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Everybody is rocking hair extensions. Whether that be in the form of weaves, clip-ins, or wigs. Extensions are in and they are a fun way to switch up your look, so why not give them a try.
That being said the verbiage that comes along with wearing extensions can be confusing. Like what’s the difference between weave and clip-ins, or a lace-front and a lace-frontal, or what’s even the difference between synthetic hair and human. Well, look no further because we will cover all the things that have to do with hair extensions.
Weave
A weave is when strands of hair are threaded onto a weft with the purpose of weaving the wefts into the hair. This is done by braiding down the person’s natural hair and sewing the wefts to their hair.
There are different ways you can get it placed into your hair. You can get a full sew-in, which is when all of the wearer’s hair is braided down and the weave is attached to the braids. There is also a partial sew-in, which is when most of the wearer’s hair is braided down and a portion of the person’s natural hair is left. The weave is attached to the hair that is braided down and the hair that is left out can be blended with the weave hair. You can also get the weave put on a wig cap and made into a wig.
Clip Ins
Clip-ins are a simplified version of a weave. Strands of hair are threaded onto a weft, and then a clip is attached to the weft with the purpose of it being able to easily attach to a person’s natural hair. The hair doesn’t need to be braided down to attach the clip-ins. The wearer just parts their hair and attaches the clip-ins wherever they’d like to achieve longer looking hair and volume. Clip-ins look most natural when they actually match the wearer’s hair texture and color.
Lace Frontal
A lace frontal recreates the hairline from ear to ear with the purpose of mimicking one’s own scalp. Making it look like the hair is actually growing from the wearer’s head. A lace frontal only covers the front of the hairline and the back of the hair is usually filled with weave hair. The hair can also be placed on a silk base instead of lace, too. To wear, you can attach it to a wig or you can get it sewn-in with weave hair. In order to get the frontal to look more realistic, people will sometimes bleach it to get it to the desired color to match their scalp.
Lace Closures
Lace closures are the same thing as a lace frontal, but they are smaller, like a 4×4 piece of lace and hair to cover up any opening you may have in the front of a sew-in or wig. It is always placed in the front of the hair, and gives the illusion that the hair is growing from the wearer’s scalp.
Full Lace Wigs
Full lace wigs are when individual hairs are placed on a lace wig cap. This allows the wearer to be a little more creative in the hairstyles they can wear. This is also the type of wigs that Kylie Jenner likes to wear and many celebrities. They are super expensive because they look the most realistic.
Human Hair vs Synthetic hair
Synthetic hair is hair that is man-made in a factory, it’s good for short term use. Two weeks tops. Human hair is hair that was actually taken from another human being, but sometimes the hair is processed, such as dyed and made to be curly or straight, and sometimes it not. There are also many different types of human hair, such as Brazilian, Indian, Malaysian, Chinese, Peruvian, Eurasian, and it can come curly, straight, wavy, or kinky. All human hair is not made the same, and usually the more expensive the hair, the better the quality. Also if the hair is virgin that is also a key indicator that it’s better quality hair. Hair can be purchased at the local beauty supply store of online.
Now that you are officially a certified weaveologist you can go out there and accurately select which weaved hairstyle would work better for you. All the weaved hairstyles mentioned above can be applied to anyone’s hair type and for your first encounter with weave, I recommend getting it installed by a professional. Now go out and stunt on your weave-less friends, Wavy Wonder!
