A Day Doing One Client At The Salon

What are “K-tips” in American salons?

K-tips are a type of hair extension popular in American salons. Each strand of extension hair is sealed at the top with a small keratin tip (the K stands for keratin), which a stylist heats and bonds to the client’s natural hair, strand by strand. Installing a full head can take four to eight hours, and removing them takes another long session. The price reflects the time: a full set in the US can run $1,000 to $3,000. Other extension methods include tape-ins, sew-ins, microlinks, and clip-ins; K-tips sit in the high-effort, high-quality end of the range.

In this clip, a stylist removes a client’s K-tips: “It took me exactly eight hours to do her hair today.”