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This is for those of you who want to change your hair length or volume, without a long-term commitment, damage, or a pile of money.
Clip-in extension kits, in both human and synthetic hair, are incredibly expensive, when you can make your own for a fraction of the price. Below I show you how I made my own, starting with bulk hair.
Many how-to sites stress that you *must* buy real human hair. Personally, however, I prefer synthetic, since it's much less expensive (and the idea of using human hair kind of squicks me). If you get the color right, the drawbacks of synthetic hair - not being able to dye it or use heat styling - are not that big a deal, especially since clip-ins can be removed so easily. They can also be easily swapped out for different textures/lengths/colors and other effects, so you don't have to bother dyeing or curling.
Clip-in extension kits, in both human and synthetic hair, are incredibly expensive, when you can make your own for a fraction of the price. Below I show you how I made my own, starting with bulk hair.
Many how-to sites stress that you *must* buy real human hair. Personally, however, I prefer synthetic, since it's much less expensive (and the idea of using human hair kind of squicks me). If you get the color right, the drawbacks of synthetic hair - not being able to dye it or use heat styling - are not that big a deal, especially since clip-ins can be removed so easily. They can also be easily swapped out for different textures/lengths/colors and other effects, so you don't have to bother dyeing or curling.
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Signing UpStep 1Gather Materials
To make the hair clips, you will need:
- 1-2 packets of synthetic hair, on a weft
(do not buy "ponytail hair," which is loose and incredibly difficult to work with*).
Depending on the store, you can also buy it off a roll, by length. In this case, measure your head and decide how thick you'll want the pieces before you go. (More on choosing hair on the next page)
- 15-20 wig clips
This will depend on how many hairpieces you make, but it's better to have extra than have to make another trip to the beauty supply store. You also don't want to skimp on the amount of clips you put in each hairpiece, or they're likely to come loose while wearing.
- Sharp scissors. to cut the wefts and trim the final pieces
- Needle and strong matching or invisible thread, to sew the wefts and clips together
- Measuring tape (or long piece of string), to gauge how wide each piece should be to custom-fit your head.
Optional:
-Sewing machine, to attach the wefts to one another
-Universal adhesive/crazy glue, to strengthen the bonds between wefts and clips, to finish off the edges, or as a shortcut to sewing
* (If you are a really hardcore DIY-er, very cheap, have limited access to colors/textures, or are just a masochist, you can save money by buying loose/bulk/'ponytail' hair and making your own wefts. While you can do this by hand, It doesn't have any benefit, unless you're trying to while away a prison sentence, so this is only a really good option if you have a sewing machine. It's still a very time-consuming and frustrating process, but do-able. There are several variations on the best way to do this, some using paper, some using tulle - searching 'sewing your own wefts' should turn up some helpful tutorials for the patient among you.)
- 1-2 packets of synthetic hair, on a weft
(do not buy "ponytail hair," which is loose and incredibly difficult to work with*).
Depending on the store, you can also buy it off a roll, by length. In this case, measure your head and decide how thick you'll want the pieces before you go. (More on choosing hair on the next page)
- 15-20 wig clips
This will depend on how many hairpieces you make, but it's better to have extra than have to make another trip to the beauty supply store. You also don't want to skimp on the amount of clips you put in each hairpiece, or they're likely to come loose while wearing.
- Sharp scissors. to cut the wefts and trim the final pieces
- Needle and strong matching or invisible thread, to sew the wefts and clips together
- Measuring tape (or long piece of string), to gauge how wide each piece should be to custom-fit your head.
Optional:
-Sewing machine, to attach the wefts to one another
-Universal adhesive/crazy glue, to strengthen the bonds between wefts and clips, to finish off the edges, or as a shortcut to sewing
* (If you are a really hardcore DIY-er, very cheap, have limited access to colors/textures, or are just a masochist, you can save money by buying loose/bulk/'ponytail' hair and making your own wefts. While you can do this by hand, It doesn't have any benefit, unless you're trying to while away a prison sentence, so this is only a really good option if you have a sewing machine. It's still a very time-consuming and frustrating process, but do-able. There are several variations on the best way to do this, some using paper, some using tulle - searching 'sewing your own wefts' should turn up some helpful tutorials for the patient among you.)
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You actually can use ponytail hair, and make your own wefts [I have, a couple times], but it'll probably double your time, at least. There're some good video tutorials on making wefts from ponytail hair on you tube. They usually have you machine-sew the hair on to a very thin piece of paper, back and forth, the tear away the paper (bad for the needle, I know).
Aside from the online store suggestion above, most cities have at least a couple of beauty supply stores that describe themselves as Black or African-[nationality], even in Vienna and Utrecht. They tend to have a variety of wefted hair, in different lengths, textures, and colors. If you know the number of the color you want, you can also order off of ebay, since the colors for synthetic hair are pretty much universal.
Good luck, and I plan on trying your DIY chemical peel next week. :D