How to Care for Your Hair Extensions

October 31, 2017

So you’ve just invested in some high-quality hair extensions and you clipped them in or perhaps you’ve just had them done by a stylist. Whatever your method of installation, you want your extensions to remain soft, manageable and healthy as long as possible. Making the most of your new style is incredibly easy, here are some great tips to help you take care of your extensions so you can extend their lifespan and wear them again, and again.

Our first suggestion is to use sulfate-free shampoo. This is especially important for kinkier textures, and colored hair. The harsh chemicals and foaming agents in regular shampoo can cause your extensions to become dry and brittle by stripping the hair of it’s natural oils. Since sulfate-free cleansers are less damaging, they will ultimately leave your hair with more moisture and will increase the longevity of your extensions.

Another important aspect to keeping your extensions looking great longer is night-time care. If you have clip-in extensions, you should be taking them out nightly and combing them before re-installing. This will help keep tangling to a minimum and avoiding unnecessary shedding. If your extensions are sewn or taped in, it is important to protect your strands overnight. Sleeping on a satin pillowcase can help maintain your shine, keep your hair smooth and reduce breakage. If you want another layer of protection, consider wearing a satin scarf over your extensions at night, we promise, it actually helps keep your hair nicer much longer!

Speaking of satin, we are in LOVE with Grace Eleyae’s Satin Lined Caps or (SLAPS). Hats are a must-have accessory for the winter, but fabrics like cotton or wool can be quite damaging to our strands. Invest in a SLAP and you’ll never look back! (That’s corny but we really mean it.)

Of course, washing your hair is really important to keep your hair healthy, but balance is key when it comes to cleansing. Since your extensions aren’t receiving the same nutrients from your body that your natural hair does, you’ll want to consider how washing frequency will affect the health of your extensions. If your extensions  need washing, by all means, wash them! But daily cleansing is going to wear them out much, much faster. By using less product on your extensions, you’ll find you need to wash them less often. Bonus tip: If you’re rocking clip-ins, let them air dry overnight after washing, it’ll keep them super soft.)

To keep your extensions looking fuller for much longer, make sure to comb with care. If you take to your head with a fury, you’ll risk pullout out strands that can't grow back, and too much of that will leave your strands sparse. Take care to comb slowly so as to not induce unnecessary shedding.

Another great tip is to make sure you’re not wearing your style for too long. This applies specifically to those with sewn-in, taped-in, micro/nano beaded and protein-bonded hairstyles. How long your extensions last will depend on your hair texture and lifestyle to a certain degree but usually, you'll want to remove your wefts after 5-8 weeks for sew-ins, 6-8 weeks for tape-ins, and 6-8 weeks for protein-bonded and micro-beaded styles. Any longer and the risk of your extensions matting and damaging your natural hair increases significantly.

Lastly, protective styling is a great way to keep your extensions feeling soft and new. Let’s be real, it’s pretty awesome being able to put heat on our extensions and not worry about damaging our own hair, but if your extensions are human virgin remy hair, they’ll respond to excessive heat in the same way your natural hair would, so keeping the heat below 450°,  reducing the frequency in which you bust out the hot tools, and blow-drying on low heat are all ways to maintain the health of your extensions.

Try these tips and let us know how they worked for you! If you have any questions or comments, please email us!

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

---

Also in News