Rescuing Your Holiday Extensions

If you installed extensions for the holidays, you might find that your month old install needs a quick rescue from funky smells, scalp itching, and scraggly looking edges.

Here are some tips to help you battle these common nuisances and keep your install on point for the next few weeks.

We (Don't) Want The Funk

Unpleasant odors emanating from your install develop when the tracks beneath your extensions are not frequently cleaned and/or not properly dried. 

In order to get optimum cleansing when washing your install, shampoo your tracks twice before applying a moisturizing conditioner. After rinsing out the conditioner, use a blow dryer or sit under a hooded dryer for ideally 30 minutes—focusing the heat stream on the hair tracks.

If you're planning to get active for the new year, then your install will require more frequent washing. Schedule at least one wash per week and follow up with ideally 30 minutes of drying. Furthermore, after each exercise session, dry your sweat dampened tracks with a blow drier set to cool or low heat in order to prevent the formation of mold on your braids.

SOS! This Itch!

Scalp itching can become increasingly intense the longer you wear your install. Common culprits responsible for itching include the use of mineral oils, petrolatum, and heavy oils (for e.g. castor oil) on the scalp and the general buildup of dirt/grease/bacteria on the hair scalp.

Quick fixes to alleviate itching include washing hair with a clarifying shampoo that has tea tree oil—which is a natural antiseptic and antifugal treatment. Additionally, avoid moisturizing tracks with products containing mineral oils/petrolatum (for e.g. Doo Gro Growth Stimulator, Blue Magic Hair Oil). Instead use products such as pure shea butter or pure avocado oil—only applying them to hair tracks not the scalp.

Slicking Down The Scraggle Monster

Remember when your install was fresh and your edges lay perfectly? Recapture that magic and ditch the scraggly edges by applying a good deep conditioner and leave in conditioner to your edges. This will ensure that the hair edges are soft and malleable; thus, well prepped for the application of edge control gels.

When choosing an edge control gel, choose a brand that does not have alcohol in the ingredient list (as alcohol dries out and breaks the hair edges). Additionally, use your finger or a soft tooth brush to apply the control gel instead of hard bristle brushes—which can tear up your edges and contribute to a receding hairline.

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.

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.

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.

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.