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Just as with your own hair, your extensions need to be protected and cared for to avoid any discolouration. Itβs especially important to do this in the summer months as your hair extensions are exposed to more elements that could cause discolouration.
At Angel Remy we want to share our top tips on how hair discolouration happens, how to avoid it, and what we would recommend to treat it.
The pigments found in hair extensions are what help achieve the desired shade. Pigments counteract the tones that are already in the hair. When dyeing hair blonde, violet or ash, pigments are used to neutralise the warm tones in your extensions.
But hair extension can become discoloured because something has triggered a chemical process, altering your hair pigmentation, perhaps causing your extensions to go brassy, peachy or pink.
As with all coloured hair, in time, washing will lift the pigments that give the hair its colour, so the natural pigmentation reappears.
Itβs also worth remembering that extensions are much more porous than our own hair. As extensions are no longer attached to the scalp, they receive no natural nutrients to provide a protective barrier, making them more prone to damage and discolouration than your natural hair.
Triggers that cause discolouration include: water mineral content, chlorine, sea water, sunlight and UV ray exposure.
Water Mineral Content
Water content has an enormous impact on the texture, colour and manageability of your hair extensions. Hard water, or water with a high mineral content, can leave limescale and residue on your hair.
With your natural hair, the scalp produces the necessary and needed oils to counterbalance these minerals. Hair extensions donβt produce these oils. So, after repeated washing using hard water or water with a high mineral content, your extensions can become dry and tangled, and can break.
Youβll probably find that the waterβs mineral content is higher when youβre abroad.
Chlorine/Swimming Pool Water
Chlorine is a chemical added to water to kill germs. Unfortunately, chlorine can also strip the hair extensions of colour and moisture, leaving it dry, brittle and discoloured. To protect against this, we recommend tying your hair up in a tight bun and avoiding contact with chlorinated water at all times.
Sea Water
The salt in sea water damages your own hair and your extensions. Itβs a natural dehydrator that strips your hair of moisture and natural oils. It will also cause discolouration in your extensions as the salt will remove the ashy/violet pigmentation, leaving your extensions brassy.
Sunlight & UV rays
Sunlight is a natural hair lightener, but it can lighten the colour of your hair extensions even quicker than it would your own hair, often leaving your extensions looking a lighter shade than you own hair.
As a precaution we recommend wearing a hat/cap in the sun as a way of protecting your hair extensions. When using a sunbed we recommend wrapping the hair up in a towel.
First, try and work out whatβs causing the discolouration from the triggers above to avoid it happening in the future.
Hair extension discoloration is not due to the product being faulty and is most likely to happen if youβve just returned from a holiday/sunny climate.
If you havenβt been on holiday and still have hair discolouration, we recommend investing in a shower cap or a filtered shower head. We also suggest using a sulphate free shampoo & conditioner.
To really care for and restore your hair extensions, we recommend our Malibu C collection of products, available on our website here.
Check out our aftercare page for more tips on how to get the best care out of your hair extensions.