It’s no secret that I wear hair extensions! While I currently wear Natural Beaded Rows, I began my extension journey with clip-ins that I wore for almost a year and a half.

Not sure if clip-in extensions are for you? Don’t worry, I’ve written a comprehensive pro/con list to help you figure out if they’ll fit your lifestyle!

Pros

Affordable!

Compared to other types of hair extensions, clip-ins are very affordable. When I purchased my first pair, the total cost for the hair, clips, thread, and specialized needle was around $200!

Other methods of hair extensions can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 just for installation, not to mention regular maintenance appointments that you need to make throughout the year. Clip-ins are significantly cheaper and lower effort, especially if you’re new to hair extensions.

You don’t have to style them every time you wear them.

You don’t need to wash clip-in extensions every time you wear them. They don’t accumulate oils as quickly as your scalp. I would usually wash mine every 8-10 wears depending on need.

Since you don’t wash them each time you wear them, clip-ins retain whatever style you give them until you wash them again!

I had two sets of extensions that I alternated between- one 22″ pair and one 18″ pair. I would often style one set curly and the other straight. Depending on how I wanted to wear my hair, I would throw on the already styled set and spend a few minutes styling my natural hair to match!

Clip-in extensions give you a lot of flexibility.

Don’t feel like wearing your extensions one day? No worries- you don’t have to! Since clip-in extensions are removable, it’s easy to go about your day without them.

This was super convenient for me because I’m so active. My hair produces a lot of oil when I work out, so I was happy to be able to go to the gym sans extensions. It made my hair a lot easier to wash and maintain!

Compared to other types of extensions, clip-ins are easy to wash.

Washing my clip-in extensions was easy!

I would first start out by gently brushing my clip-ins to ensure they had no tangles. I then gathered my extensions into a bundle and secured them with two hair ties: one near the clips, and one about 3 inches from the bottom of the extensions.

Next, I filled a small plastic tub with cold water and a few drops of my favorite shampoo. I submerged my extensions in the tub and gently massaged them to ensure they were fully clean. For a little extra boost, I let them soak for about 5 minutes in the solution.

I then emptied the tub and rinsed my extensions with cold water. Next, I applied a small dollop of conditioner to the rinsed extensions and massaged it in. To ensure my extensions were properly hydrated, I waited another 10 minutes or so before rinsing.

Finally, I removed the hair ties from my extensions and laid each piece separately on a towel. I then gently combed them using a Wet Brush. After ensuring they were tangle-free, I would let them dry overnight.

While this may seem like a lot of steps- don’t worry! The entire process took me less than 15 minutes from start to finish. Since I only washed them every 8-10 uses, it wasn’t a lot of extra time at all.

They last a long time.

If you take proper care of your clip-in extensions and don’t wear them daily, they can last a lot longer than other extension methods.

I wore clip-ins for a less than a year and a half. My two sets lasted that entire time. When I transferred to natural beaded rows, my longer extensions were at the end of their “life” and would have needed to be replaced. My shorter ones were in better shape and could have lasted a few months longer!

Cons

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Difficult to style.

Even after a year and a half of wearing clip-ins at least 2-3 times per week, I wasn’t able to consistently style them well. Sometimes my hair looked like it belonged on a runway, other times it looked like I belonged at a middle school dance.

I found it difficult to style my clip-in extensions while they were on my head, so I usually styled them while they were hanging. While this made the styling process easier, it also made the clip-ins more noticeable when I was wearing them as the curls in my real hair didn’t blend with the curls of my extensions.

No freedom when parting your hair.

While wearing clip-ins, I was stuck parting my hair down the center to hide my clips. Side parts were doable if I left out the top two sections of extensions, but then my hair length looked uneven!

I love a center part, but I missed the freedom to mix up my hair while wearing my clip-ins.

It takes a long time to apply/remove them.

When I first began using clip-in extensions, it took me nearly 45 minutes to apply them! After a few weeks of practice, I was able to get that time down to about 10-15 minutes. Combined with the time it took to style them, it could be a process to get ready!

It also took me around 5-10 minutes each night to properly remove my extensions. The areas around the clips would often get tangled and matted, which caused me to spend a lot of time brushing my hair after taking the clips out.

You have to sew the hair wefts to the clips yourself.

Unfortunately, clip-in extensions don’t come ready to wear. You are responsible not only for buying the hair and matching it to your existing hair color, but also for sewing the wefts of hair to the clips on your own.

Clip-in extensions can damage your hair- especially if your hair is fine!

Unfortunately, clip-in extensions can cause a lot of damage to your hair. People with fine or brittle hair follicles are especially at risk.

It’s difficult for extension clips to get traction in fine hair, and can easily easily slip or fall out. I have particularly fine hair. The only way I could ensure my extensions stayed in was to tease the area of application into a mat, apply hairspray to that mat, and then insert the clips after the hairspray dried.

While this method of application worked, it forced me to wash my hair every time I applied my extensions to fully remove the hairspray. If I wore my clip-ins three days in a row, that meant I was washing my hair three days in a row. This was time consuming and made my hair dry and even more brittle, causing more breakage in the areas I applied the extensions.

You can’t get them wet while wearing them.

Most clip-in extensions will dry at a different rate than your natural hair. If you accidentally get them wet, it will be pretty noticeable!

Plus, water can cause your clip-ins to get especially tangled with your natural hair. If you’re wearing clip-in extensions, do your best to avoid situations where they might be exposed to water to avoid damage to your natural hair.

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Overall, I didn’t love my clip-in extensions. While it was nice to take them in and out whenever I wanted, they were too difficult to style and didn’t match the texture of my natural hair.

However, I’m grateful that I wore them for as long as I did. They were a fantastic low-investment way to experiment with hair extensions before committing to Natural Beaded Rows.

If you’re looking for a hair extension method that is inexpensive and not permanent, clip-in extensions are a great option!

Note: This post was originally published on Ciao by Shay on September 20, 2020. It was migrated to Happy Health Stylish upon my blog’s rebranding.