Ez BEAUTY TIPS | HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR HAIR EXTENSIONS

Hi Everyone!

Before I get into this post, I have got some exciting news to share... Over the course of being a blogger, I have received requests to guest post on sites or write an article for a publication, but I never felt confident enough to do it at the time. And the one time I committed to one such request, it was a terrible fail!

This time round I feel confident enough to share my beauty knowledge and I am praying I will do a good job :). Below is the product of my first contribution.

StyleMeAfrica is a site that celebrates all things African fashion and style, and they approached me to infuse some beauty for the month of June. My first post is about how to care for your hair extensions, I have already talked about this here on the blog, but with this post I provided step-by-step instructions and added more details. Enjoy!

Step 1: Condition

I like to start with the extensions dry. I read somewhere that you should look at hair strands like you would a sponge. When dry, a sponge is better able to absorb more liquid, than if it were used to accomplish the same task when wet. Same applies with hair extensions, starting the cleansing process with them dry causes the strands to benefit a lot better from the products being used.

First things first, tie up your bundles using a rubber band (you may use a hair band if you prefer), tie the band as close to the weft as possible. Then proceed to apply a moisturizing conditioner of your choice, distributing this evenly through the strands, avoiding the weft. Run a wide-toothed comb through to further ensure the conditioner is distributed evenly. Once you have completed all the bundles you pop them all in a carrier bag or covered in a bowl, and leave to sit for about 15-30mins. Dependent on how damaged/dry your extensions are, you can deep condition using heat by placing them in a microwavable bowl and popping that in the microwave for about 2mins, then let it sit out for another 10mins. Ensure you don’t leave the conditioner in the extensions for too long.

Product –The conditioners I recommend are: Herbal Essences, Tresemme or Hairven. But feel free to use whatever good moisturizing conditioner you have.

Step 2: Shampoo & Rinse

To rinse, you will begin with a shampoo. Apply some shampoo to the wefts, add some water just to the wefts to get some suds going, then wash using the palm of your hand going over the weft in circular motion. Focus the shampoo on just the wefts, and once you feel you’ve washed enough then rinse.

Rinse holding the weft under the faucet and letting the water run through the bundle. The shampoo being rinsed downwards from the weft through the actual extensions, allows it also work through. Run your free hand downwards, over and over in one direction, until you rinse out all the shampoo and conditioner. You will not need to apply the shampoo directly to the hair strands, shampoos can be stripping/drying and we don’t want that. The shampoo running through from the weft is enough to get the job done, trust me

Product – Shampoos I recommend are pretty much the same brand as the conditioners I listed above.

Step 3 Air-Dry:

You should air-dry your extensions by laying them out flat or hanging up on a laundry line. You can spritz some moisturizing leave-in conditioner if you must. A small amount of leave-in, do not drench. If you are in a rush, you may use a hand-dryer after spritzing the extensions with some heat protectant. If you use heat protection, you won’t need a leave-in, too much product will weigh the hair down. So bear in mind that if you don’t feel you need to use a leave-in, please skip that step.

This cleansing steps will work if you have a weave installed. Just apply the conditioner to dry hair as normal and cover with a plastic cap. To shampoo and rinse, dilute some shampoo in an applicator bottle or spray bottle and apply directly to the wefts and plaits on your scalp. Make sure you get every line. This will help cleanse the wefts and as your scalp as well. Rub your fingers through each plait, just to work the shampoo in, and then rinse through as normal.

Laters,

Ez xxX

BRAND INTRODUCTION | HAIRVEN

Hello there and TGIF!!

I always emphasise that your virgin hair extensions are just as important as your natural hair. I treat mine pretty much the same way I treat my hair. Obviously there's no prepoo, tea rinse, deep-condition with heat, chill... BUT, we pay a lot of money for these extensions and should make the effort to care for them.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was a full range of hair care products dedicated solely to extensions. I am talking shampoo, conditioner right through to leave-in and serum.

Hairven is an indigenous brand, and quite frankly the first of its kind that I have ever heard of, ever. Listen, we need to believe that most of these our homegrown brands understand quality is key and should not be given a side eye because they're championed by our fellow Nigerian.

As some of you may know, from my instagram page, my hair at the moment is blonde, which means it has been bleached to attain it's current colour. Bleaching dries out the hair, I got mine done professionally and the lady did an awesome job restoring moisture to it after all the dyeing. But I notice that with lightened hair I always need to apply some serum to my hair, especially the ends, before I use any heat, otherwise I get crunchy hair and split ends.
This happened to me a week ago, and I suffered crunchy, dry hair throughout the week that followed and I could not wait to put Hairven to the test. Below is a step-by-step of how I used the products


REVIEW

Hairven Hair Extensions Conditioner - N1,500*

I always start my hair extension (even my natural hair) wash with conditioner, yup you read that right, and I start off with dry hair. I read somewhere that hair is like a sponge and if you start with it dry, it will absorb everything better. I apply conditioner from top to bottom, coating the hair all through and then running a wide-tooth comb through to make sure that I get the product distributed evenly. I usually wash my extensions when they're off my head and in bundles, so I just wrap them up in some old carrier bags and leave alone for 15mins. But this time, I had them in as a weave, so I just cross-pinned my hair up with two hair 'crabs' and headed off to the salon to get it rinsed out.

Hairven Hair Extensions Conditioner - N1,500*

I must've had the conditioner in my hair about 20mins by the time I got to the salon, so it wasn't in too long. I strongly advice you don't leave the conditioner longer than 30mins max, I won't even push it that long. Because from personal experience, where I left it in too long, it weighed the hair down and just left it limp and without volume, even after a blowdry. Before they rinsed the conditioner out, I put some shampoo in an applicator bottle, mixed in water to dilute and asked the guy washing my hair to run this all through my scalp between the braids and weft. This way I get my scalp and weft clean and when he rinsed it all out the shampoo would run down the strands of the extensions also cleansing them in the process. If it hadn't been on my head, I would have applied the diluted shampoo to the weft in a bundle and washed it in my palm using circular motion, then rinsed it through the strands.

Hairven Hair Extensions: Leave-in N1,400* & Serum N1,600*

Once done rinsing, I was put under a hooded dry to get my braids and weft dry.

Once I felt the hair extensions were about 70% dry, I asked him to apply a few spritz of the leave-in to the extensions, concentrating on the ends

Once my extensions, braids and wefts were 100% dry, he applied a dime size of serum to his palms, rubbed them together and ran it through my hair, once again concentrating on the ends.

He blowdried my hair to stretch it out and then curled it all through using a curling iron. Results? Silky, bouncy, shiny hair.

I had really high hopes for these products and they met all my expectations. Even now my hair has a 'glow' to it and it is so soft.

Will I recommend Hairven to you? ABSOLUTELY! I love these products, they actually revived my hair. Now you do not necessarily need to use them my way, feel free to do what you want with them. But I am very impressed with these and already talking my friends and family into getting some.


Prices
Prices vary from retailer to retailer, but the below prices are if you buy direct from Hairven:

Shampoo - N1,500
Conditioner - N1,500
Leave-in Conditioner - N1,400
Serum - N1,600

Where to Buy
Visit their listing page on The BiL Directory and click on their website link for more details

Anyone ever used Hairven?

Laters,

Ez xxX