Hair Extensions

[Sistersteel]

Do you ladies ever get them? Do you get them for events or do you like to sport them for months at a time?

Reason I ask is because I am totally hooked on them. But they cost me a fortune and they are very hard to maintain. I get the synthetic because is it more affordable. I can get a full head and add lots of volume and length for under $1000 if I use synthetic hair. If I were to get a full head of human hair and have it as thick and full as the synthetic, It would cost me about $6000...and they only last 6 months.

So I decided that If I was going to make getting them more affordable, I was going to have to find a way to actually buy the hair myself. My salon sells me one box of hair for $40 and I usually use about 6 boxes. But they recently told me that the only brand of synthetic they use is the one they carry. So there goes that idea...

[SallyAnne]

I had extensions last year and bought the real hair extensions with the keratin tips on Ebay. I spent $200 and had enough hair to do my whole head with 5 bundles left over. I have super, super thick hair. I also bought the heat tool to bond the extensions on Ebay and a friend helped me do it.

[Sistersteel]

I had extensions last year and bought the real hair extensions with the keratin tips on Ebay. I spent $200 and had enough hair to do my whole head with 5 bundles left over. I have super, super thick hair. I also bought the heat tool to bond the extensions on Ebay and a friend helped me do it.

SA are you saying you did it yourself?? Bonding and all?? Oh My. How long did it take you to get it done and how long did it last you?? Was it long?

[NubianBeauty]

Whoa! $6k for hair? Are you talking about the fusion technique? See pics... is this what you're talking about? You can get a full head of human hair done here for $300-500 w/hair included. R u still in the A?

[SallyAnne]

SA are you saying you did it yourself?? Bonding and all?? Oh My. How long did it take you to get it done and how long did it last you?? Was it long?

I took them out after about 5 months. I did the front and my friend helped me do the back.

I did them the year before, as well - actually, my boyfriend did most of it. It's really not that hard to do.

[Sistersteel]

Whoa! $6k for hair? Are you talking about the fusion technique? See pics... is this what you're talking about? You can get a full head of human hair done here for $300-500 w/hair included. R u still in the A?


Noob where you been at baby girl? I'm still in the A baby. I need to come check you out. $500??? shyyyat. That's crazy. Yes it the fusion...i think. braid braid braid, glue, heat, done. That is unbelievable. And how long can you keep it??

[Sistersteel]

I took them out after about 5 months. I did the front and my friend helped me do the back.

I did them the year before, as well - actually, my boyfriend did most of it. It's really not that hard to do.

I'm impressed. I need to teach hubby how to do that. I have an unsteady hand and might glue my fingers to my scalp in the process. lol

[Elise]

Jessica Simpson has pretty good clip inn not too pricey either

[Sistersteel]

Jessica Simpson has pretty good clip inn not too pricey either

Elise
Thank you for posting!
I actually had about a hundred of Jessica Simpson's pieces. I got tired of them and felt very limited and that was when I started getting the extensions.

[Angela123]

i am a HUGE hair extension lover.

of what i tried...fyi i always use real hair...

jessica simpson..my hair is too thin for those clip on pieces to stay in and look good...couldnt really be free to do much for fear of them falling out

glued tracks in... did this just for short time periods...such as a show...not for long time periods at all...lost hair.

bought tracks at a wig store and had a stylist braid the tracks in...HUGE mistake...i do not have african american hair...i lost a shitload of hair. stayed in for...ehhh...maybe 6 wks...but they should have came out before then.

spent the big bucks and went with Great Lengths Hair...bc i heard it was the best and not damaging...WRONG!!! the hair was...okay..i wouldnt say the best. it is put in, strand by strand, fusian method. it ended up getting very matted around the tips and my real hair...stayed in for 6 months...i lost so much hair when they were taken out. and fusian method does ruin ur hair, no matter they say. it still uses a type of glue even if they say it doesnt. took about 3.5 hrs to attach.

currently am using Dream Catchers...LOVE THEM!! Paris Hilton uses them and markets for them. they also sell cheap clips on at sally's. but to get the real good stuff you have to go to a liscenced dream catcher's stylist. only one salon in each zipcode is allowed to be a dream catchers salon.

it is very hard to explain how they attach them. it is strand by strand. but no heat or glue what so ever. it is so simple looking..it really is hard to explain. but they get attached with a tool the stylist uses..and it is attached as securely as any other hair ive ever used that was fused or glued in. u do have to upkeep every 8 wks or so. bc as ur hair grows out, the hair extension strand moves down. upkeep is 100. so actually, if u keep good care of ur hair, they can stay in as long as u want, bc it keeps getting pushed up. took about an hr to attach. much better than fusian dream catchers.

ive even dyed mine...they look good dyed and didnt make the hair worse. i like the hair better too..silkier and better texture.

it is the only hair extension that actually helps ur real hair get better, since no glue or heat is harming it. my stylist knows women who came in with very, very badly damaged, short hair, after a year or two of having the dream catchers in, they took them out and were so surprised how much better their hair looked and how it grew so much, that they didnt even put the extenions back in.


great lengths and dream catchers..about same price. about 1400-1500 with tip and all.

[Sistersteel]

i am a HUGE hair extension lover.

of what i tried...fyi i always use real hair...

jessica simpson..my hair is too thin for those clip on pieces to stay in and look good...couldnt really be free to do much for fear of them falling out

glued tracks in... did this just for short time periods...such as a show...not for long time periods at all...lost hair.

bought tracks at a wig store and had a stylist braid the tracks in...HUGE mistake...i do not have african american hair...i lost a shitload of hair. stayed in for...ehhh...maybe 6 wks...but they should have came out before then.

spent the big bucks and went with Great Lengths Hair...bc i heard it was the best and not damaging...WRONG!!! the hair was...okay..i wouldnt say the best. it is put in, strand by strand, fusian method. it ended up getting very matted around the tips and my real hair...stayed in for 6 months...i lost so much hair when they were taken out. and fusian method does ruin ur hair, no matter they say. it still uses a type of glue even if they say it doesnt. took about 3.5 hrs to attach.

currently am using Dream Catchers...LOVE THEM!! Paris Hilton uses them and markets for them. they also sell cheap clips on at sally's. but to get the real good stuff you have to go to a liscenced dream catcher's stylist. only one salon in each zipcode is allowed to be a dream catchers salon.

it is very hard to explain how they attach them. it is strand by strand. but no heat or glue what so ever. it is so simple looking..it really is hard to explain. but they get attached with a tool the stylist uses..and it is attached as securely as any other hair ive ever used that was fused or glued in. u do have to upkeep every 8 wks or so. bc as ur hair grows out, the hair extension strand moves down. upkeep is 100. so actually, if u keep good care of ur hair, they can stay in as long as u want, bc it keeps getting pushed up. took about an hr to attach. much better than fusian dream catchers.

ive even dyed mine...they look good dyed and didnt make the hair worse. i like the hair better too..silkier and better texture.

it is the only hair extension that actually helps ur real hair get better, since no glue or heat is harming it. my stylist knows women who came in with very, very badly damaged, short hair, after a year or two of having the dream catchers in, they took them out and were so surprised how much better their hair looked and how it grew so much, that they didnt even put the extenions back in.


great lengths and dream catchers..about same price. about 1400-1500 with tip and all.


That was great Ondrea! Are you saying that the entire process was about 1500 and then it only costs 100 to maintain every 8 weeks? That is incredible.

Maybe we have a Dream Catchers in my area. Let me run a quick search!

[Angela123]

yes that is correct. after tip and being charged an hour to put them in (her charge was 100 an hr) but it only took an hour..i think i paid..actually..maybe it was 1300.

i atually have bought more hair though. bc while u can keep the same hair in..some do get ragged looking, not all but some. so i have bought a bundle of hair since ive goten them in. just so i can have her replace ones that look bad. but not the whole head.

[Sistersteel]

yes that is correct. after tip and being charged an hour to put them in (her charge was 100 an hr) but it only took an hour..i think i paid..actually..maybe it was 1300.

i atually have bought more hair though. bc while u can keep the same hair in..some do get ragged looking, not all but some. so i have bought a bundle of hair since ive goten them in. just so i can have her replace ones that look bad. but not the whole head.



I can't find pricing anywhere Ondrea. Can you tell me how much you pay for a bundle of hair?

Do you think Dream Catchers is the way to go for people who want to add volume as well as length?? Or does it get ridiculously expensive?

[sassy69]

* Sassy starts thinking about budget for shows this year... *

[~gymdiva~]

omg I had no idea that stuff costs so damn much!!! I don't even make a grand a month...target extensions here I come ;)

[Angela123]

I can't find pricing anywhere Ondrea. Can you tell me how much you pay for a bundle of hair?

Do you think Dream Catchers is the way to go for people who want to add volume as well as length?? Or does it get ridiculously expensive?

all depends on the stylist! some prefer to not charge per hour, so their bundles are more. some prefer to charge per hour, so the bundles r cheap. my stylist charges per hour, dream catchers were 200 a bundle...i went with 4. so 800 for hair, 200 (she charged 100 an hr) to take out my crappy great legnths hair extensions (they were so fucked, it took 2 hours) then 100 to put dream catchers in. 200 tip. so actually...1300. then upkeep is 100 every 8 wks.

but you can scratch the 200 if u dont have hair extensions that need to be taken out.

great lengths woman did not charge an hour...but her bundles were more. 400 a bundle. i used 3. so 1200 plus 150 tip.

so it evens out if they do or do not charge per hour.

volume...they hold volume well...just like real hair, volumizing products do wonders for it and with the right cut (layers, not just poker long and straight) they hold great volume. maybe add an extra bundle if u want extra volume.

[Sistersteel]

all depends on the stylist! some prefer to not charge per hour, so their bundles are more. some prefer to charge per hour, so the bundles r cheap. my stylist charges per hour, dream catchers were 200 a bundle...i went with 4. so 800 for hair, 200 (she charged 100 an hr) to take out my crappy great legnths hair extensions (they were so fucked, it took 2 hours) then 100 to put dream catchers in. 200 tip. so actually...1300. then upkeep is 100 every 8 wks.

but you can scratch the 200 if u dont have hair extensions that need to be taken out.

great lengths woman did not charge an hour...but her bundles were more. 400 a bundle. i used 3. so 1200 plus 150 tip.

so it evens out if they do or do not charge per hour.

volume...they hold volume well...just like real hair, volumizing products do wonders for it and with the right cut (layers, not just poker long and straight) they hold great volume. maybe add an extra bundle if u want extra volume.

I put in my zipcode on their website and found a few salons in my area that I am totally going to check out. I will have them quote me and see how much it is going cost. I was going to get my hair redone end of March for the show. I need to take out the ones I have in now and that cost me $300 last time because it was SO matted up at the scalp. It really hurt too to get all the knots out. So it was going to cost a little over $1000 to get it taken out and redone. So maybe I can just get the Dream Catchers done instead for a liltte more. I will post the quote when I get it. Thanks a ton Ondrea. Do you get your exntensions for length?

[Angela123]

yes for length. my hair is very very fine...and even more so after years of bleaching it and now after crappy hair extensions. it would never grow long. tho...now im a brunette...my natural...so that is nice...no more bleaching or upkeep of roots!

i wear it straight but when i go for the volume look...i can pull it off very nicely with these extensions. also, even tho my natural hair is very fine, it is not limp, ive always been able to get good volume with it. so im able to tease my natural hair on top (that is not covered by extensions) pretty well and then work my hair extensions into some volume as well and it all looks very good. let them know you care a lot about volume. im sure they will make sure you acheive that look.

yes, when i took my great lengths out, i had to go to the woman who put them in...so i dont know if the dream catchers girl will take yours out...doubt it. thankfully, it was done in all one day at the salon. the great lengths stylist actually knew the dream catchers stylist. so she came to the salon and took them out (about 2 hrs, $200) and then i went right into the chair to get my dream catchers on.

i was like, "i dont care what my hair looks like under neath (i didnt evn want to look..it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be)...just make sure i get new hair in that day! im not going out in public without my hair." lol. yes...i am vain. hair is very important to me. ill cut my budget on everything else if i have to save money for new hair. i re-evaluated my spending in the last few months. it is the only thing im allowing myself to splurge on.

its been a year now since ive had strand by strand extensions put in. i havent been without hair since then! i got great lengths in about this time last year, got them taken out in june then got dream catchers in.

[Angela123]

another point...

when u mentioned horrible matting...if u make sure to go every 6-8 wks, this should not happen. hence why they last so long. yes, you may feel some small matting, but when you go for upkeep, she takes them out and puts them all back in again..and if she sees matting, she combs it out. takes about an hour.

this is also good if you feel like switching up your hair color. you can buy new pieces, have her take some out and attach new ones in, if you want high or low lights. then save your old pieces and put them in later on if you want to go back to your old color. bc even tho u can dye these, its best not to. or even if u want to change your whole head and wear a new color, you can always save your old pieces and have her attach them back on late on.

[Sistersteel]

yes for length. my hair is very very fine...and even more so after years of bleaching it and now after crappy hair extensions. it would never grow long. tho...now im a brunette...my natural...so that is nice...no more bleaching or upkeep of roots!

i wear it straight but when i go for the volume look...i can pull it off very nicely with these extensions. also, even tho my natural hair is very fine, it is not limp, ive always been able to get good volume with it. so im able to tease my natural hair on top (that is not covered by extensions) pretty well and then work my hair extensions into some volume as well and it all looks very good. let them know you care a lot about volume. im sure they will make sure you acheive that look.

yes, when i took my great lengths out, i had to go to the woman who put them in...so i dont know if the dream catchers girl will take yours out...doubt it. thankfully, it was done in all one day at the salon. the great lengths stylist actually knew the dream catchers stylist. so she came to the salon and took them out (about 2 hrs, $200) and then i went right into the chair to get my dream catchers on.

i was like, "i dont care what my hair looks like under neath (i didnt evn want to look..it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be)...just make sure i get new hair in that day! im not going out in public without my hair." lol. yes...i am vain. hair is very important to me. ill cut my budget on everything else if i have to save money for new hair. i re-evaluated my spending in the last few months. it is the only thing im allowing myself to splurge on.

its been a year now since ive had strand by strand extensions put in. i havent been without hair since then! i got great lengths in about this time last year, got them taken out in june then got dream catchers in.

I hear you. I have a pic under my journal where you can clearly see how thick and curly my natural hair is. I will post up some pictures of the extensions I have in right now. The way I feel is directly linked to my hair as well. So believe me I know the naked feeling without the extensions in.
I am stoked about this. Plus if you think about it, getting the dream catchers will save me money in the long run so I can fork it out now and not worry about it later. You know I have 3 different colors in my hair right now. I have red, black and blond. Another reason it costs me so much because I have to buy boxes of different colors. I LOVE red hair and it looks great on me because I have olive skin. So maybe I should just dye my own hair a single color first and then get some red hair put in. Or does it not matter? Can they just dye the whole thing once its in?

[SallyAnne]

eh - I cut my hair short this year so won't have to worry about it for a while, but the dreamcatcher hair sounds very cool.

[Angela123]

actually...with dreamcatchers...my stylist has had many women with a pixie cuts (not a buzz) get them. as long as there is some hair to attach to the strand, you are good to go.

[Angela123]

I hear you. I have a pic under my journal where you can clearly see how thick and curly my natural hair is. I will post up some pictures of the extensions I have in right now. The way I feel is directly linked to my hair as well. So believe me I know the naked feeling without the extensions in.
I am stoked about this. Plus if you think about it, getting the dream catchers will save me money in the long run so I can fork it out now and not worry about it later. You know I have 3 different colors in my hair right now. I have red, black and blond. Another reason it costs me so much because I have to buy boxes of different colors. I LOVE red hair and it looks great on me because I have olive skin. So maybe I should just dye my own hair a single color first and then get some red hair put in. Or does it not matter? Can they just dye the whole thing once its in?

yes they can dye them. i used to have platinum white hair... i added carmel low lights then gradually dyed most of my head a dishwater blond. then went completley dark..a dark chocolate.

tho i wil say i ended up just forking over money for all new brand hair that was brown. the dye took well, but after a while, it did start to fade.

ill post pix. give me some time.

[Sistersteel]

yes they can dye them. i used to have platinum white hair... i added carmel low lights then gradually dyed most of my head a dishwater blond. then went completley dark..a dark chocolate.

tho i wil say i ended up just forking over money for all new brand hair that was brown. the dye took well, but after a while, it did start to fade.

ill post pix. give me some time.


Would love to see some pics! I found a pic of my current extensions. This picture was take when I first got it done 4 weeks ago. This is a new head.
You can see the colors and volume relative to my hair in the pics on my journal.

What do you think?

[Sistersteel]

Ok well it looks terribly messy there. Didn't realize it until I posted it. But you get the idea.

[ch11183]

Do you ladies ever get them? Do you get them for events or do you like to sport them for months at a time?

Reason I ask is because I am totally hooked on them. But they cost me a fortune and they are very hard to maintain. I get the synthetic because is it more affordable. I can get a full head and add lots of volume and length for under $1000 if I use synthetic hair. If I were to get a full head of human hair and have it as thick and full as the synthetic, It would cost me about $6000...and they only last 6 months.

So I decided that If I was going to make getting them more affordable, I was going to have to find a way to actually buy the hair myself. My salon sells me one box of hair for $40 and I usually use about 6 boxes. But they recently told me that the only brand of synthetic they use is the one they carry. So there goes that idea...

well if you live near MS you can get a whole head full of human fused extensions for right at 1000 bucks....the jessica simpson human pieces (not synthetic) are a little pricier but work well...i have thin hair and my advice is to take it to your hair stylist and have her color it to match your hair...then have her show you how to put it in, and fix your hair around it...

[Angela123]

no...i love it! i love the tousled messy look. very sexy. i love, love, love the colors. it looks hot!

wait...your hair in your pix in your journal...is that real? you have a lot of it. it looks good natural. if not, those extensions look much shorter, correct?

what u must remeber..you get synthetic, right? natural hair strands will not be as thick and coarse..so you will have to get an extra bundle imo if you want a thicker volume look.

but dream catchers...will sure give you the length...i sais i would keep mine long but ended up trimming a tad off..i cant do super duper long.

[Sistersteel]

no...i love it! i love the tousled messy look. very sexy. i love, love, love the colors. it looks hot!

wait...your hair in your pix in your journal...is that real? you have a lot of it. it looks good natural. if not, those extensions look much shorter, correct?

what u must remeber..you get synthetic, right? natural hair strands will not be as thick and coarse..so you will have to get an extra bundle imo if you want a thicker volume look.

but dream catchers...will sure give you the length...i sais i would keep mine long but ended up trimming a tad off..i cant do super duper long.

Really you like it? :)
Here I found another one with my hubby!

Yup! the pictures in my journal, that is my hair. My Natural hair is curly as hell and very thick. Definitely my ethnic heritage. If I wash my hair and not brush it, I have a fro! literally. BIG AND CURLY. Can be cute on a smaller face, But I have a big face so I need hair that softens my features up a bit.

[Angela123]

u know...ive been thinking. im willing to bet your hair will cost lots more than mine. you have LOTS thicker hair than me and im sure it is more coarse as well...to get the type of volume you want and to make sure it flows well with your hair..im sure you will have to buy more bundles. i dont have a lot of hair so i dont need to get a whole lot...but sinvr you have a lot of hair, you might need to get more.

and you are so damn hot. i love those two pix you posted. you and husband are a very good looking couple. i love your hair.

[Sistersteel]

u know...ive been thinking. im willing to bet your hair will cost lots more than mine. you have LOTS thicker hair than me and im sure it is more coarse as well...to get the type of volume you want and to make sure it flows well with your hair..im sure you will have to buy more bundles. i dont have a lot of hair so i dont need to get a whole lot...but sinvr you have a lot of hair, you might need to get more.

and you are so damn hot. i love those two pix you posted. you and husband are a very good looking couple. i love your hair.

I am going to take a drive to one of the salons and see how much they quote me for a head that looks like what I got now. I am glad you like the pics. Certainly not very fancy ones but more random everyday shots.

YOUR profile pic on the other hand is..delicious :)

[partsRheavy]

Sounds interesting, fun, but oooooh so expensive! :eek:

I like the colors - cool and "alternative." Just wondering, would it be cheaper to get 'em done on vacation in Jamaica or somewhere? Spend a couple hundred on a ticket, save a couple hundred on the extensions, and have a vacation, too?

[Angela123]

haha...well im sure those ladies there do braiding tho. as i stated...i had mine braided in...white girls, esp with thin hair...should not do that! i lost a lot of hair when taking them out.

and if u refering to dream catchers...you cant just buy their hair randomly and have a random person put them in. they are put in a special way.

but im sure if you are going on vacation, if you want...sure...buy cheap hair and have some girl braid them in there. but dont go there specifically for fake hair. women in the states can braid tracks in for very cheap.

[partsRheavy]

Wasn't thinking about having it done myself - just sort of freaking at the price you gals are paying....

[NubianBeauty]

SS you don't have to do Dream Catchers. The technique has many names... shrink-link, micro link, micro ring, loop ring, micro cylinder, all basically called cold fusion (ask what type of cold fusion.. because some still use glue) You can just find someone who does one of those techniques or just ask if they do cold fusion then ask which one.

[BadAssBarbie]

I had the Great Lengths Extensions twice when I weas growing my hair out. I had the first set for 6 mos and my 2nd set for about 5 or 6 months. I loved them!! Now, I have my hair REALLY short again though. It's a vicious cycle!

[SallyAnne]

I had the Great Lengths Extensions twice when I weas growing my hair out. I had the first set for 6 mos and my 2nd set for about 5 or 6 months. I loved them!! Now, I have my hair REALLY short again though. It's a vicious cycle!

I was thinking today that I should just chop it all off and wear a wig when I go out. I could have a totally different look every day for a month with no bad hair days for about the same price as a full head of extensions. :D

[Angela123]

i have seriously thought of that. if i could afford the real expensive wigs that look realistic...the ones that celebs use...yes for sure i would.

i read that oprah's hair is all a wig. dont know if it is true. she has been spotted working out in chicago..buzzed blond hair. no one even bothers her bc no one knows it is her.

[NubianBeauty]

The hair O is wearing now is definitely a weave or wig.

[Tuffgirl410]

Would you guys recommend extensions to grow out your hair or do they do too much damage?

[Curt James]

Hair is overrated.

:p

Uh, never mind.

A co-worker was joking about her hair extensions, saying that when people tell her it's not her hair she replies, "IT'S MY HAIR! I BOUGHT IT!"

[tight booty]

I have never had the need to have hair extensions. I always keep my hair long anyway. My best friend has had them and they look gorgous on her.

[Angela123]

Would you guys recommend extensions to grow out your hair or do they do too much damage?


well...as i said... for ME, all extensions have caused hair damage except dream catchers which use cold fusion application (thanks nb for the term...i had forgotten it). its not so much the brand u use...its the method of application and how ur hair naturally is. my hair is very fine and it was weak and prone to breakage from bleaching it...so it didnt hold up with many methods. it was great while the extensions were in, but boy did i lose lots when taking it out. i also had lots of matting with regular fusion method...so when i took them out...the matting was so bad, i lost tons of hair trying to get the knots out. at least with cold fusion, it u feel matting starting to occur, u can go in and she can easily remove the extensions, comb out the matting and apply the strands back in...very quickly. instead of ignoring it and having the matting get worse week after week. my girl who does the cold fusion application has had many women who has had really, really badly damaged hair, keep the extensions in for a couple yrs and their natural hair grew in very thick and healthy...so much that they no longer needed the extensions.

[Tuffgirl410]

Oh wow thanks for the info- I didn't realize that there were so many different products and applications!

[SallyAnne]

Hair is overrated.

:p

Uh, never mind.

A co-worker was joking about her hair extensions, saying that when people tell her it's not her hair she replies, "IT'S MY HAIR! I BOUGHT IT!"


I say the same thing about my boobs.

[figure_22]

* Sassy starts thinking about budget for shows this year... *

Haha. I did the same thing! :)

[figure_22]

Andrea, you should email this thread over to DreamCatchers and ask for a finders fee! :) What a good saleswoman!

[~Dayna~]

Hey Andrea if you keep them in so long are there any issue with colour your hair?

[Angela123]

no...roots are able to be touched up just like normal. now i am back to my natural...so no mpre dye...which is great. of course there are spots that will be missed but those are spots that cannot be seen bc the extension is covering that part of the scalp.

[seek2find]

Hi!

I've had expensive extensions done, but last time, to save som cash, I bought nail-on hair on ebay, about 150 strands (6 bundles) which is enough for my thin scandinavian hair, and had my friend put them in. It took her about 2.5 hrs, and the total cost (with the 2nd hand iron that I bought at the same time) was $150.

I had mine for 4 months, then I had them removed and my own hair highlighted. I love extensions, feel so naked and un-feminine without them, since my own hair is short and thin....:eek:

[redline777]

eh - I cut my hair short this year so won't have to worry about it for a while, but the dreamcatcher hair sounds very cool.

is it unusual for men to et hair extensions? i want the long hair look again but takes me AGES!!:mad:

[Tatyana]

another point...

when u mentioned horrible matting...if u make sure to go every 6-8 wks, this should not happen. hence why they last so long. yes, you may feel some small matting, but when you go for upkeep, she takes them out and puts them all back in again..and if she sees matting, she combs it out. takes about an hour.

this is also good if you feel like switching up your hair color. you can buy new pieces, have her take some out and attach new ones in, if you want high or low lights. then save your old pieces and put them in later on if you want to go back to your old color. bc even tho u can dye these, its best not to. or even if u want to change your whole head and wear a new color, you can always save your old pieces and have her attach them back on late on.


I haven't had extensions for awhile, but my avvie is a pic of me with extensions.

I could only keep them in for about 6-8 weeks as my hair grows so fast and I would start to get loops and matting near the scalp.

I have had partial and full heads, I find full head easier to deal with as you don't feel the brush through part of your hair and start to miss it.

I also had synthetic 'Barbie' hair, the tradition way of having it braided in in small bunches.




I prefer synthetic hair, besides the fact that you can mix and match in all sorts of colours, there is the human factor.

There was a documentary in the UK, Whose hair is it anyway? where a pop star, Jamelia, traced back where human hair comes from, it wasn't all that nice.

It ranged from young girls in Russia who were so poor they chopped off their hair, to religious rites of Hindus, to people scavenging for hair remnants from brushes, human hair wig factories etc from garbage dumps (that would be your really cheap hair).

Here are a few of the newspaper stories related to the hair extension documentary:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1036155/Why-Ill-wear-hair-extensions-pop-star-Jamelia.html

Why I'll never wear hair extensions again, by pop star Jamelia


Interview By Natasha Courtenay-Smith (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Natasha+Courtenay-Smith)
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 18th July 2008
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1036155/Why-Ill-wear-hair-extensions-pop-star-Jamelia.html)
Standing inside a Hindu temple in Chennai, India, I watch horrified as a two-year-old girl with long, dark tresses has her head shaved.
She screams as the clippers buzz around her ears and her hair tumbles to the floor.

She is clearly terrified and no doubt has little comprehension of what is happening to her.

Beside her, her mother is having her head shaved, too.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/17/article-1036155-01F88E4E00000578-523_468x612.jpg
Religious sacrifice: Jamelia saw women having their heads shaved as thanks for a child's recovery from illness or to save the family house from repossession



This is a religious sacrifice: the shaving represents a last-ditch plea to a higher power to save their home from being repossessed.
But to me, it appears to be the ultimate in exploitation.
Their hair is casually tossed into a bin, but it will never actually be thrown away.

Though they do not know it, soon their pigtails and plaits will be sold to hair dealers and then shipped on to the salons of Western Europe.

As I watch the lady and her daughter shuffle out, hopeful that this huge sacrifice will make some tangible difference to their lives, I make a promise to myself that I will never wear hair extensions again.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/17/article-1036155-01F88E3500000578-339_468x590.jpg
Splitting hairs: In the Indian city of Chennai there are so many women prepared to chop off their tresses that factories have sprung up to process it



My hair has always been important to me.

As a schoolgirl, I used to get up at 5am to ensure I had enough time to do my hair before school.

Although for a black woman I would be described as having 'good' hair - because it is long and straight - naturally, it is not luxurious, thick or sleek enough to meet the demands of the endless photo shoots and concerts I am involved in for my career.

That's why, in many of the photographs you see of me, I am wearing hair extensions.

For me, putting in my hair extensions feels like a confidence booster, like a man putting on a smart suit.

I wear them to bring out the best in me and to transform myself from busy mum of two into my alter ego, Jamelia the pop star.


And I'm not alone.


All over Britain, girls are clipping, glueing and sewing hair into their heads.
Recent figures show that British women spend a staggering £65 million a year on hair extensions.

As a nation, we now spend five times more on lengthening our hair than we did four years ago.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/18/article-1036155-01F88E4400000578-48_468x691.jpg
Shorn: The pop star with Tatiana, a 13-year-old Russian who sold her waist-length hair for just £100 - roughly a month's wages

Yet most of us give very little consideration to the origin of our hair extensions.

Indeed, until I worked on this BBC investigation, I'm ashamed to admit I'd never once stopped to consider where the human hair I had pinned or sewn into my head had come from.

I was so ignorant about the products I was using that I can't even say how much they were costing me every month or every year.

Then I heard from a friend, earlier this year, that the hair used in the extensions could be taken from corpses. I was horrified.

How did I know I wasn't wearing a dead person's hair?

And if I was, had they agreed to that before they passed away, or had they simply had it shaved off in a mortuary without their family's knowledge?
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/18/article-1036155-01796D6F000004B0-780_233x640.jpg Farewell, long tresses: Jamelia has given up her flowing extensions

And if the hair wasn't taken from the dead, who were this army of women and girls from whom it was taken?

I realised for the first time that there might be a very real human cost to the beauty fad which allowed me to feel more confident on stage.

I wanted to know who on earth was chopping off other people's hair in the name of our Western vanity, and whose hair I have actually been wearing?

My journey to find out took me via some of London's most upmarket hair salons and into the heart of rural Russia and India.

What I discovered was truly shocking and distressing.

Did you know, for instance, that in Russia, girls as young as 13 are cutting off their hair to sell for just a few pounds?

This is despite the fact that in the UK, a full head of extensions of the best quality European hair would set you back £2,000.

There is a staggering profit to be made from this trade, and you can bet that none if it is passed back to the girls at the beginning of the chain.
I start my journey by visiting Russia with Tatiana Karelina, a Russian hair-extension expert living in London.

She does 1,000 sets of hair every year for private clients, and is known for providing top-quality soft and fine hair.

She frequently travels to her homeland to source top-quality hair straight from dealers.

We head to a remote rural area three hours from Moscow, where we meet Alexander, a hair dealer.

He tells us his hair is provided to him from collectors, who go around small villages and towns persuading women and girls to sell their hair.

I have a lot of questions for Alexander. I ask him if he knows whether the girls whose hair he sells are being treated fairly.

I ask him if he ever gets hair from dead people. He is cagey and evasive.
He says that he knows the hair doesn't come from the dead, but he won't elaborate further.

But when I press him, he finally confesses that he doesn't know exactly where the hair he is buying comes from.

And by way of illustrating that, the girls who sell hair are treated fairly, he simply states that they know the worth of their hair and wouldn't sell it unless they were getting paid well.

I leave the meeting feeling deeply uncomfortable.

This man is not sure that the hair he sells is not from dead people, and I'm starting to be convinced that someone is being exploited along the way.
Let's face it - the rich girls tottering around Red Square in designer heels and carrying Louis Vuitton bags do not need to sell their hair.

Next, Tatiana takes me to her home town of Kashin, another rural area, where we meet a 13-year-old girl, also called Tatiana, who has long hair which reaches her backside.

She tells us she wishes to sell her hair because she has been told she will be paid for it.

To my mind, it's a travesty - this girl's hair is gorgeous and she seems too young to really know for sure whether she's making the right decision.

Usually, this full head of luxurious hair would have cost just £20. Today, perhaps because I am watching, Tatiana pays the girl £100.

It's the equivalent of most people's monthly wages here, and the girl is over the moon.

But I feel incredibly uncomfortable about the entire process - there's something so deeply personal about your hair: it should be every woman's pride and joy.

What British teenager would ever dream of doing the same?
For the next stage of my investigation, I travel to Chennai, one of the biggest cities in India.

As part of the documentary, I have had some of the hair I wear in my extensions scientifically analysed. The results suggest it comes from this region of India.

In Indian culture, a woman's hair is her beauty, and the longer your hair, the better your marriage prospects are.

Why then, with such value placed on hair, would anyone even consider selling it?

Yet, incredibly, there are so many women prepared to chop off their hair here that factories have sprung up to process it.

On my visit, I go to see one where the workers sort through, shampoo, brush and blow dry the shorn hair of more than 200,000 women a year. To me, it's a macabre thought.

So why exactly do these women do it?

Well, as I have mentioned already, there are the many Indian women who shave their hair voluntarily at Hindu temples as a kind of religious sacrifice.

And although some of these women know the hair will be sold, most don't.
One woman I come across is having her head shaved to give thanks for the fact her child has recovered from a life-threatening illness; another to save her property from repossession.

They clearly believe this is the best way to show their faith and gratitude, and I'm told that millions of pounds raised from selling their hair is spent on the homeless and maintaining the temples.

And yet only a quarter of Indian hair sold on the international market comes from Hindu temples, which means that most of it is coming from women who are simply trying to make a little money.

I also travel to an impoverished village to see how poor-quality hair - the sort that sells on our market stalls in extensions for £5 - is collected.

There, I witness men and women working the rubbish dumps, actually searching for and collecting hair that has been pulled out of hair brushes.
Quite simply, this is their family business. It is, they tell me, a job their fathers and grandfathers have done before them.

It might seem disgusting, but it's the only income they have.
It is a pitiful existence, and it is fuelled by the demand from Britain and other countries.

What I saw in Russia and India certainly set me thinking, and since I returned I haven't used hair extensions once, not even when performing at the recent Nelson Mandela tribute concert in Hyde Park.

That was the sort of event at which previously I would never have stepped on stage without them.

But what I have unearthed has profoundly changed my attitude about extensions.

Now, to me, a packet of hair extensions has a face - whether that is a Russian teenager, a woman in India who is shaving her head as a sacrifice or a two-year-old girl in tears because she doesn't understand what's happening to her.

I believe that I - and all the other women who use them - should be more responsible about the extensions we buy.

As consumers, we need to make sure that the hair we use is ethical, and has been given with consent.

We need to know that the people it has come from have been treated fairly.

Just as we have fair trade stamps for food, why shouldn't we have the same thing for hair extensions?

And as the women who drive the market in hair extensions, we also have a moral responsibility to the women who have cut off their hair or shaved their heads for our benefit.

Their hair may be helping to make us more attractive, but thanks to their sacrifice many of them must now be anything but.
•JAMELIA: Whose Hair Is It Anyway?, is on Sunday on BBC 3


http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/beauty/article4303464.ece

Virtually every female celebrity, from Cheryl Cole to Kate Moss, has succumbed to the lure of the oomph-giving hair extension.

The rest of us can’t help ourselves, either: the industry is now worth £65m a year in the UK alone. And while it may be dislodged tendrils or post-extension bald patches that are caught by the paparazzi wide-angle, what has generated a more worrying media story is the origin of the hair that is being used.


Four years ago, the deputy director of Moscow’s Centre for Prison Reform confirmed that some prison wardens were shaving inmates’ heads as a way of earning extra cash, while the editor of the ethical shopping directory The Good Shopping Guide had reports of asylum patients’ hair being sold to extension companies.


Of course, if your extensions are synthetic, where they come from is immaterial. But when the choice is between real hair with a natural swing, which can be styled as normal, and synthetic hair that may frazzle if your dryer is on anything higher than a chill setting, which would you choose? These days, thankfully, it is possible to find ethically sourced real hair extensions.

It’s a hot topic, and one that the pop star Jamelia has embraced in the upcoming BBC documentary Whose Hair Is It Anyway?, which examines the origins of hair used for extensions in the UK.

Her inquiries take her on a journey from a nightclub in Essex to Moscow, where a shifty-looking hair dealer explains that he has collectors all over Russia who source hair for him. Despite insisting that the hair comes only from reputable sources, and none of it is taken from the dead, the margin for error seems wide. That’s not to mention the fact that, on visiting rural parts of the country, you see posters offering £20 for a whole head of hair — a price that begs the question as to whether donors are being exploited.

Jamelia’s research also takes her on a second journey, from a forensics lab in this country to a Hindu temple in India. There, she finds that some women are only too happy to sacrifice their hair. “It was a month that changed my life,” says the singer. “Never had I placed so much importance on hair. I wanted to find out what these women were like and why they would give their hair.”


As Jamelia discovers, in certain parts of India, women sacrifice their hair as an offering to the deities, a process known as tonsuring. She witnesses them visiting a temple in Chennai, where their heads are shaved by a man wielding a cut-throat razor. She is told that the women hope the act will bring them good fortune — whether finding a husband or just keeping a roof over their heads. Of course, they don’t know their hair is being sold on to extensions manufacturers — a fact the singer finds incredible, until she discovers that the high priest redirects the money back into the community, using it to feed the local homeless population.

Such acts at least give our western vanity a benevolent gloss. It is through the tonsuring process that the extensions company Great Lengths sources its hair, from the Tirumala Hindu temple in Andhra Pradesh. It prides itself on having its own factories and a full-time employee in India, who ensures the money is channelled back into the community to fund schools, orphanages and hospitals. With an annual turnover of £80m and a yearly growth of 25%-30%, it is a strategy that is paying off — although even the company would probably admit that this is more likely due to the quality of the extensions than an overwhelming desire among clients to have their crowning glory ethically sourced.

“Hair has a cuticle that runs from root to tip,” says David Gold, the founder of Great Lengths. “The hair extension has to be attached in the same direction as the natural hair, or it will tangle.” As hair provided through tonsuring is taken in one go, it is easy to ensure that it all runs in the same direction, making it easier for the wearer to manage. Hence, the matted tangles, common among manmade extension wearers, are avoided.
Sadly, such ethical hair extensions are still in the minority, so rigorous probing is a must. “It is important to push the shop- or salon-owner to ask exactly where the hair came from and, if they don’t know, to take your business elsewhere,” says Jamelia. “We mustn’t think only about ourselves and our own vanity.”

When I raised the issue with a spokesperson from the Fairtrade Foundation, she responded: “How would this be relevant to fair trade?” which suggests there are greater lengths to go yet.

[tight booty]

Wow! Thanks for posting that up Tatyana.

[Sledge]

I was thinking today that I should just chop it all off and wear a wig when I go out. I could have a totally different look every day for a month with no bad hair days for about the same price as a full head of extensions. :D


I think you'd look hot with the same hair style as me.

You could get your hair done like mine (save a fortune on product) and borrow wigs from Mr G. win win situation.

[SallyAnne]

I love these boots:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/18/article-1036155-01F88E4400000578-48_468x691.jpg


lol - sorry. not on topic - but I'm a boot hound.

[SallyAnne]

I think you'd look hot with the same hair style as me.

You could get your hair done like mine (save a fortune on product) and borrow wigs from Mr G. win win situation.

Too much muscle. I'd really look like a dude if I shaved it off. If I was thin, tall and waifish, I'd shave it in a heartbeat.

[Tatyana]

I love these boots:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/18/article-1036155-01F88E4400000578-48_468x691.jpg


lol - sorry. not on topic - but I'm a boot hound.

Check out the Faith website.

:)

[Sistersteel]

Sorry ladies, another question..
I know many of you gals mentioned putting your extensions in yourselves..i was wondering if anyone has ever tried removing them?

I am getting raped at $175/hour to get them removed and it takes about 3.
Plus they are not gentle and pull my scalp right out with them trying to save me time and money. I am due to take them out this week and was wondering if it was something I could do myself.

[Tatyana]

Sorry ladies, another question..
I know many of you gals mentioned putting your extensions in yourselves..i was wondering if anyone has ever tried removing them?

I am getting raped at $175/hour to get them removed and it takes about 3.
Plus they are not gentle and pull my scalp right out with them trying to save me time and money. I am due to take them out this week and was wondering if it was something I could do myself.

I always took my own extensions out.

I scrapped off the glue with my thumb and then undid the braid.

It did take me ages, I would start with the underside of my hair.

I would also chop my extensions into really outrageous styles before I took them out.

[Suzy Brown]

Interesting read!!

I'm going to get mine done in May, instead of getting summer highlights & low lights. I found a method that uses teeny rubberbands to hold them in, and are easy to move up towards the scalp once your hair starts growing out. I'm excited!!!

[Elise]

I love the clip inn ones (jessica simpson) or sometimes I have my own hairdressers put them in. As long as they are done properly they can totally looks awesome and natural

[Sistersteel]

I always took my own extensions out.

I scrapped off the glue with my thumb and then undid the braid.

It did take me ages, I would start with the underside of my hair.

I would also chop my extensions into really outrageous styles before I took them out.


Mine are fused in though. She would braid in the extension with my hair and then glue it and fuse it. I am having trouble removing them. :(

I might chop them up though and see how I look :) lol

[Tatyana]

Mine are fused in though. She would braid in the extension with my hair and then glue it and fuse it. I am having trouble removing them. :(

I might chop them up though and see how I look :) lol

So were mine, glued and then the gun as they were artificial Barbie hair.

It is possible, you will find some that are looser than others, it really is scraping off the fused bit, then they come out.

[SallyAnne]

Have you heard of skin wefts?

They are like wefts for weaving, but they are hand tied on lace (like lace wigs) so that there is no visible track. They are applied with toupee tape and liquid gold glue and heat sealed with a straight iron. Supposedly, the last 6-8 weeks and can be reused. the lace base on them makes them invisible even near the op of your head.

Anyway - I thought this was kind of a cool idea for a less expensive head of extensions when you step on stage.

F2UQ6Ws89wM

[SallyAnne]

Sound is bad on this one, but he shows using the extensions without glue. It looks easy enough that you could do it yourself or have a friend help.


eEHGpCHKa6U

[Suzy Brown]

Interesting read!!

I'm going to get mine done in May, instead of getting summer highlights & low lights. I found a method that uses teeny rubberbands to hold them in, and are easy to move up towards the scalp once your hair starts growing out. I'm excited!!!

I got Great Lengths instead. I love em!!! Nice & full... but there is a learning curve as I am not used to having so much hair to dry, straighten & style. I used to be able to blow dry in 8 min, and straighten in about the same... now its more like 45 min to an hour!!

Its a fusion method, using a tiny flat iron gizmo. My stylist did 3 bundles of hair in about an hour and a half!

[SallyAnne]

I got Great Lengths instead. I love em!!! Nice & full... but there is a learning curve as I am not used to having so much hair to dry, straighten & style. I used to be able to blow dry in 8 min, and straighten in about the same... now its more like 45 min to an hour!!

Its a fusion method, using a tiny flat iron gizmo. My stylist did 3 bundles of hair in about an hour and a half!

I have really thick hair. When I got my fusion extensions, it took ALL DAY.

[GirlyMuscle]

I had extensions once..believe it or not. It's how I got my hair to grow out long again without the hassle of the in between stage. This was about 16ish years ago. I had cornrows all over and then the wefts of hair (I had real 100% human hair) were sewed down to the cornrows. I had them maintained once every 4 months and after abotu a year and a half my real hair was as long as the weft so I went au naturale after that.

[Suzy Brown]

I don't believe it.

[SallyAnne]

I had extensions once..believe it or not. It's how I got my hair to grow out long again without the hassle of the in between stage. This was about 16ish years ago. I had cornrows all over and then the wefts of hair (I had real 100% human hair) were sewed down to the cornrows. I had them maintained once every 4 months and after abotu a year and a half my real hair was as long as the weft so I went au naturale after that.

I had my hair braided once - where they add hair to make tiny braids and make it longer. Very 90's. :D

[GirlyMuscle]

Mine looked just like it does now only a little longer. I have pics but I'll have to scan them.

[SallyAnne]

Mine looked just like it does now only a little longer. I have pics but I'll have to scan them.

I have friends who had their hair done that way and it looked completely natural.

[sassy69]

I called the lady who does my hair re: extensions. She has a guy who does that in her salon. She was going to research it a little - e.g. if he could show her how to do it and she could do it for me (save a little $). She guestimated it would run $600-ish, cuz I have to buy the hair. She said it seemed to her the glue approach was easier than the braiding in approach.

I did also check if there are any Dreamcatcher people near me, and in fact there's on about a mile north of me.

This is primarily for doing the USAs, possibly for the next 4-5 months. So I guess looking for the best approach to maintain. My hair sounds like Ondrea's - it's fine but I have a lot. It has some body but not a lot, but at the same time, I can't get it to go completely straight w/o having it just go limp. I will need to get my roots done again because I suffer from that age-related darkening from my natural blonde to non-descript dishwater color. My hair is fairly healthy, just gets split ends and can't really support a lot of length w/o getting wispy on the ends.

[Sistersteel]

Well this is the perfect place to whine about my hair and how upset I am that I cut it. So here is my rant, please bare with me. I HATE my hair. Every time I look in the mirror I want to grab the clippers and go to town. Its awful. Just the worst its ever looked. I spend hours...literally HOURS trying to straighten it. I have tried every single anti curling serum I could get my hands on...5 minutes later, I look like I got my finger stuck in an electric outlet. I look like carrot top only carrot top looks a hundred times BETTER than I do.

I went and bought a red dye at the pharmacy tonight. I HAD to do SOMETHING to it. I could not stand the way it looked..not the length...not the color...not the style...it seems like the more it grows, the less I like it. You know when your hair is at a length that is neither short nor long but something in between that looks like shit...and you try to resist the urge to cut it back down to where it looked halfass decent or you run and spend hundreds of dollars on extensions??

Well that is EXACTLY where I am right now. Ok..so i bought this red dye that looked nice on the box and now that it is dry...holy fuck I look worse than I did before I fucked with it.

So I need moral support. I don't think I can stress this enough but I will try and I know this is going to sound ridiculous...my sanity depends on my hair. I have always been that way. Something about my hair...it is directly linked to my mental wellbeing.
So before I lose it and they haul me away in a straight jacket never to be seen or heard from again...let us help SS figure out how to cope with ugly hair until we decide on the best option for hair extensions.

I would love to get my old extensions back in...but I am not looking to spend a thousand dollars on my hair this time. The most I want to spend is 5 or 600. I wanted to get some real hair sewed in until Andrea told me it was a bad idea. Micro braiding...don't want anything braided at the scalp. The best option seems to be Andrea's..at least its the most economical in the long run. But those would have to wait until I am capable of spending such a large sum of cash on my hair without my husband hanging me. I need twice as much hair as Andrea so it is going to run me over 2500. Not happening. What other El Cheapo options do I have?

[Sistersteel]

SSJ how much did the Great Lengths run you?

[sassy69]

Well this is the perfect place to whine about my hair and how upset I am that I cut it. So here is my rant, please bare with me. I HATE my hair. Every time I look in the mirror I want to grab the clippers and go to town. Its awful. Just the worst its ever looked. I spend hours...literally HOURS trying to straighten it. I have tried every single anti curling serum I could get my hands on...5 minutes later, I look like I got my finger stuck in an electric outlet. I look like carrot top only carrot top looks a hundred times BETTER than I do.

I went and bought a red dye at the pharmacy tonight. I HAD to do SOMETHING to it. I could not stand the way it looked..not the length...not the color...not the style...it seems like the more it grows, the less I like it. You know when your hair is at a length that is neither short nor long but something in between that looks like shit...and you try to resist the urge to cut it back down to where it looked halfass decent or you run and spend hundreds of dollars on extensions??

Well that is EXACTLY where I am right now. Ok..so i bought this red dye that looked nice on the box and now that it is dry...holy fuck I look worse than I did before I fucked with it.

So I need moral support. I don't think I can stress this enough but I will try and I know this is going to sound ridiculous...my sanity depends on my hair. I have always been that way. Something about my hair...it is directly linked to my mental wellbeing.
So before I lose it and they haul me away in a straight jacket never to be seen or heard from again...let us help SS figure out how to cope with ugly hair until we decide on the best option for hair extensions.

I would love to get my old extensions back in...but I am not looking to spend a thousand dollars on my hair this time. The most I want to spend is 5 or 600. I wanted to get some real hair sewed in until Andrea told me it was a bad idea. Micro braiding...don't want anything braided at the scalp. The best option seems to be Andrea's..at least its the most economical in the long run. But those would have to wait until I am capable of spending such a large sum of cash on my hair without my husband hanging me. I need twice as much hair as Andrea so it is going to run me over 2500. Not happening. What other El Cheapo options do I have?

Oh man does that suck :( I'm sorry SS! Something about hair - its either 'ok' or its 'awesome' but 'wrong' is just not acceptable. The only thing I know for sure is short hair is a bad idea for me. So I've got the same hair style I've had for most of my life, but it also simply can't grow longer and stay healthy. And now I *have* to spend $150 every 3 months to stay blonde & avoid the life-long dreaded "Mom's non-descript dishwater color".

Have you tapped Noobs lately? Shoot her an email or give her a call!

[Sistersteel]

Oh man does that suck :( I'm sorry SS! Something about hair - its either 'ok' or its 'awesome' but 'wrong' is just not acceptable. The only thing I know for sure is short hair is a bad idea for me. So I've got the same hair style I've had for most of my life, but it also simply can't grow longer and stay healthy. And now I *have* to spend $150 every 3 months to stay blonde & avoid the life-long dreaded "Mom's non-descript dishwater color".

Have you tapped Noobs lately? Shoot her an email or give her a call!

Shit why didn't I think of Noobs! I would call her now in desperation. LOL
Now I have to fight the urge to wake her up at 4:00 a.m.

I am not exaggerating. I promise you..carrot top. Little ugly curls all bunched up in a fro.

[Curt James]

Shit why didn't I think of Noobs! I would call her now in desperation. LOL
Now I have to fight the urge to wake her up at 4:00 a.m.

I am not exaggerating. I promise you..carrot top. Little ugly curls all bunched up in a fro.

I have no help for you, but maybe some relevant reading material while you wait for your friend Noobs to wake up or for your hair to grow...


http://www.murchisoncenter.org/cyberhair/images/hair_sto.jpg

Frankly, I love little "ugly" curls all bunched up in a fro.

My best friend in junior high school would wash his hair in the morning and then put a knit cap over his head in an attempt to straighten his hair. I encouraged him to just let it go curly and he finally did. The girls went nuts for it.

But I'm not going to tell you to love your hair the way it is because, hey, I value my life.

:beerbang:

[Suzy Brown]

SSJ how much did the Great Lengths run you?
Would have been $1k but I 'jewed' em down to $650, based on the fact I own a biz around the corner and send them jillions of referrals and that he really only took an hour or so to put them in. that included 3 bundles of hair, a brush, shampoo & conditioner, etc. I tipped $50.

[Suzy Brown]

. I wanted to get some real hair sewed in until Andrea told me it was a bad idea.

If you want a fast cheap fix tho, sewing is not so damaging, you can buy the hair yourself & go to some Vietnamese shop somewhere, won't take long either (from what I hear). In my area the hair is about $65 a bundle and application is around $150.

Your hair looks like crap anyway, right? So is sewing really going to make it that much worse?

[GirlyMuscle]

I feel ya Sister! Why do you fight your curls? My life became a whole lot happier and easier once I dediced to stop trying to striaghten my hair and just go with the flow with curls. Took awhile for me to figure out how to manage said curls but once I did it was so much easier.

As far as weaves go...I know glueing is the "in" thing but I really liked the cornrowed sewed ones. They don't randomly fall out and there's no glue to mess up my real hair.

[fitmomma3]

SS I have been there with the hair issues... crying and depressed all because of my hair!! I had extensions put in once in 03 and honestly am too afraid to do them again... I had the braided in/fusion technique and at first they where so long I felt like a drag queen so I had my mother in law cut them down and they felt much more natural. But when it was time to take them out it was near impossible, and my hair broke off SO BAD i had to chop it shoulder length it was horrible. Then I had an incident also in 03 haha it was a bad hair year where I decided to retouch my relaxer on my own (I've done it before but this time it was a disaster) I must have overlapped on the old straightener and my hair started falling out in CLUMPS!! I cried for days! Most recently I had the worst burns on the outer liner of my hair I couldn't go anywhere for days cause it looked like I had a horrid disease! ehhhh beauty knows no pain right? lol

A good way to get your hair in check especially curly hair, why not go to the salon once a week for a hot oil treatment and a blow out? It's relatively inexpensive, so good for your hair, and the blowout is stress free and will last for a few days.

[Sistersteel]

Frankly, I love little "ugly" curls all bunched up in a fro.

My best friend in junior high school would wash his hair in the morning and then put a knit cap over his head in an attempt to straighten his hair. I encouraged him to just let it go curly and he finally did. The girls went nuts for it.

But I'm not going to tell you to love your hair the way it is because, hey, I value my life.

:beerbang:

No guys, girls or anything in between are going nuts for my fro, believe me. I try to wear a cap as well to flatten it. It looks worse when I try to rig it like that. It needs an hour of round brushing then an hour of flat ironing, tons of spray and sticky shit to keep it down for a day. If I have to hit the gym, It might stay down for 5 minutes if I am lucky.


Would have been $1k but I 'jewed' em down to $650, based on the fact I own a biz around the corner and send them jillions of referrals and that he really only took an hour or so to put them in. that included 3 bundles of hair, a brush, shampoo & conditioner, etc. I tipped $50.

Unfortunately, I cannot offer services in exchange for a discount unless the hairdresser is a schmoe or gay. How much did each bundle of hair cost you? How long you can keep those extensions in?


If you want a fast cheap fix tho, sewing is not so damaging, you can buy the hair yourself & go to some Vietnamese shop somewhere, won't take long either (from what I hear). In my area the hair is about $65 a bundle and application is around $150.

Your hair looks like crap anyway, right? So is sewing really going to make it that much worse?

It does look like crap, yes. But it is thick as hell. I heard that sewing makes it finer. Having ugly short curly FINE hair would be a whole lot worse. lol

$65 a bundle for human hair?? Is that hair you can actually color and flatten and reuse when you take it out? No way!


I feel ya Sister! Why do you fight your curls? My life became a whole lot happier and easier once I dediced to stop trying to striaghten my hair and just go with the flow with curls. Took awhile for me to figure out how to manage said curls but once I did it was so much easier.

As far as weaves go...I know glueing is the "in" thing but I really liked the cornrowed sewed ones. They don't randomly fall out and there's no glue to mess up my real hair.

I fight them because my hair is short. When my hair is long they ROCK. But my hair is literally right under my ears short. That is WAY too short to have heavy curls and a round face...unless you want to look like a poodle. That is what I am right now. Sisterpoodle.


SS I have been there with the hair issues... crying and depressed all because of my hair!! I had extensions put in once in 03 and honestly am too afraid to do them again... I had the braided in/fusion technique and at first they where so long I felt like a drag queen so I had my mother in law cut them down and they felt much more natural. But when it was time to take them out it was near impossible, and my hair broke off SO BAD i had to chop it shoulder length it was horrible. Then I had an incident also in 03 haha it was a bad hair year where I decided to retouch my relaxer on my own (I've done it before but this time it was a disaster) I must have overlapped on the old straightener and my hair started falling out in CLUMPS!! I cried for days! Most recently I had the worst burns on the outer liner of my hair I couldn't go anywhere for days cause it looked like I had a horrid disease! ehhhh beauty knows no pain right? lol

A good way to get your hair in check especially curly hair, why not go to the salon once a week for a hot oil treatment and a blow out? It's relatively inexpensive, so good for your hair, and the blowout is stress free and will last for a few days.

fitmomma, I feel your pain. I have a lifetime of stories when it come to my hair escapades. The best story I can remember was when I tried to go platinum blond. I had no idea I was allergic to peroxide. I passed out in the bathroom on the floor at the hairdresser.

I love oil treatment. In fact I have been heating a certain serum at home and sitting under a cap for a few hours. Sometimes I will sleep in it. Helps..but still. It's ugly :(

[sassy69]

So is there a preference between glue or braided?

[SallyAnne]

Well this is the perfect place to whine about my hair and how upset I am that I cut it. So here is my rant, please bare with me. I HATE my hair. Every time I look in the mirror I want to grab the clippers and go to town. Its awful. Just the worst its ever looked. I spend hours...literally HOURS trying to straighten it. I have tried every single anti curling serum I could get my hands on...5 minutes later, I look like I got my finger stuck in an electric outlet. I look like carrot top only carrot top looks a hundred times BETTER than I do.

I went and bought a red dye at the pharmacy tonight. I HAD to do SOMETHING to it. I could not stand the way it looked..not the length...not the color...not the style...it seems like the more it grows, the less I like it. You know when your hair is at a length that is neither short nor long but something in between that looks like shit...and you try to resist the urge to cut it back down to where it looked halfass decent or you run and spend hundreds of dollars on extensions??

Well that is EXACTLY where I am right now. Ok..so i bought this red dye that looked nice on the box and now that it is dry...holy fuck I look worse than I did before I fucked with it.

So I need moral support. I don't think I can stress this enough but I will try and I know this is going to sound ridiculous...my sanity depends on my hair. I have always been that way. Something about my hair...it is directly linked to my mental wellbeing.
So before I lose it and they haul me away in a straight jacket never to be seen or heard from again...let us help SS figure out how to cope with ugly hair until we decide on the best option for hair extensions.

I would love to get my old extensions back in...but I am not looking to spend a thousand dollars on my hair this time. The most I want to spend is 5 or 600. I wanted to get some real hair sewed in until Andrea told me it was a bad idea. Micro braiding...don't want anything braided at the scalp. The best option seems to be Andrea's..at least its the most economical in the long run. But those would have to wait until I am capable of spending such a large sum of cash on my hair without my husband hanging me. I need twice as much hair as Andrea so it is going to run me over 2500. Not happening. What other El Cheapo options do I have?

I have the same emotional tie to my hair. f I hate it, I pretty much hate everything else about myself, too. Weird.

[SallyAnne]

I called the lady who does my hair re: extensions. She has a guy who does that in her salon. She was going to research it a little - e.g. if he could show her how to do it and she could do it for me (save a little $). She guestimated it would run $600-ish, cuz I have to buy the hair. She said it seemed to her the glue approach was easier than the braiding in approach.

I did also check if there are any Dreamcatcher people near me, and in fact there's on about a mile north of me.

This is primarily for doing the USAs, possibly for the next 4-5 months. So I guess looking for the best approach to maintain. My hair sounds like Ondrea's - it's fine but I have a lot. It has some body but not a lot, but at the same time, I can't get it to go completely straight w/o having it just go limp. I will need to get my roots done again because I suffer from that age-related darkening from my natural blonde to non-descript dishwater color. My hair is fairly healthy, just gets split ends and can't really support a lot of length w/o getting wispy on the ends.

hair will not cost you $600. You can buy any kind of good human hair (pretipped, wefts, whatever) on Ebay. You should be able to buy enough hair for your whole head for under $300.

Another great place to buy hair is:

http://www.hairsisters.com

[SallyAnne]

So is there a preference between glue or braided?

I prefer the glue in. Ondrea gets the kind that have the tiny metal band that they use to attach. (Paris Hilton extensions or 'hair lock'.)

Here's a vid:

NTnTe5BGbzQ

[sassy69]

How do you comb thru that w/o hooking on either the clips or the glue or the braid?

[SallyAnne]

brush carefully. lol They have loop brushes made especially for extensions that don't get caught in the brush.

[SallyAnne]

http://www.tohair.com/%5CUploaded_images%5CProducts%5C2009-1-22%5C2009012220272873648.jpg

[sassy69]

Whoa that's cool! I guess I need to just go spend a Sat morning w/ my hairdresser & just do the whole consult - I need to get my roots done too. WohoO! Wow I might be able to get the long straight hair I've always fantasized about! I love competition - its like the ultimate dress up!

[Sistersteel]

I have the same emotional tie to my hair. f I hate it, I pretty much hate everything else about myself, too. Weird.

I am JUST like that!


hair will not cost you $600. You can buy any kind of good human hair (pretipped, wefts, whatever) on Ebay. You should be able to buy enough hair for your whole head for under $300.

Another great place to buy hair is:

http://www.hairsisters.com

So you are saying I can buy hair on ebay and have it put in using any method? or just saw-in? does hairsisters sell hair by the box? how much hair is in a box anyway?

[BadAssBarbie]

I sympathize w/all of y'all. I am once again attempting to grow my hair back out. I just started; so it's not bad yet. I tried to go back to blonde, too. That didn't workout very well, and my hair now feels like straw! So, I'm just gonna leave it alone for a while. I already decided that when it gets a bit longer, I'm going to get the Great Lengths Extensions again....like I did the last time I grew my hair out! I just want to bypass all the ugly in-between shit! I have SO much hair that it took 12 bundles of that hair to make it look right. WHY am I typing in italics? WTH did I do here?? LOL. Oh well, anyway...........Great Lengths was WONDERFUL....and worth every dollar and all the time it took! It is an all day process....at least with my big ol' head of hair! I'm going to attempt to put up a pic of me with those extensions in:)

[Nitro Fueled Barbie/Mel Marx]

Why don't you use the clip ins? They are less damaging on the hair. I am thinking about trying them in the future.

[SallyAnne]

I am JUST like that!



So you are saying I can buy hair on ebay and have it put in using any method? or just saw-in? does hairsisters sell hair by the box? how much hair is in a box anyway?

You can buy any kind of hair on ebay - they have a whole category for it.

http://clothing.shop.ebay.com/items/Wigs-Extensions-Accessories__W0QQ_armrsZ1QQ_dmdZ1QQ_mdoZClothingQ2 dShoesQ2dAccessoriesQQ_msppZQQ_pcatsZ4251Q2c11450Q Q_sacatZ163575

I spent some time looking and they have everything from clip in extensions to wefts to the keratin tipped extensions (glue in). I also saw the extensions that have the little metal ring attached. WAY WAY WAY cheaper than the hair you'll buy at the salon. I bought glue tipped extensions from ebay in 2007 - I paid $100 and had 4 bundles of hair left over after I was done.

Hair sisters sells hair by 4oz packages for wefts. the longer the hair, the shorter the total weft is - but even for the really long hair (I tried 24 inch once) it only takes 2-3 packages for me and I have thick hair like you.

Here's a link to 16" glue tipped extensions - 300 of them, for $119. That's enough to do a whole head of hair.
http://www.hairsisters.com/ver2/ViewDetail.php?product_id=3800&intName1=product_category&intValue1=6&intName2=&intValue2=&intName3=&intValue3=&intName4=&intValue4=&sortName=product_sort&sortValue=desc&type=cate

[Sistersteel]

I sympathize w/all of y'all. I am once again attempting to grow my hair back out. I just started; so it's not bad yet. I tried to go back to blonde, too. That didn't workout very well, and my hair now feels like straw! So, I'm just gonna leave it alone for a while. I already decided that when it gets a bit longer, I'm going to get the Great Lengths Extensions again....like I did the last time I grew my hair out! I just want to bypass all the ugly in-between shit! I have SO much hair that it took 12 bundles of that hair to make it look right. WHY am I typing in italics? WTH did I do here?? LOL. Oh well, anyway...........Great Lengths was WONDERFUL....and worth every dollar and all the time it took! It is an all day process....at least with my big ol' head of hair! I'm going to attempt to put up a pic of me with those extensions in:)


BadAssBarbie you look gorgeous in that picture.
12 bundles of hair..oh my... how much did it cost you to get it put in?

[Sistersteel]

You can buy any kind of hair on ebay - they have a whole category for it.

http://clothing.shop.ebay.com/items/Wigs-Extensions-Accessories__W0QQ_armrsZ1QQ_dmdZ1QQ_mdoZClothingQ2 dShoesQ2dAccessoriesQQ_msppZQQ_pcatsZ4251Q2c11450Q Q_sacatZ163575

I spent some time looking and they have everything from clip in extensions to wefts to the keratin tipped extensions (glue in). I also saw the extensions that have the little metal ring attached. WAY WAY WAY cheaper than the hair you'll buy at the salon. I bought glue tipped extensions from ebay in 2007 - I paid $100 and had 4 bundles of hair left over after I was done.

Hair sisters sells hair by 4oz packages for wefts. the longer the hair, the shorter the total weft is - but even for the really long hair (I tried 24 inch once) it only takes 2-3 packages for me and I have thick hair like you.

Here's a link to 16" glue tipped extensions - 300 of them, for $119. That's enough to do a whole head of hair.
http://www.hairsisters.com/ver2/ViewDetail.php?product_id=3800&intName1=product_category&intValue1=6&intName2=&intValue2=&intName3=&intValue3=&intName4=&intValue4=&sortName=product_sort&sortValue=desc&type=cate

Wow SA. And you put them in yourself you said?? Are the ones you glue in durable? how long can you keep them in?

[SallyAnne]

The wefts only last about a month, maybe 5-6 weeks. The glued in strands can last 4-6 months. The first time I had them done, they only lasted about 4. I had them done again and made it to 5 months before having them taken out.

My fiance put them in both times. :D We took a Sunday and watched movies while he did my hair. If he can do it - anyone can. You just need to heat tool, which is about $20.

[BadAssBarbie]

BadAssBarbie you look gorgeous in that picture.
12 bundles of hair..oh my... how much did it cost you to get it put in?
Way too much!! I think it was about $2,200! Some of the cost is bc of the length I chose(16"). It took about 8 hours to put them all in, but they lasted 6 months! Next time I get them, I won't get them so long...just to cut the cost a bit. It's worth it, though. The hair is really good quality human hair, and if you have someone put them in who really knows what they're doing..you can't even tell they're extensions. The first girl who did mine swore you can't put more than 7 bundles in anyone's head, and I ended up with a friggin' mullet....until the next girl added 5 more! I just have a TON of hair!

[Sistersteel]

Way too much!! I think it was about $2,200! Some of the cost is bc of the length I chose(16"). It took about 8 hours to put them all in, but they lasted 6 months! Next time I get them, I won't get them so long...just to cut the cost a bit. It's worth it, though. The hair is really good quality human hair, and if you have someone put them in who really knows what they're doing..you can't even tell they're extensions. The first girl who did mine swore you can't put more than 7 bundles in anyone's head, and I ended up with a friggin' mullet....until the next girl added 5 more! I just have a TON of hair!

Can you tell me roughly how much hair is a single bundle?

[sassy69]

The wefts only last about a month, maybe 5-6 weeks. The glued in strands can last 4-6 months. The first time I had them done, they only lasted about 4. I had them done again and made it to 5 months before having them taken out.

My fiance put them in both times. :D We took a Sunday and watched movies while he did my hair. If he can do it - anyone can. You just need to heat tool, which is about $20.

I'm thinking Jeff may have found himself a side job.... Official RX Hair-extension-er! :beerbang:

[SallyAnne]

I'm thinking Jeff may have found himself a side job.... Official RX Hair-extension-er! :beerbang:

He is looking for a career change...

http://iesb.net/filmgeekz/images/stories/VoiceoftheGeekz2009/woodies/zohan.jpg

[BadAssBarbie]

Can you tell me roughly how much hair is a single bundle?
Hmmm..... it's hard to describe how much hair is in 1 bundle. A "bundle" sounds like it would be a lot, but it really isn't. Imagine how thick a little girl's ponytail would be....about like that I guess...MAYBE an inch around, or probably less?? I wasn't much help here. lol. Each piece in the bundle can be cut into 2 or 3 pieces, which is what she did on mine....makes it go further and look more natural.

[Sistersteel]

Hmmm..... it's hard to describe how much hair is in 1 bundle. A "bundle" sounds like it would be a lot, but it really isn't. Imagine how thick a little girl's ponytail would be....about like that I guess...MAYBE an inch around, or probably less?? I wasn't much help here. lol. Each piece in the bundle can be cut into 2 or 3 pieces, which is what she did on mine....makes it go further and look more natural.


That's what I thought. I figured it would not be a lot of hair. Only 3 strands out of a single bundle?? Sounds like I'm going to seen quite a few bundles! lol

[BadAssBarbie]

NO NO NO!! There are several pieces if hair, and every piece can be cut into 2 or 3 pieces, which makes it go a lot further!!! Sorry, I should've made that alittle more clear:)

[AngelinaBella]

Try www.extensions.com (http://www.extensions.com) they have from cheap to expensive-every color and every style..

[Sistersteel]

Try www.extensions.com (http://www.extensions.com) they have from cheap to expensive-every color and every style..


Thanks Angelina! :)
Welcome to RX.

[sassy69]

I talked again to my hair stylist to set up "The Appointment", and we were discussing what approach she is recommending based on her extension experts and her research - and the recommendation was to go w/ the pieces you 'tie on' w/ wire - I think Sally posted a Youtube about these. The glue approach was shot down as too messy and would probably stick out funny in my fine hair. THe braiding was a second approach but the clasp-in pieces was the way to go. So I set the schedule for 7/18 (Sat) to get my hair colored (roots) and then do the extensions! I'll get before & afters. Wohoo I'm sooo excited!