The Golden Rules Every Stylist Should Share For Hair Extensions After

Want to leave a lifelong impression that will keep your clients coming back for more?

There’s nothing quite like a good hair extension session to instantly upgrade any look from “great” to “gorgeous”. You can alter the length of your client’s hair, create volume and texture, and give them a confidence boost within just a few hours! The results will be magnificent, and your clients will rave about what an amazing job you did.

But, if you’re passionate about creating a lasting impact on your clients, you should remind them that the process doesn’t end when they leave the chair.

Taking time to go through a thorough aftercare regimen will ensure that they care for their hair, prolong its life, and make the most of it. This is also an excellent opportunity for you to shine and serve your clients better, make a genuine connection, and give value to your salon --- effectively taking your business to a higher level!

“So how exactly do I give my customers aftercare advice?”

This involves giving your clients a clear set of instructions on steps and precautions they should take in the days, weeks, and months following their hair extension application.

Aftercare advice is important for many reasons:

It builds trust and helps you solidify a good reputation. With proper aftercare, results look better for longer. This also encourages them to spread the word about how awesome your services are!
It protects you and your clients. Imagine performing a flawless application and then your client goes home and does something to wreck all that hard work – say, putting their hair up in a towel or tugging on the extensions with a brush. By offering aftercare advice, you lessen the chance of someone filing a claim for compensation against you because you took that extra step to minimise the risk of anything going wrong.

During this process, remember to:

Be as clear and concise as possible
Emphasise the importance of aftercare
Veer away from using jargon, and
Always ask if they have any questions or clarifications

By focusing on these aspects, you’ll deliver a high-end level of post-service that will make you stand out from everyone else. After all, a client-stylist relationship requires a solid foundation built on trust, so showing them how much you care about their needs even after the session has ended will drive their loyalty through the roof!

Now, if you’re wondering what expert aftercare advice looks like, we’ve got everything you need right here to help you out. Check out our list below and walk your client through each step to ensure they love their locks (and you) for longer!

BRUSHING

This can make or break your beautifully installed hair extensions. Plus, because the extensions are attached to real hair, pulling too hard can result in damaging your client’s own natural hair. Remind them to brush their hair extensions day and night, taking care to separate the hair into horizontal sections. When detangling knots, they should start from the tip, working their way slowly halfway to the root.

WASHING

Recommend a salon-quality shampoo and conditioner free from sulphates.

They only need to wash their hair 1-3 times a week because overwashing can cause their extensions to lose their lustre. They should also take extra care not to scrub the ends as it will dry the tips out. Instead, the focus should be on shampooing the root area. Teach your clients the proper way of conditioning their strands which is from the mid-lengths of the hair down to the ends, avoiding the roots as this can cause the extensions to slip.

Extra Care Tip: Remind your clients to pamper extensions by putting a hair mask on twice a month.

DRYING & STYLING

Wet hair is more prone to breakage. So before drying the hair, it’s important to gently detangle hair extensions with a wide-tooth comb, avoiding the bonds. Remind your clients that excessive amounts of heat on hair is discouraged…but of course, unavoidable. On a regular day, they can simply put a dry towel around their hair to absorb the excess water.

However, when the occasion calls for some heat, they need to:

Use good-quality styling tools to minimise hair damage.
Section the hair and blow dry using a round brush with soft bristles.

When using serums, gels, and hairsprays, the bonded areas should still be avoided to prevent slippage.

SLEEPING

Yes! There’s a secret to sleeping with extensions on - and your clients need to know this. Instruct them to pull back their hair in a braid or low ponytail when going to sleep or working out. This is also an opportunity to show your clients some tender, loving aftercare by recommending hair accessories that keep strands in place without inflicting damage. Hair ties made of rubbery materials or a metal clasp may cause hair breakage from pulling on hair too aggressively.

Recommend high-quality hair accessoriesthat are sturdy yet gentle on hair. Think loose and smooth like scrunchies, a silk scarf, a headband, or hair clips instead.

Elevated Aftercare Straight From The Experts

If there’s one thing professional stylists and celebrity clients agree on, it’s how clients can never take too much care of their crowning glory. Help them give that mane the attention it deserves by taking the aftercare to the next level with these top tips:

Sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase.
Avoid heat styling every day / avoid heat styling over 350 degrees.
Do not sleep with wet hair.
Use a generous amount of hair mask on the extensions and tie it tightly in a braid when planning on going swimming. This will help the hair extensions stay hydrated and not tangle. Swimming with extensions on a regular basis, however, is discouraged as this will drastically shorten the hair extension’s lifespan.

So you see, a proper aftercare routine is crucial – both to your client’s natural hair and their hair extension. Done correctly, hair extensions can last from 8 months to a year! It’s your responsibility as a trusted hair stylist to make your clients understand that not using the correct products and not following the advice detailed above can lead to disastrous results. To make sure you cover all these points with your clients, download our checklist here. And while hair extensions do require a certain amount of maintenance, the fabulous results really are worth it!

Ready to level up your hair extension aftercare? Download our FREE Extension After Care Form to review with your clients. Not yet a registered stylist at Philocaly? Register for a professional account now and access our professional collections!