Guide
Tape versus micro ring versus keratin bond
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Tape is the fastest and flattest but needs moving every six to eight weeks and dislikes oily hair. Micro rings last three to four months, use no heat or glue and are cheapest over a year. Keratin bonds last longest and hold best, but use heat and are the least forgiving on already damaged hair.
Cost over a year, not per appointment
Tape has the cheapest first appointment and the most frequent refits, six to eight weeks apart. Micro rings cost more up front and need attention every three to four months, and the refit only opens and closes the beads. Over twelve months micro rings usually work out cheapest, tape most expensive, keratin somewhere between depending on whether the hair can be re-tipped.
What each one feels like
Tape is flat and you stop noticing it in a day or two. Micro rings are small hard points you can feel with your fingers and sometimes when you sleep. Keratin bonds are firmer than tape and softer than rings, and they rotate with the hair rather than sitting rigid. None of them should hurt.
Which one your hair can take
Fine hair: tape or nano rings, because they spread or minimise the load. Oily scalp: not tape, the adhesive will slip. Bleached hair: not keratin, the heat is a risk it does not need. Thick hair wanting volume: wefts before any of these three. That is the entire decision in four lines.
The honest downside of each
Tape slips if you use oil or conditioner near the roots, and refits come round fast. Micro rings are visible on very fine or very light hair if the bead colour is not matched to your root. Keratin needs heat at the root and a patient removal, and it is the method most often blamed for damage precisely because it is the one people leave in longest.
What we actually recommend most
For a first-time client with normal hair who is not sure they will keep them, tape. It is the cheapest way to find out whether you like having extensions, and it is the easiest to reverse. For someone who has had extensions before and knows they want them long term, micro or nano rings, because the annual cost is lower and nothing chemical touches the hair.