Hair Extensions--How Do They Make You Feel?

[PillowForts17]

So, I know this is going to be a petty post, but I just have to know if there's someone else out there who feels the way I do. I originally grew out my hair for my wedding. I had a friend who was getting married about a month after me who wasn't growing out her hair for her wedding. I didn't think anything of it, but then on her wedding day she had extensions in and a gorgeous updo. At that point I started hating extensions. Not because I thought people were lazy or whatever, but it was stupidly frustrating that I spent a year and a half growing out my hair when you could just plop those in and have longer hair in no time. Nowadays it feels like extensions are "cheating" or a short cut for getting longer hair. Am I the only one who hates hair extensions?

[Reyesuela]

I don't care what other people do with their hair. I only dislike them when they are unattractive and ill conceived. Even then it's, "That doesn't look right," nothing stronger than that.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

To me, in theory, they are cheating, to get the look of long hair. In practice I don't generally notice if someone has extensions or not, unless they are extremely obvious. I assume that most celebrities/Hollywood actresses do wear extensions.

However I do wear a paranda myself from time to time, and I guess that is also a ..kind of hair extension...in a way.

[draysmir]

It takes a lot of hard work and patience to grow out hair, and when you see someone suddenly have the results you've been wanting for years, it can be frustrating. If it looks worse with extensions in, and it's painfully obvious they are wearing them, then I find them quite distasteful. On youtube especially, I watch a lot of hair dying videos (I don't dye my hair, just like to watch them I'm weird lol) and I frequently hear them complaining that they can't grow their hair (since its so chemically damaged), so they just put in bad hair extensions to get what they want. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if they're put in nicely then I don't really have a problem with them. I find it annoying when people use them because they want long hair, but damage their hair so much that they can't grow. You're not going to get long hair if you don't put in the effort and take care of it, and using extensions in that case feels a bit like "cheating" to me, but I try not to care too much. If people want to use extensions rather than grow their hair, that's their choice I guess!

[lizardspots]

I couldn't care less one way or the other, what people do with their hair. I also grew out my hair for my wedding, and I was satisfied with the result (sans extensions). Personally I do own extensions which match my hair pretty well, and it's nice pretending to be a thick hair girl for a day, but I've only worn them twice because the clips are uncomfortable on my scalp.

[cactus89]

I think others are entitled to do whatever they want with their hair; it's just hair, after all. My little sister is a hair stylist and loves to play with texture and color and different cuts; additionally, she has serious autoimmune problems which, between the side effects of treatments and the illness itself, have caused her to bald in places. She uses extensions to hide her (truly significant) hair loss, and they've helped her regain her confidence and maintain her professional appearance.
Extensions aren't for me, but my personal style is to keep my hair fairly natural; I highlighted (barely; most people can't tell I had it done) my virgin hair for the first time in 10 years last summer, and it was fun, but I wouldn't do it again. Some people use their hair as a way to experiment artistically; some may like the look of long hair but not want to deal with maintenance.
I don't hate them. Again, not my style, but no more offensive to me than foundation or mascara.

[Rebel Rebel]

Cheating who? I think it's perfectly fine for someone to play around with their look with extensions, wigs, falls etc. There was a time when it was very common and fashionable to do so, especially in the 60's and 70's. Extensions do have the potential to look bad and be damaging but that's how it goes with any unatural enhancement. I've seen some that really fooled me and they looked beautiful. I'm not sure I understand why you feel so annoyed by what other people are wearing to feel good about their own looks. It feels a bit judgmental. There are many reasons why someone might use an enhancement. My hair is babyfine and thin so I'll never have a full hemline or a lot of hair to do styles with. The damage is too risky to do extensions for me but for someone else it might be totally worth it.

[Dark40]

I could never hate extensions. In fact, I love wearing them! I agree with Rebel Rebel. There isn't any cheating. I love the fact that you can give your own hair a break as you are letting your own hair grow out.

[hypersensitive]

I'm just annoyed when people assume I'm wearing extensions when in fact it's my real hair. I don't think extensions are for me though just because I'm not comfortable with the fact that I'm wearing someone else's hair on my head. That's just creepy.

[littlestarface]

I couldn't careless one way or the other. I watch these 2 girls on youtube who use extensions all the time and they look beautiful but i'd say the only thing that makes me shake my head is when they complain they can't grow long hair when 1 is dying her hair to hell and the other one is literally shaving her head every year and they both flat iron the hell out of their hair but I just think its funny lol.

I guess I don't care cuz my hair is way longer than any extension anyone will ever have put in their hair and alot of times my hair looks like the extensions they use hahaha

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

As someone that knows how extensions are cultivated and made, anyone and everyone should have a problem with it. Not because people wearing them are "lying" or "cheating" but because of the horrible means to which they are collected.
Little girls living in poverty forced to chop off their hair so the family can buy enough rice for a month, then sold to people in more developed nations for 10x what the girl was given. It is really really sad, and as someone that wore hair extensions for 8 years continuously, it is the reason why I stopped. That along with: the damage it was doing to my hair and scalp, the feeling it gave me when I did not wear them; I felt ugly without them and they ruined my self esteem, I would sleep with them in so my ex boyfriend did not see me without. I was tired of taking them out and not looking how I wanted to look.

At the end of the day, its on them. Yes it bothers me that people wear them, but I cant force anyone to my own moral standards.

[Reyesuela]

Mostly grown an married women sell their hair, not "little girls," and given choice A, sell hair feed family, and choice B, don't feed family, I would personally be glad if someone bought my hair. In fact, I have personally sold my hair before.

Much actually come from Hindu temples these days.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/hindu-religious-sacrifice-helps-temples-beauty-industry-profit/177889/

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

Mostly grown an married women sell their hair, not "little girls," and given choice A, sell hair feed family, and choice B, don't feed family, I would personally be glad if someone bought my hair. In fact, I have personally sold my hair before.

Much actually come from Hindu temples these days.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/hindu-religious-sacrifice-helps-temples-beauty-industry-profit/177889/

I watched a documentary last year that showed a little girl (about age 16 which is little to me) selling her hair for money for food. She did not WANT to sell her hair. She was not happy about it. The documentary said she had done it annually. Thats my issue with it. If we did not have a desire for it, there would be no market and no need for them to sell their hair in order to just survive.

Here is an old forum about the topic: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=140707

[hypersensitive]

There will always be a market for it. People have been doing it as long as the technology has existed because people are never satisfied with their natural appearance. And if it feeds the family, it's better than doing other kinds of services for money.

I still personally won't ever wear it.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I still think its crappy and sad.

[Reyesuela]

I watched a documentary last year that showed a little girl (about age 16 which is little to me) selling her hair for money for food. She did not WANT to sell her hair. She was not happy about it. The documentary said she had done it annually. Thats my issue with it. If we did not have a desire for it, there would be no market and no need for them to sell their hair in order to just survive.

Here is an old forum about the topic: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=140707

So you want people to not buy hair so she starves instead? I've never bought an extension and never plan to, but this logic escapes me.

And the documentary lied. You don't grow enough hair to sell every year. If they lied so obviously like that, what else is spin?

[littlestarface]

Well its not like when some kid sells her hair that she gets thousands or even hundreds that saves the whole family from hunger and its not like they can make money every month doing this, this is like what once every some odd years and I bet that money only lasts a week.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

So you want people to not buy hair so she starves instead? I've never bought an extension and never plan to, but this logic escapes me.

And the documentary lied. You don't grow enough hair to sell every year. If they lied so obviously like that, what else is spin?

Agree to disagree. :rolleyes:

[Tosca]

Mostly I just don't really get it. Almost everyone that I have seen wearing extensions has perfectly good hair already.

[Reyesuela]

Mostly I just don't really get it. Almost everyone that I have seen wearing extensions has perfectly good hair already.

Not for long, if they get the glue-ins. ;)

The amount of damage and traction alopecia many wearers get terrifies me.

[Reyesuela]

Agree to disagree. :rolleyes:

If you care, do something for the girls, then. I've paid for over 150 Indian peasant women to reach 3rd to 6th grade literacy, and a quarter of those have then begun successful businesses through micro loans. A good portion have taken oaths promising to keep their daughters from child marriage, too.

I am not going to get upset by any honest income stream, though I might be saddened that they don't have better options. So instead of calling the sadder income streams unacceptable, I work to give them more opportunities.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

If you care, do something for the girls, then. I've paid for over 150 Indian peasant women to reach 3rd to 6th grade literacy, and a quarter of those have then begun successful businesses through micro loans. A good portion have taken oaths promising to keep their daughters from child marriage, too.

I am not going to get upset by any honest income stream, though I might be saddened that they don't have better options. So instead of calling the sadder income streams unacceptable, I work to give them more opportunities.

Thank you for the suggestion. I spent two summers in Thailand with DBF teaching girls how to speak and write in english during the beginning of my college education. I am a soc. major, so. Things like this do matter to me; and I do spend my time doing what I can. I want to try and make another trip next year if I can. Spending time in countries other than your own is pretty eye-opening.

I simply said "agree to disagree" because I do not wish to have a random "argument" with a stranger online about my own moral code. Especially since this is neither the time nor place, your tone just does not feel very.. nice. So I would rather just let it go. The OP asked for my view on hair extensions; I think they are cruel, sad, and strange/weird. The idea of wearing the hair of someone else bothers me and I wish it did not have to happen the way that is does.

Thats all.

I had a long day at school and work today, so just not in the mood. Have a good night!

[Aunty Miki]

It's cheating (baring illness or other)! But, it's also their own bizz, so...

[Crystawni]

If someone feels great with fake, well, good on them. Fake hair length, fake nail length; it's a world of smoke and mirrors. Personally, I'm not a fan, but can see how the instant length and volume (and texture, if that's being played with) would be tempting for those who struggle with hair thinness, time and/or patience.

[Coral Grimes]

I can see both sides of the argument personally. It's easier to damn extensions completely when you have naturally thick hair that is seen as the ideal. But when you have very thin hair like mine, that is often considered ugly, or you are told you should keep it short, it can make you feel really inadequate. I am tempted to get some extensions so I can have thicker braids and things like that, but with my limited styling skills I would probably struggle to get them to look decent - I don't want the clips showing through!

TBH I am fairly oblivious to these things. Unless someone was wearing a huge poofy wig or something I would probably never notice if their hair was fake.

[Serimel]

I don't like the idea of hair extensions on myself only because I don't want to damage my own hair. I also feel I can be more proud of my own hair when it's all my own. I don't know why but I feel like if I wore extensions I would be very conscious of them all the time thinking if people noticed that I'm wearing them. If they were clear extensions like completely different colour or fabric, I'd feel better about them. I considered wearing extensions to my own wedding. My own hair was long until waist but I had a mishap with a keratin treatment which was supposed to make it look smoother and healthier. In the contrary it burned my hair so badly it looked worse than before and caused my hair a great deal of breakage and made me feel like not myself. In the end I didn't wear them because I wanted to be as natural as possible for my wedding but some people want to feel extra fabulous on their wedding day and if extensions give them that then why not? It's not away from me. However, I do agree with the moral side of extensions that some of the people have brought up here. It would be nice to at least know where the extensions originate from and make an ethical choice if it seems there is some shady business behind it. I'm not expert on the matter so I don't know if that's possible though.

[Henni]

It doesn't matter to me what anyone else does to their hair.
I've had some highlight extensions years ago and just hated how they felt, they were too much upkeep and probably even more harming than bleach. I took them away after 2 weeks. I love easy haircare. :)

I don't really understand cosmetic surgery either most times as many just are loosing their personality from their looks and make them look more average with exception of imlants (which has to be uncomfortable) .

[desu]

I get a little jealous of people who have enough money to maintain having really expensive sew-in and wax bonded human hair extensions. They don't have to put any effort into taking care of their hair since they can just buy new hair whenever their extensions go bad. It doesn't really matter that it ruins their own hair since they can afford someone else's hair to cover up their own with. The hair extensions also tend to be way thicker than most people's natural hair would be. The vast majority of people can't afford maintaining these type of extensions though and will just end up with damaged hair once they go back to their natural hair, it's not a good long term solution if you want long hair. I also find the idea of having someone else's hair on my head a little creepy and would prefer if they could make some synthetic hair that looks and feels like human hair instead. I also will never know if the person behind the hair gave consent to having it cut off or if it was stolen while they were out in public, I read an article about the latter happening to women in India and it doesn't surprise me since human hair is so expensive.

[Mrstran]

I always liked them, having a few sets myself after (as some of you have pointed out) dying my hair so that it had broke off. I wanted to experiment with colors plus keep length.
After my hair started "un growing" to the point of getting seriously shorter each month, that is when the hair dye stopped, and the extensions were tossed in the trash. It was time for some serious rehab.

For anyone, I think they are great. People can change their look from bob to whatever length. You can't go naturally long to bob without stuffing all that hair under a hot itchy wig... that is if it even fits at all.


At the same time. If I had long hair and was accused of having extensions, I'd be one of the few offended. Perhaps seen for ridiculous reasons, but we are all differently minded.

[meteor]

Cheating who? Those people aren't beholden to me. :lol:

As for the morality of hair harvesting, I may have my own set of rules for myself, but they obviously don't need to apply to others. :) Why would my own choices somehow transfer to others?

Also, I don't really know what health conditions or life circumstances others may have, what choices they make... - and who am I to judge either way?

[mizukitty]

It really depends on the person/situation. If someone can't grow their hair out as long as they would like (despite caring for it etc) I think hair extensions are great. Some people have a very short term length, and they aren't happy with it. Or they have very fine hair and wish for thickness. In these cases I'm happy the solution exists.

For people that don't give a crap about their hair at all and continue to bleach 10x a year, heat style daily, and then complain about their hair not being able to grow... They buy the extensions, continue the abusive hair routine, destroy the extensions after like 2 months, and continue to complain/repurchase. In this case it bothers me for the sake of the person that sold the hair because I feel like it's not being cherished enough..? I don't know, I'm weird. I suppose once you buy something, you're free to do whatever you want with it, but it still makes me cringe.

But also makes me kind of pleased because it reinforces how my patience, care, and time I devote to my own hair allows me to grow it to lengths I want.

[hayheadsbird]

I' not convinced that all extensions are ethically sourced, so that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable about them.
My initial reaction was yes, it's 'cheating', but then when you stop and think about it, why is cosmetically altering you length different from dyeing or Changing the curl pattern? If I henna my hair to make my brown a dark auburn, then that would be cheating too. And I don't feel like that's cheating, or would say anyone who straightens or bleaches is either. If I wanted platinum blonde, had the money to get it expertly done, and was willing to risk the damage it could cause then I'd do it. So by extension (pun not intended) using extensions shouldn't be cheating either. It's just changing something for cosmetic aesthetics.

[sumidha]

Don't care about it in the least, it's not any different than dying, bleaching, straightening or perming to me.

If someone was going around pretending it was their natural hair that they grew themselves, that would be weird and bother me a bit.

[PillowForts17]

Oh yeah, my opinions about extensions are super petty. I don't think I really care that much about it. It's just a thought I have when I watch hair tutorials or hair dying videos where people dye their hair to death and mistreat their hair. And my friend I originally mentioned is one of those girls. But yeah, everyone's entitled to do whatever they like with their hair. I was just wondering what everyone else thought.

[H o n є y ❤]

It's not a big deal to me majority of the time.

[Deborah]

I have never seen anyone wearing hair extensions, or maybe I have simply never noticed. I don't think I pay much attention to other people's hair.

[reilly0167]

Doesn't bother me one bit:D, I love extensions . I think its fun to play up a bit, especially going through the growing long process.

[Angelica]

No I am not against extensions. Some people just can never grow very long hair, so why shouldn't they "cheat?" If they have the desire for very long hair, and like me, can never grow it a decent length, why should that matter to anyone who can grow their hair long? It's up to them.

[sarahthegemini]

Personally I think they're creepy and usually tacky AF but I don't care if someone wants to wear them. Why would it bother me? I don't get why people feel anger. So you decided to grow your hair, and person B decided to use extensions. So?

[arr]

I don't care what other people choose to do with their hair. It doesn't make me upset if they use extensions or get highlights or shave it all off. As far as it being "cheating" , I don't think so, or if it is, then I cheat every day. I color my grays, I use concealer to cover blemishes and dark circles, dress in a manner that downplays my pear shaped figure, etc.

[lithostoic]

I couldn't give any less of a f***

[truepeacenik]

There are days I wish I could have David Bowie's hair from Labrynth.
I'd do low-damage extensions for that.
I'd use wool dread extensions for one or two days. I made my falls to be removed nightly. They were on elastics.

But day in and day out? My clients with extensions and wigs for a style, seem to either be obsessed with care, or they give the wearer freedom to not care, since a new hairpiece is just money.

I think the industry behind them is abysmal, and the amount of money some women feel they must put into their looks simply to be acceptable professionally, or romantically is heartbreaking.

I'm far more likely to be annoyed by someone who dyes their hair red and proceeds to use it as an excuse to be tempermental and generally a jerk.

If someone was here, taking photos and claiming it was their grown from follicle hair, I'd have an issue with that.

We have had wig tastic wigs, though.

ETA: how are extensions for a wedding (or other one time event) different than shape wear?

[wo]

The only thing that bothers me, is when extensions are painfully obvious. Disney channel is a huge offender. Thick short hair, then stringy limp tails hanging down to about waist. There's no way this looks better than short hair, to me. http://i.imgur.com/7QgahCd.jpg

[*Wednesday*]

I had a cousin who had hair extensions in her APL hair. It looked very pretty color matched very nice. However, we were at a picnic and her hair blew in the wind rather odd. I could see “things” holding in the hair. Looked like a tape or something, was the only give away.

I’m all about the neatness and have no reservations about people that do choose to wear them.

[lucid]

Saying that extension is cheating is weird, unless you define all things that alter ones apparence as cheating. In that case, wearing wigs is cheating. Wearing makeup is cheating. And where do one even draw the line? Is adding conditioner cheating, since it makes hair more manageable? Is manipulating ones natural texture cheating? What about those who use medication to combat hairloss, they sure are cheating nature? Or?

[Mlarmour]

The only thing that bothers me about hair extensions is that its difficult to get them to match my own hair colour, otherwise I'd get them whilst growing my hair out so it looks thicker. It's amazing how much they've come in 10 years though. I remember a girl I went to school with wearing extensions. She tried convincing everyone that her hair was natural. You could see where they were bonded to her hair, you should see a massive difference between her top layer and second layer, she suddenly had a note excusing her from swimming because she couldn't get her hair wet, oh and not forgetting her hair was suddenly 10 inches longer than it was the day before!
They way I look at it is you can do what you want with your hair, no body else's opinion matters because they don't have to hear your hair everyday.

[Aredhel]

I really couldn't care less. I'd rather be patient and grow my hair naturally for free while other people would rather just fork out a hefty amount and not have to commit... both are fine. Their body, their choice. My body, my choice. I don't even feel compelled to make a decision on whether or not I like it or approve of it, because it's none of my business.:confused: I don't think someone else having extensions takes away from my hard-earned natural hair. I know it's real, it doesn't matter to me if anyone else does. :)

Plus, long hair is not a contest... how can you really be "cheating" at it?

[OhSuzi]

Mixed feelings on hair extensions.

Clip in synthetic Hair Extensions as a one off for a fancy dress / wedding / party etc. I don’t have too much issue with, its part of an outfit in the same way a wig or pink hair chalk or flowers might be.

I have never had longer than shoulder length real hair. I’m now on the LHC trying to grow my hair proper long for the first time.
In my younger impatient days I have had hair extensions twice, this was before they seemed to be an everyday occurrence and everyone had these easy manageable supposedly affordable clip ins.

I wasted £500 (on credit card) having long blond hair extensions glued individually into my head.
I went from chin length to below boobs.
They were apparently real Indian Hair bleached blonde. I was aware a lot of Indian women get insanely long beautiful hair, so they prob sold some and still had plenty growin. I have no idea if that’s true and at the time I was young and silly and didn’t consider further the possibility of who it came from or how or at what cost.

It looked amazing for about a week, but all of a sudden my hair took 4 hours to dry with hair dryer and straighteners and detangling products, it was extremely heavy, each gluey bit pulled on my hair roots, I couldn’t wear it up without showing the glue. I spent most of the time with it in 2 or 4 basic plaits as this kept it neat. It got ratty very quickly. After about 3 weeks I went to the hair dressers had about 10 inches cut off and dyed it dark purple better to hide the glue bits and the roots.

It looked good again for about another 2 weeks. Then I had enough. I went to the hair dressers and asked them to take them out. Oh no we don’t do that – you just need pliers and nail polish remover.
It took 2 evenings, putting up with scalp pain and a whole bottle of nail polish remover to get all the gluey stuff. I had to go to college in between with my hair half done.
My hair was ruined by glue and nail polish, frizzy and dry. The glue had acted as a resist, so my hair was now dark purple with a weird blondy root stripe.

I would never recommend glued in extensions!

And I don’t find the idea of 3rd world orphan hair chopped off a cadaver or who knows where it comes from very appealing or particularly ethical!

About 5 years later I also had a weave with synthetic hair. This only cost about £40.
They did 4 tiny tight French plait type things into the back of my head and then sewed the strips of synthetic hair in. Again it looked great down for the first day, but was incredibly tangly so I spent most the time with it in one big side plait. It was heavy, it pulled and it only lasted about 2 weeks before my actual tiny hair plaits started to get to loose and I had to pull the hair strips out.

Not worth the money – extensions never really gave me the look of long big luscious hair that I was hoping for. So I’m here growing it long for reals without the glue, without the fake feeling, without the rattyness.

When I see people in general with hair extensions, my first impression is ‘fake’. They are often accompanied by fake lashes, fake nails, fake tan, thick make up, occasionally fake boobs and or fake lips and short dresses. However the person underneath is probably still a good person.
On the one hand I think it’s your body to do with as you please, to express yourself as you please and it is only one element of who you are. I myself only have stubby lashes so I quite like lash extensions, although more just natural ones to enhance what I have or deliberately bright green ones for a party vibe.
But I also feel sad that someone was so insecure they had to change Everything about themselves, or desperately try and fit into a patriarchal media idea of what is sexy and beautiful and wont the person who pulls you on Saturday night get a shock Sunday morning. When the hair has fallen out and the make up and orange tan is all over the bed sheets etc.
If you’ve ever watched big brother or any of those reality TV things and some of the women (and some of the men to be fair) spend ALL day looking at themselves prinking and preening, and talking about all their fake bits – it’s just boring. Again it makes me sad that these people are being shown as role models. Cant we place more importance on real things on other skills and talents, other stuff that’s going on in the world, not just obsessing over appearances and trying to look like a sex doll!

[pandabarrier]

I don't care if other people wear extensions. If it was someone close like my sister I would be a bit surprised, because I would wonder why she would want to change her appearance drastically.
My hair isn't even that long, but I would be annoyed if someone said I'm wearing extensions.

[truepeacenik]

While this article (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/remy-hair-extensions-india) illustrates people giving their hair "freely," women are often forced by family members to shear their hair so that the family can sell it to buyers.

Take special note of the misunderstanding of "virgin hair," and what shorter hair is used for.

The Guardian touches on (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/28/hair-extension-global-trade-secrets) the questionable sources worldwide for human hair.

[littlestarface]

The only thing that bothers me, is when extensions are painfully obvious. Disney channel is a huge offender. Thick short hair, then stringy limp tails hanging down to about waist. There's no way this looks better than short hair, to me. http://i.imgur.com/7QgahCd.jpg

Sheesh even their extensions look damaged lol.

[Hairkay]

I don't see why I should be bothered about what others do to their own hair. Personally extensions are not for me. I've too many allergies to cope with it and I'm satisfied with my own hair.

I first saw and knew what extensions were going up because it's popular in the black communities. It tended to be box braids or cornrow extensions using synthetic hair. Even so of the people who used them only did so on rare occasions. Then it was thought to be an adult thing, like make-up. Times changed, more and more teens started getting them until even parents began to choose that for their younger children. The youngest I've seen was a toddler. I was a bit shocked and I wondered what the state of her hair would be after the extensions came out because there was a lot of scalp showing. Her hair seemed to be very fine and thin. The extension also looked very heavy. Traditionally extension were used for change of style, longer lasting styles than just natural hair would allow and to extend hair length. Some have struggled with gaining hair length because sometimes it's harder to find out how to care for type 3/4 hair well. It takes many years for tightly curled hair to show length, for some even hip length hair can curl up to their collars.

I'm not comfortable with the thought of wearing some one else's hair on my head either. I think yarn braids look interesting though I'm aware some dislike that or find that to be shameful extensions. I don't try that because it's not convenient to me. My older sister has used extensions before and so does a niece of mine. I do worry over the niece because she's using it as everyday styling all year. She once said she was embarrassed to be seen with her own natural hair. That's her issue for her to overcome, not mine.

[Stevy]

I don't mind what other people do with their hair, as long as they don't get it in my soup, but I've found the links about the hair trade to be really interesting reading - thank you!

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

While this article (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/remy-hair-extensions-india) illustrates people giving their hair "freely," women are often forced by family members to shear their hair so that the family can sell it to buyers.

Take special note of the misunderstanding of "virgin hair," and what shorter hair is used for.

The Guardian touches on (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/28/hair-extension-global-trade-secrets) the questionable sources worldwide for human hair.

Thank you for those links. I appreciate them.
I'm glad there are still people that understand the negative parts of the hair trade industry.

[Amahaitz]

I think extensions can look great, but they are upsetting to me because of how damaging they are to real hair. I don't understand how people can think that they are "giving their hair a break" by attaching something to it that can cause hair loss.

[vampyyri]

Synthetic extensions, sure I couldn't give a rat's behind.
Real human hair extensions... I will judge you for how unethically they are acquired.

In a way it is "cheating" moreso than makeup (which is instant and washes off), because growing hair sure as heck isn't a quick thing to do. Extensions make that look instant. But comparing it to makeup which is a temporary thing/not something you grow is an unfair comparison.

[Aredhel]

Makeup isn't always temporary. My eyebrows are tattooed on, is that considered cheating? I wasn't born with thick defined eyebrows so tattooing them was my only option - just like how some people aren't blessed with a thick head of hair so they may opt for extensions instead. :)

[dansyl]

I don't feel like it's cheating. it's no different than me dying my hair red and enjoying red hair when i don't have it naturally. I have the option of putting hair extensions in, i just don't.

[*Wednesday*]

I read some of the links. I've never worn extensions but there is a deep conflict.
I watched 'Black Hair' by Chris Rock and shown people in India (primary hair trade) offering their hair. We see this is not always the case.

What they don't show is the dark side to this industry and the domino effect it has.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3849708/The-shadowy-human-cost-1-200-hair-extensions-style-obsessed-women-t-live-without.html

[nekosan]

Take special note of the misunderstanding of "virgin hair," and what shorter hair is used for.

Ooh, I didn't know that about the short hair bits! Fascinating! (My guess was along the line of "to clean up oil spills".)

For the original question - sure, it's fake, but no more "cheating" than makeup is. I can't imagine that it's something that I'd ever do; I'm more likely to go the route of head scarves and hats.