Can you be a good hair extensionist without being a hairdresser?

[leah1978]

Hi everyone i have popped over from the skin and nail forums. I have wanted to do hair extension for ages and im at the point now where i have the money to do a course. I just wondered if it helps being a hairdresser or are the course good enough.

Thanks

 

[persianista]

The hairdressers on here will all say no. The non hairdressers who have done ext courses will all say yes.

 

[coops]

A

 

[theextensionist]

I find it interesting how different various countries are on this subject and hairdressing in general. I'm from Sweden and our hairdressing courses are generally 1 year and does include hair extensions. But then we have a special test called "gesäll" to become proper qualified as a hairdresser. You can only take this after 5000(!) hours of working in a salon. In Sweden there is nooooo way you can do hair extension courses without being a hairdresser. Just find it odd how it is so different from here where anyone can do it and they barely teach you to cut them.

 

[kirk25]

Sorry but I dont see how people can without being a hairdressr as most people will need them cutting and shaping in.

There is someone near me who does extensions and is not a hairderesser and I have been asked lots to trim the ends and shape the front in by clients.

I am trained in extensions but no longer have the kit, I must say when I did offer extensions I liked to do everything myself from the clients colour, to extensions to the finished shape xx

 

[kimi1101]

Here is my personal experience.

I had a client of mine getextensions by a girl who "does nails too"...She thought she got a bargain cos she only paid £160 for the hair and the fitting. Great, but then she had to pay me £30 to cut them in for her as the girl could do no cutting AT ALL.

So then, four weeks later, she says how her hair feels really dirty and could she come for a wash and blow dry - no problem. In she came and the extensions (micro rings) were all bunched at the root and hair was out and there were bald patches on her scalp. The girl who fitted them had told her they had just slipped (in fairness, about 5 of them had slipped) and she would move them up for her.

I sent a photo of her hair to another geek, who is very experienced in extensions, who said GET THEM OUT! I washed my clients hair, who was going to go back tot he extensionist that evening, and once I had washed it, the extensions matted into one massive lump. I have never ever seen anything like this before. I had to remove them for her.

This is just my experience, but from my clients point of view, she went to someone who knows nothing about hair, and 4 weeks later had to have them removed.

 

[kirk25]

I totally agree, I believe Extensions should be an added extra to a trained qualified hairdresser x

 

[fayevix]

I totally agree ladies.

 

[persianista]

I deal with a lot of extension problems, both in my salon and elsewhere. The big majority of issues come from non hairdressers using micro rings. Training companies are making fortunes out of naive non hairdressers, telling them that a days training is fine.

Given the amount of hair extention "eek" threads on here, and the woeful search for good hair on the cheap, I would have thought that the penny would have dropped by now.

If you put non precious metal against your skin for any length of time, what happens? Try it with a tin necklace, or nickel earrings. Some people will be ok, most wont.

I am sick of typing out exactly what "remy" hair means, just to have a non hair person ignore it and carry on beleiving that if a company says its AAA remy, then it must be fab.
My city and guilds wigmaking certificate (with honours) surely qualifies me to speak up?

There is an extensionist in my area doing £200 heads. I have lots of girls with nasty ext being frogmarched to me by their mothers, concerned about the bald patches opening up in their hair, matted rats tail extensions and sores forming from metal rubbing their skin.
My ext start at 450, I get plenty of clients at that price.

 

[persianista]

Here is my personal experience.

I had a client of mine getextensions by a girl who "does nails too"...She thought she got a bargain cos she only paid £160 for the hair and the fitting. Great, but then she had to pay me £30 to cut them in for her as the girl could do no cutting AT ALL.

So then, four weeks later, she says how her hair feels really dirty and could she come for a wash and blow dry - no problem. In she came and the extensions (micro rings) were all bunched at the root and hair was out and there were bald patches on her scalp. The girl who fitted them had told her they had just slipped (in fairness, about 5 of them had slipped) and she would move them up for her.

I sent a photo of her hair to another geek, who is very experienced in extensions, who said GET THEM OUT! I washed my clients hair, who was going to go back tot he extensionist that evening, and once I had washed it, the extensions matted into one massive lump. I have never ever seen anything like this before. I had to remove them for her.

This is just my experience, but from my clients point of view, she went to someone who knows nothing about hair, and 4 weeks later had to have them removed.

The big matted lump happens when the silicone washes off the "remy" hair, and the upside down remnants of the cuticle all grb each other (think telephone wires matting together) All the conditioner in the world wont help. All you can do is get them out at that stage.

I wish I could do a video of where the hair comes from, how it is processed and got ready for the cheap market. It will make you feel sick, and ashamed to be driving such terrible exploitation and suffering.

Please support ethically sourced hair. If your clients wont pay for it, then tell em to save up.

 

[del<3]

Amen!!

Extensions have always been expensive and not everyone can afford them - until the boom of Cheryl cole hair happened and cheap 'barbie' hair as i like to call it was made readily available for 'extensionists' to buy freely.

These people do not know the first thing about the hair shaft, how it grows or tell you why it's a tangled mess. Personally id pay double or triple the price for a hairdresser to apply mines as I'd like to feel confident she/he knew how to apply without damage and also I could go back and ask her/him any questions I had and that the answer would be with the best care for my hair in mind - not their pockets.

Having said that I once had some applied by a girl I later found out was not a hairdresser (extensions were amazing and brilliant quality hair) but she had been trained to put them in by a hairdresser. There are some diamonds in the rough no doubt but I wouldn't take a chance - I was very lucky (also as a hairdresser knew the importance of maintenance and correct care for them!)

 

[lucelasticx]

In my opinion to the OP my answer is also NO.

Hair extensions is a NVQ level 3 qualification so it is presumed that you have previously done level 1 & 2 and so have a solid foundation in hair , scalp, health and safety , contraindictions and the such like all that are relevant to performing a professional and safe service.
Also i do wonder whether unqualified 'extensionists' insurance is worth the paper it is written on as these HABIA cpd courses are offered with a trained hairdresser in mind. Its just a legal loophole that they can offer to non - hairdressers. Surely ant insurance company would want to see your NVQ or similar before paying out!!

 

[HairByAlly]

Here is my personal experience.

I had a client of mine getextensions by a girl who "does nails too"...She thought she got a bargain cos she only paid £160 for the hair and the fitting. Great, but then she had to pay me £30 to cut them in for her as the girl could do no cutting AT ALL.

So then, four weeks later, she says how her hair feels really dirty and could she come for a wash and blow dry - no problem. In she came and the extensions (micro rings) were all bunched at the root and hair was out and there were bald patches on her scalp. The girl who fitted them had told her they had just slipped (in fairness, about 5 of them had slipped) and she would move them up for her.

I sent a photo of her hair to another geek, who is very experienced in extensions, who said GET THEM OUT! I washed my clients hair, who was going to go back tot he extensionist that evening, and once I had washed it, the extensions matted into one massive lump. I have never ever seen anything like this before. I had to remove them for her.

This is just my experience, but from my clients point of view, she went to someone who knows nothing about hair, and 4 weeks later had to have them removed.

Exact same thing happened to a client years ago that had them fitted in spain, I was working as a junior I washed her hair and the only way i can describe it was like I could watch as they all got sucked together into a ball! Was the weirdest thing I had ever seen in my life! This was at 9am...my boss was with her til 8pm! X

 

[leah1978]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll save the money to put toward hairdressing first then.

 

[brittone05]

Can I ask the hairdressers what they feel about the new VTCT extensions course being launched by Lush-Us next year? I have qualified with Lush, am not a hairdresser but am also not a cowboy who thinks a 1 day course is going to be the only thing I need to progress in the industry. I want to go on to do the cutting course and the VTCT course to further my knowledge and experience but can't commit to a hairdressing course as my nearest college is around 50-60 miles away and with 2 children in school, it is not feasible for me right now xx

 

[lucelasticx]

I would presume the VTCT course is a level 3 course , as NVQ and VTCT run pretty much along side and in NVQ it's a level 3 qualification.

Which means i hope you would have to have level 2 hairdressing to complete it anyway.

 

[brittone05]

Lush-Us will be offering the VTCT to level 2 hairdressers or to technicians who have already taken one of their fitting courses. I have done the 4 method fitting course and am hoping to book the cutting course in the New Year also dependant on the location of the course venues xx

 

[wifey999]

Depends whats important really..as a client would you prefer a hairdresser who probably does extensions once a month to fit your extensions, or an extensionist who does it day in day out? I advise any potential client that they should always ask what experience an extensionist has, not what qualification they hold. I advie them to ask what types of hair they fit and what stock they hold etc. Hair extensions is in my eyes, is a specialist field..how may hairdressers work with different textures and types of hair on a daily basis? Whilst i know nothing about colouring hair, I would never claim to do so or be stupid enugh to think after a days training i am able to charge for my services. Personally i would prefer to have someone who is experienced fit my extensions, rather than a hairdresser that has been sent on a days training course.
After visiting a local salon, and an expensive one at that, who had decided to offer and sell hair extensions (after a meeting with a certain hair provider) I was digusted and shocked to find that nobody knew what type of keratin bond they were fitting, what type of remy hair it was, what weight they were fitting and so on... !!! so in the grand scheme of things although a qualification is recognised in both hairdressing and hair extenions, i feel that only experience and the capability and passion to do a good job is required

 

[del<3]

Depends whats important really..as a client would you prefer a hairdresser who probably does extensions once a month to fit your extensions, or an extensionist who does it day in day out? I advise any potential client that they should always ask what experience an extensionist has, not what qualification they hold. I advie them to ask what types of hair they fit and what stock they hold etc. Hair extensions is in my eyes, is a specialist field..how may hairdressers work with different textures and types of hair on a daily basis? Whilst i know nothing about colouring hair, I would never claim to do so or be stupid enugh to think after a days training i am able to charge for my services. Personally i would prefer to have someone who is experienced fit my extensions, rather than a hairdresser that has been sent on a days training course.
After visiting a local salon, and an expensive one at that, who had decided to offer and sell hair extensions (after a meeting with a certain hair provider) I was digusted and shocked to find that nobody knew what type of keratin bond they were fitting, what type of remy hair it was, what weight they were fitting and so on... !!! so in the grand scheme of things although a qualification is recognised in both hairdressing and hair extenions, i feel that only experience and the capability and passion to do a good job is required

You don't think that a hairdresser works with different types of hair on a daily basis???

 

[wifey999]

You don't think that a hairdresser works with different types of hair on a daily basis???

Yes of course they do, maybe it came across wrong, I was simply meaning that a dedicated hair extensionist as opposed to a hairdresser probably has more experience in different types of hair such as Russian, Chinese, Indian, Brazillian and so on. I doubt very much some hairdressers have ever even worked with either types of hair, or could in fact tell the difference between Remy and Non Remy eyc. This is not a personal attack on a hairdressers knowledge, just an observation regarding their day to day differences between hairdressers and hair extensionists.

One of my closest friends has been a hairdresser for 20 years and never had a Russian, Chinese or Indain client, Hoiwever she has plenty experience with European hair and the different types of textures.

I doubt very much also that a high percentage of hair extensionists couldnt tell the difference in the different types of hair, or how to quickly identify 100% human hair and non human hair

Again, these are just my opinions ;-)