Clip in hair extensions have been around for quite a long time, but lately we’ve been noticing a lot more companies offering them and lots more people trying them. This worries us because clip in hair extensions can be very damaging for your hair.

Why?

Clip in hair extensions can damage your own hair / scalp

When you are have individual bonded hair extensions, we apply them “weight for weight”. This means that the weight of the hair is spread across the right amount of your own hair. Experienced hair extensionists calculate this weight ratio very carefully to ensure that there is no damage whatsoever to your hair and scalp.

When you attach clip in hair extensions, you are attaching quite a lot of the hair to small areas of your own hair. The hair extensions have the wrong weight ratio as they are too concentrated.

You might not notice any damage if you only wear clip in hair extensions very occasionally, but if you do wear them more often you might notice that after a while you experience significant hair loss.

Clip in hair extensions can be so tempting because they are often cheaper (sometimes not though!)…but we really would not recommend them for anyone wanting to keep their own hair healthy.

The hair can be poor quality

Other reasons why we would never recommend them are that the hair quality is much poorer in clip in hair extensions and they are not ‘double drawn’ (every strand isn’t the same length, it needs more hair to appear thicker). They are also not ‘route point correct’, the hair cuticles are usually very ruffled and often the wrong way around. Basically, to get the hair looking smooth, you have to excessively brush the extensions, which means you put more weight on them…damaging your scalp and hair.

Clip in hair extensions don’t usually look great

When considering clip in hair extensions, don’t forget your colour blend and cut. When you put the clip in hair extensions in for a second time, you will very likely not get them back into exactly the same position, resulting in visible colour lines and unblended areas.

Alternative options

If you still really want a temporary boost of hair, go for a half head wig. Banish those images of bad hairpieces from your mind! These days, half head wigs can look pretty amazing! …and they don’t damage your own hair.

You could also try microweft hair extensions which can give a great short term solution.