I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with hair extensions since around the age of 5 when my sisters friend who had always had a short blonde bob suddenly had long flowing blonde locks. Now keep in mind this would have been around 1998 and most people had never heard of hair extensions so I was completely fascinated by the whole thing. I think this is where my lifelong obsession with all things hair started.
Fast forward 11 years to 2009 I still have my fascination and my 16th birthday is coming up i’m extremely excited for two reasons one me and my friend James have planned a trip to Alton towers for my birthday. But more importantly my mum has said i can have the clip in hair extensions i have been asking….ok begging for, for a while now which means I finally get to have the super long hair I’d always wanted! If you are around my age or older you may remember how popular HeadKandy clip in hair extensions were during the late 00s there was nothing but glowing reviews everywhere. So this is the brand I went with I chose the shade “melted chocolate” and got them in 24-26 inches.
The day has arrived it’s my 16th birthday i’m allowed to open my hair extensions out of the box, i take out the gorgeous chocolate brown extensions that feel so soft and silky I clipped them in my head and i’m blown away by how good they look. The next day i’m walking around Alton towers feeling fabulous with my new long hair doing hair flips at any chance i get I couldn’t have been more happy with them…… until a week later when I washed them and the truth was revealed the once glossy beautiful extensions where now dry and brittle and matted up so badly the shedding was so bad that after a few weeks there was literally no hair left on some of the weft’s. It’s been almost 10 years since then and unfortunately clip in hair extension companies haven’t changed i’ve bought other clip ins from the big known clip in brands and every time it’s the same story they shed, they matt up, and they last 2 months at most.
Why is the quality of clip in extensions so bad?
The short answer is because brands like foxy locks and bellami use very low quality hair and bump the prices up massively for the poor hair quality and poor quality weft design you are getting so they can make a huge profit.
They add a silicone coating to the hair so when you first get them they feel and look great but this coating washes off when you wash the hair and then the truth is revealed to what you have actually bought. which is why one of my biggest pet peeves is when big YouTuber’s review clip in hair extensions straight out of the box because ALL hair no matter how bad can feel amazing at first because of the silicone coating done at the factory.
The hair is either not remy or it is “acid bathed” to remove the cuticle. It has synthetic hairs mixed in. If you have ever had clip in extensions you may have noticed if you look closely some strands of hair are ginger even though your extensions are dark brown. Or you may notice black strands in your blonde extensions often these strands feel wiry and strange. I did an experiment as I had my suspicions that this wasn’t human hair I pulled one of the wiry black strands out of a set of clip in hair extensions from one of the best known clip in hair brands and put a lighter to it…. Guess what?….. It melted like plastic! It did not burn the same way that human hair does. The clip in companies say these strands are in there to add “multi tonal dimension” to the hair but this is bullshit. They add in the synthetic hairs to cut costs down for them and to bulk up the hair.
If they aren’t remy or 100% human hair how do brands get away with saying it is?
there is pretty much no regulations when it comes to how hair extension’s are labeled quality wise. there is no official standards so companies can say their hair is whatever quality they want to. And there only has to be a few human hairs mixed in for them to say it is 100% “human hair” because yes the human hair that is in the extensions is human and that is what they are referring to by 100% human hair even though it has synthetic hairs mixed in to.
Why make your own clip ins?
I stopped buying from clip in company brands when i realised i could buy professional quality hair weaves online myself and sew the clips on the benefits of this are
Quality YOU get to pick what hair quality you buy professional quality extensions are higher quality and you’re getting much better quality for your money.
Longevity if you buy a professional quality weave and are only going to be wearing it as clip ins the hair is going to last you a year or more vs’s the hair from clip in companies which only lasts 2-3 months
Less shedding as professional extensions are made to be worn 24/7 the tracks/weft’s are sewn much tighter as they need to be more durable. Better made weft’s means less hair comes out when washing and brushing so you wont end up with baldy weft’s and hairy floors.
Customization you can decide how many weft’s to make and what size to make them for your head.
Where do I buy professional weaves?
A lot of professional brands let you buy their hair. The price may seem high at first but if you are only using this hair as clips ins keep in mind it’s going to last you over a year vs brands like foxy locks and bellami which cost a bit less but are not going to last as long and cause you endless problems with shedding and matting while wearing them. Here are some professional brands I have used to make my own clip ins
Beautyworks https://beautyworksonline.com/professional-extensions/weft-extensions/celebrity-choice-weft/22-celebrity-choice-weft.html I have made my own clip ins using beautyworks hair for about 7 years now each set I’ve made lasted me well over a year. In this picture I was wearing a set of clip ins I made that were two years old and still felt great!
Prestige hair https://www.prestigehairextensions.com/18-inch-60g-weft-european-remy-aaaaa-single-drawn-hair-extensions/ more budget friendly you buy them in bundles of 60 grams which makes them more customizable. better for if you only want to add a little bit of thickness to your hair and don’t need 100s of grams of hair. It may be more budget friendly but the quality is still amazing and will last you a year if used as clip ins
What will i need to make my own clip ins?
- Extension clips. You can buy a pack of 15 clips on ebay for £1.25 here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15-Hair-Extension-Snap-Clip-Silicon-Grips-32mm-Hair-Extensions-Weft-FREEPOST-UK/232698870070? I recommend you get the silicone lined ones so they stay in your head better and i recommend buying two packs so you have spares.
- Sewing needle
- Thread, I suggest hair weaving thread which you can buy on Ebay for £1.99 here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEFT-THREAD-BROWN-BLACK-HAIR-EXTENSION-WEAVE-200YARDS-400YARD-FREE-UK-DELIVERY/272721166134?hash=item3f7f72bf36:m:mX3EhTQPf6JtZ6yD7DI3UKA normal sewing thread will work to but hair weaving thread is stronger and doesn’t swell when its wet meaning it won’t break as easily as normal thread. Make sure to pick a colour close to your root colour so if you’re blonde but you have a stretched root or ombre pick a colour closest to your root colour.
- Your chosen brand of professional hair weft’s
- Scissors for cutting the weft’s to the size you like and for the thread
And that’s it really! It may seem like a bit of a faff at first sewing the clips on yourself but personally I think it’s worth it to have hair that doesn’t matt up constantly and shed everywhere and that is going to last you a very long time if just used as clip ins plus save you money in the long run.
I hope that was helpful and I’d love to hear if you have any clip in horror stories!
Heidi x
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