You may have seen my extensions on Instagram already, and after almost a full week in, I'm ready to give a review of the Lock'n Long Hair Extensions. I received my extensions last Friday, the day before I was set to officiate a friend's wedding and my daughter's graduation from High School. My parent's and in laws just arrived the night before and I had a lot on my plate. But now that they were here, I wanted to play!

Lock'n Long Hair Extensions Fine Glam Set

Lock'n Long Hair Extensions were created by Danielle, when she wanted perfect hair for her wedding. She opted for extensions to give her the princess hair she dreamed of, only to find out that they were going to set her back $800. Loving the look of her hair with extensions and knowing there had to be a better option, Danielle eventually founded Lock'n Long Hair Extensions with a patent pending hair extension product.

Oddly enough, I found Danielle because I didn't want to pay $900 for extensions! As many of you know, I cut my long hair about 2 years ago. By now my hair should be past my shoulders, but I have been having a blast with my short hair and now, the stage I hate has arrived. It is at this stage, every time I cut my hair where extensions enter my life. I just can't stand how it feels having my hair graze my shoulders. I can't explain it, but the feeling is just so uncomfortable to me. I have done clip ins, glue ins, and sew ins. I even had micro mini braids once. But it's been 9 years since my last trip with short hair, and extensions have come a long way since then! Thank goodness, because nothing was more uncomfortable than sew in and glue in extensions! Clip ins were great, except I had to re-apply them every morning. I am a DIYer by nature, but I was seriously considering having my stylist install a set of micro bead extensions.

Last time I was at the salon, my stylist showed me some samples of micro bead extensions, and explained how they work. The cost of the extensions would be $500 and the install would be about $400 based on how long it took to apply. I asked if I could buy the extensions and then maybe wait a month or two to apply them to break up the cost a bit. Kind of like an extension lay a way. LOL! She was totally fine with that. But probably because I have been going to her for 2 years now and she knows I'll come back and get them installed. Well I came home and researched and researched and found Lock'n Long Extensions. You install these yourself using their patent pending Lockbar system in 15 minutes. And the cost? $299. Same quality human hair extensions, same 5 to 7 week wear time before needing to tighten them and they last a year or more based on how you care for them. But for just a fraction of the price. Hmmm….

Before

OK so first things first. They arrived and I couldn't wait to play. With just 2 hours until my friends wedding, I bit the bullet, figuring, I had at least an hour to play. I had already watched the installation video a good 3 times. Now I turned it on and followed along pausing it along the way. But I did not actually install them! I pinned them in using bobby pins. Why would I do that? Well, because I never used these before and I wanted to make sure I got the placement right for me and I wanted to see how it would look in my above the shoulder length hair. When I let all my hair down, played around for a bit, blended them and I was ready to take the plunge and install them! So  I lifted my hair section by section and tightened the lock bars. Here is where it got tricky. I was a nervous wreck about officiating my friends wedding. My hands were shaking, I was so nervous! How the heck was I going to clamp down these lock bars with my shaky hands? John came to the rescue and clamped the first row behind my head, then he disappeared and said he'd be right back. After 10 mins of waiting for John to come back, I got impatient and did the next row myself. OMG! I did it! It was so easy! Because I had them clipped in using the included clips, I just felt for each lock bar and used the locking tool included and gave it a squeeze. I think the row took me about a minute to clamp! I was so impressed. I then did the two side pieces and by the time John came back up to help, I was already done. Total time including my trial run with bobby pins, playing around to see if they would blend, my nerves and waiting for John - 57 mins. OK so it wasn't 15 minutes, but it would have taken me about 20 minutes total I think if I eliminate the trial, playing around with them and waiting on John. (I'll cover installation in a separate post tomorrow since this one is so long already.) I imagine it will only get quicker now that I know how to apply them.

After - Lock'n Long Hair Extensions

After with Lock'n Long Hair Extensions

I left them long and mermaid like for the first 2 days. But it really was too drastic a look from my short hair to long hair. So again my impatience set in and I took scissors to my hair and cut them. Well actually, I had John to the back, but you get the idea. I know I should have waited so I could have my stylist do them for me, but oh that darn impatience! John cut them a little shorter than I wanted, but in all honesty, it's the perfect length. But I do miss the mermaid length.

Lock'n Long Hair Extensions Review

I find the extensions comfortable, but it was weird sleeping in them the first night. I sprayed my hair with leave in conditioner and set them in loose french braids. But it felt different than my head normally feels and I found myself waking several times in the night to make sure they were still there. HA! After the first night, I've been fine.

Lock'n Long Hair Extensions

Final impression - these extensions are amazing! I ordered them in #12 Midtown Brown and they are a perfect match! I installed them on a record breaking heat day. Spent the morning on a windy beach, the night outside for my daughter's graduation and anywhere from an hour to a full day at the beach every day since installing them. They've been in the ocean and washed in the shower and still in perfect condition. My only "issue" is that because my hair is so short, I would benefit from an additional row of extensions. So my issue is with my hair, not the extensions? I received the 4 piece Fine Glam set and would benefit better from the 5 piece Full Glam set. Fortunately you can order additional accent pieces, and I did just that. All in all, this is a great alternative to salon installed extensions. My favorite part has to be that because I am the one putting them in and taking them out and because they can be re-used, I can put them in for a week if I want, take them out and then put them back in when I want.  Or I can leave them in for 5-7 weeks, tighten them and keep them in or take them out after a month. It is completely up to me! (Oh and did I mention my stylist told me it cost the same $400 for removal or tightening?) Yup, I'll stick with the Lock'n Long Hair Extensions, thank you!

Can you tell my real hair from the extensions? #12 Midtown Brown is my perfect match!

Lock'n Long Hair Extensions

And because the folks over at Lock'n Long Extensions are so awesome, they are offering you all 40% off a set of extensions that retail for $299 or more! Just use code 40CultNails at check out.

So what do you think of my extension transformation?

Disclosure: The Lock'n Long Hair Extensions were provided to me for review purposes. The opinions however are my own.