After getting 110-200 grams of hair applied into your hair, it’s going to be a big change if you’ve never had extensions before. Be mindful that your scalp might be a little sensitive. Always brush your hair with a soft bristle detangling brush in the morning, mid-day, and at night before bed. Framar makes our favorite detangling brushes. They come in so many fun colors too! Check out our online store to purchase all the products mentioned in this article.

Try to limit your shampooing to once a week. We know this sounds funny but, there’s a very special method to shampooing your volume weft extensions. Thoroughly wet your natural hair and the extensions. Clip up all the hair except your bottom row with a butterfly clip. Get out your Virtue Labs Recovery Shampoo and put a pea size amount in your hands. Emulsify and shampoo under the beads and over the weft using your fingers in a horizontal motion. Take your hair out of the clip and go to the next row. Repeat the previous steps until you reach the top of your head. You can shampoo in circular motions once you are at the top of your head. Just be careful around the top of the weft as you HAVE to shampoo with your fingers horizontally to avoid matting.

When you think you’re done rinsing…rinse more. Apply your Virtue Labs Conditioner to the ends and the midshaft. Whatever residue is left on your hands, lightly apply on your root area. Leave your conditioner on for at least two minutes and then rinse. Some clients like to double up on their Framar brushes so they can keep one in the shower and comb through their conditioner for easy detangling after the shower. We don’t recommend any sort of volume shampoo if you have extensions but, volume conditioner is totally fine!

Always use a heat protectant when blow drying your extensions and natural hair. We love to use Pulp Riot Istanbul Blow Dry Spray after the hair is towel dried. And for restyling use the Tripoli Heat Protectant followed by some Berlin Dry Shampoo. Dry shampoo is key to making your hair last as long as possible. If you have very fine hair and it gets oily fast, you can just shampoo the top of your head over your sink and blow dry that! Who doesn’t love a shampoo hack?

Don’t go to sleep with your hair wet and try to braid your hair before going to bed to ensure the least amount of tangling. After washing, try to get the top of the wefts and the beads dry before anything else. These areas retain the most moisture and need to stay dry after washing to ensure you won’t experience any beads slipping.

Maintenance

Expect to be visiting the salon every 6-8 weeks for your maintenance. After your initial install or a full reapplication (AKA re-app) you can do a simple service called a Quick Move Up. All we do is open the bead, slide the bead up the hair, and clamp it back down. It secures the weft closer to scalp to account for the 6-8 weeks of regrowth. Depending on your at home care and your hair texture you can do up to two Quick Move Ups before having to do a full re-app. It’s the same process as the initial installation. All of the hair that comes out during a full re-app is all the natural fall that couldn’t come out because it’s been in a bead and is totally natural. Please come to your quick move up appointments with clean hair!

Summer Time Care

In the sun:

Make sure to use sunscreen that is safe for extensions. If you’re not using the proper sunscreen, your blonde extensions can turn a salmon color, and we do not want that. Some extension safe sunscreens are Bare Republic mineral sunscreen, Sun Bum, and Beauty Counter.

Post Sun:

Always hydrate your hair with a moisturizing oil after being in the sun all day!

In the Water:

Make sure to dampen your hair with fresh water (bottled or filtered) and apply a leave in conditioner. This helps create a barrier between the salt, lake, or chlorine water. Put your hair up in a bun/braid and try not to get your extensions fully submerged unless necessary.

Post Water:

 Try to wash your hair ASAP when you get out of the water, it helps get all the bad minerals and chemicals out of your extensions before they soak in all the way and this will help your color not fade as fast! Follow up with some moisturizing products or oil.