A beautiful install is an investment — in money, in chair time, and in your natural hair underneath. How you care for it between visits decides two things: whether your extensions still look fresh in week six, and whether the hair growing beneath them stays healthy. The good news is that extension care isn’t complicated. It’s just a handful of habits, done consistently. Here’s everything I tell my clients before they leave the chair.

The daily basics, whatever your method

No matter which method you wear, three habits do most of the work.

  • Detangle gently, from the ends up. Use a loop brush or a wide-tooth comb, hold the hair at the root to take tension off your attachment points, and work upward in small sections — never rake from the scalp down.
  • Protect it at night. Loosely braid or pineapple your hair and wrap it in a silk or satin scarf or bonnet, with a satin pillowcase as backup. Friction overnight is what causes matting at the roots.
  • Never sleep on wet hair. Damp hair at the attachment points is how you get matting, odor, and slippage.

And watch your edges. Extensions add weight, and too much daily tension on your hairline is how good installs quietly cause thinning. If anything ever feels tight or sore, that’s not normal — tell me.

Washing without wrecking it

Wait to wash. Right after an install, give your attachment points time to set before the first wash — I’ll tell you exactly how long for your method. When you do wash, be gentle: a sulfate-free shampoo, focused on the scalp, with the water running down the length rather than scrubbing the mid-lengths into a tangle.

Then dry thoroughly — this is the step people skip and regret. Bonds, beads, tape tabs, and especially sew-in foundations need to be fully dry. Trapped moisture at the roots is the number-one cause of mildew smell and slippage. Take the time, or use a cool blow-dry to finish.

Product rules that change by method

This is where method matters, so know your own:

  • Tape-ins: keep oils and heavy conditioners away from the tabs. Oil breaks down the adhesive and is the fastest way to make tapes slide out early.
  • K-tips (keratin bonds): no oil and no direct heat on the bonds themselves, and never pick or pull at them. Condition your mid-lengths and ends, not the bond line.
  • Microlinks / I-tips: go easy on heavy oils near the beads, which can cause slippage, and brush carefully around the link line.
  • Wefts and sew-ins: oil your scalp if you need to, not the wefts, and keep that braided foundation clean and fully dry to avoid buildup and odor.

Across all of them: less product is more. Heavy, daily product builds up at the roots and shortens the life of every method.

Heat and styling

Remember that extension hair isn’t being nourished by your scalp’s natural oils the way your own hair is, so it’s less forgiving of heat. Always use a heat protectant, keep your tools at a moderate temperature, and give the hair regular breaks from styling. Treated kindly, quality hair stays soft and natural-looking for the full life of the install.

Your move-up isn’t optional — here’s the timing

This is the part I’m most honest about, because skipping it is what actually damages hair. As your natural hair grows, your attachment points grow away from your scalp — and grown-out extensions start to tangle, pull, and put tension on your roots. Coming in on schedule isn’t upkeep for vanity; it protects the hair underneath.

General timing, though I’ll set yours exactly:

  • K-tips: a move-up around every three to four months.
  • Microlinks / I-tips: repositioning roughly every six to eight weeks.
  • Tape-ins: re-taped about every six to eight weeks.
  • Wefts / sew-ins: on a schedule based on your growth and the tension on your rows.

Book your next maintenance appointment before you leave your install — it’s the single best thing you can do for both your look and your natural hair.

Protect the hair underneath

The whole point of doing extensions well is that your own hair thrives under them. Keep up gentle deep conditioning on your natural lengths and ends, look after your scalp, and treat your edges with care. Extensions should be a chapter your hair comes out of healthy — not something it has to recover from.

Questions about your install?

If you’re between appointments and something feels off — slipping, tightness, tangling you can’t manage — don’t wait it out. Reach out, and if it’s time, book your move-up. If you’re shopping for the right products or replacement hair to keep your install looking its best, my extensions line is curated to the same standard I install with. And if you’re still deciding which method fits your life in the first place, my guide on K-tips, I-tips, and tape-ins walks through exactly that. Let’s keep your hair beautiful between every visit.