March 7, 2025

How To Maintain Your Sew In At Home (Beginner-Friendly!)

This year one of my goals was to make progress on my hair journey. Oh, and to become lil miss keep her hair done LOL. I got my first sew-in back in January, and recently decided to try doing my sew-in maintenance myself at home. I feel like it’s important for me to know how to maintain my hair myself, so I did my research. I’m happy to report my wash day (using a few Cécred hair products! Full review coming soon) was a success! Not only does my hair feel great, but my leave out is BLENDED.

This is the first time I successfully silk pressed my hair myself (even though I only had to do my leave out). So, I wanted to share my beginner friendly sew in maintenance routine in hopes that it helps someone.

Check out my TikTok below to see how I used all the products!

What I Used to Wash My Hair

For my wash day, I used hair products from Cécred’s staple collection. Everything else I used can be found on Amazon.

I started out using a clarifying shampoo to break down the product build up on my hair and extensions. On my leave out I used the Cécred Clarifying Shampoo & Scalp Scrub. This shampoo got my hair clean and left it feeling soft, but not stripped. Since it’s also a scalp scrub, I used a different clarifying shampoo on my braids under my sew in. I wanted to make sure I’d be able to easily rinse everything out, since I also have a protective net under my sew in.

To wash my braids under my sew in, I mixed each product with water in a nozzle applicator bottle. I then used the applicator bottle to apply each product to my hair. After each product, I followed up with plain water in the applicator bottle to rinse everything out.

After clarifying, I used samples of Cécred hydrating shampoo to wash alllll my hair. This helped to further cleanse my hair, and restore some hydration.

Next I used the K18 Molecular Leave In Hair Mask on my leave out to help with bond repair.

Lastly, I conditioned using the Cécred hydrating conditioner (I definitely need the full sized version of this too).

Blending My LEave Out & Styling

After using the conditioner, I tried the L’oreal Elvive Hyaluron Plump Moisture Plump Serum and sat under my portable hooded dryer to dry my braids under my sew in. I sat under the dryer for roughly an hour.

Blow Dry

After drying my braids, I did a blow out on my leave out and extensions. This was VERY IMPORTANT to help my leave out to blend better with my extensions. I’ve tried using a comb attachment in the past to do this, and I didn’t get the same results at all.

To do my blowout I sprayed my hair with water using a 360 mist spray bottle (to re-wet my leave out and extensions) and applied Amika’s Blockade heat defense serum. I used the nozzle attachment on my blowdryer, and a boar bristle roundbrush to do my blow out. 10/10 experience. For my leave out I used my FHI Heat Unbrush (my favorite detangling tool) before moving on to the round brush.

Flat Iron

To flat iron my hair, I applied the Amika “The Shield” Anti Humidity Spray and used my CHI X Barbie Ceramic Flat Iron. I flat iron my hair on 375, and use a carbon comb to do the comb and chase method. Check out my flat iron tutorial in this blog post.

Curls

I wanted to add some curls to my hair, so I used my 1.25″ T3 Micro Extra Long Barrel Curling Iron to curl my hair. To help my curls set, I used these gold clips from Amazon. I also used this Sebastian Shaper Hairspray for hold, but I think I need to find something else with better hold lol.

Sew In Maintenance Finishing Touches

To finish up my sew in maintenance day, I used the Goldwell Lagoom Gel to lay my edges. I also use the Red by KISS Tintation Hair Dye Spray in Black to camouflage thin areas. To tame flyaways, I used the Redken Spray Wax, and lastly the Kenra Shine Spray to add shine without weighing down my hair.

Beginner Friendly At-Home Sew In Maintenance Tutorial

@flyfiercefab When you finally learn how to maintain your sew-in at home and blend your leave out 🙌🏾😂. Check out my blog for links to everything I used for my beginner-friendly at home sew-in maintenance! Products Used: WASH: 💖 @CÉCRED Clarifying Shampoo & Scalp Scrub 💖 Cecred Hydrating Shampoo 💖 Cecred Hydrating Conditioner 💖 @K18 Hair Molecular Repair Leave-In Mask DRY: 💖 @L’Oréal Paris Elvive Hyaluron Moisture Plump Leave In Serum 💖 @redbykiss Hood Dryer 💖 @amika Blockade Heat Protectant 💖 Boar Bristle Roundbrush 💖 @FHI HEAT Unbrush STYLE: 💖 @chihaircare X Barbie Ceramic Flat Iron 💖 Amika The Shield Anti Humidity Spray 💖 @T3 Single Pass Curl X Extra Long Barrel Curling Iron 1.25” 💖 Goldwell Lagoom Gel 💖 @Redken Spray Wax 💖 KISS Tintation Spray Hair Dye in Black 💖 @Kenra Professional Shine Spray 💖 Sebastian Shaper Hair Spray #washday #cecredwashday #blackwomenhairstyles #naturalhair #silkpress #sewinmaintenance #traditionalsewin #hairtutorial #creatorsearchinsights ♬ original sound – Theresa Seyi | Outfit Inspo