Love the style of effortless curls? Want to know how to achieve loose and feminine curls without having to buy a curling wand or heat tool? Then look no further! We teach you exactly how to curl your hair with a straightener along with the essential tools and tricks in nailing the look.

Loose waves are the perfect style for creating a subtle head of textured curls. One of the most popular trends in hair – casual, effortless and girly! Here at ZALA we love the simplicity of this look with little effort involved and the utilization of every girls staple hair tool: the hair straightener! To learn how to curl your hair with a straightener, read through these quick and easy steps.

How to Curl your Hair with a Straightener – Tools and Equipment

What you’ll need when learning how to curl your hair with a straightener:

• Your Hair Straightener (we recommend a good quality one like GHD or Cloud Nine)
• Your ZALA extensions
• A ZALA loop brush (if using extensions)
• Heat protectant spray
• Hair spray
• Several hair ties and ZALA sectioning clips to section off hair and keep out of the way

Quick tip! The width of your straightening iron creates different style curls. For a tight pin curl, use a slim and narrow iron. For a big, loose curl, use a wider flat iron.

 How to Curl your Hair with a Straightener – The Process

1. Turn your straightener on medium/high heat
2. For extra body and length, apply your ZALA extensions in your desired length. Our ZALA clip in extensions are 100% human remy hair that can be heated, curled and styled without causing any damage. We recommend our 24″ for extra long locks!  Brush through to seamlessly blend your ZALA extensions with your natural hair.
3. Spray hair with a heat protectant spray to prevent any damage.
4. Section hair into pieces with hair ties or sectioning clips and work from bottom to top layers.
5. Take a flat inch/2 inch width section. Clamp your hair straightener where you want the curl to start. While running down your hair, twist the section in the direction away from your face, creating a slight rolling motion with your straightener. (This may take a couple times to get right, however it is so simple once you get the hang of it!)
   
6. Spray each section with hairspray to ensure a long lasting curl.
7. Once all the hair is complete, gently brush through hair with your loop brush to create a natural, loose curl.

Keep in mind: the thicker the piece, the bigger and looser the curl. The slower you glide through your hair, the tighter the curl.

Products mentioned:

Loop Brush: https://www.zalacliphairextensions.com.au/hair-extension-loop-brush.html
Sectioning Clips: https://www.zalacliphairextensions.com.au/hair-sectioning-clips.html
ZALA extensions: https://www.zalacliphairextensions.com.au/product-colour-chart
Hair Straightener: https://www.ghdhair.com

PUBLISHED 24TH MARCH 2015

Rihanna, not only a pop queen but also a style icon, is known for her striking hair. Rihanna’s hair is always on the forefront of a trend! Constantly switching up her look from from straight and sleek jet black hair, to her signature red locks or those voluminous ombre curls. Here at ZALA, we are always are crushing over Rihanna’s hair and her ever-evolving style. Bold, striking and edgy!

Rihanna’s Hair – Ombre curls

One of our favourite hair inspirations: Rihanna’s ombre/balayage curls. This is a trend which is gaining popularity every season. Whether it is side swept or middle parted, we love this beautiful gradient effect trend that creates that gorgeous sun kissed effect in Rihanna’s hair.

To instantly achieve this look yourself without the worry of bleaching or damaging your natural hair, the ZALA team have designed 7 gorgeous ombre extension shades. Learn how to get Rihanna’s hair following these quick and easy steps:

1. Apply your ZALA clip in hair extensions in the shade that is most suited to your natural hair colour. 
2. Seperate your hair and grab sections to style with a curling wand or straightener.
3. Brush through hair once curled to seamlessly blend your natural hair with your ZALA extensions. This also creates a more natural and loose looking curl.
4. Complete with a light spray of hairspray to hold curls!

You’re done! Simple and easy ombre curls without the hassle of dye’s or bleaches. All achieved with no damage to your natural locks!

Rihanna’s Hair – Sleek and straight

Rihanna’s signature hair is often long, straight and sleek. Whether it be jet black or vibrant red, this timeless style in Rihanna’s hair create a simple yet edgy look. Simply pop in your ZALA hair extensions to achieve your desired length. We suggest ZALA’s  24″ or 26″ lengths for the best effect.

• Make sure to brush through with a hair extension safe brush to make your clips ins undetectable.
• Smooth through with a straightener.
• Finish with a generous amount of hairspray to tame fly-aways and you’re done! Long, sleek and edgy just like Rihanna’s hair.

Rihanna’s Hair – Iconic Burgundy Red

Rihanna’s most iconic style – this straight and sleek rich burgundy shade scores full points at ZALA. This deep red wine shade in Rihanna’s hair gives us complete hair envy! This is among the softest and most flattering shades of red. For those of us who are brave enough to try this, we recommend our stunning Burgundy Red #99J to achieve this bold look.

PUBLISHED 18TH MARCH 2015

The all mighty debatable topic…Do hair extensions damage your hair? Hair extensions sometimes have a reputation for being high-maintenance, damaging to your natural hair, and expensive. Let us tell you, we here at ZALA have tested a lot of them over the years, some are just that, expensive and high maintenance however let us take a moment to introduce you about the methods which are not! Times have changed and we no longer need to damage our hair long term for a few months of beautiful locks! So, do hair extensions damage your hair or not? Let’s find out!

Do hair extensions damage your hair?- Methods which can:

Micro-loop hair extensions

-Micro-loop and nano-loop hair extensions have the highest up keep cost.
-This method requires hours of work in order to apply the hundreds of individual beads.
-This method has found to be harsh on the hair and can matte easily during the grow out phase.
-Cost: This can cost upwards of $500 to have a full head applied by a professional.

Weave in hair extensions:

-Wearing a heavy and bulky row of hair in your natural, delicate hair is no doubt not a good combination.
-If your hair is already weak or coloured then having hair pulling down on it 24/7 will cause more breakage and can even cause head aches.
-This method can be very obvious and if your hair is on the finer side, you will almost definitely be able to see the bulky row.
-This method of hair extensions can be a cheaper way of application- however we do not think it is worth the damage and pain.

Heavy weaves

Do hair extensions damage your hair?- methods that do not:

Clip in hair extensions:

–Clip in hair extensions are perfect for those who have a sensitive scalp or weaker hair types.
-These are removed every night therefore you do not get the pulling or tugging on your natural hair as you sleep.
-If you wish to only wear them on weekends, then that can be done and seeming though they only take 5 or 10 minutes to apply, they can also be worn daily.
-As long as you purchase good quality hair extensions, these can last you a very long time and look incredibly natural.
-Clip in hair extensions from ZALA range from $140- $350 and a top quality with clips which will protect your hair from breakage.

Tape hair extensions:

We think tape hair extensions win for overall awesomeness! If you are after a permanent method of hair extensions, tapes are the way to go!
-They are incredibly discreet, very comfortable and ZALA tapes are double drawn, so they add the perfect amount of volume and length.
-They are so light on your hair that they do not cause any excess breakage or pulling and they can be re used and re applied to save you some coin! Win win we would say!
–ZALA tape hair extensions start at $110 and they can be taken into your hairdresser or applied by a knowledgeable friend.

What do you think? Do hair extensions damage your hair? We hope we have given you enough information to know the methods to steer clear of in order to keep your locks healthy and the ones which will add style and beauty to your hair with no damage!

PUBLISHED 11TH MARCH 2015

We know a popular trend when we see one, silver hair was set out to break records and well, we think it has! Everything you need to know about…..50 shades of grey.

Your wrong if you think silver hair is just for the over 50’s! Young trend setters are seeking the depths of YouTube for new ways to turn their locks grey.
Watch this YouTube video to learn about 
Celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Rhianna have nailed this look and girls around the World have cloned it. This colour ranges from a “just past white” shade of lightest silvery blonde, “so blonde its almost blue” shade all the way to dark grey. This means it can work with almost all skin tones. As long as your hair doesn’t break off in the process. Let’s not ignore the fact that going this light and ashy cannot be kind on your locks. The safest way to achieve this style is to opt for a balayage style using silver on the ends.

 

 

If your hair is very weak or already quite damaged, we would steer clear of this risqué shade.

How do I get to a silver shade?
Ensure your hair is platinum blonde prior to taking it to the next level. If your hair has too much warmth, it will not take to the silver colour.
Tone, tone and tone again!

Add hair extensions to give length to your uber cool new look! Go with Ice Queen platinum blonde and use the same silver colour to create an incredible look like our lovely ZALA customer here did with her 30″ clip in hair extensions.
If you feel your hair is very dry since taking your hair silver, give it a good snip to get rid of any split ends and add some new silky clip in hair extensions by ZALA!

PUBLISHED 3RD MARCH 2015

HOW TO REUSE TAPE HAIR EXTENSIONS

Tape hair extensions are becoming increasing popular. Their subtle and discreet finish is too good to let pass! But many people do not know how to reuse tape hair extensions one they are removed.
Although tape hair extensions need to be adjusted every 4-6 weeks, the same hair can be reapplied once it has been re-taped.

If you want to know how to reuse tape hair extensions yourself read on, alternatively your hairdresser may know how to reuse tape hair extensions and can do the whole process for you!

Step by step- how to reuse tape hair extensions

1. after you have removed the tapes from your hair, apply lots of solvent to the tapes to get the excess glue off your tapes.

2. Once they no longer feel so sticky, you will need to wash them well. You will need to wash them with shampoo a couple of time to get the solvent out.
3. Give them a really good condition so that they are left silky but do not apply this conditioner to the bond area.
4. Once they are air dried, they should no longer feel sticky at the top where the tape was.
5. Find the bump side of the tape as this is the side where the tape goes.
6. Using the ZALA blue tape (available on our online store) unroll enough to cover the length of the piece, trying not to touch the sticky side of the tape too much.

7. Move any stray hairs out of the way.
8. Position the tape over the piece and do not press down properly until it is placed perfectly.
9. Once it is evenly placed over the piece, apply pressure over the tape.
10. Snip the tape so there is no excess tape on the ends or top of the piece.

Your extensions should now be good as new to re apply!

Please do not attempt this yourself if you are unsure on how to reuse tape hair extensions. Consult a professional so that you are left with beautiful hair!

PUBLISHED 26TH FEBRUARY 2015