The Tape Extension Surfer

What exactly is a “tape extension surfer” you might ask.  Well, for me it’s something I’ve done and watched hundreds of times.  A tape extension surfer is defined by me “as someone who will use any surface and all surfaces to stick removed tape extensions”.  

In most bathrooms today there are not enough surfaces available. There is the counter, the walls, the shower door, the towel, the edge of the bathtub or the bathroom mirror,  just to name a few surfaces.  It’s anything and anywhere.  

I would remove my extensions one by one and my favourite spot would be the bathtub edge. My daughter would come to the bathroom and watch me remove my extensions and tell me how gross my bathtub looked…”mom the bathtub looks like a hairy monster in a horror movie”. She was so grossed-out she would only come as far as the door.  Sometimes I got really lazy, and I would leave the hair extensions attached to the bathtub edge for days because the thought of cleaning them and retaping was exhausting.  I knew I had to do it, but I didn’t know when. 

My partner was the first to tell me to clean-it-up because occasionally there would be the odd extension that after being there for a few days would detach and fall to the floor where it would get stuck to his socks. I once saw him come down the stairs with a blond extension stuck to his sock….I had to keep a straight face.  One morning he was getting dressed and he went to the bathroom in his suit, bent down to pick up something and a hair extension adhered to his suit’s shoulder.  He went to work like that, and walked around the office and noticed everyone was all smiles, but NO ONE told him. He walked around with this long eyelash thingy hanging onto his shoulder.

He came home all tired and after saying hello, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a single hair extension he had befriended.  I smiled and I said, “sorry about that”.  He looked at me and said I couldn’t leave my hair extensions attached to any surface of the bathroom anymore. What?  Where was I to place them now while they vacationed from my head?  I had to think of something within the next 6-7 weeks before the next removal.  

I went to bed thinking and thinking of a solution.  One morning I woke up like a bolt of lightening had hit me.  What if I had a hard surface to secure the extensions, be able to spray solvents, remove the old tapes, shampoo and condition the extensions at the same time I’m shampooing my hair in the shower, dry and retape the extensions and even recolour the extensions…what would this surface look like?

It was a Saturday morning…I headed for the Home Depot and purchased a thick piece of plastic used to cover windows for peeping-toms.  I sat down and designed a surface that could handle all the versatility.  My first prototype looked like a rectangular shape about 50cm by 40cm.  It had black markings to use as clip stations, extension landing spots, and a 5cm by 5mm slit under each clip station where I could pass the extension from the back to the front and then the idea was to secure the extension onto the clip at the front.  Business in the front and party at the back.    

This idea was my epiphany.  I knew there would be thousands of women needing this tool.  I had done my research; which revealed that tape extensions were the second most purchased type of hair extensions in a 2 billion dollar hair extension industry in North America alone.  

After thousands of dollars, meetings with design engineers and lawyers, patent offices, agents to connect me with factories, and advice from marketing firms to bounce ideas, testing, and retesting, sleepless nights and reworking designs to choosing colours I finally have my Extension Expert product selling online.  This has been a major achievement for me. Having moved from a foreign country when I was five years old I knew no English. I liked being alone and I always had these ideas in my head all the time. I loved analyzing and organization because it eased my anxiety. I loved processing ideas into action.  How can I make this or that better.  This is my contribution to the hair extension industry and community.  

I hope that as time goes by more and more women will discover this amazing product (might I add) that will help them in their hour of need.  I know you extension surfers are out there !!!  Get ahead of the game.  Go to Malimorphe.com and see what this tool can do for you!  I guarantee you will not be sorry.