Here is a list of information I have received throughout the years from clients and my own personal experience in the care and maintenance of hair extensions.
Please be aware this information has only been told to during casual discussion and was not expanded upon. The reasoning behind doing a post such as this is to hopefully help you as the readers to come up with simple (and sometimes more affordable) ways to care for your hair. There is a bit of information to get through so this subject will be broken up over several posts. Please let me know if you have found any other ways to care for your hair extensions.
Tip 1
Don’t overdo the hairspray and styling productI have lost count of the number of clients who come to see me with their hair an absolute dried and fried looking mess. Many times this is due to product build-up. Yes the extension hair will become drier over time as it has already been chemically treated, but sometimes a lot of the horridness comes from too much hairspray build-up.
To remedy this a clarifying shampoo is recommended. It may take some time to rid the hair of the spray and other build up but will be well worth the trouble. Use the clarifying shampoo in place of your regular shampoo until the hair begins to feel better. Do not be tempted to shampoo your hair heaps of times in the space of a day or 2 as this will only cause much waste of the product. 2 shampoos at once should be to maximum you should attempt.
Tip 2
Mousse colours are your friendsAdding mousse colour to your hair will not only give a little boost to your colour but will also help to condition your extensions. To use simply apply to your shampooed and towel dried hair. Comb through and leave to set for the allocated time shown on the mousse colour packaging.
These mousse colours are also fantastic for toning blondes so you not only get better feeling hair but also better tonal colour. I have even used differing blonde mousse tones to add interest to a previously dull blonde head of hair.
Some other products that would fit into this type of colouring would be rinses and 8-10 wash colours.
Tip 3
Braid when not in useBraiding your hair when you do not feel like wearing it out is another way to prolong its life. Instead of being lazy and “chucking it up” in a mess of a bun, spend a few seconds more and braid it up or down into a cool looking style.
When you are going to bed it is also a good idea to get into the habit of braiding your hair into either 1 or 2 braids so that you do not have the hair rubbing and tangling all over the place as you sleep. If you spray a few mists of leave in conditioner into your hair before doing so, you will be able to wake up, take out your braids and have flowing locks ready for the day. No need to spend precious minutes drying and styling your hair too when you do this!
Tip 4
Wash you hair only when it needs to be washedA lot of my clients were used to having short and pretty fine hair naturally. Their hair would become greasy almost immediately and they would be forced to wash their hair on a daily basis. For this reason they would then wash their new head of hair just as often when it was not necessary.
Not only do you need to adjust your habits because you now have longer hair, but you must also adjust your habits because you have much more hair. When you have more hair the oils your head is producing will have more hair to get onto. These oils are another good way to get conditioning on your extensions.
As almost anyone with long hair that they grew will tell you, washing is not something they do on a daily basis. Many will wash their hair only 2-3 times per week, sometimes less if they live in cooler climates.
There are some times when you feel you just have to wash your hair (going to the gym, working in smoky environment, still getting really greasy hair at the top of your head where extensions are not attached etc) so here are a number of ways you can do this.
My clients have coined the term, “top wash” to describe how they wash their hair between major washes. This means shampooing only the top section of hair where there are no extension bonds, they will tie down the hair to be left out and only wash the top. Takes much less time to wash and restyle this one section of hair and after blending the hair back in looks as though they did the whole lot.
Some like to use dry shampoo to refresh their hair. I have not used any of these types of products before so cannot say how this type of product works. On this subject I once had a client tell me she got really desperate and used febreze! I don’t recommend this method personally but it is interesting to get a glimpse into how people can think laterally to solve a problem.
Well that’s it for the first post, the next post will be out in the next week or so. thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out the online shop.