For extensions to look undetectable it is imperative that the micro rings are not visible at any time, with any style under any conditions. While conventional sized coloured micro rings will remain undetectable and blend seamless with the natural hair Tatiana Karelina offers
for its more discerning clients. The Micro Ringlets are custom designed and made exclusively for Tatiana Karelina and are smaller and lighter than conventional micro rings meaning that extensions can now be applied in areas where previously they could not.
While Indian hair is finer and provides a good match for a Western women’s hair it is only available naturally in dark colours. It is also collected in such large quantities during tonsuring ritual the that the hair invariably gets tangled. To fix the problem of tangling the hair is subjected to an aggressive acid treatment to strip the cuticle layer. Then to get the dark hair light the hair has to undergo a further bleaching process. The hair is then coated with silicone, which gives it an artificial healthy look. In the beginning the hair is shiny and beautiful, but after a month of wear the silicone layer starts to wash away leaving the hair fragile with a dull matt appearance. This is one of the reasons why Indian hair is often paired with keratin bonds, an attachment technique where the hair cannot be reused and must be replaced every 8-10 weeks, as hair quality becomes less important when it has a shorter lifespan.
While Russian hair provides an excellent texture match for Western women’s hair it is considered to be the best because of diet. Diet greatly influences hair quality and the best hair comes from rural Russian communities where the diet is simple, high in nutrients and vitamins and low in sugar, salt and processed animal fats. In order to provide our clients with the best hair Tatiana Karelina never use Indian hair and instead only use Russian Virgin hair. This hair never been bleached or chemically treated and is collected in individual ponytails such that all the cuticles are facing the same direction from root to end. This ensures that the hair does not tangle or matt and will behave exactly like your natural looking hair.
The sensation of having gorgeous long hair is transformative. No client walks out of a Tatiana Karelina salon feeling unchanged. And it’s that feeling – that instant rise in self-confidence that really brings value to what we do for our clients. But in order to achieve a truly natural, transformative and completely seamless look proper blending is key.
For Tatiana Karelina, proper blending doesn’t start in the salon, but over in Russia in small rural communities where our hair is sourced. With so many different hair colours, textures and lengths on today’s woman the optimal colour and texture blend is almost always achieved by combining hair from several different ponytails. In doing this, we can ensure that there is no stringy colour separation as often happens when using pre-bonded hair extensions that come in a single texture and a solid colour. During the consultation process or before the fitting each client is invited to view our inventory of Russian hair and personally select the ponytails based on grade, colour and texture. Once the ponytails are selected, strands of hair are drawn from each ponytail and combined to create individual strands of hair that perfectly match the client’s natural hair. These individual strands are then pre-bonded in house and made available to the technician to fit.
Recognising a gap existed in the market, Tatiana Karelina acted and was the first to introduce an exclusive line of bespoke clip-in extensions and accessories that were made from hand-tied wefts, tailored to the size of the client’s head and matched perfectly to their hair colour and texture. Even to this day no other salon or company can boast that they offer hand-made clip-in extensions.
Now, sitting alongside the made-to- measure clip-in line, Tatiana Karelina has launched its new ready-to- buy range of clip-in extensions. Available in 6 colours in 18” length these clip-in are still made from hand-tied weft yet available to buy on an immediate basis at the Tatiana Karelina shop.