So this will be a fairly long review since I want to make note of all of the aspects that have made up my interactions at Ania Hair Studio.
So, for starters, I've had tape-in hair extensions for going on 6 years. I actually travel back to my hometown every 2 months to get them done, but after traveling back to NY after my last move-up at my usual salon, I realized after the first wash that I had forgotten to buy new hair and was due for it at my last appointment. Totally my fault! After the first wash my hair was horribly knotty, a sign of extensions at the end of their life. So, after weighing the inconvenience of having to unknot my hair after every wash for the next 2 months, I decided to take new hair that I already had to a local salon in NY, which would be cheaper and less time consuming than traveling 4 hours home to my usual salon.
My appointment was on a Thursday evening with Cheri, who was nice enough. I explained (then and previously on the phone before making an appointment to ensure this was okay) that at my other salon, I bring in my own hair but my stylist always uses hotheads tape regardless of the brand of hair, because it's the best she's used in her 15 years of doing extensions, and that I'd like her to use hotheads tape. She made a comment that tape in extensions usually come with tape already on them and that we could use hotheads tape when we reapplied next time. She asked if I wanted her to put the hotheads tape over the tape currently on them after my request, but said it in a tone that indicated that wouldn't really make sense and that she wouldn't recommend that. So, I said okay to her using the tape already on them.
The first thing I noticed after she was finished was that there was no room between the extensions and my scalp, like absolutely zero space. I don't know much about the technical application of tape-in hair extensions because I'm not a hair stylist or certified in tape-ins, but I do know, as most people who get tape-ins, that you are NOT supposed to do that. You're supposed to leave a few centimeters of space between the scalp. Not only does installing them this way cause tension that can be painful, but it can also damage your hair.
Fast-forward to late Saturday morning (40 hours later) I wash my hair for the first time and realize that a whole extension is lying on the shower floor! I hadn't even felt it moving, it slipped out with complete ease. By the end of the shower I had another one completely out and most of the other ones were sliding and/or opening up. I immediately called Ania Hair Studio and they were able to make an appointment early the following week to correct it. I called my normal hair stylist and explained the situation and asked if I did something wrong. I usually wait close to a week to wash my hair, but I had an event Saturday evening and wanted my hair to be fresh. So, thinking back I thought maybe I messed up, maybe you have to wait 48 hours, and I only waited 40. Websites tell you to wait 24-48 hours and while I was almost certain I had always been told 24 hours, maybe I had just forgotten in all my years of getting tape-ins and not needing to wash them in the next few days. My normal hair stylist made it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that it had to be an application error, that no matter what, tape-in extensions should never just "slip out" the way they did in the shower, and that it had nothing to do with anything I did.
When I went back in, Cheri kept repeating how at my previous appointment she kept saying how she didn't like the tape on this hair, "remember?" At no point in my previous appointment did she ever make a comment about that. She did make a comment about the tape being stuck in my hair from removing the extensions already in my hair-it had only been in my hair for 2 weeks so they were difficult to remove and the tape was leaving a lot of residue in my hair. But once again, she at no point commented on the tape quality of this new hair. Additionally, if that had been the case and she had made comments about it, I'm confused how when I specifically requested hotheads tape, she basically said that doesn't make sense and that we should use the tape already on this hair.
She asked how the placement generally was and I told her I'm used to my extensions leaving a little room in between the extension and my scalp. She said "oh, people around here like them tight," I guess because you get another week or so of wear before they look too grown out. And while she may have clients who like to have them put in that way, that is NOT how they teach you to properly put them in when you get certified. So, I would expect her to put them in the way they teach you for certification, or, at the very least ask me if I'd like them placed on my scalp or with a few centimeters of room before putting them in that way. [ran out of room, the rest of this review is in the attached pictures.] read more