Timelines
How long do extensions last?
Two different answers, and knowing the difference saves you money.
Two different answers, and knowing the difference saves you money.
People ask one question and mean two. How long does the hair last before you buy more? And how long before you need to be back in the chair?
The hair lasts months. The install does not. Understanding that gap is the difference between budgeting well and being surprised.
K-tip hair lasts roughly 3 to 5 months with proper care. The bonds are reapplied at each move-up, so the hair itself is reused until it is genuinely worn.
Hand-tied weft hair lasts roughly 6 to 12 months, often longer. Wefts are resewn rather than rebonded, so the hair takes less handling over its life.
Those ranges assume real quality hair and real care. Cheap hair can look tired in six weeks, which is how a bargain becomes expensive. It also assumes you are not putting 400°F on it daily.
K-tips: every 10 to 14 weeks. Bonds come out, your hair is cleaned, the same hair is reinstalled at the root.
Hand-tied wefts: every 6 to 8 weeks. Sooner, because a grown-out row lifts away from the scalp, becomes visible, and puts uneven tension on the beads.
This is the real commitment in wearing extensions. Not the install day. The rhythm afterwards. If a 6 to 8 week appointment does not fit your life, K-tips are the more realistic choice, and it is better to know that before you start than after.
Sulfate shampoo, which works the attachment loose and strips the hair.
Heat above 350°F, especially directly over a bond.
Brushing from the root downward instead of the ends upward.
Sleeping with it loose, so it twists and tangles at the attachment all night. A loose braid solves this entirely.
Yes, and it is mostly about four habits: a sulfate-free shampoo, heat under 350F, brushing from the ends upward with an extension-safe brush, and sleeping with your hair braided or tied loosely. Clients who do all four regularly get months more out of the same hair.
No. At a move-up the same hair is taken down, cleaned, and reinstalled. You buy new hair only when the existing hair is genuinely worn, which is typically 3 to 5 months for K-tips and 6 to 12 months for wefts.
The attachment point travels away from your scalp as your hair grows. The hair above the bond or row starts to tangle around it, matting forms near the root, and the weight begins pulling unevenly. Left long enough it stops being a maintenance issue and becomes a damage issue.
K-tips take 2 to 4 hours depending on how much hair is being placed. Hand-tied wefts take 3 to 5 hours. Colour work on the same day makes it longer, and those are planned as full-day appointments.
It costs less this month and more overall. Hair that has been left past its window takes longer to take down, comes out in worse condition, and needs replacing sooner. Stretching the schedule is the most reliable way to shorten the life of your hair.
Every new extension client starts with a consultation in the Mentor studio. Bring your hair and your questions.