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Hair Extensions

17 / 05 / 2013
How to shop for hair extensions online

Online shopping is convenient and the options are almost endless! But it doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Here’s a guide to help you buy hair extensions online (whether they’re from Donna Bella or not!)

Remy Hair –  Unless you’re specifically looking  for synthetic, 100% remy hair is the way to go. Remy means that all the hair cuticles are facing the right direction. This reduces tangling and matting and makes the hair last longer. If a website doesn’t specifically state that the extensions are 100% Human Remy Hair, then they probably aren’t. (All of Donna Bella’s hair is 100% human, except for our synthetic line.)

Color Match – All screens vary, so matching your hair or your client’s hair can be tricky. The best way to find your color is to use a color swatch. Hair swatches are great because you can compare colors in real life. You can order one from Donna Bella here or find a salon that hair extensions.

Quantity – An important question to ask is how much comes in a pack? A pack of hair extensions might seem really affordable, but if there isn’t very much hair in every package, it probably isn’t a good deal. That’s why it is crucial to know how much each individual strand is going to cost.

Not every strand is the same, however. Some strands are as small as ½ gram, others are more. (Donna Bella’s strands are 1 gram each.)  Make sure to notice how many grams you’re getting in each pack so you can compare and get the best deal.

Ratings and Reviews – if you’re purchasing from a company that you’ve never done business with before, it’s usually a good idea to read some reviews online. Not every company is perfect all the time, but you’ll get a sense of whether it’s a trustworthy business from others who’ve worked with them before.

Customer Service – What if you have questions? Using live chat and calling in are a must, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have a question or concern. At Donna Bella, we’re happy to help, and we’ll even take orders over the phone.

Don’t let online shopping scare you! Ordering hair extensions online is easy if you know what to look for and you pick a company you trust.

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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Hair Extension News

10 / 05 / 2013
Getting the Real Deal: How to Avoid Imitation Hair Extensions

Here at Donna Bella, we want to make sure that our customers are happy and getting the best hair transformation experience possible. We’re confident in the quality of our hair because we’re constantly checking and testing it to ensure it’s the best on the market. Our hair is full, smooth, and undamaged, and if you’re ever unsatisfied, we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it right.

That’s why you should always make certain that you’re purchasing directly from Donna Bella, and not an alternate source. Why? Essentially, we can’t guarantee the quality of hair from other sites, even when they claim to have “Donna Bella Hair.” We’ve even found some websites that consciously mislead customers by claiming to sell Donna Bella Hair, and then use a substandard alternative, and we don’t want this to happen!

So how do you know if you’ve ordered true Donna Bella hair? Just look for these two major things when you make a purchase:

Where you order - donnabellahair.com and donnabellahairextensions.com are the only websites that sell genuine Donna Bella Hair.

What it looks like – the Donna Bella packaging will always bear the official Donna Bella logo. Simply put, If it doesn’t say Donna Bella on the package, it isn’t Donna Bella hair.

Ultimately, we want to help you have the best experience possible with hair extensions, so make sure you know who you’re ordering from. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to let us know!

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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Extension Tip

03 / 05 / 2013
Lice and Hair Extensions

On the Donna Bella blog we love talking about fun and fashionable things, but we also want to offer solutions to tricky problems, like lice. Lice isn’t a very glamorous thing to talk about. Yet lice infestations happen, and what do you do if you are wearing extensions and you find you have lice?

One of the reason that wigs got popular in the first place was because head lice was so prevalent that most people just kept their head shaved and wore wigs. Hair extensions, however, are a different story because they are actually connected to your own hair.

Fortunately, you don’t have to shave your head to get rid of lice. But if you are wearing hair extensions, it’s probably best to take them out before starting on any lice extermination treatment.

If the extensions are removed from the head, then any lice on them will die within 48 hours, because they don’t have anything to feed on. But be careful not to let them spread to anyone else before they die. It’s still probably a good idea to comb through the extensions and wash them before reusing them. Use a fine-tooth lice comb to find and extract lice and nits (their eggs) from the hair.

Lice treatments are made of pretty harsh chemicals. If you apply them to hair extensions, make sure to keep them away from the bonds. Also be sure to follow all the directions on the treatments exactly.

After your hair is lice-free, you can have your hair extensions put back in. It will probably take at least 2 weeks, but sometimes longer to eradicate the bugs. If the the problem remains, it’s probably best to talk to your doctor.

More things you should know about lice:

Lice will cling to hair whether it’s clean or dirty. If you get lice, it doesn’t mean you don’t have good hygiene.

Normal shampooing and conditioning won’t hurt them.

Head lice don’t carry disease (thank goodness!), however, they can cause your head to itch, and this is pretty uncomfortable.

Scientists aren’t exactly sure how lice spread. They can’t fly or jump, so they probably spread through direct contact. To prevent lice spreading, it is best not to share combs, brushes, hats, towels, or clothing with someone who has head lice. This has been found to be a successful way to prevent lice infestation.

Lice have a bad social stigma, but it’s a manageable problem and there are solutions to fix it. For more information about lice and how to prevent and treat an infestation, you can check out some of the sites below.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/ (Center for Disease Control)

http://news.discovery.com/human/health/lice-science-school-kids-121002.htm (Discovery News)

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/headlice.html (MedlinePlus)

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Hair Extensions

26 / 04 / 2013
Hair Extensions 101: Kera-Link Hair Extension Basics

New to hair extensions? Here’s all you need to know about Donna Bella’s Kera-Link hair extension method.

Kera-Link hair extensions are one of the most popular methods of professional hair extension attachment, mostly because it’s the oldest and most traditional method of attaching hair extensions. Stylists and clients love Kera-Link because it’s trusted, natural, and long-lasting. You’ll also hear people call this the “Fusion” method or the “Glue-In” method (even though our method doesn’t use glue).

Kera-Link extensions come in packs of 20 strands each. Each of these strands has a small, flat, square-shaped tip that holds all the individual hairs together. A strand is made of 1 gram of hair. A full head of Kera-Link hair is about 5 to 9 packs of hair. This means you could have 100 – 180 hair extension strands or more for a full head installation.

The hair extension tip is a square-shaped keratin protein bond. This tip is solid until melted with the Hair Extension Tool. The stylist takes a small section of hair that is equal to the hair extension strand and places the bond over the section. The small plates at the end of the Melting Connector melt and soften the bonds. The stylist uses her fingers to mold and shape the melted keratin around the hair. When it cools, the keratin hardens again, creating a sealed, durable bond.

These small bonds are attached strand by strand, row by row starting at the base of the head and working up the sides and back of the head. Once finished, the bonds lie completely flat against the head and are covered by the upper layers of hair. After all the wefts have been installed, the stylist then blends and styles the hair so the extensions look completely natural.

Kera-Link hair can last for about three to six months. As you wear Kera-Link extensions, your hair will grow as it normally does, and that growth causes the bond and hair extension to move further and further away from the scalp. That’s why it’s important to go in for touch ups every few weeks so your stylist can adjust the bonds by removing them and re-applying them closer to the scalp.

Removing Kera-Link extensions is easy with Keratin Bond Remover. This alcohol-based solution helps break down the adhesive so the bonds loosen. After the solution has been applied for a few seconds, the stylist uses the Hair Extension Tool to break the keratin bond. Once it’s loose, the hair extension slides off!

You can shop for Donna Bella Kera-Link hair by visiting donnabellahair.com.

Want to learn how to install Donna Bella hair extensions? Check out our Online Education program.

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Hair Extensions

19 / 04 / 2013
Hair Extensions 101: Tape-In Hair Extension Basics

New to hair extensions? Here is everything you need to know about Donna Bella’s Tape-In hair extensions.

Hair extensions are made of real human hair and are attached to existing hair to add length and fullness.There are several ways to attach hair extensions, and Tape-In is one of the newest methods. Stylists and clients love it because it’s easy and only takes about an hour to install. The attachment points of Tape-In extensions are seamless and won’t damage hair. Tape-In extensions come in 18 inch and 22 inch lengths.

Tape-Ins come in wefts, each 1.5 inches wide. There are 10 of these wefts in every pack and each weft comes pre-bonded with a special adhesive designed for use with hair. A typical full head of Tape-In extensions is about 3 to 5 packs of hair.

The stylist pulls off the protective strip on the Tape-In weft and presses the adhesive area firmly onto the hair near the scalp. Then another hair extension weft is placed underneath the first hair weft, sandwiching the client’s hair in between the two wefts. This technique keeps the hair and hair extension in place, sealed in the protective adhesive strips. The adhesive is strong and safe for use in hair.

These wefts are installed row by row working up the head toward the crown area. Wefts are also attached on the sides of the head to fill in hair on the sides of the head.

Once finished, the bonds lie completely flat against the head and are covered by the upper layers of hair, making the attachment points undetectable and smooth. After all the wefts have been installed, the stylist then blends and styles the hair so the extensions look completely natural.

Tape-In hair can last for about two to four months. As you wear Tape-In extensions, your hair will grow as it normally does, and that growth causes the weft and hair extension to move further and further away from the scalp. That’s why it’s important to go in for touch ups every few weeks so your stylist can adjust the wefts by moving them closer to the scalp.

Removing Tape-In extensions is easy with Tape-In Bond Remover. This oil-based solution helps break down the adhesive so the bonds loosen. After the solution has been applied for a few seconds, you can gently slide the Tape-Ins out of the hair.

You can shop for Donna Bella Tape-In Hair by visiting donnabellahair.com.

Want to learn how to install Donna Bella hair extensions? Check out our Online Education program.

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Hair Extensions

12 / 04 / 2013
Hair Extensions 101: I-Link Hair Extension Basics

New to hair extensions? Here are the basics about the I-Link hair extensions.

Hair extensions are a way to add length and fullness to hair. Actual human hair is attached to existing hair. There are several methods of doing this, and I-Link is Donna Bella’s name for the beaded method of hair extensions. Small bundles of hair — called strands — are attached to hair near the roots with a small bead.

Each pack of I-Link hair contains 20 strands of hair. Each of these strands has a small, shoestring-like tip that holds all the individual hairs together. A strand is made of 1 gram of hair. A full head of I-Link hair is about 5 to 9 packs of hair. This means you could have 100 – 180 strands of I-Link hair or more for a full head installation.

What makes I-Link unique are the beads. The beads used for I-Link extensions are very small. They are the perfect size to hold both the natural hair and the tip of the hair extension. There are a few different kinds of beads, but they are all small and soft enough to be crimped down to hold the hair and the hair extension in place.

The bead is threaded onto a small section of hair near the client’s scalp. The tip of the hair extension strand is placed into the bead, and a special hair extension tool is used to crimp and flatten the bead so it stays in place.

After installation, the stylist blends and trims the hair so the hair and the extensions blend together and look natural. The attachment points are hidden by the top layers of hair, so no one can tell

In a full head installation, there are rows and rows of beads installed. Sometimes women only have a few strands installed to add pops of color or highlights.

I-Link hair can last for a long time. As you wear I-Link extensions for a few weeks, your hair will grow as it normally does, and that growth causes the bead and hair extension to move further and further away from the scalp. That’s why it’s important to go in for touch ups every few weeks so your stylist can adjust the beads by moving them closer to the scalp.

I-Link Extensions last for 3 to 6 months.When it’s time to take out all the extensions, the stylist use the Hair Extension Tool to uncrimp the beads and slide the strands out of the beads.

Want to learn how to install Donna Bella hair extensions? Check out our Online Education program.

Shop for Donna Bella I-Link Hair

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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Beauty News

05 / 04 / 2013
Lauren Winans: Behind the Scenes

Our guest blogger is back! We love Lauren Winans, and here’s her latest update!

Hey guys! I am back again. This time, I want to tell you about a few different experiences I have had lately with my hair extensions.

Photo shoot for Gladys

I had a photo shoot for Gladys Magazine recently by Robert Covington and the photographer’s wife, Jori, fixed my hair for the shoot.. They are an awesome duo. He is a great photographer and she is an amazing hair and makeup artist. She honestly had no clue that I had extensions until she started digging into it to curl! That is quite a compliment for Donna Bella! She curled my hair with a Bedhead 1/2 inch barrel, but it had huge curls. It is amazing how much better beauticians can fix our hair than we everyday, normal people! Below is a “behind the scenes” shot.

Hair Extension Touch Up

I visited my hair salon, Aura Salon Nashville last week to get some of my extensions replaced that had fallen out. I have had these for a few months now and only 3 to 5 pieces fell out and that is only because I can’t ever keep my hands out of my hair! (BAD HABIT!)

Glynnis, my hair extension specialist, added 20 new pieces of fused hair to my head this week and made me feel all brand new and full again. We added the entire pack of hair because my hair is so healthy and growing so much that we figured we would add some more. She says that in May she would like to remove all the pieces and add all new hair, because I have had these in since late November/early December.

It is very important that you talk with your stylist about replacing and removing because they would hate for you to lose your real hair because of a silly mistake. Always make sure you are keeping up with your salon so that someone can check over your beautiful head of hair and make sure you are taking care of them properly. I can’t stress enough to brush your hair at least 3 times a day and sleep in braided pigtails, ponytail, or any kind of braid! I only wash my hair every 2-3 days and maybe even 3 to 4 if I am lucky. The less heat you apply on your hair, the healthier it remains. Less mess, better hair!

Learn more about Lauren Winans.

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Biz Tip

29 / 03 / 2013
How your salon’s receptionist can help make the hair extension experience top-notch

Why is it important to have a great receptionist for your salon?

One main reason is because he or she is usually the first human contact a new client. What if this is the first time a new client has called the salon? You want her first contact with your establishment to be excellent. She can also ensure that both new and returning hair extension clients have a top-notch hair extension experience.

Give a mini-consultation: A receptionist should be well-acquainted with hair extensions and other salon services. Clients might have questions when they call or visit for the first time. The receptionist can not only help answer the client’s questions, but also get a feel for what stylist would be best for the client’s needs and make recommendations if asked.

Keep the salon running smoothly: A good receptionist knows which stylists in the salon can do hair extensions, and which methods they specialize in. Because the receptionist is primarily in charge of scheduling appointments, she also must have a good sense of how long hair extension installations take. Some methods take longer to install than others (Kera-Link is the longest and Tape-In is the fastest), and every stylist works at a different pace. The receptionist can make sure that each stylist isn’t over or under booked.

Helping with extension upkeep: The receptionist’s duty doesn’t end once the client is in the chair and in the hands of the stylist. Hair extensions need to be adjusted and moved up every six to eight weeks. After the initial appointment is finished, the receptionist can help the client schedule a return appointment before she leaves. It’s also a good idea to keep an organized record of who has come in the salon for extensions, so if it’s time for a touch-up and a client hasn’t scheduled an appointment

A salon receptionist can really help new and returning clients have a great experience at your salon, especially if you are doing extension services.

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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Teen Hair

22 / 03 / 2013
Hair Extensions for Prom

It’s that time of year — Fancy dresses, limos, flowers, and lots of dancing!

Many girls want to add length and volume to the hair for a special look. Extensions are the perfect solution for a glamorous, red-carpet look.

Extensions aren’t just for wearing hair down–they also can give up dos extra volume. Having more hair means that there’s more to work with, which makes for great hair styling possibilities.

Prom Tips:

You want to make sure your client’s extensions won’t fall out while she’s rocking out with her date. Make sure that the bonds are secure.

Ask your client to bring in a picture of the look she wants. This will help you both be on the same page.

Don’t install the extensions on the day of the big dance. Your client probably won’t have enough time on the big day anyway, but it’s also good to give her a chance to get used to he new hair extensions before the big night.

If your client isn’t sure about permanent extensions, try suggesting Clip-Ins. She can use them for the date and then take them out at the end of the day. This is a great hair route is she’s on a budget.

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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Biz Tip

15 / 03 / 2013
The Tipping Point: How to Tip and Why

Your hair extension appointment ends. You’ve been sitting in the chair for two hours while your stylist has been carefully installing your brand new hair extensions. Not only did she wash and clarify your hair before installing, but she took the time to blend and style your hair after she was done to make sure your new hair looks completely natural.

Now it’s time to pay her, and you’re wondering how much to tip.

In the U.S., it is customary to tip 10% to 20% of the cost of your service. That means that if your service costs $200, then a 20% tip would be $40. But it isn’t always such a hard and fast rule. The more pleased you are with the service, the more you tip.

Stylists do usually expect to be tipped, and they expect the tip to reflect the quality of the service. If they get a big tip, they know that they provided an amazing, over-the-top experience. A tiny tips sends the message that there was something seriously lacking.

We asked our fans on Facebook what they thought about tipping. Responses were varied, but most agreed that 20% was the best. Others said that they appreciate whatever their clients can give. One said that when tips in her salon were dwindling, they posted a tipping chart to help clients figure out how to calculate tips. Tips skyrocketed because many just weren’t aware tipping was expected.

So next time you head to the salon, consider tipping your stylist. Unlike a waiter, she’s spending all of her time working on you. And if you like her work, you want to show your appreciation.

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Do you have a hair extension question or a concern? Email your questions to info@donnabellahair.com and we can answer it right here on our blog!

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