Halo Hair Extensions | Washing & Maintaining Them

Hello lovely ladies! Those of you who have been following Miss Sunshine & Sparkle for a little while, will all know by now that I am a bit hair obsessed (and if your a new follower here, I'm telling you now... I am hair OBSESSED). Now I adore long hair, and adore hair extensions just as much just because I love how they can create the illusion of thicker, fuller and longer hair. A little while ago now I was lucky enough to be made a 'Halo Angel' by the lovely people at Halo Hair and have been in love with their Hair Extensions - If you would like to read all about Halo Hair Extensions and the different type of extensions they have to offer you can read my last post here. If you are a lover of Halo Hair Extensions or any hair extension for that matter, you will know the importance of maintaining them to keep them looking in tip top condition. Especially seeing as good quality human remy hair extensions are not the cheapest thing to buy, you want to make sure that you get the best out of your extensions and keep them looking fabulously for as long as possible. After all they are made from real hair and need as much tender loving care as your own locks. So I thought I would get a post up for you lovely lot and share with you all my tips for washing and maintaining your Halo Hair. 

First of all let me start with washing your Halo Hair Extensions. The amount of times you need to wash your hair extensions really does depend on how many times a week you wear them and what kind of daily activities you do whilst wearing them. If I'm planning on wearing my extensions four to five times a week, then washing them weekly is a must for me. But if I have weeks where I don't really wear them I will just wash them when the time feels right. I normally judge when to wash my Halo Hair Extensions by the look of them and judge by the texture and feel of the hair. Keep in mind that your hair extensions are human remy hair and just like normal hair, they will get product build up and will need washing and looking after just like your own hair. However many times you choose to wash your hair extensions, I think it's important to pick and choose the right products for the job. Below is my little list of products I like to use when washing my Halo Hair, by no means am I saying that this is what you should use, but I find that these are the products that work best for me and my hair extensions.

Aussie Miracle Leave-In Conditioner - In the pictures you may see that this is the Aussie Leave-In Conditioner for coloured hair, which works amazingly, but I tend to prefer to use Aussie's Luscious Long Leave-In Conditioner, but mine had run out. However any leave-in conditioner will do the trick.

Aussie Maga Shampoo - This is a great shampoo that will get rid of any product build up on your hair extensions. If your like me and like to curl your extensions and like to use a lot of hairspray, this shampoo will ensure to get rid of all of that product and condition your hair extensions at the same time.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructive - This is by far my most favourite conditioner and works wonders on my own locks and will be sure to leave your Halo Hair Extensions luxuriously soft and help to reconstruct any damage done at the same time. If you can't get your beauty mitts on this, any deep conditioning treatment will work wonders. However you don't want one that's too heavy as this could weigh your hair extensions down. I find Aussie 3MM has a good balance.

Hask Hair Argan Oil - Hair Oils are like a little angel from heaven all in a little tube and will work amazingly on your hair extensions, it will add shine and help prevent the ends of your hair extensions from splitting. This one from Hask Hair is a favourite of mine, but any good hair oil will do.

A wide tooth comb - I always find it better to brush your Halo Hair Extensions with a wide tooth comb to prevent any damage whilst brushing, but if you have a Tangle Teaser this will work just as good, if not better.

Step One: Spray in your leave-in conditoner and brush though your hair extensions gently. This will get out any knots or tangles before you start washing them and the leave-in conditioner will just help your brush to glide though the hair with minimum fuss and prevent any of the hair from falling away from the weft. 

Step Two: Start running the tap, so you are ready to start washing your hair extensions. I find that lukewarm water works best. If the water is too hot you can risk damaging the hair extensions, but you want it warm enough so that the hair gets a good thorough clean.  When washing each individual weft of hair you want to ensure that each clip is clasped shut, to prevent the hair getting tangled in the clips. You will also want to hold your hair extension at the top of the clip to avoid the clip getting wet. 

Step Three: When washing your hair extensions, I find applying a generous splodge of shampoo into my finger tips works best - Starting at the top of the weft, gently massage the shampoo into the hair and work your way down the hair. Using small circular motions down the hair works up a nice amount of lather. When you feel that your hair extensions have had a good clean with your shampoo, you will want to gently rinse the shampoo all out till the water runs clear. 

Step Four & Five: You will then want to apply your leave in conditioner, using the same method as you did when shampooing your hair extensions. However instead of rinsing the conditioner out right away, I take my wide tooth comb and working my way from bottom to top, gently brush the conditioner though the hair. This will get rid of any knots that may have occurred though shampooing and ensure that your conditioner coats each strand of hair. Instead of rising the conditioner off right away, I leave each weft of hair on the side, laid out on a towel, so the hair can have a good conditioning treatment. By the time you have completed this process with each weft of hair, the weft you started off conditioning will of had a good dose of conditioner and will be ready for rinsing. 

Step Six: You will then want to rinse out all of your conditioner carefully, to avoid your extensions from getting tangled. You will feel that the hair feels ever so soft and glides though your finger tips with ease. I find that rising the conditioner out works best if you massage and swirl the hair though your finger tips under the running water at the same time. 

Step Seven: Once each weft of hair has been rinsed thoroughly, you will want to gently squeeze any excess water from the extension (just like you would your own hair when getting out of the shower) and lay flat on a towel to start drying.

Step Eight: Once all your Halo Hair Extensions have been rinsed and are laying there on your towel, smelling super clean and feeling ever so soft, you will want to place another towel over the top and gently pat your hands down over the towel. This will help to drain any excess water and is a bit like towel drying your hair after you've washed it but in a more careful way and a lot less rough on the hair too.

Step Nine: Now you Halo Hair Extensions have had a good thorough clean you will want to pop a pea sized amount of your hail oil into the palm of your hands and work the oil from the middle section of your hair extensions all the way to the tips. Just like applying hair oil to your own hair, you don't want to take it all the way to the top, just because it may weigh your extensions down a little and you don't want to add any excess shine here because that's where your own hair is prone to getting greasy. Once each weft has had a little bit of a pamper with the hair oil, you will want to lay your Halo Hair down evenly, spread out on a towel, take your comb and carefully brush though the hair. As you can see from the picture above this separates the hair, which speeds up the drying time and helps your hair extensions to dry straight.

 Step Ten: When washing my Halo Hair Extensions, I like to leave them overnight so they can fully dry. I don't know why, but hair extensions always seam to take a lot longer to dry than your own hair. You can of course always take a hairdryer to speed things up, but to help the longevity of your hair extensions, I would avoid adding heat to them where you can. Once your hair extensions have thoroughly dried, you will notice that they still have a few kinks and a bit off added frizz to them (just like your own hair). If your a wavy hair kind of girl, you could easily skip this step and your hair extensions are ready to wear. However I tend to wear my  hair straight an awful lot, so the next step for me would be to straighten each weft of hair. I always use a heat defence spray before applying - It's a must. The GHD Style Heat Protect Spray is a firm favourite of mine (review here). Once your Halo Hair Extensions have been straightened, they come out super shiny, look good as new and are ready to wear right away. 

Washing your Halo Hair Extensions really is as easy and simple as that ladies. However I would say the process of washing your extensions can take quite awhile (it takes me a good hour) so set aside some time to do the job properly and thoroughly. Just remember that looking after your hair extensions is just like looking after your own hair, and using all the right products on your extensions will help them looking neat, healthy and luxurious at all times. I adore my Halo Hair Extensions and they are by far the best hair extensions I have ever tried using (believe me I've tried quite a few). The clips are sturdy and secure perfectly into your hair and I've found that apart from a few stubborn knots, there is never any hair fall out from the weft.

The Halo Hair Extensions that you see in the picture are Halo's 20" Deluxe Clip-In set in the shade 'Darkest Brown' and retail from £84.99. Halo have a wide range of Hair Extensions from the Halo Clip-In's to their famous 'Halo', with a large selection of colours to offer - They will even help you to pick out the right shade of extension for you - How fabulous is that? If you would like to have a look at what Halo have to offer you can have a look at their website here. Alternatively if there is anything that you would like to ask me regarding Halo Hair Extensions just leave a comment below or feel free to send me an email (misssunshinesparkle@hotmail.com) I will be more than happy to help.

Lot's of Love