If I could have anything in the world more than a boyfriend, a puppy, or a strong sense of self-worth it would be Kim Kardashians hair extensions.
WAIT, DONT LEAVE YET. Let me explain. It all started when I was 13 years old.
It was a cloudy afternoon back in 2001 2 p.m. to be precise( just go with it) when I decided to look my prepubescent face in the mirror and mention, You know what, youre ugly as inferno. But I think we can fix this.
I pulled out a pair of scissors from my desk drawer and decided to cut off roughly seven inches of my mane. It was freeing at the time and I genuinely guessed a shorter do would induce me look like Lizzie McGuire in Season 1 without the crimp. CLASSIC MISTAKE.
Disney Channel
I immediately regretted the move, andstraightened my hair to try and salvage any duration that was left. It was in that instant I seemed a true, intimate linkage deeper than Ive ever felt with a human to my hair straightener. I needed it, I craved it, but I wasnt aware how much it would ruin my life.
Haha, sounds like my ex.* High five*( I dream about you every night)
Fast forward 11 times and here “were about”! Its me, you guys a 24 -year-old celebrity editor who expends nine hours a day stalking the Kardashians.Kourtney, Kim, Khlo, Kylie, Kendall, and even Rob give me life when I need to feel better about my own. I Enjoy THEM ALL.
REX/ Shutterstock
Obviously, Kim is the OG, so we have to talk about her first. That womans hair is so luscious, I have dreamings about operating my fingers through it on the reg.( Too much? My b .)
Shes always switching up her appear and isnt afraid to boulder hair extensions even if it requires 50 million dollars and frequent visits to the salon. GIRLS DEDICATED AF!
Photo by Slaven Vlasic/ Getty Images for The Girls Lounge
Since I was 13, Ive urgently tried to grow my mane back, but it merely wont get to the length it used to be. Its frizzy and damaged, and Im also emphasized, so that probably doesnt help. IVE TRIED EVERYTHING: avocado masks, apple cider vinegar, vitamins, petroleums, exclaiming alone in the bathroom.
But one thing Ive never tried before is tape-in hair extensions with Paul Labrecque. Yup, if you havent heard about Paul and his parlour, then you better take a seat.
Paul Labrecque Salon& Spa was founded in 1988 by Paul himself. His shop started on the Upper West Side of NYC and has since expanded into three full service parlour& spas in Manhattan, and one in downtown Philadelphia.
Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa
This quote by Paul literally sums it up 😛 TAGEND
My passion is constructing my patrons look and feel their best. It is what I love to do constructing people are certain, beautiful, sexy and full of life.
Honestly, how could you not be sold? Paul is an expert when it comes to hair extensions and celebrity-inspired styles.Thats why I knew he was the only person who could do this task right. If Paul couldnt save my mane , no one could.
I first arrived to the salon a few weeks before my scheduled appointment for a mane consultation. Paul and I briefly discussed why I craved extensions, so I told him it was for a few inches of length and a whole lot of volume.
( Make me prettier, Paul. Please, I need you .)
Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa
A consultation is important and honestly, mandatory for anyone who wants hair extensions, so your stylist can color-match you and also know how much mane to order.
Paul explained,
During your consultation, I do a colour match. The extensions are simply good as the match of their hair color and they should never go darker than the whisker at the end, especially in todays manner. The notion is the brown[ my mane color] should be a somewhat lighter color.
He shared with me all the possible styles that can come from adding expansions: You can highlight, change the colouring, and really do anything.
We can also give you ombre extensions if you didnt want to ombre your hair because you didnt crave substances on your mane, I can ordering you ombre extensions that will ombre your mane for you. So, a lot of celebrities because they dont want to put bleach go light or dark[ and] a lot of it is does so with extensions.
After our short chat, I left the salon already seeming like Kim Kardashians twin. A week afterward, I returned to the salon and was ready to have the outer match the in. He he he. Im garbage, I know.
Paul told me I would be get surgical videotape expansions, which happen to be his all-time fave compared to micro-beads, proteinpolymers, and sew-in expansions( a weave ).
Katie Corvino
For my mane specifically, surgical tape expansions were the best alternative because they lie flat on the head and, according to Paul, wont damage the hair as much as beads.
The metal beadings have a glue inside of the metal like an epoxy. You squeeze it and the epoxy lets go and holds to the hair, and because it gales onto the whisker It makes a pretty bad knottage in the mane[ thats] hard to get out, but they last about three months. People think the beadings are healthier but theyre not, theres something in them to construct them stay on.
Surgical tape extensions, on the other hand, last 10 weeks and have an easier removal process because there is less knotting. Theyre likewise more secure. Paul explained,
Its the kind of tape they use for a wound on your body to comprised the meander shut. It doesnt let moisture in. You get it wet and it wont open up, theres no chance of it opening.
Sounds legit to me. Paul, I know we just met, but I trust you with my life.
The next pace was straightening my whisker to help it blend with the new expansions. Once my brain was lookin shiny and sleek, Paul and his assistant attached small-scale batches of the hair extensions( about an inch wide-ranging) to my head.
Heres how it works: Each segment has a double-sided adhesive thats used to attach the bond to your natural mane. Your real whisker lies right between two of the add-on parts, so the extensions blend in perfectly.
Heres a close up pic, just so you can see what I mean.
Katie Corvino
It was a super easy, super painless procedure that took a little over an hour. THATS IT. I candidly didnt even feel them touching my head.
Once each strand was attached and in place, Paul curled my whisker using a Good Hair Day( ghd) cast-iron. LADIES, if theres one thing you need keep in your closet, its this.
ghd Professional Classic 1 Styler, $101.19, Amazon
Paul explained the cast-iron is the perfect tool for celebrities because it can straightens or curl your hair all in one 😛 TAGEND
It straightens[ and] it curls simply by bending it, so I can get a nice curl on the whisker If I draw straight-out, I make it straight but the minute I wrap the whisker all over the iron, I make it curl sort of like how scissors go down a ribbon.
Celebrities love to use it because they love to have one thing they do everything with when they travelling, and it does ponders with expansions. Merely move slow, you wont learn where one ends and one begins.
Im not trying to exaggerate, but I actually looked like a simulate. Kim Kardashian, is that you ?!
Theresa Massony/ Elite Daily
( Also, these pics were taken two weeks after I got the extensions. THEYRE STILL GOING STRONG, YOU GUYS .)
If youve ever been concerned about adding heat to extensions, dont be. Anything you can do to regular hair, you can do to these babes. Theyre real human mane, so curl dat ish up!
Katie Corvino
I then asked Paul to give me his best haircare tips-off for extensions, and he laid them on me.
First, never let the mane knot. Be sure to brush your expansions and make sure they dont tangle. Ive had my expansions for almost two weeks now and I havent had any issues.
The second tip-off is to style your natural whisker and the extensions together. If you want to curl your hair, take a piece of both. Dont treat them separately. As Paul puts it, You want them to infuse together so theyll look very real.
The third tip is to only go four to five inches longer, MAX. Paul says you dont even have to go longer with expansions you can get them cut to the same length as your normal hair and just have them added for thickness.
However, if you choose to go longer than Pauls recommendation, he cautions the extensions might not blend as well and look less natural. Pauls a pro, you guys. LISTEN TO PAUL.
Now, Im not gonna lie: Expansions are a lot of money, but there are affordable alternativies. For people who cant spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on their hair, Paul recommends Halo hair extensions.
