Jazz Up Straight Extensions

We recently voted silky straight hair as one of the hot picks for the holiday season.

Versatile and blendable, straight textured extensions are a must have for any harinista looking for glamorous yet low maintenance holiday hair.

Many hairnistas, however, come up short on the glam factor as they fail to add extra styling elements which prevent their straight extensions form sitting limply on their heads.  

Here are some guaranteed ways to jazz up your straight extensions:

A FRESH CUT

A great cut with layers to flatter your face and add volume can do wonders to spice up drab looking straight extensions.

Go for the famous LOB which celebrities from Ciara to Zoe Saldana have rocked to great effect. The great thing about the lob is that there are multiple variations. Therefore, you are sure to find a cut that will flatter and suit you.




Or opt for modern asymmetrical FRINGES that will add some texture around the face and break up the monotony of your extensions. Look for inspiration from style icons like Naomi Campbell, who is famous for her fierce bangs and fringes.

COLOR

Embrace the holiday cheer by adding color to your hair. After all, extensions are a perfect way to experiment with hair color without damaging your own natural hair with hair chemicals and dyes. 

Turn up the glam dial by opting for hot trends such as tastefully done blue/teal ombre hair or lavender highlights.




Looking for 6A-7A grade straight extensions in Grand Cayman. Phone or W/APP the Beauty Project at 345-924-0052. We stock on island Brazilian, Peruvian, and Malaysian Hair. We do fast deliveries for George Town, West Bay, Prospect, and Savannah.

Mastering the Leave-Out

Your leave-out can make or break your weave.

A leave-out that is not properly maintained will stand out against your extensions and will ruin the realism of your sew-in.

Hairnistas with texlaxed or natural hair textures often encounter the most difficulties blending (or prolonging the blending) of their leave-out with their extensions.

 Their traditional go-to to master unruly leave-outs has been to use a apply heat. However, as any hair dresser will tell you, frequent application of heat will fry your hair and will make the dry, heat damaged strands more difficult to blend with your extensions.

To control your leave-out, instead, adhere to the following:

Apply a moisturizing conditioner to your leave out once every 3 days.

While it's not necessary to condition your hair in its entirety every 3 days, make sure to condition your leave once every 3 days to keep it moisturized. Hair that is properly moisturized feels softer and maintains a higher luster; thus, will be easier to blend with extensions.  Here are the conditioners we recommend for leave outs:

5 Minute Cowash Straight from Eden Conditioning Treatment	Deep Conditioning Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning

After flat-ironing, apply beeswax or a beeswax based product to leave out.

Applying beeswax to freshly flat-ironed strands acts as a barrier against humidity—the culprit responsible for your leave-out's rapid reversion to its kinks and coils. The key is to use a small amount. Too much and your leave-out will be a greasy mess! 

Smart Hair Buys: Best Christmas Hair Extensions

The Christmas office party is coming up and you're considering getting hair extensions for the occasion. After all, you want to dazzle throughout the night and inspire a bit of envy in your co-workers. Here's our top 2 picks for party perfect hair extensions and the styles that can be achieved with them.

Pick 1: Straight Extensions 

Straight extensions are popular precisely because they are easy to manage and blend with relaxed textures. Furthermore, they offer plenty of styling versatility. For example, straight extensions can serve as as a simple but impactful frame for your makeup and outfit as Nicki Minaj deftly demonstrates. Or add some volume with curling iron to create more feathered style like Tyra Banks does. If installed using the right technique, extensions can also provide volume to create elegant high buns a la Kim Kardashian.

Pick 2: Ocean Waves

Ocean wave extensions will seal the deal for hairnistas who want their hair to be the center piece of their outfits. These loosely coiled waves are not difficult to maintain and have been described as giving the wearer a Grecian goddess appeal. Starlets like Beyonce have utilized ocean waves to create sexy and ultra modern lobs (long bobs). While others like Porsha Stewart have gone for the full goddess effect and worn them at mermaid lengths.



To buy these or any other extensions, contact us at 345-924-0052. We stock hair on island. Fast delivery available for the West Bay, George Town and Bodden Town areas. Check out our Facebook or Instagram pages for more stock and client photos.

Smart Hair Buys: I've taken out my weave...What do I do now?

Although many hairnistas will not admit it, the 2-4 week breaks between a sew-in can inspire PMS-like agitation. Suddenly, you have to change gears and try to figure out what to do with your hair. It can be even more stressful if your hair is experiencing breakage or your hair is in an awkward growth stage where many styles are not achievable. Below is a care guide for what you should be doing when you take out your weave.

Deep-Condition! Moisturize!

Weaves are great protective styles but it can be difficult to fully care for your hair beneath the tracks. Hence, some hairnistas will find that hair feels brittle or akin to 'dry-trash' after removing a weave. To remedy this:

1. In the first wash after removing your weave, deep condition your hair. Deep conditioning treatments that we recommend (these work extremely well for those less porous hair types) include:
• ORSHair Masque for Color and Heat Damaged Hair
• Creme of NatureMoisturizing Milk Masque.
2. Co-wash your hair often (aim for at least once a week), use a leave in conditioner (optional but highly recommended), apply a good moisturizer daily, and use protective oils. Products we recommend include:

• Cremeof Nature Straight from Eden Conditioner
• Nunaat Leave InConditioner
• Creme of Nature Butterlicious Curls
• B's Jamaican Avocado Oil
• Batana Oil.

Minimize Heat!

Removing your weave can leave you stumped for styles; many hairnistas will want to reach for that flatiron. Hold off! Your hair is delicate after being twisted up in a braid for months. Adding a lot of heat immediately can cause breakage. If you must use heat, deep condition prior to heat styling and apply a heat protectant. 

Otherwise, check out YouTube as a resource for styling your hair without using heat. Here's a couple to get you started:

•  http://goo.gl/6GMXsD 
•  http://goo.gl/L1zqLo

Use a Satin Cap at Night!

You've gotten all this new growth with your weave. It's a shame if you allow friction from pillows and sheets to snap off the ends and nullify all that growth. Use a satin/silk cap at night to protect your ends.

Smart Hair Buys: Understanding Hair Extension Grades 3A, 5A, 7A...etc

3A? 5A? 7A? 10A?

A majority of hairnistas who buy hair have had to contend with this confusing grading system. The aim of this post is to demystify this letter grading system, highlight the problems associated with it, and finally opine on what to expect from different grades of extensions.  

First, grades such as 3A, 5A or 7A are actually short-hand for AAA, AAAAA or AAAAAAA respectively. These grades were designed to describe the quality of hair extensions on the basis of durability¹, hair flexibility ², bundle composition³. In the logic of this grading system, hair extensions that are of lower quality, that are less durable, less flexible, and that are composed of non-human hair materials such as synthetics and animal hair carry would be tagged with lower grades—usually 4A or less. On the other hand, hair extensions of the highest quality with high durability, high flexibility and made with purely virgin human hair would be tagged with higher grades—historically 5A or higher. Hence, the A-grading system intended to provide buyers and sellers with a straightforward measuring stick—which would eliminate any guess work surrounding what prices should be charged or paid for different quality hair bundles. Buyers, specifically, should find it easy to navigate the hair market and find the type of hair they wanted with the aid of this nifty A-grading system.

 

Problems with the Letter Grading System.

Despite the straightforward design of A-grading, its practical use has been problematic. Although the system is almost universally adopted, the A-grading system is not regulated. There are no laws, no governments, nor governing bodies that regulate how manufacturers grade hair extensions. Hence, the result is that the hair market is flooded with subjectively graded hair. That is to say, Manufacturer A might label one hair bundle as 5A while Manufacturer B might choose to label that same bundle as 3A.

Many crooks and fraudsters have taken advantage of this unregulated situation—marking up low grade yaki and synthetic extensions as quality high grade hair. Unfortunately, many get away with it because these fraudulent vendors can sell with impunity. Only defrauded buyers who raise their voices in complaint on YouTube or on review sites can check the actions of these suppliers. Even then, there's not much these complaints can do as sly manufactures have been known to change their company name in order to shed any associated negative baggage.

Getting the Most from the Grading System.

Despite being problematic, the use of A-grading does not seem to be waning for the foreseeable future. Hence, we recommend that you know what to roughly expect when purchasing different grades (given the assumption that you are dealing with an honest supplier). Here's brief guide:

 

A to 4A: Mixed Composition Hair

For hair bundles ranked as 4A or less, the general expectation is that these bundles will contain a mix of human, animal, and synthetic hair materials. Examples of mixed composition hair includes yaki 'pack hair' or the 3 for $100 bundle deals found on e-retail sites. These mixed composition hair extensions will tangle within a few weeks—if not a few days—of installation because they contain synthetics and animal hair. They are also likely to bleed dye and will be difficult to curl. If you are on a budget and are willing to try the mixed composition hair, opt for 4A grade which is typically the highest grade among mixed combination bundles as it contains more human than non-human hair content.

5A-6A: Multi-Donor Hair

For 5A-6A ranked bundles, the general expectation is that these bundles will contain only human hair but they will be sourced from multiple donors and will contain 'fallen hair'. (Fallen hair describes hair taken up from factory floors and used to fill out the hair curtain on the wefts.)

5A Bundle

With these multi-donor hair bundles, a significant portion of the bundles will be made up of short hair strands – which results in the bundles having thinner ends and inconsistent thickness throughout the hair curtain. We've attached a photo example of a 12 inch 5A multi-donor bundle in which the thinness of the ends is apparent due to the short lengths of hair strands in the bundle.

6A Bundle

For hairnistas who are exasperated with hair bundles with thin ends, we recommend that they opt for the higher grade 6A multi-donor varieties which in our experience is characterized by comparably thicker ends .(See attached photo of 6A bundle). If thin ends are still problematic, it would be best to go further and invest in 7A or higher graded hair varieties.

7A and Above: One Donor Hair

The expectation for these hair bundles is that they would have been sourced from one donor. The hair curtain will be thick and consistent while the ends will be full. The hair should also be soft and flexible: able to be dyed, bleached or flat-ironed without permanently ruining the integrity of the hair follicles. 

In this two-part Smart Hair Buy post, we set out to clarify some common place terms in the hair market. In part one of this post, we looked at definitions of remy hair and virgin hair.  

---

(1) Durability refers to the longevity of hair bundle given normal wear and tear.

(2) Flexibility refers to how well the hair takes to being chemically manipulated (bleaching, dying, other chemical processes) and mechanically manipulated (heat styling). Flexibility is important because this property determines, for example, if your extensions will be irreparably damaged and unwearable after bleaching. Flexibility also determines how far up the color chart your hair can be bleached (which shades of blonde can you achieve with your extensions?).

(3) Bundle composition refers to the type or types of hair (human, animal, synthetics) that are used to make up the hair curtain. Bundle composition determines if the extensions are considered Yaki (consisting of human and animal hair), Virgin Human Hair, Synthetic, or Human Compatible Hair.

 

Smart Hair Buys: Clarifying Frequently Used Hair Terms

In part 1 of this post, we aim to clarify confusion about 2 common place terms used in the hair market: virgin and remy. 

Virgin Hair

Virgin hair refers to hair that has been strictly unprocessed, either from the time the hair was still attached to the donor's head or when the hair was cut and manufactured into bundled wefts, clips-ins, u-tips...etc. Based on this strict definition of virgin hair, however, the majority of hair extensions sold today cannot be described as truly virgin. This is because manufacturers frequently employ chemical or steam processing to create in demand textures such as body wave, loose wave, deep wave or even kinky curl. These popular textures mentioned above rarely occur naturally in hair stock piles. Thus, manufacturers have to manipulate and process available hair types to create these different textures. 

Consequently, many manufacturers have relaxed their definition of virgin hair. In our experience, most suppliers now define virgin hair as hair that has not been chemically manipulated whether by the donor or in the manufacturing process. This relaxed definition provides a loop-hole which allows steam processed hair to be considered virgin. Hence, the reason why you will hear of 'virgin loose wave' or 'virgin body wave'. As a final note, please also be aware that any hair that has been dyed or bleached is strictly not considered virgin. Similarly, any hair bundles that contain synthetics or animal hair is not virgin.

Remy Hair

Is this the same as Virgin hair? Is this hair from the pack like Goddess or Milky Way? Does this mean hair has been chemically processed? Not quite, no, and no. Remy or Remi simply refers to the manufacturing process in which the hair strands are aligned in corresponding directions. That is, in any remy hair bundle, hair strands will all have their 'roots' towards one end and hair tips towards the other. The remy process acts as a counter to tangling. Any kind of quality hair, such as Virgin Human Hair, uses the remy process in assembling bundles.

Speaking with some of our clients, however, we realize that remy now unfortunately carries a slightly negative connotation as remy has been associated with tangle-prone 'pack-hair'. The root cause of this has been tricky marketing from 'pack-hair' suppliers—which incorrectly characterized Remy as a type of hair (such as Brazilian, Malaysian) OR as a synonym for Yaki. 

Next week, in part 2 of this post will discuss in detail the grade classification system ( 6A, 3A, 5A) often used in the hair industry. We originally intended to include that discussion within this post but we realized it was too long and complex not to have its own separate post.

Smart Hair Buys: Top 5 Products for Virgin Extensions

#Extensions are a handy convenience for busy hairnistas. However, they can become a downright nuisance if they are not managed with the right products. Bad hair day culprits such as matted hair, tangling, frizz, and limp hair can all be avoided or corrected by choosing the right products for your extensions. Below are the top 5 products which we suggest.








1. John Freida Root Awakening Shampoo & Conditioner
A peppermint based combo which is very effective for removing grease and reinvigorating hair strands. We recommend this for straighter hair varieties, especially those from the Orient (Cambodian, Indonesian, Indian) which are more susceptible to grease. Suffering from oily bangs or an oily fringe? Just cleanse with the Root Awakening shampoo, skip the conditioner, and dry to bring your bangs and fringes back to life.

2. Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Spray 
Cayman's humidity can (and will) kill your hairstyle in less than 5 minutes. Garnier’s anti-humidity spray works amazingly to counter the effects of this harsh weather.This spray will help your style to last longer throughout the day and settle frizz—WITHOUT making your extensions stiff and 'crunchy'

3.Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo & Conditioner
This is a popular product combo which you will find touted by many stylists and bloggers. Made with coconut extracts, this #HerbalEssences combo is highly recommend for nourishing worn out, heat, or color damaged extensions.

4.Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner
With the nourishing and smoothing benefits of Moroccan Argan Oil, this#Organix product combo is perfect for hair extensions in need of desperate repair ; the combo is also recommended for curly/wavy textures that require heavier conditioning.

5. Pantene Curl Perfection Shampoo & Conditioner 
This product combo is heaven sent for 'deep' textures such as deep wave or kinky curly. After shampooing and conditioning with Pantene Curl Perfection , your curls will be beautifully defined and long-lasting. This formula will also minimize any matting that may occur during the drying process.

How to Restore Your Thinning Edges

Thin edges are a common problem among hairnistas whether they wear braids, hair pieces, wigs or weaves. The root causes are excessive tension on the edges (from tight canerows, fine braids, wig combs, wig clips) and/or excessive dryness along the edges. If ignored, thinning edges could lead to more serious scalp problems such as a receding hairline or bald spots along the hairline.

How, should thin edges be treated?

We've personally encountered two contrasting treatment methods: 
(a) Putting your edges in protective canerows    &
(b) Leaving your edges out and avoiding putting any braid tension on them. 

Each method however, has its cons. For method (a), if the tension on your edges from the protective canerows is excessive then the thinness along your edges will become worse not better. For method (b), the risk is that environmental factors (for e.g. friction & dryness) might promote further hair breakage and thinning.

Therefore, given that both remedies are potentially risky, which of the two is the better choice?

• If you notice more breakage (broken, jagged, stringy hair edges) than balding (spots without hair) then this suggests that your edges are most likely struggling due to environmental issues. In this scenario, try putting your edges into a protective cocoon of braids. Tell your stylist to put as little tension as possible on your edges. If you feel any pulling or discomfort, don't be afraid to speak up and tell your stylist to stop.

•  If the opposite is the case—where you notice more balding than breakage—then it's best to leave your edges out. Please be sure to check with your dermatologist to evaluate whether or not this might be a serious case of alopecia.

Complementary Products & Practices

Whether you are trying method (a) or (b), it is important to include/exclude certain products & practices in order promote the growth and restoration of your edges.

1. Daily apply to the problem areas restorative oils such as Batana Oil, Black Castor Oil, and a Mixture of Jojoba and Peppermint Oil. These oils are known for stimulating the scalp and moisturizing hair strands.

2. If you need to 'lay your edges', then use edge control pomades with NO ALCOHOL (alcohol dries out hair). We recommend ORS Edge Control and Creme of Nature Perfect Edges. Lay the pomade with your fingers or a soft bristled toothbrush. Do not use hard bristled boar brushes which will tear up your edges.

3. Tie your edges down when at home with a satin/silk wrap to prevent your edges from being snapped off because of friction from sheets, carpets, upholstery..etc.

In conclusion, although we've laid out some simple steps to aid in restoring thin edges, continual dedication to remedying thin edges will be the critical key to a successful treatment. Improvements in the state of edges might take as little as 3 weeks or as much as 6 months. Either way, willingness to put in the effort on a daily basis will be a surefire way to see improvements.

(*Products listed can be purchased locally at major beauty supply outlets. **Batana Oil can be purchased from Naddy's Salon on Godfrey Nixon Way, C: 946-1152)

Smart Hair Buys: Fixes for Flat, Lifeless Extensions

If you've worn a sew-in, you've had to contend with limp, dead extensions. There are several causes which can account for frustratingly lifeless extensions but, fortunately, there are easy solutions. 

Dry Extensions 

When your extensions lack moisture, they can become lifeless—especially when your extensions have been re-used multiple times. Extensions affected by dryness are characterized by perpetual frizz and will feel akin to 'dry trash'. The fix for this is to condition your extensions 1-2 times per week and to apply a small amount of light oil (such as Argan Oil or Monoi Oil) onto the ends of the extensions daily.

Greasy Extensions

When greasy, your hair extensions become weighed down and, thus, your extensions will appear limp and lifeless. Extensions suffering from a build up of grease can be identified by stringy, oily looking hair. This grease build up comes about due to hair strands touching your skin and/or from the application of oil to your hair tracks beneath the sew-in (or alternately to the hair extensions themselves). The solution is to wash your extensions at least once a week using a clarifying/volumizing conditioner (try Generic brands such Garnier Fructis and VO8) or use shampoos that contain tea tree oil—which is a natural cleanser. Neutralizing shampoos will also do a decent job.

Over Conditioning

Over conditioned hair extensions can also account for hair limpness. Extensions suffering from over conditioning will typically feel soft and smooth but will hang limply—even when curled. One possible fix is to use a lighter conditioner for your extensions. (Lighter conditioners are usually tagged as 'volumizing', 'clarifying', 'for oily hair', or 'for fine hair'.) Another fix is to reduce the amount of conditioner applied to your hair extensions and, if needs be, only applying conditioner to the ends of your extensions. The rule of thumb to abide by here is that the straighter your hair extensions, the lighter the conditioning needed.

Type of Hair

The origin and texture of your hair extensions also affect the speed with which your extensions go flat. Finer hair originating from the orient(Indian, Filipino, Cambodian) typically loses body more quickly than coarser hair varieties while straighter hair textures tend to go limp more quickly than wavier/curlier textures. One workable fix is to opt for textures such as body wave and natural wave instead of straight hair—especially when purchasing fine oriental hair. The reason is that body wave and natural wave carry a lot of body and these textures can be worn straight with minimum fuss. A second workable fix is to install more hair bundles as this will provide your sew-in with longer lasting body.

Smart Hair Buys: Understanding Bundle Lengths for Kinky Curly Hair

The primary question that I get asked about kinky curly hair extensions is “Why are the lengths so short?". It's a spot on observation. Kinky curly bundles tagged at 18 inches in length appear to be closer to 14 inches in length. So what's going on?

The simple answer is that global manufacturers base their length measurements on 'the maximum stretch' of the hair strands. Similar to the process of stretching out the tight coils of Afrocentric hair to determine that hair's actual length, global hair manufacturers also base their measurements on the 'stretched length' of kinky curly strands not the 'coiled length'. Therefore, a 16 inch bundle which appears to be only 12 inches long will, when stretched taut, measure closer to 16 inches.

So how should this inform your purchasing decision?

Well, we've attached a great chart comparison of kinky curly and straight hair to give you an indication of what to consider. For example, a client who wants hair that brushes their shoulders/collar would typically buy 10-12 inch bundles in straight hair but that client would need 14-16 inch kinky curly bundles. If the client is looking for hair that falls below the bra strap, they would typically only need 16-18 inches in straight hair extensions but for kinky curly hair extensions they would need at least 20 inches.

We recommend choosing practical, manageable lengths to offset budget constraints. The kinky curly texture is best optimized at lengths that fall between between the neck and shoulder blade.

Nevertheless, whatever length you decide on, kinky curly —with its fun and incredibly dynamic texture—is sure to refresh and revitalize your look.

Give it a try! 

3 Essentials for a Natural Looking Sew In

Cayman's local hairnistas are turning to wearing more often for a variety of reasons: as a transitioning aide, as a protective hairstyle,...etc. Regardless of the reasons, it is fair to say that hairnistas want their extensions to look as natural as possible—as if the extensions were growing from their own heads. There are 3 essentials needed for achieving a natural looking sew-in: 1. Root-realness 2. Hair Colour/luster 3. Hair Length/Thickness.

Root Realness 

Root-realness refers to how realistic your install appears at places where the hair visibly meets the scalp (i.e. where the install is parted or at the hair line). The key to achieving root realness is to have leave out—that is, using your own hair as a means of camouflage. This is true even when using closures—because a bit of leave out along the edges can help blend and camouflage the closure more effectively. (As an aside for closures, you also want to ensure that the scalp colour of the closure is a realistic match to your skin tone.)

Hair Colour & Lustre

The country of origin of your hair extensions is a strong determinant of how natural your install appears. I'm sure we've all seen some hairnistas wearing hair that's just too unnaturally dark or shiny —especially when you can spy a coarser looking leave-out (I've been guilty of this!). My rule of thumb is to opt for hair with a natural 1B color and a low to mid-luster such as Brazilian, Peruvian, and Malaysian hair types. If you find yourself with shiny, jet black hair such as hair sourced from Indian donors it would be advisable to gently lighten the hair which will address the colour issue and also tone down the luster.

Hair Length & Thickness. 

Sticking to practical lengths (10inches -18inches) and using between 2-3 bundles can give your sew-in a more natural appearance. Now, don't stone me yet! I know that many hairnistas want the glamour of thick, long hair from their sew-ins. But, beware! A glamorous install does not necessarily go hand in hand with a natural looking install. From the first glance, super long and super thick hair can be very suspect. Weave alert! I do concede, however, that the matter of hair length and thickness really comes down to taste and self-expression—and in that case, what looks unnatural from one vantage point might be quite natural looking from another.

To conclude, I guarantee that incorporating these pointers into your next install will ensure that your sew-in will be able to game the best weave checks.