Let me see if I can play mind reader.
You might be wondering, because I’ve always wondered …
Don’t all those clip in extensions damage your hair?
It’s just so much weight … are they comfortable?
Is the risk of blinding headaches real and if so unavoidable?
Can the tracks really be kept out of sight so as to keep your fake hair secret even with fine hair?
Besides those, as a hair extension newbie, you may have other questions about getting bombshell hair using tracks.
If so you’re in the right place.
Yes you want volume.
Yes you want longer hair.
Or you want both.
But at what price in terms of time?
Actually the learning curve may not be all that bad.
To prove it here’s basically what new clip-on extension-ologists need to know.
Specifically …
Wrapped around eight tips, tricks and hacks are two insanely helpful videos from two well-known hair extension companies. One has even been on Shark Tank!
So when it comes to amazing hair if anyone should know how to be go about faking it right they should.
Quick Section Navigation
- 5 Must Know Clip In Extension Tricks (video)
- 8 More Insanely Clever Ideas That Will Make You Go Hmmmm
- 6 More Clip Ins Hacks No One Ever Tells You About (video)
To get you off to a fast start here’s …
Five Must Know Clip In Extension Tricks
Clue #01: Blended Out Of Sight
Proper blending is vital.
But how to do it is a concern that lurks in the back of mind of many extension wearers.
So it makes sense the first clue she shares involves blending.
Flat ironing suggestion aside, it’s well known that loose curls or waves are a great way to keep things looking 100% natural. It keeps where your real hair ends the extensions begin pretty much undetectable.
While we’re on the subject, if you want to find out more about blending extensions with short hair specifically for instant length, why not check out that post?
CLUE #02: Making Sure They Stay Put
Another major concern for many is “weft slippage”.
Or worse having your clip ins fall out – partially or completely.
How embarrassing.
So this tip addresses any concerns you may have about clip ins falling out easily.
While it’s unlikely, there are many ways to insure that disaster doesn’t happen.
(Obviously any or all of this is more important with fine or thinner strands.)
The first would be gentle teasing or a bit of backcombing.
It’s important to note you’re not back combing for big hair here. You’re just trying to ruffle the strands near the scalp a little to give a little something extra for your extensions to latch onto.
As you’d suspect hair spray, texturizing spray, salt spray, dry shampoo only make any back combing done work that much better.
Or it may be products like these could let you skip the back combing entirely. Just depends on how things go with your hair.
Finally working with second day hair is another option because in that case your hair brings to the party its own grittiness for the clips to grip onto.
CLUE #03: Play the Angles
Looking natural is essential to blending in properly.
It would never have occurred to me that the angle you clip the extension in at on the side of your head could make that much of a difference.
Everyone, and I do mean everyone, runs them pretty much horizontally across the side of their head.
But not here.
Basically you want to angle them down toward the back of your head.
Or said another way you want to make sure the end closer to your face is angled higher.
The result is a clever way to play the angles for a softer, feathered, less harsh kind of look.
For sure it beats cutting your extensions at an angle, although that’s a legit tactic too, because if you cut it wrong it won’t be growing back any time soon.
CLUE #04: Do the Twist
If you’ve got short bits of hair in the back, now it not the time for them to appear out of nowhere to spoil the party.
You’re trying to create the impression of long or longer hair that’s all more or less one length.
The idea’s NOT to present a mane to God and everyone that is a random hodge-podge of different lengths.
The solution?
The twist.
The twist technique is not unique to her but I’m surprised how many still don’t know about this amazing little hack.
It’s a game changer
Especially when trying to hide your kinda-going-crazy shorter hair out of sight.
Try it. Most who do can’t believe what a big difference this makes.
She shows exactly how to nail it.
It’s easy.
So easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself.
I know I did.
CLUE #05: Close Counts
Another fairly uncommon suggestion, but you can layer or stack your extensions up without much space between each layer.
Doing so gives you the benefit of more hair without more risk of over exposure.
Besides things just blend better creating the impression all that hair is really yours.
Guess there’s something to be said for togetherness.
Anyway, I’d hope you found a couple of ideas to take with you from that that video.
But we’re no where near done.
Eight More Insanely Clever Ideas That Will Make You Go Hmmmm
CLUE #06: The Color’s the Thing
One thing that’s not easy to over look is color. Most know it is critical to seamless blending.
That’s why most better sellers of extensions offer a color matching service usually involving a photograph or samples or both. They know with all the color choices picking the best match for you isn’t always easy.
Now if your hair is one color, i.e. not an ombre or doesn’t have grown out roots or something like that, it’s not especially difficult.
But if your hair is NOT one solid color, think highlighted in some way, you may find that the best way to go is to mix and match hair extensions.
Another tip if your color is grown out might be dye the top bits of hair nearest the clips the color of your own roots.
Then here’s one more little DIY trick to help with the color match. When considering colors focus on the color at ends of your hair.
That’s a little known idea that can go a long way towards you ending up with a color that matches well.
CLUE #07: Excedrin Headache #9?
Then you may have wondered if clip in extension can cause headaches.
It depends. If you get a splitting headache from a ponytail or snug braids you may have a sensitive scalp.
But there’s a hack that can let you live the big hair life headache free.
That is to simply take care to clip the track maybe half an inch below your part rather than right at the root or against your scalp. That gives the clip ins freedom to move about without pulling down on your scalp.
Or if this is a persistent problem you may want to use fewer wefts to see if that helps.
Then too wefts come in different weights (usually measured in grams). So if headaches are a concern going with lighter weight tracks might be the way to go.
CLUE #08: Brushing Up On Brushing Extensions
Once you’ve clipped the extensions in, you want to press your hand down on the clips while brushing your hair to keep them from slidding down.
Unlike brushing your natural hair it’s best to start at the bottom and work your way up to avoid tangles.
CLUE #09: Stay Within the Safe Zone
To insure your clip ins stay out of sight LuxyHair uses the term the “safe zone”. By that they mean to avoid clipping any wefts in above your eyebrow line.
And if you think about it it makes a lot of sense.
What this does is leave you with enough hair to hide the wefts.
Now, when watching tutorials I pay attention to see if the person in the video observes this rule or not.
CLUE #10: Proper care and feeding
One question that comes up is how often should you wash your extensions.
I’d agree that’s good to know.
And if you like rules of thumb then here’s one for you.
Because the best advice would be to wash them every six to eight times you wear them.
Before washing comb out any tangles.
Wash with a decent sulfate free shampoo.
Then condition with a very hydrating conditioner from mid length down.
One highly rated drugstore conditioner to consider would be Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal.
While if you’re not a fan of drugstore products maybe Nexxus Humectress Moisturizing conditioner would be more to your liking.
This next one is a little point. But it still might help relieve another concern.
CLUE #11: Look Out of Balance?
If you worry about there being too much volume at the bottom of your hair you can always tease your hair at the crown to build in enough volume there to balance things out.
CLUE #12: Keep It Real – Don’t Go Crazy
Don’t know what it is but some feel compelled to strap on every track in the pack on their head.
Look.
You’ll never use all the hair in the pack at once.
It’s just too much hair.
Just use what you need to get the look you’re trying to achieve. No more. No less.
CLUE #13: Damage Control
Another obvious worry is that clip ins can damage your hair.
There’s really not much risk of damage.
Unlike other methods these are felt to be the safest form of hair extensions you can get. Nothing is semi permanently bonded to your hair – sewn in, super glued, heat fused or otherwise.
So you don’t have to worry about hair rehab, or worse, hair loss from taking them out.
Besides clip ins are usually a short term fix for the day.
Day over? Then out they come. (You never want to sleep in them.)
That doesn’t mean you can rip these out any ole way. A little bit of care can go a long way to preventing harm to your strands.
Last but certainly not least…
Six More Clip Ins Hacks No One Ever Tells You About
You can see how much blending is on the mind of extension users as Cashmere Hair’s video also begins with that.
The pros know that it just makes sense that if you’re going for length, knowing all you can about how to hide your shorter strands is helpful.
CLUE #14: Hide and Tuck – Variation on the Twist
Basically in this case she braids the shorter strands then bobby pins the braid in place in the back of her head.
Quick Reminder: Make sure the clips are unclipped before you try to clip in them place.
This just goes to show there are more than one way to skin the cat. The idea is similar to number four above just a slightly different approach.
Continuing on with the blending theme
CLUE #15: Matching Textures
It’s worth mentioning but not earth shaking. This just means if your hair has been flat ironed straight that’s the texture you want for your extensions.
This is also why you’ll often see extension wearing girls curl their hair once they’ve clipped up.
As already mentioned loose curls can cover a lot of sins. I just feel it’s best done only once the extensions are clipped in place obviously.
That little bit of styling helps things keep your secret safe.
CLUE #16: Placing Them Just Right
Now don’t be guilty of this rookie mistake.
As you know with each track you’re going to part your hair and pin it up and out of the way.
As you put in the layers of wefts be sure each is clipped on maybe half an inch to an inch above the last track and be sure to clip in under the part.
While this may seem obvious, it’s not obvious to all. Doing it wrong results in a weft falling over on itself and buckling when you let your hair down. Should that happen it will not look right.
Then if you’ve ever worked with extensions have you ever felt like you’ve got lopsided hair off with more hanging to one side?
When working with a three clip weft, clip the middle one first, centering it best you can. This helps to prevent lopsided hair!
CLUE #17: Avoid the Straight Across Straightjacket
Most apply their wefts pretty much straight across. Nothing wrong with that unless you run out of head real estate to clip on to.
That’s why I feel this tip about applying them in a bit of a U shape rather than straight across is priceless if you have a smaller head or a wider track.
Yeah, if you find a weft is a little too wide you can always clip in the tracks at a slight U–shape.
So rather than going for the classic straight across technique, you let the middle sag or dip down a bit when clipping it in.
CLUE #18: Play the Angles Again Only Better
She makes two good points here. Don’t brush past them.
The angling starts by making your part at a slight angle as well. A point not mentioned in the previous video, BTW.
The other thing to remember is to clip the front clip of your weft in first. That way you get it back far enough away from your face so it’s not visible with plenty of room for any other clips.
Finally …
CLUE #19: Avoiding Track Peeaboo
If you’re worried in the least about any track peeking through the locks nearer the crown you can always do a bit of light back combing to the hair around the crown. This will add volume, fullness and lift plus insure your extensions stay well concealed.
Was this a great beginner’s guide to clip on extensions or what?
If some mornings it seems like you lack styling smarts like these be sure to head over to our Pinterest boards for more creative answers to your hair care questions.

I like the idea of mixing and matching extensions if your hair isn’t one color.