Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Irresistible Me Royal Remy Hair Extensions

My mother likes to re-tell a story about how a hairstylist, hired for a wedding for which I was on flowergirl duty, struggled with my hair. "It's impossible," he sighed exasperatedly, "her hair is too difficult!" I inherited my dad's baby-fine, straight hair, and 20 or so years after that wedding, I'm still trying to make it look anything but flat and thin. Despite that, I never looked into hair extensions of any kind, because I thought they'd be expensive, high-maintenance, and/or difficult. Fortunately, I finally got a chance to try clip-in hair extensions from Irresistible Me and all I can say is, holy crap, where have these been all my life??

Actually I have a lot of things to say, and a lot of pictures to share. You might not be interested in trying hair extensions for yourself, but take a quick scroll through the post to see some really dramatic "after" photos (like the one below!)

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Irresistible Me has been around for a few years, offering clip-in hair extensions, full lace wigs, and hair tools. The clip-in extensions range has the most options in terms of length and customizing the amount of hair (by weight) you want, with a prices varying from $49 to $339 USD. I received the Royal Remy extensions at 18" length and 140g composition ($219). There are other lines in the clip-in extension range, but Royal Remy is touted as being Irresistible Me's "deluxe" line with "extra silkiness and durability". All the clip-in extensions are made from remy hair, but Royal Remy extensions get a little extra special treatment while in production, apparently.


What is remy hair anyway? Being totally new to hair extensions, I had to do a little research to understand what this means. Remy hair extensions are made from real hair and are considered "premium", at least partly because they're bundled with all the hair strands' roots together on one end and the tips on the other (apparently lower quality extensions can have the directions of the hair strands mixed up). The result is that all the hair strands have cuticles going in the same direction (downward), so the extensions are more durable. This wikipedia article notes that a lot of remy hair is acid-treated to remove much of the hair cuticle anyway though, but I'm not sure if that's the case with these extensions.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Okay, on to the review! The extensions arrived in a sleek, sturdy black box. Inside was a sealed foil package with two compartments:

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
This is the part that I think is so smart. The right (smaller) side contains a sample hair extension, which you would remove first to feel, compare against your own hair for length, colour, etc, to make sure it's right for you. If you don't think it's a match, leave the bigger compartment unopened and you can return within 14 days (free return shipping in US) for a full refund. There's no risk of being stuck with hair extensions you don't like. The fuzzy black stuff you see inside the package are the hair nets that the extensions are wrapped in, to prevent them from tangling up in transit.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
I know this picture looks kind of creepy, but this is just to give an idea of the different sizes of extension. Not including the "sample" piece, the 140g set includes two each of the 1-clip, 2-clip, and 3-clip extension pieces. There's also a huge 4-clip extension piece, pictured below:
Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
This is where the "clip-in" part comes in. The piece is secured to your hair using snap-on clips sewn into the mesh and the band. The piece feels durable and well-made.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
The box also contained 4 replacement clips. If the attached clips break or anything else, you can sew a new one in by hand.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Royal Rosewood is a beautiful cool-toned red that I picked out to match my dyed hair. It is a dead-on match to my dyed hair a few weeks after getting freshly-dyed. I had an eczema flare-up and postponed photographing before/after shots for a few weeks; by that point my hair colour had faded a bit, so the extensions are slightly brighter than my hair in the photos, but I can still get away with wearing them out and about.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
/sigh Royal Rosewood really is a gorgeous colour. It also reminds me of how much my hair dye has faded, because it used to be a perfect match! I need my hair to be this colour again.


How to use:
1. Give your hair a quick brush, and finger-comb or gently brush the extensions as well.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Above: closed / below: open
2. Snap all clips of the extensions you are planning to use into the "open" position. The extensions come with the clips curved to follow the contour of your head--that's what I call "closed". Gently bend the clip until it "snaps" with the ends pointing opposite of when they were closed. Trying to place the extensions in your hair while the clips are closed is painful and generally not good.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
3. Using the tail of a comb or other long, thin item, part the hair just above where you want to place the extension.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
4. Slide the piece just below the part in your hair, and snap the clips closed. This is all you need to do to secure the extension.

5. Continue adding pieces until you are happy with the volume of hair.


Before/after
I was already blown away by the difference in my hair with just a single one-clip and two-clip on either sides of my head, but the difference is huge with all seven pieces in!

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Sad, flat hair :( / awesome voluminous hair :D
Hnnnng I almost feel like a different person! *___* The 18" added a little extra length to my hair, and obviously a lot of volume. I originally took one photo before, one with a few pieces in, and one with all the pieces in, but the difference between the last two wasn't too visible because most of the new volume after the second photo is in the back.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
It was important for me to take photos from a couple different viewpoints so you can see how seamlessly the extensions blend in. I mean, you can see the darker locks of my natural hair, but there are no clips or odd bumps sticking out, and it looks like hair.

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood
Ponytail comparison! Left is with no extensions and right is with all the pieces put in. Pretty dramatic, right? My hair literally doubled in volume. (The first time I held all seven pieces in my hand, I thought, uhhh.. this is more hair than I have on my whole head...)

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood


Final thoughts/tips
I'm so happy that my first foray into hair extensions was a success. My hair texture is very slippery, so hair clips and hair ties often slide out. I was worried the same would happen to the extensions, but they stayed in place all day, despite the very easy application method! I hardly felt them (unless I had my head on a headrest, etc) and at times I forgot I was wearing them.

If you're thinking about ordering a set of your own, my advice is to measure from your crown to determine the length to order. Although 18" isn't overly long on me, I was actually aiming for about the same length as my hair. My mistake was measuring from where I parted my hair rather than where I was going to actually place the extensions, which was 2-3" below the part, so 16" would have been perfect. Since length factors into the price, no need to pay for extra length you don't need!

The Royal Remy line starts at $129 for 14" at 100g, but the Silky Touch (budget-friendly line) is $79 for the same length and weight; it just doesn't have the same "special treatment" the Royal Remy receives. If you want mega-dramatic volume and length, the Volume Vixen line is 20" at 260g ($339) o__o. On the opposite spectrum, for just a little bit of extra volume, the Signature Weft is 60g (a single four-clip piece) and starts at 14" for $49. You can also use the coupon code GET20OFF for 20% off your first order!

I would recommend Irresistible Me's clip-on extensions to almost anyone that is looking to have fun with their look and easily add volume. Admittedly I'm new to hair extensions, but to me, they feel high-quality and durable--apparently you can even cut, colour, or curl them. With 12 different colours to choose from, I think most people would be able to find a very convincing match for themselves. My only reservation is for people who have very thin hair. You need to have enough hair to be able to conceal the clip and band underneath. One person I know in particular has very fine hair and not a lot of it, either. Her scalp sometimes peeks out between her locks, so I don't think these extensions would be suitable for her (she also has beautiful natural curls, so I'm hardly crying for her.)

What do you think, do they look natural? Would you try clip-on hair extensions? I should sneakily wear some in the next couple posts just to see if anybody notices!

Irresistible Me Royal Remy hair extensions in Royal Rosewood

Available at Irresistible Me: $49-339 USD

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