The First 48 Hours After an Extension Install

You just spent three hours in the chair for the install and your scalp feels tight. Here is exactly what to do for the first forty-eight hours, which is when new bonds settle and when most of the avoidable problems happen.

Tonight: do nothing. No washing, no brushing, no product. Sleep with your hair in a loose low pony or a soft braid held by a silk scrunchie, never a tight elastic, and never sleep on wet bonds. A silk or satin pillowcase matters more in the first two nights than any other time, because cotton pulls and twists while you sleep. If you do not own one, a silk scarf draped over the pillow works fine.

Tomorrow: still no wash. You can wear it down, and you can gently separate strands with your fingers at the mid-length, but do not brush from the root. Any pulling at the bond in the first forty-eight hours is the single most common cause of slippage we see on day ten.

Day two evening you may wash, and the method matters. Sulfate-free shampoo, diluted slightly, applied only to the scalp between rows, worked in with fingertips and never with nails. Conditioner from mid-shaft down, no higher. Rinse with your head tilted back so water flows away from the bonds rather than pooling at them.

Drying is the part brides rush. Squeeze with a microfiber towel, then dry the bonds completely cool to warm, not hot, holding the dryer at a distance and moving it constantly. A bond that stays damp overnight is a bond that weakens.

From there, the routine is weekly: a light oil on the ends, a mask kept two inches off the bonds, and a bond brush only from mid-length down. Our full care library lives at majesticextensions.com if you want the longer version.

If you are getting extensions for a wedding, plan the install ten to fourteen days out so the hair has settled and you have had one wash before the big morning. inquire and we will calendar install, wedding, and removal together.