Hair Extension Transformation with Garnish Hair Studio

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I couldn’t be more excited to share with you a video showing my recent hair extension transformation with Garnish Hair Studio. I’ve received a ton of questions from you all regarding the process, what it costs, how to go in for a consultation, so I thought I’d share an overview of my experience with the salon as well as ways you can have the same transformation done on your hair for those of you that have shown interest.

Why did you decide to get hair extensions?

Prior to getting Natural Beaded Rows (NBR) extensions I had always worn clip-in hair extensions from the start of my blog. That’s another short way of saying, I’ve always struggled with my hair. During my freshman year of college, I had very long, healthy hair, but I was pressured to cut it when I joined the cheerleading squad. Away went my hair into a short bob (it makes me cringe looking back on the hair I chopped away). Since then, I’ve always struggled to grow it, and it easily goes flat without holding curl after about an hour of styling it.

I love gorgeous long locks and have always been envious of the @JordanUnderwood’s and @Holliewdwrd’s of the world (their hair is just stunning). To me, beautiful long hair has always given me more confidence when I look in the mirror and I was tired of the amount of time it was taking me to clip in hair extensions every day. I thought it was time to give semi-permanent hair extensions a try.

Right around the time I made this decision, I had started following @dkwstyling, a blogger and hair stylist located in Laguna Beach who created the NBR hair extension method. She had expressed several times that this new and improved method did not damage your hair as badly and it allowed you to better conceal the extensions when styling your hair in updos and braids. It sounded ideal to me because it seemed to address all of the concerns I had with getting extensions. I did some research about the best extension hair stylists in my area, and quickly fell in love with Candice Motley’s before and afters from Garnish Hair Studio. I reached out, had a consultation with her, and decided to make the move towards permanent NBR extensions.

How did you feel about the experience?

As you can tell from the video I shared, I am completely obsessed with my results. I mean look at that transformation. I never thought my hair could looks this good and I was so impressed with the blended color Candice achieved with my hair. I’ve always struggled with brassiness due to having warmer tones in my brunette hair. I really wanted to get the ashy blonde hair all the celebrities are rocking on the red carpet right now but never thought it would be possible for my hair because I had tried several times. Candice is a color magician, and I was shocked when I saw the final result. I think it’s safe to say that I will continue to wear extensions for as long as I can.

I’ve had a lot of questions from you about the timeline of events for getting my hair done, so I thought I’d provide you with a breakdown of my experience. I went in for my consultation with Candice in early March. She analyzed my hair keeping in mind the results I was hoping to achieve, talked through the many advantages and disadvantages of all the extension methods available to me, and ultimately we decided on NBR extensions simply due to the customized ability of the hair extensions to get my results. They’re easy to conceal since I like wearing my hair up a lot, and they are various colored wefts tied together so they allow you to achieve the ultimate level of custom color you desire. Candice determined the perfect blend, submitted the order for extensions and I was back in the salon chair about 4 weeks later.

Since I live a couple hours away, Candice blocked the entire day for us to complete the hair transformation. She started by coloring my personal hair, getting rid of the brassy tones that had occurred after a week long vacation to Hawaii, and prepped my hair for more of a neutral blend to match the hair extensions she had ordered. After coloring my hair, she perfectly placed the NBR extensions in to match the blend of my newly colored hair and as soon as we both approved the placement she started tying in the hair extensions with a needle and industrial grade thread. NBR extensions are similar to sewn in hair extensions except they are tied to micro beads that are attached at different points to your hair. This minimizes the tension on your natural hair while also better concealing the extensions for styling. Candice applied two rows of wefts, which is generally the ‘normal’ amount of rows added when doing NBR extensions. Had the hair extensions needed additional coloring, Candice would have done that as well, but we loved how flawlessly the hair extensions matched so we kept them as is.

Last step of the process was cutting the hair extensions so that they looked more like natural hair. This really made the hair extensions come to life and was probably my favorite step. When we were happy with the length and cut, she styled my hair for taking pictures! What do you guys think about the final result?

P.S. I wanted to share a funny story with you about the experience, and it was the only time I was doubting Candice’s hair extension ability, lol! When she was placing the different colored wefts in my hair, there was one very platinum blonde piece she was tying in my hair. I immediately panicked and asked her if we were still on the same page regarding my desired results. She cracked up and said the hair extensions are a blend of different colors of hair. That’s what gives the hair extensions the added dimension that make it look like natural hair. As soon as she added the darker brown and light brown tones in with the blonde it was absolutely perfect, but I definitely had a brief heart attack experience thinking I was going to have streaky blonde hair extensions, ha! It makes me laugh now when thinking about it because they turned out beautifully, and now I fully trust Candice with any and all things she will do to my hair in the future!

I want a hair extension transformation, what are the next steps?

Many of you have reached out to me expressing interest in getting hair extensions, and I can’t rave enough about how happy I am with mine. Though, keep in mind that they are an investment and have required maintenance every 6-8 weeks (at least for NBR extensions). The investment level varies significantly depending on what you results you desire. The longer and fuller the extensions, the more expensive they will be. For me personally, the investment was a no brainer because it is an investment in myself, which to me is the best way to spend your money. I am now happier and more confident thanks to my new hair extensions, and I would make the investment all over again without hesitation.

If it is something you think you would be interesting in hearing more about, I recommend you fill out THIS FORM here to inquire about a consultation with Candice. Gather lots of inspiration photos of how you want your hair to look (Pinterest is a great source) and schedule a consultation session. Candice will definitely take care of you. In my opinion, she is the best on the east coast for hair extensions, and she has a lot of experience with the NBR method. I highly recommend you go to someone who is certified in the method like her, and ensure they have a lot of experience working with these types of extensions. You want to make sure the stylist knows what they are doing since you are making such a large investment in them.

If you have questions regarding NBR extensions, you can always shoot me an e-mail and I’d love to get back to you: bailey@dailywithbailey.com. If you have additional questions about Candice and Garnish Hair Studio, you can give them a call to chat: 919-793-4008. Don’t forget to tell them I sent you!

P.S. I have more posts coming your way regarding extensions. In my next posts I plan to cover more details about how I care for my extensions, style them and the maintenance process. Stay tuned!

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel! I plan to up my game with video content this Summer by posting more tutorials and vlogs there so you won’t want to miss it!