101 Hair Extensions Installation - Featuring Bellami Hair

Who else is like me and has wanted to try hair extensions but literally has no idea where to even start?? Ever since I cut 9 inches off my hair I have been dying to try hair extensions out so I could just automatically have longer hair when I felt like it. I mean, I even used hair extensions as an excuse to push me to cut all of my hair off… and after a year I’m just now getting my first set of Bellami Hair!

Use code dtkaustin and you will get $$ off of your entire set!

Like I said before, I know a lot of people are kind of confused on how hair extensions work. There are so many different styles; clip-in or tape in, different colors, or real hair and fake hair. In this post I want to share how easy and amazing these extensions are and the techniques to get them looking amazing without spending hours on your hair!

First, a HUGE thank you to Tiffany at Lather Salon for teaching me how to install my extensions. I’m a hair extension noob and literally had no idea what I was doing, so this is going to be a learning experience for all of us!!

Here’s a quick before and after before we go through the process! Amazing right?!

For starters – How did I pick my extensions?

For me, having extensions wasn’t going to be a full-time gig. I just wanted to occasionally feel super fabulous with my long hair but not have to maintain a full head of long hair on a daily basis, so I opted for the clip-in style. This way, I can take them out every evening and hang them up ready to be clipped in the next time!

A lot of people have asked why you can’t sleep on them. First of all, it would hurt like hell! Second, your natural hair would start breaking off in the clips from tossing and turning, and no one wants that.

Now, for picking the right color to match your hair. True story, I totally thought my hair was off-black so I ordered a full set of off-black clip ins only to see that my hair was actually jet black. The great thing about these extensions is that they are REAL hair, so you can color them like real hair. I would suggest ordering the correct color but if all else fails, that is a great back up option.

How do I prep my Bellami Extensions?

Depending on if I got sweaty or the hair is getting tangly, I will wash each weft of hair with my usual sulfate free, shampoo and conditioner and let them hang dry. I will normally spray them with a heat protectant so they will last longer, especially if you are planning to keep wearing them for long periods of time. The less frequently that you wash your extensions, the longer they will last.

Now for the fun part! Installation Tips!

First – Make sure your hair is clean. When Tiffany told me to come in with clean, dry hair that hasn’t been in a pony-tail, I was a little confused. From years of modeling and working on set, we always love talent to come in with day old, dirty hair so that a curl will actually hold. And I don’t know if you guys have noticed but my hair is ALWAYS straight… NEVER holds a curl, EVER. So, I figured it would be best for me to come in with day old hair, but I was wrong. They want your hair to be super clean so it can all blend together correctly.

We quickly realized when I got there that my hair was way too soft after it had been freshly washed so we had to spray quite a few texturizing products in there to have the same hair consistency as the extensions. If you’re worried about the same issue, fear not! There are always ways to make it work and I will try and point out all of those tips in this post.

Once we sprayed my hair we did a basic curl all over so there would be a little something to work with once the extensions were clipped in and ready to curl.

Second – Lay out all of your Bellami Hair so you see how many wefts you have. We used 5 wefts on my head because my head was too small to hold the 6th, largest weft. In your Bellami box you will find multiple wefts of all sizes in your hair for perfect placement.

Third – We’re going to start at the bottom and work our way up. Divide your hair in a straight line at the bottom, which is where the first weft is going to go. Clip the remaining hair up so it doesn’t get in the way. Once this is completed, grab a teasing brush to tease the area that you are clipping in the Bellami extensions. You tease the area so the clip-ins have an easy place to clip on to and not slide out of your hair. I use the largest weft on the bottom of my head since that will be the easiest to hide.

Repeat all of these steps, sectioning off an inch or so in between wefts, until you get to the top. The top can be tricky, as you don’t want to see the clips. I suggest placing the last weft a little lower and teasing the hair a little more so you have more coverage.

Lastly – Time to blend!

Blending was one of the toughest parts for me because my hair is so fine and doesn’t hold a curl. So, as you can see in some of the “before” photos when we are blending my hair, the blunt cut is showing through. The extensions curl like a dream and would literally stay all day long, but natural hair was falling pretty quick. Like I said above, make sure you spray your hair with texturizing spray and using a higher temp on your curling wand to get the curls to stay longer. We sectioned off smaller pieces to curl each time to make sure we blended everything evenly. Don’t be afraid to give these extensions a quick trim if they are just too long for your liking too. For me, I loved a fuller look, but I know that wouldn’t be super practical for most of y’all.

If your hair is still showing through, take the bottom portion of the shorter hair and place into a low pony tail at the back of your head. This way, it is out of the way and the thickness of the extensions wont let it show through. An extremely handy trick I learned from Tiffany!

Overall, I definitely loved my first experience with Bellami Hair! It was so amazing to see myself with extremely full and long hair for once!! Even though my hair was long a year ago, it was never this long or full. I mean, my entire demeanor changed! Like I was a totally new person. Ask Tiffany, she was definitely laughing at how giddy I was to see myself with this amazing hair!!

Want your own now?? I purchased the Bellami Boo-Gotti 340g Extensions in 22″ length and if you use code dtkaustin you will get $$ off of your set!