Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Smart Hair Buys: Fixes for Flat, Lifeless Extensions


If you've worn a sew-in, you've had to contend with limp, dead extensions. There are several causes which can account for frustratingly lifeless extensions but, fortunately, there are easy solutions. 

Dry Extensions 

When your extensions lack moisture, they can become lifeless—especially when your extensions have been re-used multiple times. Extensions affected by dryness are characterized by perpetual frizz and will feel akin to 'dry trash'. The fix for this is to condition your extensions 1-2 times per week and to apply a small amount of light oil (such as Argan Oil or Monoi Oil) onto the ends of the extensions daily.

Greasy Extensions

When greasy, your hair extensions become weighed down and, thus, your extensions will appear limp and lifeless. Extensions suffering from a build up of grease can be identified by stringy, oily looking hair. This grease build up comes about due to hair strands touching your skin and/or from the application of oil to your hair tracks beneath the sew-in (or alternately to the hair extensions themselves). The solution is to wash your extensions at least once a week using a clarifying/volumizing conditioner (try Generic brands such Garnier Fructis and VO8) or use shampoos that contain tea tree oil—which is a natural cleanser. Neutralizing shampoos will also do a decent job.

Over Conditioning

Over conditioned hair extensions can also account for hair limpness. Extensions suffering from over conditioning will typically feel soft and smooth but will hang limply—even when curled. One possible fix is to use a lighter conditioner for your extensions. (Lighter conditioners are usually tagged as 'volumizing', 'clarifying', 'for oily hair', or 'for fine hair'.) Another fix is to reduce the amount of conditioner applied to your hair extensions and, if needs be, only applying conditioner to the ends of your extensions. The rule of thumb to abide by here is that the straighter your hair extensions, the lighter the conditioning needed.

Type of Hair

The origin and texture of your hair extensions also affect the speed with which your extensions go flat. Finer hair originating from the orient(Indian, Filipino, Cambodian) typically loses body more quickly than coarser hair varieties while straighter hair textures tend to go limp more quickly than wavier/curlier textures. One workable fix is to opt for textures such as body wave and natural wave instead of straight hair—especially when purchasing fine oriental hair. The reason is that body wave and natural wave carry a lot of body and these textures can be worn straight with minimum fuss. A second workable fix is to install more hair bundles as this will provide your sew-in with longer lasting body.