Babe Tape-In specialists know that each style of Babe Tape-In tapes are designed specifically for one job, and are not interchangeable. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Babe’s Tape-In method and its corresponding tools, Babe offers two varieties of tape products that assist in Tape-In installation and re-installation: Single Sided Tape and Replacement Tape. It’s important to stock up on both of these products for complete Tape-In preparation, as one alone simply will not cut it. Here’s why:

Single Sided Tape is used for custom Tape-In installation, serving as a replacement for one of the two Tape-In wefts used in an ordinary installation. It’s a one-sided tape strip perfectly aligned in shape and size to our Tape-In weft, and is applied to the reverse side of a hair section to seal the Tape-In bond. Ideally, Single Sided tape is used during installations on finer-haired clients (video here). Single Sided Tape allows for a lighter-than-normal Tape-In application with less weight on the client’s natural hair, since only one Tape-In weft is being used per hair section (instead of two).

Replacement Tape is used for Tape-In re-installation. It’s a double-sided tape strip that is also perfectly aligned in shape and size to our Tape-In weft. Replacement Tape is used to replace the old adhesive on used Tape-In extensions. After the extensions are removed from the hair, the old adhesive is removed, and the Tape-In weft is cleaned and dried, the Replacement Tape strip can be applied to allow for reuse of the same hair extensions.

If you were to try to use Single Sided Tape instead of Replacement Tape during the re-installation process, your Tape-In weft would not stick to the client’s hair. You might try to roll the Single Sided Tape into a loop, as one does with scotch tape to use it as double-sided tape, but the resulting bond would be insecure, bulky, and would likely cause matting and damage to the client’s hair. Glueing two Single Sided Tape strips together to form double-sided tape is also a bad idea. Beyond compromising the effectiveness of the existing adhesive and risking matting from excess glue, the two Single Sided Tape strips would not stay together, as generic glue is insufficient to bind the plastic backings together.

Alternatively, if you were to try to use Replacement Tape instead of Single Sided tape in the Tape-In installation process, you would certainly cause matting in the client’s hair. Even if you were to seal one side of the Replacement Tape with ordinary tape to limit the excess stickiness, the material would not stand up to the client’s maintenance regimen, as other varieties of tapes and plastics are not designed to be washed, blow dried, or styled. Deterioration and hair damage would be inevitable.

All in all, you can’t interchange Single Sided Tape and Replacement Tape. Doing so would be ineffective, tedious, potentially damaging, and really wasteful—especially when you can easily purchase both for a modest price. And to make it even easier, right now Babe is offering a special September-October promotion for Babe Tape-In users: buy 3 packs of Replacement Tape and get 1 pack of Single Sided Tape, FREE! And that’s in addition to 10% off 14” Tape-Ins! Visit your local Babe distributor to take advantage of the offer now.

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