With the festive period just around the corner, there’s set to be outings galore as we meet up with family and friends to celebrate various occasions. Whether it’s a catch-up over coffee, an evening out with work colleagues, or a night on the tiles with your closest pals, there’ll be plenty of reasons to get dolled up – but is the beauty of hair extensions worth splashing the cash in the run up to the busiest, most expensive few weeks of the year? We found out.
When vipmagazine.ie were approached by Platinum Luxury Hair to try their range of hair extensions, we jumped at the chance. Who doesn’t want long, luscious locks? Now my hair was already quite thick to begin with, but what it lacked in, was length. What Platinum offers, is essentially, your dream hair – at whatever thickness and length you desire.
After a colour consultation in their Grafton Street salon, I learned very quickly that regardless of your hair colour, they’ve got an extension option for you. My stylist matched up the extensions perfectly to my own colour, mixing two shades, and then cut my natural hair so everything would blend together seamlessly. I was told that the process of getting the extensions applied – as well as taken out – will be quick and pain free once done by a professional – and that couldn’t be more true. I opted for 3/4 head of extensions rather than a full head, as I already have lots of natural hair. Once applied, the extensions were cut up to a desired length, and styled. The entire process took less than two hours – much to my surprise, as I was expecting to be sat in that salon chair for an awful lot longer.
The after-care, is where the work starts. You’re told exactly what to – and more importantly, what not to do with your new hair. The bonds are applied close to your root, and they take a bit of getting used to. You can’t see them at all, but you can feel them when touching your head. Platinum offer a range of shampoo and conditioner which the stylist recommends to keep your hair in tip-top condition. There are certain shampoos which you can’t use, as the ingredients don’t react well with the bonds, and could result in you losing some – we were told up to ten is natural, but still freaked out when two fell out. It’ll cost you more than regular supermarket brand, however if you want to get milage out of your extensions, it’s worth it.
When brushing, it’s recommended that you use a particular extension brush and whatever you do, be careful not to get too close the root or it’ll pull – we learned this the hard way when our Instyler Straightening Brush caught in a bond. The pain is real, friends! As you’ve got so much new hair, be prepared and willing to spend more time styling. Whether you’re simply blowdrying, straightening or curling, it’s going to take that little bit longer as you’ve so much new hair to get through, but the end result is worth the effort, and the styling tends to last longer than what it did on my natural hair.
The hair is high maintenance, and costs around €300 depending on how many packets of extensions you need, but is it worth it? We certainly think so – but be prepared for the extra costs when you go shopping afterwards!
Platinum contact details:
Phone: 01 6708639
Email: sales@platinumhumanhair.com
Address: 3rd Floor, Grafton Buildings, Grafton Street.