Being fully prepared for your hair extension consultation
will save you time, money and aggravation in the long
run. We have made a checklist for what should happen at the consultation, what you should ask your stylist and
what you should do after your consultation (Yes there is some homework to do!!)

Some stylists will charge a small fee for the consultation and apply it to the cost of the hair extensions. Although free consultations are a great thing, you should consider that a stylist does not work for free. Don’t schedule a free hair extension consultation unless you are serious about hair extensions.

Each stylist will have different procedures for the consultation and there are several things that should happen regardless of the stylist or the salon you visit. Here is a checklist of what the stylist should do at a hair extension consultation:

THE STYLIST SHOULD…..
 

• Check condition of your scalp: The condition of the scalp can be crucial to the success of some hair extension methods. An overly oily scalp will break down the adhesive materials of some methods. Also, if you scalp is irritated, you may have issues with extensions.
   
• Check condition of your hair: Is your hair overly processed? Is it brittle, damaged in any way? Some stylists do a tension test, where they will take one or two hair strands and pull firmly on them. The purpose of this test is to see if your hair is strong enough to hold the human hair extensions.
   
• Your hair care habits: How frequently do you shampoo/condition? Do you perm/color your own hair? How much time do you spend styling your hair every day? What hair care products do you use? These are all important considerations for hair extensions. If you don’t take care of your own hair,
  then chances are you won’t care for even longer hair.
• Your lifestyle: Do you swim often? Exercise regularly? Do you wear your hair up in a pony tail often?
   
• Your desires: Why do you want hair extensions? What length and color are you looking for? How will you style the extensions?
   
• Your health: Are you on any medications? Are you suffering from Alopecia, or severe hair thinning? Some medications will interfere with the hair extension
  process
   
• Your sensitivities: Are you sensitive or allergic to anything? There have been cases where clients have allergic reactions to the products used for hair
  extensions
   
• Hair extension maintenance: The stylist should cover Do’s and Don’ts and maintenance involved for hair extensions. Some stylists will provide you with a
  written maintenance contract.

• Details of putting in extensions: How exactly are the extensions attached, where the hair comes from, how long it takes and how often you will need to have them maintained
   
• Costs: Details of how much everything costs Here are a few questions you should ask your stylist during the consultation:
   

ASK THE STYLIST CHECKLIST
 

• How many hair extension clients have you had?
   
• Are you certified (some methods do not require certification). Ask to see a copy of the certification.
• What training have you done for hair extensions? Some methods do not require any training and offer instructional videos. If the stylist has not received
  official training for hair extensions, you should look very closely at their work and amount of time they have been doing hair extensions
• Can I see some before and after photos?
   
• Can I have the names and numbers of several of your hair extension clients? (Some stylists will say that there clients are confidential and therefore cannot
  give you any names or phone numbers Maybe they are famous people, etc.) You should consider that a stylist that trains for hair extensions will probably not come out of training to do a ‘famous persons’ hair extensions. There should be at least 2 or 3 client references that the stylist can give you.
   
• What sort of guarantee do you offer? Is the hair guaranteed against tangling/matting and what happens if all the extensions fall out after a few days, or even worse if your own hair falls out with them. You should know upfront what you are getting into. Ask how any issues are addressed? We have heard of salons not returning phone calls after a major issue
  with hair extension applications. Find out now if this is a salon that you can trust!!
   
• What can go wrong? Have any of his/her clients had any issues with their extensions?
• What can you expect?
• Has anyone ever filed a complaint about your services? If so, why?
   
• Ask the stylist about putting your hair in a pony tail— sometimes the point of attachment is very visible if you pull your hair up.
   

In case the stylist did not address any of the subjects on the checklist before this, be ready to ask any questions to cover these subjects. 

Now we have the final checklist that you need to do after you have had a hair extension consultation. We will call this the HOMEWORK checklist.
Being beautiful is hard work!!!

To get the complete details of the HOMEWORK - for checking out the hair stylist and method you have chosen, you will need to purchase the E-book, Hair Extensions-The Official Consumers Guide to Getting Hair Extensions.

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