Your Chicago Salon for Bellami and Invisible Bead Extensions
We offer hair extensions for a variety of hair types.
Whether you’re in Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Lincoln Park, the Southport Corridor, or any other neighborhood in Chicago, Salon Aster can help make your hair dreams a reality. The added fullness and vibrant colors of hair extensions can make your daily hair routine easy and effortless. Hair extensions simply make looking good easy.
Some people like to add extra length and fullness for special times in their lives, like engagements and weddings, because of how many photos they will be in. Other times, hair extensions are almost a necessity due to fine or brittle hair textures. We offer several different types of hair extensions suitable for different client needs:
Invisible Bead Extensions (IBE) – The best method for the finest of hair, it sandwiches a beaded platform between hand-tied wefts with minimal tension on existing strands. The result is incredibly lightweight yet full in the right areas. This method is good for the most active guests because you can pull hair up as needed without wefts or beads showing and it lasts about 10 weeks. Keep in mind that because IBE is done by meticulously sewing wefts onto the beaded platform, it can be time consuming. But if you want to ensure zero damage, then this is your method!
Bellami machine or hand-tied wefts – Instead of sandwiching the beaded platform between wefts, Bellami lays wefts on top of a platform and is sewn in from only the top side. This method can be useful for ease of regular maintenance. Unlike the IBE method, which has to be completely reinstalled every 10 weeks, Bellami wefts can be “moved” up because the beads are not covered up from the underside. Essentially, the beaded platform and top wefts are cinched back up to the hairline as they grow out. Every six weeks, wefts can be moved up in this way. The following visit should be a new installation of platform(s) and wefts to ensure optimal hair health. Medium density hair looking to add length can benefit from this lower maintenance method.
Tape-ins – We use either Bellami or Hotheads tape-ins. The best tape-ins do not have a tab that shows at all with hair instead rooted and fused from the tab line. These are referred to as “ultimate” tape-ins. Tape-ins are best for adding a little extra fullness, patching up a regretful haircut, or to fill in areas of the hair when used with other methods. When tape-ins are cared for and properly installed, there is minimal risk of damage.
I-tips – This is a strand-by-strand method that uses a silicon bead to attach a small bundle of hair off a small section of your own hair. This method can be nice to fill in areas of the hair when other methods are used and offer a less-sticky alternative to tape-ins. Many stylists like to extend length with I-tips as well, but we prefer wefts for this at Salon Aster because we think the fall of hand-tied wefts look more natural when worn down! However, this may be a good method for you when you want to pull your hair up many different ways because the tips offer 360 degrees of movement.
K-tips – This is a strand-by-strand method that uses a keratin bond to attach a small bundle of hair off a small section of your own hair. Similar to I-tips, K-tips offer 360 degrees of movement in the hair for a variety of hairstyles. Unlike I-tips, K-tips last much longer due to the durability of the keratin bond. With proper maintenance, K-tips cause little to no damage and the keratin bond, which is similar to the structure of hair, is a plus!
Finding the right hair extension method for you can be tricky. We recommend that you book a consultation with us to determine the best type of installation for your hair and needs. During the consultation, we go over time commitments, price, the type of hair color, and the type of texture, which can be Asian, European, wavy or a combination.