Skincare Junkie: The Best Shampoo For Blondes With Extensions

I know what you’re thinking: The name of this column is ‘Skincare Junkie’, and I’m here writing about a shampoo. But listen, I also like to try out some makeup and hair bits as well, and this is one I feel you really need to hear about.

I’ve had Easilocks hair extensions for the last seven months. I’ve also been blonde for about a year now. I thought I had researched everything about extensions before I got them done, however, one thing I feel I wasn’t warned enough about was the shampoo situation.

Some of you might already know that using shampoos containing sulphates on your hair extensions is a big no-no. Sulphates are the ingredients in your shampoo that causes the product to lather and get all bubbly – good for cleaning your hair, bad for your extensions. Sulphates in shampoo clean the natural oils from your hair, but because your hair extensions aren’t actually attached to your scalp, they don’t receive all the good, natural oils. The sulphates will dry out your hair extensions and also strip them of their colour – not ideal.

The solution sounds as simple as just buying a shampoo without sulphates, right? I wish it were that easy. After my extensions were installed, I popped to my local Boots, thinking I could pick up a bottle of reasonably priced sulphate-free shampoo. This is when I learned that sulphate-free shampoo was pretty hard to find, and purple sulphate-free shampoo even harder.

Before going down the route of extensions, I toned my blonde hair once every one to two weeks using a purple shampoo and conditioner (Bleach London was my brand of choice). There was nothing I hated more than the dreaded brassy yellow colour my hair would turn after a few washes, and the purple shampoo was my holy grail for getting longer out of my dye-jobs.

Here’s me, smiling because my extensions are blonde and no longer falling out.

For the first few months with my extensions, I continued to use my Bleach London shampoo sparingly, knowing well it was jam-packed full of sulphates and parabens. I thought “What’s the worst that could happen?”, until I lost roughly 20-25 of my bonds in three months, the top of them stained purple upon removal. Not the brightest of my moments, I’ll admit.

After having my extensions re-done in December, my sister gifted me Kevin Murphy’s Blonde.Angel colour enhancing wash and treatment for Christmas. It’s safe to say it changed my hair forever. It keeps my blonde locks silver, but not dull, and also feeling healthy, something that’s rare for fake blondes like me.

I use the shampoo and conditioner once every two weeks. After washing, I’ll spray some of the Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Me Blonde repairing shine treatment on my damp hair. As Kevin Murphy products are high-end, they’re a bit more expensive than your standard Aussie or L’Oreal shampoo. The shampoo, conditioner and treatment spray will cost you from €26 each, but as I only use them once every couple of weeks, they last ages and, in my opinion, are completely worth the splurge.

Since I started using Kevin Murphy’s Blonde range in December, I’ve only lost three bonds, my colour is still fresh and my hair feels great.

You can pick up the products I’ve mentioned in selected salons around Dublin or from kevinmurphystore.ie.

• hair
• KEVIN.MURPHY