You finally made the decision to get the hair extensions of your dreams. You’re so excited, and feeling confident, and you’ve been riding that new hair high all week. Now it’s wash day, and you’ve forgotten EVERYTHING your stylist told you!
No worries! It happens to all of us. Let me simplify the process for you: wash, dry, moisturize, style, oil, and repeat.
Here are a few tips from Ashlee McKinnon, Founder and Owner of ERA Extensions Salon, on how to take care of your hair extensions at home so you can enjoy your investment for as long as possible.
- Keep them clean
Depending on your lifestyle, you; probably wash your hair and extensions every couple of days. On average, going 3-5 days between washings is ideal. But if you’re someone who likes to or has time to wash their hair daily, that’s ok too. Just be aware that overwashing and under washing your extensions can shorten the lifespan of your extensions, depending on the type of hair brand, type, and application method. For example, if you’re wearing tape in extensions, washing daily in a hot shower and blow drying and heat styling daily will cause the adhesive to slip in the natural hair. If you’re wearing a hand-tied weft, the threads holding the hair together will stretch and expand with water exposure; if they’re not dried, you’ll start to lose hair strands because those threads are overstretched. If you’re under washing your hair, the hair will feel gritty and dry and begin to break off on the ends, and you’ll lose the length. You’ll want to brush through your hair with a boar bristle or flexible bristle brush before you get in the shower. Work out any tangles and product residue from the mid-shaft to the ends. Once you’ve detangled the ends, detangle the rest of the hair, working your way to the scalp. I prefer to use a boar bristle brush on my scalp; it helps remove any dry shampoo buildup, texturizes and hairsprays I may have layered on through the week.
Once that’s done, I get in the shower and wet my whole head down. I start with a moisture-based extension and color-safe shampoo at the scalp, massaging the scalp and working the product down through the mid to ends. You don’t want to rub the hair together; you’ll rough up the cuticle on the extension hair; instead, I knead the shampoo through the ends. After rinsing thoroughly, you’ll condition your hair. Again, splitting your hair in half, I start on one side, starting in the mid-length to the ends working the conditioner through each section. Let the conditioner sit in your hair for at least 5 minutes for optimal moisture benefits. You can also use a protein-free moisture hair mask weekly or monthly to prevent your hair from drying out or to rehab moisture back into your hair.
- Drying Your Hair Extensions
After you’ve washed and conditioned your hair, gently squeeze out any excess water with a towel. Never rub or wring out your hair, which can cause damage or breakage.
You’ll want to let your hair air dry as long as possible, at least 50-70% air dry before you use your blow dryer, or use a diffuser on low or medium heat setting if you must blow dry it. Avoid excessive direct heat as much as possible to prolong the life of the extension hair. When using hot tools like the blow dryer, a curling iron, or flat iron, be sure to use a heat protectant product beforehand.
Or try letting your natural waves or curls air dry for a more undone look. We know it can be tempting to style your extensions with a curling or flat iron daily, but try to avoid it if possible. Too much heat will damage the hair and shorten its lifespan significantly.
- Brushing and Styling Products
It’s essential to brush your extensions regularly to avoid tangles and matting. First, however, be aware of the type of extension hair you’re wearing; hand-tied wefts, i-tip, tapes, or another type of weft. Hand-tied wefts are more delicate, so you must be careful not to brush too hard or too roughly because you could break the threads holding the weft together and close strands of extension hair. Instead, use a spray leave-in conditioner; I like Oligo’s 18 in 1 leave-in conditioner; on your hair wet and dry before you brush, then you can layer in your smoothing/styling creams; I use Unite’s 7 Seconds Blow Dry Cream; and volumizing products; my go-to is ColorWOW’s Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer foam. Then, using a boar bristle brush or flexible bristle brush, start brushing from the middle to the ends of your hair, slowly working your way up. For added security, try holding the top of the extension hair while brushing when you’re about a week or two from your move ups. After I’ve let my hair air dry most of the way dry, I finish with my blow dryer. Once dry, I use my leave-in conditioner again and brush through my hair before I use my flat iron, curling iron, or crimper. After using my styler of choice, I finish with Unite dry texture spray to set my style until the next wash day.
- Sleep on Silk
Sleeping on a silk pillowcase can help reduce friction and prevent tangles while you sleep. You can also use a satin scarf or bonnet if you don’t have a silk pillowcase. Sleep with them loose or in a braid. Sleeping with your hair down will help keep it from tangling overnight. If you prefer to sleep with it up, put it in a loose braid or bun on top of your head before bedtime. This will also help minimize tangles and damage while you sleep.
- Get them trimmed regularly.
Like your natural hair, your Extensions will benefit from regular trims every 6-8 weeks (depending on how fast your hair grows). This will help keep split ends at bay and ensure that your extensions look their best for as long as possible. But you want to avoid using protein-based products that advertise to strengthen or seal split ends on the extension hair.
- Schedule Regular Maintenance Appointments
Although you can take care of your extensions at home, scheduling regular appointments with your stylist for maintenance checks and touchups is still essential. This will help ensure that your extensions stay healthy and look their best. Most importantly, staying on a regular maintenance schedule will keep your natural hair healthy!
Taking good care of your hair extensions doesn’t have to be hard or time-comsuming and will help them last longer and stay looking their best. The best side effect of wearing extensions, when installed properly and maintained regularly, is they will allow your natural hair to grow longer and fuller! With proper care, your hair extensions will look fabulous for weeks, months, even years to come! Ashlee McKinnon ERA Hair Salon offers high-quality temporary extensions methods like Clip Ins, Halos, and topper hair pieces; as well as our newly developed New ERA Weft Hair Extensions that are easy to take care of at home! Visit our website ERAsalonaz.com today for more information or call us at 602-295-7274 to book an appointment!
xo Ashlee
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