I'd love to tell you my hair extension habit started gently. It did not. At 20, as a student at Nottingham Uni, I fell headfirst into an uncontrollable, life-consuming addiction, and like all good cautionary tales, it started with a girl.
Her name was Nicky, and she had the most beautiful head of hair I had ever seen. She looked like a fucking Disney princess. Plot twist: it wasn't exactly hers. Well, she'd paid for it, so technically it was and, she worked at a salon which also made her a walking advertisement. Nicky had a full head of synthetic hair extensions. (Yes, kids, back then that was a thing.)
And yes, that shit burned. You couldn't go near it with a GHD or curling tongs unless you fancied the smell of melting Barbie, so you had to buy these weird special heated rollers just to coax out a wave. The whole set-up still cost £500, which on a student budget was roughly the GDP of a small nation. I paid it anyway. That was my gateway drug.
Fast forward 20 years and the addiction has evolved, as has the hair extension market, along with all the creative new ways of attaching someone else's hair to your head. I'm now on the hair extension equivalent of fentanyl: human hair, custom made for me in China, right down to the weight, length, colours and width of every single extension. The price has, naturally, also been customised. All in, I'm paying triple what I paid just three years ago.
And as anyone with an expensive habit knows, expensive things need expensive upkeep. So, from one addict to another (and to the smug, naturally gifted among you), here are my 13 favourite products for good hair, extensions very much included.
Image below: ©hairrituelbysisley
Hair Rituel by Sisley – The Brush
Nothing hurts more than brushing your hair and finding twenty euros' worth of it stuck between the bristles of a cheap hairbrush. It hurts even more when you paid 1,500 bucks for someone else's hair in the first place. At that point it's not a hairbrush, it's a crime scene.
So I upgraded. This brush combines wild boar bristles with soft, flexible bristles, each designed for a different job: the boar bristles gently detangle your lengths, while the softer ones stimulate the scalp. Brush regularly and it also clears away impurities and leaves your hair properly luminous, because smooth hair reflects light so much better. The result is detangled, supple, seriously shiny hair, and far fewer expensive strands left behind for your funeral collection.
How to use it: Sisley recommends brushing gently and slowly for one minute, twice a day, morning and evening:
- Start at the ends and work your way up to the roots, bit by bit.
- Flip your head upside down and brush from the nape of your neck towards your forehead, then from the sides towards your parting.
- Finish by brushing from your forehead back towards the nape.
Yes, it's a two-minute daily ritual. Yes, I do it. When your hair costs more than a weekend in Paris, you'd brush it in a choreographed routine too.
Image below: ©hairrituelbysisley
Here's my secret long-term plan: grow so much hair of my own that one day I can break up with my extensions for good. (I know. Let me dream.) This serum is my best shot.
Sisley calls it a high-performance formula with proven results, and the numbers back that up: after just one week of use, a protein that's activated during hair growth increases by 44%. It targets every sign of ageing hair at once: it slows hair loss, gives you more density and volume, and even delays the arrival of grey hairs. The magic comes from a potent cocktail of minerals, vitamins and plant extracts that goes straight for the main causes of hair ageing and recharges the hair follicle. The result is hair that's better anchored to the scalp (fewer strands abandoning ship), stronger and more resilient. It also helps protect your natural colour, which means fewer emergency root appointments.
How to use it: Apply three pipettes directly onto the scalp, section by section, on dry or damp hair. Then massage it in with your fingertips, paying extra attention to any areas where you're shedding. It's an intensive course: use it every other day for one month, then twice a week for two months to keep the results going.
And then there's the colour. Vitamin B12 naturally turns the formula a pretty pale pink, which feels like applying a rosé-tinted miracle to your head. It absorbs quickly, isn't sticky and soothes scalp discomfort instantly. With every day, your hair gets stronger, shinier and more beautiful.
Will it make me extension-free? Probably not this year. But if it means my own hair is thicker and healthier underneath all that imported glory, I'm calling it an investment.
Image below from left to right: ©hairrituelbysisley, ©oribe, ©hairrituelbysisley
Wash, Mosturize, Beautify (Blond Hair)
Wash: Hair Rituel by Sisley – Fortifying Densifying Shampoo
Every good ritual needs a first step, and this is it. Sisley calls the Fortifying Densifying Shampoo the first step to a truly rejuvenating hair care ritual, and I'm not about to argue with a French skincare house. For the full effect, pair it with the Revitalizing Fortifying Serum (yes, my pink scalp potion from above), a concentrated, high-performance treatment for stronger, thicker hair. Think of the shampoo as the warm-up act and the serum as the headliner.
Beautify: Hair Rituel by Sisley – Blonde, White & Grey Beautifying Hair Care Mask
Brassy tones: the uninvited guests of the blonde world. You walk out of the salon looking like a Scandinavian goddess, and three weeks later you look like a Wotsit. Enter this mask, which works in three ways.
It corrects your colour. Sisley's own innovation, Balsamin Phytoactive (grown and harvested in France exclusively for Hair Rituel), teams up with walnut husk to neutralise brassy tones. The purple pigments are perfectly dosed, so yellow tones disappear instantly, without leaving purple patches. No accidental Smurf moments here. According to Sisley, 100% of volunteers agreed that unwanted yellow or brassy tones were instantly neutralised.
It protects your colour. The protection lasts and works every time you use it. Artichoke leaf extract fights UV damage and myrtle fights pollution damage, so new brassiness has a much harder time creeping back in. Sisley says the protective shield is 36 times stronger.
It repairs your hair. This is the most important part. Ceramide-like molecules and baobab proteins strengthen the hair fibre to reduce breakage, so your hair is ready for its next balayage, colour or colour strip. Shea butter, meadowfoam oil and pro-vitamin B5 form a protective barrier for soft, supple, shiny hair. In expert tests, after one month of use, hair was 50% softer and 52% more nourished.
How to use it: Apply the creamy, bluish-purple mask to clean, towel-dried hair twice a week, working from roots to ends. Leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinse. The results are instant, so it fits easily into your shower routine.
It's made for bleached or highlighted blondes and natural grey or white hair. Your colour is corrected and protected, and your hair is soft and radiant and looks stronger and healthier.
Moisturize: Oribe – Supershine Moisturizing Cream
If my extensions could talk, they'd ask for this by name. It's a high-shine leave-in conditioner that hydrates and tames frizz, and it's luxurious enough that I almost feel bad putting it on hair I bought online.
- Heat protection up to 232 °C, so you can use your straighteners without the smell of burning money
- Smooths split ends and fights frizz
- High-shine leave-in conditioning that rebalances your hair's moisture levels
This gorgeous cream nourishes even the driest hair, calms frizz, adds shine and leaves your hair incredibly soft and supple. It's formulated for fine to thick hair, and especially long hair. So if you're rocking Rapunzel lengths (bought or homegrown), this one's for you
Images below: ©oribe
Shield & Volumize
Oribe – Balm d'Or Heat Styling Shield
Remember Nicky's synthetic extensions, the ones that melted if you so much as showed them a GHD? Thank God those days are over. My human hair can take the heat now. But just because it can doesn't mean it should go in naked. Enter my bodyguard.
Balm d'Or is a lightweight styler that protects against heat up to 232 °C while leaving your hair soft and shiny. It's like SPF for your hair, except you actually remember to apply it.
- Protects fragile hair from heat damage
- Leaves hair soft and shiny
- Fights frizz, flyaways and wiry greys (the rebellious teenagers of the hair world)
- Makes hair more manageable and easier to style
- Ageless formula that restores your hair's strength and fullness
This super-light styler uses heat-activated polymer technology, plus blackcurrant and sandalwood extracts. It protects and cares for brittle strands by locking in moisture while you blow-dry, straighten or curl. In other words, your hair comes out of the heat looking better than it went in, which is more than I can say for myself after a sauna.
And let's talk about the bottle: that glossy black-to-gold ombré. It's so pretty I keep it on display like a perfume. Function and shelf candy.
Oribe – Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse
Here's a dirty little secret about extensions: the lengths might be glorious, but if your own hair at the roots is flat, the whole thing looks like a lion's mane glued onto a wet cat. Volume at the top is non-negotiable. And the product is literally called Grandiose, so it knew exactly what it was signing up for.
This luxurious mousse adds big, expansive volume and body for hair that looks visibly bigger and thicker. Rapunzel, but make it Texan.
- Nourishes the hair shaft for more volume and strength
- Builds volume while keeping hair soft and supple
- Protects against heat and helps repair and strengthen hair
Every luxurious pump adds volume and texture without a hint of crunch. If, like me, you survived the noughties, you'll know crispy mousse hair was practically a war crime. This gives you softness and hold all day, for hair that's stronger, fuller and more voluminous than ever.
Images below: ©loreal
Finish
After all that French and American luxury, you might think I'd turn my nose up at the supermarket aisle. Absolutely not. Some of the best things in life are cheap: tap water, compliments and these two.
L'Oréal Paris – Elnett Hairspray, Normal Hold
That iconic gold can has lived in every handbag, backstage dressing room and grandmother's bathroom cabinet since the dawn of time. And there's a reason it's still around.
Elnett gives your style perfect hold while keeping your hair silky and soft. Its formula of ultra-fine holding particles means sticky, clumped-together strands don't stand a chance. And here's the best bit for extension wearers: it brushes out effortlessly. No helmet hair, no tugging, no tears (yours or your extensions').
Elnett's unique micro-diffuser gives your style that perfect, legendary hold without weighing it down, for up to 24 hours.
L'Oréal Paris – Elvital Öl Magique
Proof that liquid gold doesn't have to cost a kidney. This hair oil works for every hair type, and it does pretty much everything:
- Protects hair from drying out
- Heat protection up to 230 °C
- Can be used in lots of ways
- Never greasy, never weighs hair down
Elvital Öl Magique gives any type of hair beautiful suppleness and incredible shine. It's an intensive treatment and a real multitasker: six precious flower extracts deeply nourish and tame the hair fibre. I always finish my stylish by applying this to the tips of my hair (my own and purchased). On top of that, it leaves a breathtaking, warm oriental scent in your hair. People will lean in to sniff you. Let them.
And there you have it, my holy grail list for a Rapunzel-worthy mane, whether it grew out of your head or arrived in a parcel from China. Is it an expensive habit? Absolutely. Am I going to stop? Absolutely not. But at least now, when I brush my hair, the only thing left in the bristles is my dignity.