Lifting the Color of Mid-Grade Hair Extensions

The wet and wavy sample weft in the picture above is a mid-grade hair. Definitely not remy hair, but it is human hair.  Typically, you would not lift this type of hair extension.  Only the high-end virgin, unprocessed, remy hair that comes in one color is supposed to be safe to lift.  However, with the mid-grade hair being marked down to really great pricing, it may be worth purchasing and altering the color as needed.

 So I chosed the Goldwell Silk Lift High Performance Lightener - regular with ammonia.

I pre-treated the hair with the White Sands "The Fix" Porosity spray first before applying the lightener.

 I used clear cellophane foil, and it took at least 45 minutes to really start to see a lift.  I even heated the cellophane sample with the blowdryer for a few minutes to get the lightener going a little faster.

Clarifying shampoo was a definite to make sure the dark color molecules got washed away.  I like the new subtle brown color.  Higher quality hair should take less time, but you will probably accidently skip pass this brown color phase of the lift process and end up with red or orange or blonde.  I was pleased with the final color.

Comparing Wet and Wavy Hair Extensions

One side is remi hair at $100 per pack. The other side is mid-grade hair at $50 per pack. 2010 pricing. Can you tell? I have the remi hair braided into the front of my hair and flipped over so that you can not see it. The mid-grade hair was braided into the back and parts of the sides. I really worked to get this picture. Smile. Well, the answer is the blacker hair on the left is the remi hair, and the browner; more defined waves is the mid-grade hair. Neither packages are cheap. If take your hand and cover one side of the picture, then it will truly give you a feel for how either hair type would look all over.
These are the original packages of braiding hair used for this style. For more information, please see my invisible braiding article. Remember the colored package is mid-grade at about $50 per pack, and the black remy hair is $100 per pack. I like the softness of the remy hair. It looks soft and feels soft. The mid-grade hair is a little stiffer to the touch. I have found that the term "remi" and "remy" are constantly interchanged. I spelled it both ways in this article to assist with search criteria. To maintain this curly hair, please see my article on containing curls.