How To Balance Hair Care and Extension Care

Last week we set you up with some tips for parsing out your best hair care routine. This week, we’re going a step further, because hair extension care is a whole ‘nother beast. It can be difficult to juggle both your hair routine and your extension routine…unless you wear Clip-Ins and can just care for the extension hair separately. For the rest of you, though, keep reading for our advice.

Know the difference. Since your hair extensions literally came from another person’s head, you can’t expect them to behave in the same way as your hair. Keep in mind that Donna Bella hair extensions come from India, where naturally dark, straight, untreated hair is donated to temples as part of a religious practice. The hair is then subjected to gentle and effective coloring processes—and, if it’s wavy or curly hair, to additional perming procedures. So your hair extensions fall under the category of “color-treated” or “heat-treated,” and should be cared for with the appropriate products. That being said, your hair extensions are made from some of the most high-quality hair in the world, and they underwent first-rate moisturizing and protective treatments, too. So they’re likely to be less-frizzy, knotted, or generally unruly than your own hair.

Find a happy medium. Things can get tricky if your natural hair is oily and wavy while your extensions are relatively fast-drying and straight. Buying suitable products and achieving your hair care objectives becomes a lot more complicated when some of the hair on your head reacts differently, or needs totally different things, than the rest of your hair. Take a page from the cosmetics industry on this one, and see how combination-skinned women deal with their complexion issues. Oftentimes, you’ll have to look for “compromise” products: a cleanser that doesn’t over-dry your dry skin or under-clean your oily skin, or a shampoo that doesn’t over-dry your hair extensions or under-clean your natural roots. Products labeled as “gentle,” or those that target “sensitive” scalps may be a good fit.

Stay professional. While drugstore products can and will work for hair extension and natural hair maintenance, we recommend that you err on the side of professional products for top-notch, tailored solutions. Professional lines, such as our Remy Care™ Collection, are designed to deal with tough hair and hair extension situations. Get in touch with your stylist and ask for their expert recommendations.

Use insider tricks. The whole point of this blog is to help you guys reach your hair goals, with or without hair extensions. Logically, though, most of our advice is directed towards hair extension-wearers. So flip through some of our old posts and uncover some techniques for styling your natural locks and extensions together! It might seem like your hair has multiple-personality syndrome for a while, but it’s nothing that you can’t handle. We’re in this together!

What are your tips for reining in your hair and hair extension routines? Tell us in the comments below!