Braided hairstyles are classic for a reason. They’re easy to do at home, they look great pretty much every time, and you can wear different braided hairstyles for any occasion.

If you have hair extensions, you may be wondering, can you braid your hair if you have extensions? And the answer is yes! There’s no reason you’d have to miss out on these beautiful hairstyles just because you have extensions. 

In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about how to braid extensions into hair and how to style them to look totally natural. 

How to Braid In Hair Extensions: Prepping Your Hair

Like with any hairstyle, a good first step to wearing a great braided hairstyle is making sure your hair is clean and prepped for styling. Make sure you’re using shampoo and other hair products made for extensions to keep your hair looking shiny and healthy. 

Before you get started, brush out your natural hair and extensions to make sure they’re free of any tangles or knots. This will help blend your extension bonds into your braid and avoid any unsightly bumps. If you already wear extensions all the time, you can brush these out the same as your natural hair—just be gentle! 

Once your hair is brushed, apply a hair oil or texturizing spray to make sure your hair is easy to section and braid. If you have curly or frizzy hair, this step is especially important—you want to make it easy to separate your hair to braid without pulling or damaging your strands. 

Once your product is applied, it’s time to section out your hair and get braiding! 

How to Braid Hair with Extensions Already In

If you already wear semi-permanent hair extensions, like keratin or weave-in extensions, you can definitely still sport a braid hairstyle. You just want to make sure you’re parting your hair in a way that doesn’t show where your extensions are clipped in or bonded. 

One easy, super cute braided style you can do is just one French braid. When you part your hair in the middle for two braids, it offers more chances for your bonds to show, so one braid is an easy way to avoid that. 

A French braid with extension is super easy: just braid the way you normally would! Start by gathering three small strands near the crown of your head, and begin to french braid down the length of your hair. Gather more small strands as you go. This method will automatically gather up all your extensions, seamlessly weaving them in. 

If you want to wear a style with more than one braid, it’s totally doable. You’ll just have to plan your part a little differently. And in some cases, you’ll have to let your stylist know that you want the option of this kind of style, so she can place your bonds accordingly. 

How to Braid In Hair Extensions: A Guide to Clip-Ins

If you wear mostly clip-in hair extensions, this can actually make braiding your hair a bit easier. You’ll have more control over where the extensions are placed, and you can easily adjust them if you can see the clips. 

To do a double dutch braid with clip-in extensions, here’s how to place them. First, split your hair into two big sections by parting all the way down the middle of your head. Then, split each of those sides horizontally, so you have four-quarters of your hair. 

Clip in your extensions to the bottom half of your hair. Pull a little down from the top half of your hair and clip in another extension if you want it. Continue this process until you’ve clipped in all your extensions on both sides of your head. 

Then to create two French or double dutch braids, continue as you normally would. Gather three small strands at the top of your head and cross the outer strands over the middle one. For double dutch, it’s the reverse: start with the middle strand and pull it over the outer ones. Continue down the length of your hair, gathering more small sections as you go. 

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