A Guide To Buying Clip In Hair Extensions

At the moment I am obsessed with wearing hair extensions to change up my look by adding both length and volume to my hair and I have recently been testing out a few different types of clip in hair extensions, to see what suits my hair the best. Here I am wearing a 14 inch set in shade 20 (dark blonde) from I&K at Hairtrade, which I am super pleased with and think that they blend with my hair pretty perfectly.

So, today I wanted to share with you my top tips when it comes to finding the right clip in hair extensions for you, including the right length and colour.

Sound interesting? Then keep reading see my hair extension buying guide…

I&K Clip In Hair Extensions 14″ in Shade 20 (Dark Blonde) c/o Hairtrade

1. Is your hair long enough for clip in hair extensions?

Whilst at university I went through a phase of hating my short hair and would look to clip in hair extensions to transform my look on each night out – and we know how many of those happen in your first year in Halls! But, after years of dying my hair and going from dark brown to florescent pink and then bleaching my hair back to blonde (my natural colour) and not really taking care of my locks, I decided to get them all cut off (and yes I mean boy short) to get rid of all the damaged ends and start from scratch. You may be wondering what my point is here, but personally I don’t think that clip in hair extensions look right if you have very short or bobbed hair, especially a blunt bob, just because I find that they do not blend with your hair very well and if you want to avoid it being obvious that you have extensions in, I would advise to wait until you hair is at least shoulder length, but as with everything this is each to their own.

I myself, can see a big difference in how ‘natural’ my hair looks whilst wearing clip in extensions since it has grown to just past my shoulders, rather than when it was sitting on top before, which brings me to my next point…

2. What length of clip in extensions should you go for?

When shopping for clip in hair extensions, not only are you troubled by ‘what colour should I go for?’ you also have to contemplate what length to choose as well. Usually, hair extension clip in sets tend to come in the following lengths: 14 inches, 16 inches, 18 inches, 20 inches and 22 inches. In the pictures of this post I am wearing a 14 inch clip in set, which is the perfect length for me as I kind of wanted my extensions to look as ‘natural’ as possible, so I went for the shortest length, which is still longer than my own hair. So, depending on whether you are looking to extensions for length, or you are looking to add volume, then you will know which length will be best for you. Personally, if you only have shoulder length hair I would recommend starting with 14 inches and then working your way up from there!

3. Curly or Straight?

This is a pretty straightforward one to be honest: choose the style that matches your hair type. I have naturally straight hair so I went for straight extensions, which I can also style with heated tools, as they are made from human hair. If you have curly hair and will be wearing your hair curly with extensions in then perhaps a curly set would save you some styling time and match your hair type more ‘naturally’.

4. Real or Fake?

I guess this question depends on personal preference and also budget, as synthetic hair extensions will most likely be cheaper 99% of the time, but I don’t think they give as good an effect, as they are shinier than natural hair and also, you cannot use heat stylers to help blend the extensions with your hair. It is worth noting to double check whether you are buying human or synthetic hair with each purchase, as you wouldn’t want to be sent the wrong one!

5. How do I find the right colour shade of extensions?

This is probably the most tough question from the bunch! Personally, I think that it is harder to find a blonde shade of hair extensions (which is probably why their are more blonde options) if you have light or highlighted hair, as if you are going for a brown/black or red tone then you can easily dye your hair extensions to match your current colour – especially if you dye your own hair anyway. My tips for finding the right shade would be to look at the tones in your hair – are they cool or warm? If you have warm tones in your hair you can get away with more ‘strawberry’ tones, but if you have cooler tones then ash colours are probably a good mix for you. When I had highlighted hair I swore by 613/22 blonde mix, but now that I am growing my roots out, I have light ends and natural dark blonde roots at the top.

This time I went for shade 20 ‘dark blonde’ that I thought may be the wrong colour when I received the pack, but once clipped in they blend with my hair colour and give me a nice warmer golden tone – rather than icy bleach blonde. However, I also have a light blonde quadruple weft (worn here) which also blends in with my hair to give a different look, so if you also have blonde or highlighted hair there may be a few colours that match your hair to give different looks.

However, if this sounds confusing, most clip in hair extension providers will either offer a colour match service of they will send out a sample to your first, so you can test the colour of your choice against your natural hair.

6. Single, Double, Triple or Quadruple weft?

At a number of clip in hair extension providers you can choose between single, double, triple and quadruple weft, which refers to how many rows of hair are sewn to each set of clips. I have a quadruple weft that is only one row of clips with four sets of hair attached, so only one piece is added to your head – which is definitely time saving. Most clip in hair sets however consist of anywhere from 8-14 different sized hair pieces with clips, so that you can attach as many or as little to your hair where you need them. Here I am only wearing single weft clips in my hair, however I do actually prefer to have a double or triple weft, to give more volume, especially to the ends of my hairstyle where only the extensions are visible so may be a bit thinner than the rest of my hair. So, if you are going a lot longer than you natural hair I would suggest to go for no less than double wefts and preferably triple or quadruple…trust me, you will see a difference!

7. How do I blend my clip in extensions with my own hair?

Now on to the final hurdle – how to blend your clip in hair extensions with your natural hair. For me, I find that by firstly clipping the hair in and then styling my hair with either a pair of hair straighteners or a tong to create some soft curls – of course using heat protector spray or hair oil to preserve my hair and the extensions – that the hair blends a lot better than having them poker straight, as the curls cleverly disguise any shorter pieces that may otherwise stick out like a sore thumb. Another way to blend your extensions is to make sure that you clip them around your head, rather than all in once place. Finally, you can also use scissors to blend the ends of your extensions or to frame them around your face – although I would recommend definitely going to a hairdress to do this, unless you are 100% confident with doing this yourself!

So, those are my top tips for buying the right clip in hair extensions for you. I hope that this guide has been helpful to some of you and if you have your own hair extension tips I would love for you to share them in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading!