How long do keratin extensions last, and how do you keep them beautiful?

Two questions. Always the same ones.

"How long do keratin extensions last?" And: "What will I have to do every day to keep them beautiful?"

If you are thinking about keratin bond extensions, you are surely asking them too. And here is what you need to understand: the answer to the first depends largely on the second.

A well-kept extension stays discreet and comfortable until removal. A neglected one forms tangles at the root within a few weeks.

In this guide, you will see what decides how long they last, then the aftercare habits one by one: brushing, washing, styling, night-time, sport and swimming. And finally, when and how to have your extensions removed.

This advice comes from our own practice at SIMEHA Institut.

How long do keratin bond extensions last?

Keratin bond extensions generally last 3 to 4 months, depending on hair growth and aftercare. This is an average in the trade, and not a promise: how long they last varies from one person to another.

What will surprise you: most of the time, it is not the strength of the bond that limits the duration. It is the growth of your hair.

Here is why.

The keratin bond is fixed a few millimetres from the root. As the hair grows, the bond moves away from it. After a few months, the bond sits lower: it becomes visible, it twists round on itself, and the hair growing back around it tangles more easily.

Three things make this duration vary:

You only control the third. So that is what the rest of this guide is about.

The first days: let the bonds settle

In the days after the fitting, let the bonds settle: in general, wait a day or two before the first shampoo and avoid pulling on your hair. A slight feeling of tension is usual at the start.

During the first days:

1. Wait before washing your hair.
2. Avoid tight ponytails, which pull on the bonds.
3. Sleep with your hair tied in a loose plait.
4. Do not keep touching the bonds: you will quickly get used to them.

Does a bond hurt, pull strongly, or is your scalp irritated? Do not wait: contact the salon.

Brushing: if you remember only one habit, make it this one

Brush your hair every day, holding the root with one hand and starting with the ends. It is the habit that counts most: it stops the hair that is growing back from tangling around the bonds.

The method, step by step:

1. Hold your hair close to the root, above the bonds, so as not to pull on them.
2. Detangle the ends first, then work up little by little towards the root.
3. Run your fingers between the bonds, once a day, to check that none is tangling with its neighbour.
4. Use a soft brush, made for extensions if possible.

How often? Morning and evening, and after any activity that tangles your hair: sport, wind, swimming.

One more rule: never brush soaking wet hair without first squeezing out the water and detangling it with your fingers.

Washing: head upright, products on the lengths

Wash your hair with your head upright, in the shower, massaging the scalp without rubbing the bonds. Apply products only to the lengths, never to the keratin bonds.

Step by step:

1. Detangle your hair before wetting it.
2. Wet it with your head upright, the water running from top to bottom. Avoid leaning your head forward: the hair tangles.
3. Apply the shampoo to the scalp, massaging with your fingertips between the bonds.
4. Let the lather slide down the lengths, without rubbing them.
5. Apply conditioner or a mask from mid-length to the ends, away from the bonds.
6. Rinse for a long time, head upright.

Why so many precautions with products?

Because oils and conditioners generally soften the keratin and make the bond slip. They must stay on the lengths, full stop.

Ask the salon which shampoo suits your extensions; a gentle product is generally recommended.

Drying and styling: heat, yes, but not everywhere

Dry the root first, without leaving the bonds damp, and keep heated tools on the lengths. Direct heat on a keratin bond can soften it.

• Squeeze your hair in a towel, without rubbing it.
• Dry the bonds with a hairdryer, on moderate heat: a bond that stays damp for a long time weakens.
• Straighteners and curling tongs: yes, but starting lower than the bonds.
• Colouring and technical treatments: always ask the salon first.

For the rest, style your hair as usual. Simply check, in a mirror, that the bonds stay hidden when you put your hair up.

Night, sport, swimming: one single habit

At night, during sport and at the pool, tie your hair back: it is the best way to avoid tangles. Loose hair that rubs, sweats or floats in water tangles quickly.

At night

Tie your hair in a loose plait or a low ponytail.

And never go to bed with wet hair: damp bonds, squashed on the pillow, tangle.

Sport

Tie your hair back. After exercise, rinse or wash it if you have sweated a lot, then dry the root.

The pool and the sea

Chlorine and salt dry out hair, yours as well as the extensions.

Plait your hair before you swim, rinse it with clean water straight afterwards, then detangle it and dry the root.

The five mistakes that shorten their life

Five mistakes shorten the life of keratin bond extensions: rich products at the root, heat on the bonds, no brushing, wet hair at bedtime and pulling on a strand. Each has a simple solution.

Do you recognise one? Correct it from this evening.

When and how should you have your extensions removed?

Have your keratin bond extensions removed when the bonds have clearly moved away from the root, generally after 3 to 4 months, or earlier if tangles form. Removal is always done at a salon.

The signs that it is time:

• the bonds are visible when you put your hair up;
• they twist round on themselves;
• tangles form at the root despite brushing;
• the tension has become uncomfortable.

Above all, do not remove your extensions yourself.

Removal needs a product that softens the keratin and a suitable tool. By pulling, you would pull out your own hair.

Do not put off the removal beyond what is reasonable either: the lower the bond, the harder the tangles are to undo.

One last point, to spare you a fright. After removal, it is normal to see a certain amount of hair fall out at once. This is the hair that fell out naturally during those months and had stayed held in by the bonds.

Keratin bonds or micro rings: is the aftercare the same?

Daily aftercare is almost the same for keratin bonds and for micro rings: brushing, washing with your head upright, hair tied back at night. The difference lies in how sensitive the attachment is and in how the fitting is made to last.

• Keratin dislikes oily products and direct heat.
• Micro rings are fixed with no glue and no heat; they can generally be moved back up once the hair has grown.

At SIMEHA Institut, both fittings cost CHF 200 and take 2 h.

The beautician recommends one or the other according to your hair type and the time you want to spend on aftercare.

Where can you have your extensions fitted?

SIMEHA Institut fits hair extensions at Rue Caroline 41, 1227 Genève, Suisse, in the Acacias district. The three techniques we offer, their duration and their price are presented on the hair extensions page.

As a fitting needs preparing, write to us on WhatsApp before you book. You then book online, with no account, and you pay at the salon.

What makes up the price is explained in the guide keratin hair extensions price.