Rescuing Your Holiday Extensions

If you installed extensions for the holidays, you might find that your month old install needs a quick rescue from funky smells, scalp itching, and scraggly looking edges.

Here are some tips to help you battle these common nuisances and keep your install on point for the next few weeks.

We (Don't) Want The Funk

Unpleasant odors emanating from your install develop when the tracks beneath your extensions are not frequently cleaned and/or not properly dried. 

In order to get optimum cleansing when washing your install, shampoo your tracks twice before applying a moisturizing conditioner. After rinsing out the conditioner, use a blow dryer or sit under a hooded dryer for ideally 30 minutes—focusing the heat stream on the hair tracks.

If you're planning to get active for the new year, then your install will require more frequent washing. Schedule at least one wash per week and follow up with ideally 30 minutes of drying. Furthermore, after each exercise session, dry your sweat dampened tracks with a blow drier set to cool or low heat in order to prevent the formation of mold on your braids.

SOS! This Itch!

Scalp itching can become increasingly intense the longer you wear your install. Common culprits responsible for itching include the use of mineral oils, petrolatum, and heavy oils (for e.g. castor oil) on the scalp and the general buildup of dirt/grease/bacteria on the hair scalp.

Quick fixes to alleviate itching include washing hair with a clarifying shampoo that has tea tree oil—which is a natural antiseptic and antifugal treatment. Additionally, avoid moisturizing tracks with products containing mineral oils/petrolatum (for e.g. Doo Gro Growth Stimulator, Blue Magic Hair Oil). Instead use products such as pure shea butter or pure avocado oil—only applying them to hair tracks not the scalp.

Slicking Down The Scraggle Monster

Remember when your install was fresh and your edges lay perfectly? Recapture that magic and ditch the scraggly edges by applying a good deep conditioner and leave in conditioner to your edges. This will ensure that the hair edges are soft and malleable; thus, well prepped for the application of edge control gels.

When choosing an edge control gel, choose a brand that does not have alcohol in the ingredient list (as alcohol dries out and breaks the hair edges). Additionally, use your finger or a soft tooth brush to apply the control gel instead of hard bristle brushes—which can tear up your edges and contribute to a receding hairline.

Looking for 6A-7A grade straight extensions in Grand Cayman. Phone or W/APP the Beauty Project at 345-924-0052. We stock on island Brazilian, Peruvian, and Malaysian Hair. We do fast deliveries for George Town, West Bay, Prospect, and Savannah.

Mastering the Leave-Out

Your leave-out can make or break your weave.

A leave-out that is not properly maintained will stand out against your extensions and will ruin the realism of your sew-in.

Hairnistas with texlaxed or natural hair textures often encounter the most difficulties blending (or prolonging the blending) of their leave-out with their extensions.

 Their traditional go-to to master unruly leave-outs has been to use a apply heat. However, as any hair dresser will tell you, frequent application of heat will fry your hair and will make the dry, heat damaged strands more difficult to blend with your extensions.

To control your leave-out, instead, adhere to the following:

Apply a moisturizing conditioner to your leave out once every 3 days.

While it's not necessary to condition your hair in its entirety every 3 days, make sure to condition your leave once every 3 days to keep it moisturized. Hair that is properly moisturized feels softer and maintains a higher luster; thus, will be easier to blend with extensions.  Here are the conditioners we recommend for leave outs:

5 Minute Cowash Straight from Eden Conditioning Treatment	Deep Conditioning Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning

After flat-ironing, apply beeswax or a beeswax based product to leave out.

Applying beeswax to freshly flat-ironed strands acts as a barrier against humidity—the culprit responsible for your leave-out's rapid reversion to its kinks and coils. The key is to use a small amount. Too much and your leave-out will be a greasy mess! 

Smart Hair Buys: I've taken out my weave...What do I do now?

Although many hairnistas will not admit it, the 2-4 week breaks between a sew-in can inspire PMS-like agitation. Suddenly, you have to change gears and try to figure out what to do with your hair. It can be even more stressful if your hair is experiencing breakage or your hair is in an awkward growth stage where many styles are not achievable. Below is a care guide for what you should be doing when you take out your weave.

Deep-Condition! Moisturize!

Weaves are great protective styles but it can be difficult to fully care for your hair beneath the tracks. Hence, some hairnistas will find that hair feels brittle or akin to 'dry-trash' after removing a weave. To remedy this:

1. In the first wash after removing your weave, deep condition your hair. Deep conditioning treatments that we recommend (these work extremely well for those less porous hair types) include:
• ORSHair Masque for Color and Heat Damaged Hair
• Creme of NatureMoisturizing Milk Masque.
2. Co-wash your hair often (aim for at least once a week), use a leave in conditioner (optional but highly recommended), apply a good moisturizer daily, and use protective oils. Products we recommend include:

• Cremeof Nature Straight from Eden Conditioner
• Nunaat Leave InConditioner
• Creme of Nature Butterlicious Curls
• B's Jamaican Avocado Oil
• Batana Oil.

Minimize Heat!

Removing your weave can leave you stumped for styles; many hairnistas will want to reach for that flatiron. Hold off! Your hair is delicate after being twisted up in a braid for months. Adding a lot of heat immediately can cause breakage. If you must use heat, deep condition prior to heat styling and apply a heat protectant. 

Otherwise, check out YouTube as a resource for styling your hair without using heat. Here's a couple to get you started:

•  http://goo.gl/6GMXsD 
•  http://goo.gl/L1zqLo

Use a Satin Cap at Night!

You've gotten all this new growth with your weave. It's a shame if you allow friction from pillows and sheets to snap off the ends and nullify all that growth. Use a satin/silk cap at night to protect your ends.

Smart Hair Buys: Top 5 Products for Virgin Extensions

#Extensions are a handy convenience for busy hairnistas. However, they can become a downright nuisance if they are not managed with the right products. Bad hair day culprits such as matted hair, tangling, frizz, and limp hair can all be avoided or corrected by choosing the right products for your extensions. Below are the top 5 products which we suggest.








1. John Freida Root Awakening Shampoo & Conditioner
A peppermint based combo which is very effective for removing grease and reinvigorating hair strands. We recommend this for straighter hair varieties, especially those from the Orient (Cambodian, Indonesian, Indian) which are more susceptible to grease. Suffering from oily bangs or an oily fringe? Just cleanse with the Root Awakening shampoo, skip the conditioner, and dry to bring your bangs and fringes back to life.

2. Garnier Fructis Anti-Humidity Spray 
Cayman's humidity can (and will) kill your hairstyle in less than 5 minutes. Garnier’s anti-humidity spray works amazingly to counter the effects of this harsh weather.This spray will help your style to last longer throughout the day and settle frizz—WITHOUT making your extensions stiff and 'crunchy'

3.Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo & Conditioner
This is a popular product combo which you will find touted by many stylists and bloggers. Made with coconut extracts, this #HerbalEssences combo is highly recommend for nourishing worn out, heat, or color damaged extensions.

4.Organix Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner
With the nourishing and smoothing benefits of Moroccan Argan Oil, this#Organix product combo is perfect for hair extensions in need of desperate repair ; the combo is also recommended for curly/wavy textures that require heavier conditioning.

5. Pantene Curl Perfection Shampoo & Conditioner 
This product combo is heaven sent for 'deep' textures such as deep wave or kinky curly. After shampooing and conditioning with Pantene Curl Perfection , your curls will be beautifully defined and long-lasting. This formula will also minimize any matting that may occur during the drying process.