Many women who get hair extensions usually don’t have the patience to wait for their hair to grow, don’t know how to manage their initial hair or just don’t want to take care of long hair all the time. This is perhaps why they get hair extensions in the first place since they fear that their own hair will look wild when it grows long instead of looking beautiful. However, just like real hair, hair extensions have to be cared for if you want them to look attractive for a long time. After all, using hair extensions is not a very cost-effective or cheap move since you could have to fork out a lot of cash. In order to get the most out of your money, you should follow some tips and tricks for your hair extension care. Only then, will you be able to ensure that your hair extensions remain looking as pretty as they are now.
Hair Extension Care Tips and Tricks
1. Wash your hair every 2-3 days
You don’t have to wash your hair extensions regularly for your hair extension care. This is because regular washing can wear off or loosen the bonds. Therefore, you should only wash your hair after 2-3 days. However, that is not to say that you shouldn’t take a bath at all. Just don’t shampoo your hair.
2. Always moisturize or condition your hair after washing
This point is also extremely vital for your hair extension care since unlike your natural hair which is conditioned by the natural oils discharged through your scalp, hair extensions have no way of being conditioned. Like your natural hair, if your hair extensions are not conditioned after washing, they are at risk of getting fragile or ragged and could eventually even break off. You wouldn’t want that with all of the money you have spent on the hair extensions so it is important that you take care of conditioning your hair. Furthermore, due to the nature of hair extensions, you have to make more attempts to scrub between the braids and the weave.
3. Be gentle when brushing your hair
Although this tip should be followed for your natural hair too, you need to be extra gentle with your hair extensions. Many women take their natural hair for granted and are brush it extremely hard, nearly to the point of yanking out their hair. However, when it comes to brushing hair extensions, both your natural hair and hair extensions are in danger of yanking out. Therefore, for your hair extension care, you need to be extra careful here and always brush in a downward movement.
4. Get your hair extensions repositioned regularly
On average, your natural hair will grow about 1 to 2 inches in around 2 months. The wefts will be attached to the braids and the braids will be integral. Therefore, after every 2 months, you should pay a visit to your extension artist or hairstylist, have the wefts taken from the braids and checked for damage. Then, your braids will be unattached and the whole process of reattaching them will be done. The amount of time between each visit varies according to the process used to attach your hair extension. The more permanent your hair extension is, the more time you will get between the visits.
5. Perm, color or rebond your hair at home
With natural hair, many women are tempted to rebond, color or perm their hair at home to save costs and make sure no damaging products are used on their hair. Although this may not always be the right decision, you can still get away with it. However, with hair extensions, you have to be extra careful for your hair extension care. It is recommended that you always go to a hairstylist whenever you want any one of these processes carried out. Similarly, retouching should also be dealt with in the same way, i.e. with a hairstylist rather than doing it yourself.
At the end of the day, your hair extension care is extremely similar to the way you take care of your natural hair. If you want to go for hair extensions because you think you won’t need to take care of it at all, you are largely mistaken. You need to follow some tips for your hair extension care, which means you will have to invest some time along with your money. Even small things like never tying your hair up while sleeping or exercising or sleeping with wet hair can make a difference. Therefore, in order to take care of your hair extensions and make them last, you need to make sure that you follow all the steps you take to protect your own natural hair since the method of taking care of them is practically the same.
