 6th– open morning and midday spaces

Thursday June 7th– limited morning and early evening spaces

Friday June 8th– limited mid afternoon space around 2pm

Saturday June 9th– FULL

Sunday June 10th– FULL

Monday June 11th– morning and midday spaces open

Tuesday June 12th– morning and midday spaces open

Wednesday June 13th– UNAVAILABLE

Thursday June 14th– afternoon and evening spaces open

Friday June 15th– UNAVAILABLE

Saturday June 16th– UNAVAILABLE

Fusion hair extensions are my absolute favorite. I call them “crock pot” hair because you just “set it, and forget it.” By this I mean that the maintenance is minimal and the longevity is impressive.

For this set we used approximately 100 pieces of 22″ body wave hair in color 1B from Hair Shop LLC. Application took approximately 2 hours.

It was a rewarding experience to be able to give this client the longer/thicker hair of her dreams. I’m very pleased with the result we achieved.

This gorgeous mini-me of one of my clients has been previously getting subtle ombre and face framing balayage on her hair and the last time she came in with her mom we went full on with high-lift color and just a little toner to create this impressive look.

So one of the things that I think helps set me apart in my field is my approach to grey hair. I’m personally a very low maintenance person and I kind of flow that into a lot of my work. I love ombre and balayage color patterns because they grow out nicely. I prefer fusion bonded hair extensions because they are typically long lasting for clients. Yada yada yada…

So, it’s really no surprise that when it comes to covering grey hair I rarely take a whole head color approach to it. It’s rare that someone is suddenly grey. It’s something that happens slowly and then becomes noticeable to the client after it’s already been there for some time. This is why I tend to suggest highlight and lowlight alternatives instead of all over color.

It creates a more subtle blend back to having less grey rather than being one solid color since no one’s hair is actually one solid color naturally. More importantly though, is that it reduces the likelihood of a hard line of demarcation (more often called a root line). When introducing a client to hair color, especially to cover grey, it’s great to be able to take away some of the fear associated with that. For many people one of those fears is that they will have to color their hair every four weeks so no one ever sees, and that task feels daunting to someone who isn’t used to fitting that into their schedule.

This particular look was on a client who NEVER colored hair hair but wanted to do something to hide the shimmering grey hairs in her wedding photos. We used a products called Framesi Decolor B Shimmer. It’s designed to use on dry hair in 5 minutes or less to put specific mini highlights into the hair. For an application like this it was absolutely perfect.

As stylists and colorists we often want to embrace big changes but the end goal is always to do the most for the client’s happiness and sometimes less is more.

I’m starting this post with the amazing photos of what we ended up with, but this was a pretty scary situation to be in and I feel incredibly lucky it ended up not being the end of the world…

This is a friend of mine who has been a client of mine for years. I’m talking followed me through at least 4 hair salons I’ve moved to. At her last visit we attempted to lighten her dark auburn hair to a light enough color to apply a grey tone over it in a balayage pattern. We weren’t sure we would be able to lighten it as much as we want in one visit and we ended up putting a demi-permanent color back over it so we would have some wiggle room as it faded and we would be able to clear it out more easily at the next visit. We experienced no damage other than the standard dryness associated with the use of powdered hair lightener (hair bleach) at that visit.

She came in again yesterday and I applied 20 volume lightener on the first sections I applied, and then used a mix of 30 volume with a dash of 40 volume in the last sections I applied so they would finish processing at the same time. While she was processing I started to work on another client. After about 10 minutes (guesstimating) she caught my attention and told me it was steaming and hot on her neck. Immediately we went to the sink because that is not a standard reaction. While rinsing it out I couldn’t tell how bad it was or how much damage was from heat vs chemical issues, so I fully rinsed the lightener out and applied Olaplex over her hair while I finished the processing time in the root color application.

I made the command decision to apply the grey color over the entire head because it couldn’t stay orange and yellow. After that had completed the processing time I actually had to go through and tone it a bit darker because the damaged parts of her hair turned a brilliant shade of navy blue instead of grey.

We ended up having to cut off about half of her hair length, and the really weird thing was that there were sections with 20 volume that were fine, as were most of the sections with 40 volume developer. It didn’t seem to be directly related to what chemicals were applied where on her head, it was so weird for it to be so distinctly on one side really. Our current hypothesis is that it has something to do with the water at her gym, as she usually washes it at home before seeing me and this time she had most recently washed it in the gym.

So I kept some pieces to the side after it was cut and I intend to run some additional test on them, but I believe after a little heavy digging I have found the issue: copper reacting with the ammonia in the hair lightener.

Hair lightener, also called bleach, is actually not bleach like chlorine. Hair bleach is a powdered ammonia product mixed with a liquid hydrogen peroxide as a catalyzing agent. After some excessive digging I found information on why certain cleaning systems are not suitable for use with copper pipes because of the ammonia in the products. Apparently copper is not usually used in ammonia system because it can react in an exothermic way that can also create cupric hydroxide of a blue color. Given the fact that the secondary product actually turned the hair blue and I could find nothing else even remotely related to having this set of issues I think it could be related to improper pipe care at the gym and possible older or poorly finished piping. My plan is to have the hair samples I kept tested for additional residue from this and see how that lines up with my current understanding.

Oh, and in the meantime, I’m glad she’s so nice and hasn’t murdered me for cutting off half her hair. Thank Lebowski for small miracles.