How to install your I-tips hair? (An article about I-tips installation.)

Hey everyone. Today I'm going to be doing a full installation of I-tips using 5 different blends.

 So for this classic installation that I'm going to be doing, I'm sectioning off the hair to make it easier to diagram and map about. I've sectioned off the front too, because I'm not going to get to there until at least row 3. Now that I'm here in the back, I'm going to be starting at the nape, working my way up. My first section is going to be horizontal.

 Now that I've sectioned her hair up, she is blonde and her hair is nice and healthy. So you are gonna have some flyaways from time to time you want to be careful with these cuz as you're doing an installation they could become into the cylinders and create crosshairs that can be very irritating. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to take my flyaway strip right through here. I've clipped the hair up nice and neat, so I'm just gonna take my flyaway strip, you put it at the bottom of your section, push it up and it makes it nice and clean and takes those flyways away. With my model Jane, she just got her color done and it's very beautiful. So what I want to do is I want to emphasize that. So I'm going to be doing something between an ombre and a balayage something like a sombre so what I'm going to do is I'm going to put light down here on my first couple of rows then I'm going to intertwine some darker pieces and then I am gonna end with that light again to give her that soft dimension but really brighten her up down towards the bottom.

 Now that I've started my install I do want to give you a little tip that I did with the Dreamcatcher's hair it's 100% human hair in the quality is very strong and high so I actually prepped the hair by purple shampooing it cuz like I said she just got her hair done so her toner is nice and fresh. The hair has been sitting in the back for a little while, so I wanted to fluff it up with the dream catch your hair. Once you shampoo it, it really gives it that body and that volume that you're really looking for. So I prepped the hair by purple shampooing it, giving it a clean blow dry so that it mimics more what she has in her hair right now.

 I've now completed my first row. So just a couple of tips that I want to point out. You can already see that her hair is melting in with those extensions. Something to look at more during your consultation, but it's something to realize through your application, the more cylinders and hairs that you can fit in the bottom, the more hair you're gonna need for the head. So when doing your consultation, take a look down at this nape section and try to gauge how many cylinders you're gonna be able to fit inside of this one row. Because if you can fit a lot of cylinders here, you're gonna need more, double, almost triple through the top up here rather than less. And that could make or break your application on how dense and how full your hair looks.

 Now, the other thing I wanted to point out is you want to double check and make sure when your client pulls their hair up that it's not going to be seen so what you can do is gauge leading one to two fingers around the hairline and then I'm gonna grab her hair here and I'm gonna pull it straight up as if she's gonna pull it into a pony and you'll notice you cannot see any of those cylinders they're completely hidden which means you left enough space underneath to cover that as you're going forward so now I'm gonna continue up the head.

 You'll notice that my second row is slightly different than my first row I took horizontal sections that's gonna help create that maximum density with section No. 2 I've worked from behind the ear to behind the ear and I'm now in a U shape this is gonna help emphasize the natural structure of the head.

 So as I'm installing, some people are afraid to crimp it too tight this could be a factor depending on the type of quality of hair that you're working with dream catchers, the tip of the extension is rubberized or fancy word polyurethane so what that means and why that is important is because when I stick the tip inside of the cylinder here and I break it down and I pinch it right here, that I tip is then going to fill the entire cylinder and cushion the client's hair not all individual extensions are like this a lot of times they have more of a hard coding or a plastic coating so that when you cramp it tight it's gonna break down and it's also harsher on the client's natural hair so finding that good quality tip is really going to be essential within your application and really the longevity of both your clients here and how long you can actually wear these extensions.

 So now that I'm approaching my third row depending on the situation or how many bundles you need to fit into your client's head you can alter your sections just a little bit so with my model Jane here I've done more of a deep U where I'm like more scooping underneath that's gonna allow me to fit more hair inside of my client's head. If this was just a classic install or I was just doing about 4 bundles, then I would just go with more, a softer view that's not as deep and dramatic. Adding that deepness allows you to add more hair in. She's naturally got that dense hair. So we're probably going to be going upwards of six bundles.

 So I'm about 3/4 of the way through my third row. I did want to point out that in the back you're doing that U shape to help emphasize that natural flow of the hair. You also can put more cylinders, and more hairs in the head as I go and transition to the side here. You will notice that it is now horizontal. The reason for this is the sides are always weaker. The main reason is because it's lacking so much of a hairline that's in the back, always also around the hairline. It's always gonna be more of a fragile type of hair just because of that transition on the head. So when I'm working towards the front, I'm working with a horizontal always on the sides here, horizontal on the side, and then I transition in the back.

 I've now completed row 3. A couple of tips that I want to point out is when I'm working through my row here, I am putting everything side by side, no natural hair in between this is going to build that maximum density as I'm working up through the head. Once I get to the top, you'll see that I start to space them out to love that naturally comes through but I just wanted to show you here everything is lying right next to each other. It's slightly away from the scalp. You have enough room to give she could throw her hair up if she wanted to it's not gonna harm her horizontal on the side again, that deep U in the back allowing me to add more space for my next row and then continuing to the other side.

 The last thing I do want to point out is like I said I'm doing something called a sombre which is a soft ombre in between ombre and balnage. So you will see that I started to add a little bit of that dimension into her hair through here. I started off with solid blonde and as I work up I'm slowly introducing those darker to mid colors.

 So I've now completed row No. 4. It looks identical to row No. 3 because we're putting so many bundles in her hair because she naturally has that thick dense hair. So you'll see on the sides it's still that horizontal and it's still U-shaped in the back. This is gonna be the last row that I do side by side, with no natural hair in between. As I go to the next row in the back, I'll start to space out my cylinders to allow that natural to come through. On the sides, I will always stay horizontal cuz I always need that maximum density.

 So I've now completed Janet's full install. I wanted to point out that my last row here, row No. 5, does have a heavy side part on this side over here. So I have raised the section on this side a little bit higher than it is on the other side to help compensate for that weight difference from her heavy part to her not-heavy part. So on this side here, I'm still horizontal side by side with no natural hair in between. But as I go back through here, you'll notice I have now spaced it out. My row No. 4, it's one cylinder space apart. My row No. 5, it's almost two, leaving that space there to allow that natural hair to come through.

 Once I finish my application, what I like to do is I like to go back row by row and just double-check my sectioning and my cylinders as you're going through. Sometimes you can get tiresome, so you just want to go back through and ensure that everything is nice and tight so that they don't have any fallout as they come back.

 Now that I'm finished with the installation, I'm going to go ahead and do the haircut when hair cutting with extensions, typically when using a feather razor because it helps give you those rough edges as you're going through it because it's nice and perfect so it's gonna help mirror that client's natural texture so you will notice that my client here, my model has more of a horizontal line so I am just going to carve out on this top layer just to help it diffuse within the extensions. I'm gonna do that last because I'm going to create that layering effect first within the extensions, see how it falls, and then only cut the client's hair as much as you absolutely need to.

 Taking more of her natural stops. That's where I'm gonna start, softly feathering, creating a face-framing effect. It helps that transition from the natural to wherever you're ending your extensions.

 Cream at movement within her extensions. So now I'm just going to take the top layer of her hair, just above row number five. So what I'm doing now, as I am noticing, I can still see her structured line. So I'm gonna go to her in between on where that line is appearing and help carve out right in between.

 Now you don't want to go on top with your feather razor because all that's gonna do is create more layering and shorten the client's hair and that's not your intent. Your intention is to help break up this weight line from them either having dense hair or a structured haircut. So when working with the clients naturally, you're gonna work from that underneath to only remove density, not link. You can see how it just starts to diffuse that line and it starts to disappear with any extensions.

 So what I'm doing now, as I am noticing, I can still see her structured line. So I'm gonna go to her in between on where that line is appearing and help carve out right in between. You have that nice perfect application. It's easy to section and get out of the way. So I'm gonna finish up her haircut and then I'm gonna get to styling.

 I hope that you all enjoyed this sharing topic and found it helpful, and I'll share a new topic in my next one.

 Bye.