Do tape in extensions ruin your hair Reddit

Watching with interest - at 54 I finally took the plunge and went for extensions in my fine and frizzy hair.

I avoid tugging on them at all costs, dont pull them back tightly and generally treat my hair very very very gently. I also got them more for thickness than length since my hair was see-through below the chin. So yes, not too many extensions.

The biggest temptation for me is too much heat styling - I can do curls now where I never could. But I still have to treat my own hair very carefully - wash twice a week, lots of treatments, and as little heat styling as I can get away with. The trouble is, where my hair would be dry in 5 minutes, it takes more like 15 now, so I think the biggest risk with these is heat damage.

Air drying is not an option for me with the texture of my hair and has not been since childhood. I would have a frizzy afro of almost waves with straight extensions hanging down below!

For this reason, much as I love how these look, I will use the hair as long as it stays nice and go back to a halo. The halo was much simpler, looked just as good and it was nice to be able to take it off to sleep. Also because you dont have to wash it hardly ever, it stays nice so much longer. And you can have way more thickness without stress on your hair.

So, last year I had tape extensions for a few months.* I had them removed in December after noticing major thinning of my natural hair in any areas where extensions had been. It's now the beginning of May, and none of the hair has grown back. Is this normal? I was expecting to see some stubble by now.

I know people get traction alopecia from extensions, but I only wore these for a few months. From what I've read, permanent damage to the hair follicle only occurs after a period of years. The rest of my hair is still growing longer (about 0.5in per month), I've had blood tests and all is normal. I'm thinking of trying derma-rolling and minoxidil to kickstart the regrowth, but I'm wondering why it hasn't started naturally.

*Went to regular maintenance appointments and took perfect care of them. I was told that tape extensions are the gentlest type and cause no damage if done properly. Three different salons (never settle on one opinion) and everything I found online told me this, but learn from my mistake and don't believe it!

Extremely damaging.

I have the same hair like you, and I resorted to fusion extensions for almost 2 years. They thinned out my already thin hair something fierce, I had to stop getting them because I was afraid I was going to lose all my hair. My ponytail was about the size of my pinkie finger! And I didn't get poor quality extensions either, I had Great Lengths then another good "non damaging" brand.

They pull out your hair through wear and tear, but the worst part is the removal. They say the keratin glue just crumbles easily....yeah, it doesn't. There is no way you can remove the extensions without pulling out a lot of your own hair, and it's not just the hair that would have fallen anyway, like they tell you. Sometimes the extension slides right off, but the glue remains in your hair at the root, and they use a fine tooth comb to try and remove it.

Honestly, they look great while you have them in, but the aftermath is not worth it, especially if you have thin hair to begin with, and every strand counts lol. I would know. I removed my last set about 5 years ago, and my hair never bounced back to the way it was pre-extensions. Still thin, still brittle, and I'm not sure it will ever completely recover.

I also can't do clip ins, those pull and break my fragile hair too, and the clips are difficult to hide anyway. The only ok option I found were the halo style extensions, those don't damage because they don't attach to your hair, but on the down side they are not permanent.

Now I just take good care of my hair from the inside out (vitamins, good shampoos and conditioners) and I can finally say that it looks decent. Not great, thanks to the damage from the extensions, but decent.

I have short (shorter than my shoulders) hair that's really thick, but takes a million years to grow. I've worn clip ins, and those are annoying to take out and out in every day, not to mention they hurt. I heard the glue ins make your hair fall out, and that the sewn in ones get gross. Tape ins are the only ones that seem okay. Has anyone used them? How many pieces should I get? Where can I buy the highest quality ones online? Thanks!

level 1

I've had tape extensions and I didn't like them. Mainly because they were really bad quality for the price (I got them done professionally), but also because I found them hard to blend and the tape would slip out easily. They didn't harm my real hair though.

I wear clip ins now and while they're a hassle to take in and out, I wouldn't switch to any other kind. They're the best imo.

level 1

I had tape-ins done last month and I kept them in for 24 hours before taking them out. I also have thick hair so in order for them to look natural I would have needed about 4 packs of hair instead of the two I had bought . Also the hair I got was Asian hair that was dyed my colour, so the professional that installed them said that if I had bought European or Indian hair I would have needed less as their hair is generally thicker. But the biggest problem for me was the feeling of having them in. It's like when you haven't showered for a few days and your camping or something and you can feel your hair getting matted but your too afraid to touch it because it looks okay and you don't want to mess it up. So if you don't mind that feeling I say go for it. Otherwise my advice is that it's not worth the money. It didn't damage my hair though (but then again it didn't have much time to so I don't know)

level 2

Yeah, I have those micro bead extensions in for about the same time. lol

level 1

have you thought about fusions?

level 1

I did tape after seeing a couple youtube videos they looked nice when I did them but they were so uncomfortable and I lost a lot of hair when I took them out even with trying like 10 removal methods its sucked,. I wouldnt suggest them. I like glue in though you just have to do them like once a week :/

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