With proper maintenance, hair extensions can actually help your hair grow better. Because hair extensions compel clients to take good care of their hair, it is allowed to grow and flourish. Singer and songwriter Lauren Winans is just one example of someone whose natural hair benefited by having extensions.

Lauren and her stylists knew what to do to keep her hair growing while her hair extensions were in. They also knew how to care for her hair once her extensions were removed so she could get them installed again.

We're so happy to have Lauren sharing her experience on our blog today!

On a Wednesday morning, I went in to Aura Salon in Nashville to have my extensions removed. Why was I getting them removed you may ask? Well, in order to keep your natural hair as healthy as possible, you must remove the extensions periodically! I got the extensions in December and had been too busy to have them take them out... so Wednesday was the day.

I have had a lot of growth in the five months I had the extensions. This is common with hair extensions. Your natural hair starts growing and has nowhere to go so that is why your extensionist suggests brushing your hair at least 3 times a day to prevent matting. I was brushing three times a day or more, and my hair had been rapidly growing. When Glynnis, my hair extensionist, put her hands up in my hair, she could feel some tangles, but she said none that were dreadlock tangles, just tangles. This happens and this is why it is very important that you keep up with your maintenance when wearing hair extensions, especially when you have very fine hair, like me.

We started by using the Keratin Bond Remover. This process seemed to take forever, but Glynnis was being exceptionally careful to not pull out any of my natural hair with the extension bond. We spent many hours removing the hair carefully with the help of the whole salon! The salon jumped in and helped in the removal of the hair. There were four hairstylists removing and combing my hair. After each piece of hair was removed, we sprayed IT’S a 10 MIRACLE SPRAY on each strand.

It is very important to keep your hair as moisturized as possible after removing extensions! Glynnis washed and gave me a blow dry when we were all finished. My natural hair looks beautiful! There are a lot of steps to keeping your hair looking its best with extensions. You always hear the horror stories about losing hair, but that is because they aren't doing the proper maintenance!

We put my hair extensions back in one week later. It only took two hours to put the hair in and cut my extensions! When I say cut, I mean we took a teeny tiny bit of length off for layering and blending them into my natural hair. We put in the light golden blonde (#24) and Strawberry Blond (#27)  Kera-Link strands.  My hair is so pretty and so shiny right now.

We had a very sweet photographer come in and she took photos of the process. (See below!) My hair is looking great and my natural hair is still very healthy!

One of the many reasons you should choose Donna Bella as your go-to hair extension company is the training methods! They train their extensionists about the importance of your natural hair, not just how to put the extensions in! I would never want to use anyone else.