Hair Extensions |A black and white image of two blonde women fixing their model's ponytail hairstyle with combs and hairspray.

HOW TO CARE FOR AND MAINTAIN YOUR HAIR EXTENSIONS

Owning and wearing a set of gorgeous fine human hair extensions is a transformative and empowering experience. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone walking out of a salon feeling unchanged about their beautiful new hair. That being said, with extensions it is crucial to take proper care and maintenance of them.  This way you keep them looking their absolute best for as long as possible. Your extensions may have very high-quality hair used in the them, which makes for a great natural-looking shine, but hair is still hair and it needs to be treated with respect.

You might not know how to do this though, but you’re in luck because this blog answers all these questions from the complicated and complex question down to simple ones, like how long do hair extensions last for?  In fact, let us answer that right now, tape-in extensions last for up to eight weeks, same for protein-bonded and glue-in extensions, however glue-ins may last as little as four weeks. Knowing this simple fact will allow you to take proper hair extension aftercare and it makes all the difference in the world.

 

Hair Extension Aftercare

When taking care of your hair extensions make sure to be gentle, as no matter how high-quality and strong your extensions may be, they can still be damaged easily. However, you still need to be thorough. Similar to washing your hair, to wash extensions you need to be thorough, and smooth your hands through the extensions. When brushing or combing don’t be hasty with your moves, it is best to use a wide tooth comb as high-quality, micro-ring extensions do not easily tangle so there is no need to be forceful. Too much force can pull individual hairs away from the weft. Washing your hair is one of the biggest components of extension aftercare.  Some may have the question; can you wash your hair with extensions? The short answer is yes, you do not need to remove the extensions or anything but there is more to it. Washing hair extensions is relatively easy but is a necessary part in hair extension aftercare.

The first step is to brush your hair before you wash it.  Doing this helps get rid of tangles and in result makes brushing your hair once you exit the shower much more effortless in comparison. If you have pre-shampoo treatment definitely use that, but it is not necessary. When you are in the shower do not flip your head upside or wash your hair over the bath or else you may face tangling and may even remove product from your hair. You should also have hair extension shampoo so don’t forget to use that by gently massaging and covering your scalp and then stroking the rest of your hair. Rinsing hair extensions is no different than normal except you probably have more hair than you usually do. When applying conditioner, unlike shampoo, don’t cover your scalp. Instead, apply it to your mid lengths and ends and leave it for a few minutes before rinsing.  The last step in this is knowing whether you should let hair extensions dry naturally. And the answer is yes, do not use heat or wrap your hair in a towel. Rather, simply squeeze and pat your hair to dry it.

Maintaining Hair Extensions

Maintaining your hair extensions is the other crucial aspect of hair aftercare. The main rule for maintenance is to keep it regular, washing your hair every two – three days at a minimum. However, we explored the washing of hair extensions rather extensively above so let’s move on. There are many questions that come to mind when maintaining extensions. Are hair extensions high maintenance? What happens in hair extension maintenance, both at home and at salons? How often do you have to maintain the extensions? Now we didn’t bring up these questions to not answer them, so here we go!

Hair extensions do require a bit more maintenance than just your natural hair  Fortunately, there are ways to make this easier. The first way is to make yourself knowledgeable, and eventually with experience, you’ll know how to maintain your extensions like the back of your hand. And if you aren’t very knowledgeable, well that’s what this blog is for. Plus, you can always book and appointment with professionals that will give you great tips and advice.

To know what happens in hair extension maintenance you will have to both take appointments and care for your hair at home. Appointments with stylists are only often needed every four - six weeks and is completely worth it. There are two types of hair extension appointments: refitting/replacement and uplifting. Replacement appointments are when each extension is removed allowing damaged and old bonds to be replaced and refitted. This removes irritation, allow your hair to be refreshed and continue looking healthy, and you are able to keep the extensions for longer. With uplifting appointments, no new extensions are required the bonds you have will be moved to its original position. This way, your hair extensions won’t grow down and become a hassle.

Briefly mentioned earlier, you will need to continuously maintain your hair, washing it at the very minimum, every two – three days. Other than that, refitting appointments are needed four – six weeks and uplifting appointments every six – eight weeks.

Extra Advice in Hair Extension Aftercare

There are many things you need to be careful about in hair extension maintenance and aftercare. For example, how do you sleep with hair extensions? First off, let us assure you, sleeping with hair extensions is completely safe and comfortable as well. But there are some things you should do to be careful. The first thing is brushing your hair before bed, this may sound obvious, but doing this will ensure no tangles in the morning. What many people do before sleep is tying your hair into a braid, with this your extensions will not move around, less friction on the ends of your hair, plus braids are easy to remove in the morning and it will be easy to brush. If you dislike braids, you could also wear a ponytail, though that may take a bit more effort as you need to ensure your hair is brushed thoroughly and you don’t want your hair too tight or put pressure on your bonds.

Some people have a misconception that extensions damage your hair, so that begs the question. Do hair extensions damage your real hair? For the vast majority of the time, they do not. The only times they do damage your hair is if they are not removed professionally, if you wear them for too long, or if you are wearing extensions that are too heavy for you. Removing hair extensions unprofessionally or not carefully is a disaster-in-waiting, wearing extensions for months that are only meant to be used for six weeks, without going to maintenance appointments, is bound to be harmful and if you’re not careful with how heavy your extensions are, then your hair is going to be constantly pulled and eventually shed.

Hopefully, with the information outlined here, the aftercare and maintenance of your hair extensions should be excellent.  Maintaining your extensions is not particularly difficult, but it is a constant task that should be done if you want your hair to have that beautiful healthy shine. The golden rule is to treat your extensions with love and respect and that way you can enjoy your hair extensions to the fullest and as long as possible.  If you have any questions our team is always here to answer so feel free to reach out by email at info@tatianakarelina.co.uk

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