How to properly care for hair extensions?

1. Treat them like your natural hair

If your extensions are sewn, microlinked, or taped in, you can wash them along with your natural hair in the shower. Be gentle, though, so that you don't loosen your extensions. If you're too rough with them, they won't last as long.

Be sure to use a moisturizing formula shampoo. The more that a shampoo moisturizes, the better it will be for your hair.

It is not a good idea to wash extensions that are glued or clipped in along with your natural hair. These should be removed and treated separately.

2. Use sulfate-free shampoo

Sulfates are the cleaning detergents in shampoos that cause them to foam. Sulfates are effective cleaners. However, they can dry out the natural oils in your hair that serve to protect it. Your body is constantly creating new oils for your natural hair, but your extensions do not have a direct supply, so you need to be very careful about drying them out.

Sulfates can cause split ends to form in your hair. Sulfates can make your hair look dry or frizzy over time.

3. Use conditioner

Each strand of hair has a protective cuticle layer. Not only does the cuticle layer protect the hair strand, it also reflects sunlight which gives your hair its shine. Throughout the day, the cuticle layer gets broken down, leaving your hair looking limp and dull.

Conditioners give your hair back its body and shine by releasing positively charged particles that latch onto the negatively charged parts of your hair and repair the cuticle layers.

Make sure to work the conditioner all the way into the roots of your hair. If you have braids or curly extensions, you should use a leave-in conditioner on them during the day.

4. Wash your extensions three to five times a week

Don't wash your extensions every day. Just like your normal hair, they'll become dried out if you over-wash them. On days that you don't wash your hair, give it a gentle rinse and use some conditioner.

How often you should wash your hair depends on its thickness, oil content and how much product you use in it.

For example: Someone with thick, dry hair who doesn't use too much product wouldn't have to wash as often as someone with thin, oily hair who styles it daily.

5. Dry your hair

Blow-dry your hair completely before going to bed. You should never go to bed while your permanent hair extensions are wet. Wet hair extensions will bunch up causing tangles to form. As you move around in your sleep, the tangles in your extensions could get stuck and pull on your natural hair, damaging it.

If your natural hair is braided underneath the extensions, make sure it gets completely dry, too. If it doesn't, you could develop mildew and an unpleasant odor.