Do people ask if your hair is real?

[StrawberryGOLD]

I've got natural strawberry blonde hair which seems to be very eye catching at any length and often people ask me if my hair color is natural, however now that my hair is right around tailbone length people are asking if my hair is real or if I have extensions in because it doesn't seem believable. Where I live a majority of the folks with longer hair mostly have it between bsl and wl so I suppose I stand out a bit when I wear it down. My question is do people ask if your hair is real and if so at what length did people start asking?

[lapushka]

Had that happen to me in my early 20s, but that's about the only moment with that. My hair is thick, wavy, I was using henna at the time (shone bright orange/red in the sunshine) and it was always down and between APL/BSL. I guess it was too much for some. :shrug:

[shelomit]

Frequently, although I think a part of it is that there are lots of people whom I know casually who have never seen my hair down, and therefore presume that I'm wearing a wig when I actually do.

More common, though, is to ask if I did my hairstyle myself. (And I'm not particularly skilled at styling my hair, either!) If I'm being silly I tell them no, that my butler braided it for me XD

[baanoo]

I have never been asked if my hair was real. Maybe because it’s not ~wildly wildly long~ or ~wildly wildly thick~?

[illicitlizard]

Frequently, although I think a part of it is that there are lots of people whom I know casually who have never seen my hair down, and therefore presume that I'm wearing a wig when I actually do.

More common, though, is to ask if I did my hairstyle myself. (And I'm not particularly skilled at styling my hair, either!) If I'm being silly I tell them no, that my butler braided it for me XD

No-one has asked me this time around if my hair is real or extensions - I don't think it's long enough yet :p However I do get asked if the lighter face framing bits are natural or dyed (they're natural), and frequently am asked if I did "that amazing braid" myself. I'm always bemused as the only person who could feasibly have done it is my partner, and he can't even do a simple english :D
I've also had confusion over how I manage to make a bun stay up with just a stick, the absolute confusion was priceless!

[AmaryllisRed]

No one has ever asked if my hair is real. I suppose people who know me know I'm not the type to wear fake hair, and people who don't know me know better than to ask questions. :guns: :lol:

But yes, over the years I have often had friends and family ask if I styled it myself. (Then they sometimes ask if I can do theirs, and I always decline because doing my own hair is easier than doing someone else's.)

[MusicalSpoons]

Three times, that I ever remember. It is rare that anyone sees it down though.

The first time was a colleague who'd never seen my hair down (only bunned) and it was the first time it was down since starting to grow it beyond tailbone, and only because my bun had fallen out with the scarf and bulky collar jigging it about. That was around FTL.

The second time was when I'd done rag curls, this was ~MTL, and also because the colleague who asked had never seen my hair down before (always bunned) plus it was so different from my hair appearing straight in buns.

The last time was after a dentist appointment and I had it in a braid. We stopped off in a little shop on the way home, and after I'd gone back to sit in the car for a rest the shop assistant asked my Mum if it was real.

Before finding LHC my hair was always between hip and tailbone length, and I occasionally wore it down, in a half-up, in a ponytail or in a plait. Nobody ever asked me then! Probably because it didn't look healthy enough to be fake, and/or people knew me well enough to know that fake hair is not something I'd ever wear.

(My dentist is the only person who routinely sees my hair in a plait and has never asked if it was real, though it is so thin it would be a pitiful attempt at faking :lol: but he is Asian and long hair is less uncommon in the Asian communities around here. The people who've asked were all white, interestingly - and very long hair on white women here is unusual.)

[school of fish]

Every so often, yes... I get asked if this is my real hair or my natural hair. Being Canadian the question is often followed up with some sort of "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to be rude!" qualifier ;)

I sense it's more my colour that provokes the question rather than my length or texture. I usually answer that the hair is absolutely real but the colour is very much boosted :)

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Yes, I have been asked if my hair is real.

[Diana Prince]

No, people always thought my hair length was real (since I've never had hair longer than WL), but someone asked me last week what I'm using to colour my hair and was a bit skeptical when I said it's my natural colour. Also, when I was in second grade, my teacher scollded me for having highlights in my hair (I didn't, my hair just naturally lightened over summer because of the sun), and she called my parents to school because she thought I lied about that. When I was little (10-15 years old) I always had problems with people telling me to stop colouring my hair even though I didn't do that. I believe it's because it looks drastically different in other lights (sometimes it looks deep brown, sometimes auburn, most of the times plain brown and in certain lights it looks dark blonde). After starting to dye my hair, most people believed that the black blue dye was, indeed, my natural colour, which buggs my mind, since that looks so artificial :confused:.

[Hedwig]

I only get asked if my curls are „real“ (= natural) but I‘ve never had hair long or thick enough for ppl to doubt I grew it myself haha.

[Jo Ann]

I've chatted with some ladies at work about different hair colors and they were shocked I wasn't using extensions or weaves! When we compared prices (how much it cost for us to achieve our looks/colors), they've been flabbergasted with how much hair dye I own, how much conditioner I have and how I dye my hair (always mixing the dye with conditioner versus using it straight, because it's easier to fade than if I use it straight), and how much they've paid for their latest weave/extensions. I keep coming out ahead, pricewise, even with having my roots bleached every four months or so, and my hair looks healthier than their's does :shrug: :happydance: :p :eyebrows:

[xanthochromia]

I love reading all of these stories! I only recently-ish learned how common extensions and weaves are, so I would always assume everyone's hair is theirs until proven otherwise.

My own hair has always been short, fine, and thin so there's no question that the hair itself is real, but like a lot of others I get asked about the color. If I've been outside a lot, my hair becomes level 9 vs the level 7/8 it would be if I stayed indoors, and my short hair just changed color completely rather than having the ombre that people seem to expect. I also naturally have dark eyebrows, even for level 7 hair. The first time I colored my hair darker, I had a couple of coworkers say, "oh, thank god you finally stopped bleaching your hair!" and clearly didn't believe me when I said it had been my natural color.

[Shorty89]

Frequently, although I think a part of it is that there are lots of people whom I know casually who have never seen my hair down, and therefore presume that I'm wearing a wig when I actually do.

More common, though, is to ask if I did my hairstyle myself. (And I'm not particularly skilled at styling my hair, either!) If I'm being silly I tell them no, that my butler braided it for me XD

I get this question all the time too. I should steal your answer.

[bparnell75]

I am asked if this is my real color. since I was a bleach blonde for 30 years,
I kinda like that they ask. Most say well, its beautiful! I always thought it was
a mousey color,
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51198758370_dabc5ac6b1_w.jpg

[BleachedBerry]

When my hair was waist or longer people often asked if I had extensions.

[BleachedBerry]

I do get asked if my natural curls/waves are real too, people often think I have perm.

[JasminxCat]

I get asked if my hair is naturally straight a lot
But I don't know why. It's not perfectly pin straight, there's some wave to it. Maybe it might be because I don't suit it?

[Pouncequick]

No. People are surprised by how long it is but the color is not considered desirable and the ends are thin. I don't think the color or texture look fake to most people. Some of my relatives would say I just badly need a haircut and some highlights to improve the color.

[Finda]

Several hairdressers at different times and places have asked me if my hair color was natural lol One verified so often I'm sure she must have thought I was lying and recommended me shampoo for colored hair. Haven't been to a salon in a while, but back then I had lots of natural highlights, probably from the sun, and in combination with all the breakage I had they probably thought I must have fried my hair at some point.

[wispe]

As another strawberry blonde, I get the “is the color your real color/natural color” question quite a bit. Sometimes unsolicited strangers, once a hairstylist, sometimes people I’ve known a bit - friends and coworkers, etc. Or the “did you just redo your hair?” every time I part it on the pink side, even if it wasn’t recently touched up lol. For length, people have just recently started to comment on the length, but just an acknowledgement of it being long, I haven’t been asked if the length is real. (yet?) I tend instead to get the “who did your hair” and “how did you do that? I could never”s whenever I do any version of a braided style. THere’s also a lady at work who has longer hair (hipish) who wears sticks often and she had asked me about my sticks before.

[TatsuOni]

I've gotten that question once and also once if the hair was mine. On that occasion my father laughed and told his friend that it was his hair :lol:

[Kat]

I can't remember when they started asking as it's been a while, but I found that when I cut from knee-length to hip, people stopped wanting to talk to me about my hair so much; I figured classic was probably about the cutoff and vowed to never have hair longer than classic again. :)

(Now, if someone asked me that, I'd probably just say, "No, it's a figment of your imagination." That if I'm not asking them straight-up if they weren't also raised that it is rude to ask someone if something on them is fake.)

[Ylva]

No, I've never been asked that. Probably because it's frizzy and a generally undesirable, common colour.

[Dragon]

I’ve been asked several times and even had someone pull my braid once, straight after asking me if it’s real. That hurt. The person was a lot older then me so I didn’t say anything. I did feel like pulling her hair back though.

[Alexandrina]

I’ve been asked several times and even had someone pull my braid once, straight after asking me if it’s real. That hurt. The person was a lot older then me so I didn’t say anything. I did feel like pulling her hair back though.

OMG you totally should have, how rude of them!

[kikuhoshi]

I haven't been asked so much as chided - I have very thin & fine hair that people seem to believe is the type that "can't" naturally grow long, and I've been told that I need to get more, higher quality extensions. Yep, you caught me - I spent money to make my hair this thin, instead of giving myself the thickness of my dreams. :whistle::lala:

[xanthochromia]

I haven't been asked so much as chided - I have very thin & fine hair that people seem to believe is the type that "can't" naturally grow long, and I've been told that I need to get more, higher quality extensions. Yep, you caught me - I spent money to make my hair this thin, instead of giving myself the thickness of my dreams. :whistle::lala:

I gasped when I read your post -- some people can be so rude!

[pailin]

If my hair is in a braid I do sometimes get asked if it's real, although I think it was more common when it was around classic or so. Now that I'm down around knee, maybe people know extensions aren't usually that long.
I've had people pull on it too, or simply just grab it to feel it. Once when someone pulled on it I really didn't mind because it wasn't a complete stranger; it was a girl from church and she'd only seen me with my hair up before and seemed really genuinely shocked (I do get asked where I hid it- people can't believe I can put it into a bun that small).

[Outmoded]

I have had people not so much ask, as just assume that it was not real. I had one lady tell me "Your wig is perfect!" (In fairness, I was in a costume at the time, so it would not have been that much of a stretch to assume that my hair was part of it.) And another time a random guy on the street asked me, rather rudely, why I was wearing a wig, seeming to think it must be part of some sort of costume, when I was just dressed normally.

[Garnetgem]

When my hair was knee length i wore it in a braid. Then this one time i was in a shop then i felt a sharp tug and it yanked my head along backwards with it once over the shock i managed to turn around only for a shop assistant to mumble "Just checking" before she walked off looking embarrassed, I can only assume she was checking it if was real or a hair piece and to see if my braid came off in her hand...

[Outmoded]

Good god, that shop assistant should have been fired for that.

[MusicalSpoons]

When my hair was knee length i wore it in a braid. Then this one time i was in a shop then i felt a sharp tug and it yanked my head along backwards with it once over the shock i managed to turn around only for a shop assistant to mumble "Just checking" before she walked off looking embarrassed, I can only assume she was checking it if was real or a hair piece and to see if my braid came off in her hand...

:agape: This is just … :justy: :brickwall: As well as being INCREDIBLY rude, it's also baffling. If it *had* come off in her hand, what on earth did she think would happen after that?! And if it's not real but sewn in or otherwise well attached, how does pulling it even answer her question? :confused: so bizarre AND RUDE.

[Wavelength]

Nope. But I never wear my hair down in public. It's always up, because I never know when I'm going to run into someone who wants to "just check".

Too many rude and entitled people out there. Fortunately my hair compresses down into a rather unimpressive sized bun.

[lapushka]

Nope. But I never wear my hair down in public. It's always up, because I never know when I'm going to run into someone who wants to "just check".

Too many rude and entitled people out there. Fortunately my hair compresses down into a rather unimpressive sized bun.

Same here ^^. Exact same reason I never wear mine out. Nope!

[lapis_lazuli]

When my hair was knee length i wore it in a braid. Then this one time i was in a shop then i felt a sharp tug and it yanked my head along backwards with it once over the shock i managed to turn around only for a shop assistant to mumble "Just checking" before she walked off looking embarrassed, I can only assume she was checking it if was real or a hair piece and to see if my braid came off in her hand...

I would see red. Absolutely despicable.


Nope. But I never wear my hair down in public. It's always up, because I never know when I'm going to run into someone who wants to "just check".

Too many rude and entitled people out there. Fortunately my hair compresses down into a rather unimpressive sized bun.

Same here, same reason. The idea of being grabbed terrifies and infuriates me.

[Kat]

Good god, that shop assistant should have been fired for that.

Or worse. Imagine if she had just come up and grabbed someone who's jumpy from war or previous assaults, or who's just the hyper-vigilant "self-defense now ask questions later" type? Or what if she yanked a wig off of someone with cancer or alopecia?

(I hope if someone ever does that to me, I have the presence of mind to let loose on them. Of course, it would probably end up with me in a video on the internet labeled as a "Karen" as if I was the one who did something wrong, but...)



:agape: This is just … :justy: :brickwall: As well as being INCREDIBLY rude, it's also baffling. If it *had* come off in her hand, what on earth did she think would happen after that?! And if it's not real but sewn in or otherwise well attached, how does pulling it even answer her question? :confused: so bizarre AND RUDE.

And why did she think it was her business or like she had to "check"? What was she "checking" for that she needed to know so badly that she had to yank a stranger's hair without permission or warning in hopes of violently removing a wig or extensions? Are extensions now a sign of the zombie robot terrorist apocalypse horde that one just has to make sure for the safety of the country?

[MusicalSpoons]

And why did she think it was her business or like she had to "check"? What was she "checking" for that she needed to know so badly that she had to yank a stranger's hair without permission or warning in hopes of violently removing a wig or extensions? Are extensions now a sign of the zombie robot terrorist apocalypse horde that one just has to make sure for the safety of the country?

Indeed! It is perfectly natural to be curious, in all fairness - but we're absolutely not entitled to satisfy that curiosity at anyone else's expense.

[Outmoded]

Or worse. Imagine if she had just come up and grabbed someone who's jumpy from war or previous assaults, or who's just the hyper-vigilant "self-defense now ask questions later" type? Or what if she yanked a wig off of someone with cancer or alopecia?

I had the same thought about cancer patients and alopecia, I cannot believe how utterly thoughtless and rude some people are. And as for the hyper-vigilant type, though thankfully no one has ever made a grab for my hair, I did have a lady walk right up to me and grab my face, telling me to open my mouth (as it turned out, she saw my lip piercings, and could not contain her curiosity as to whether or not I had a tongue piercing too), it took every ounce of my willpower not to immediately elbow her in the face in shocked self-defence.


And why did she think it was her business or like she had to "check"? What was she "checking" for that she needed to know so badly that she had to yank a stranger's hair without permission or warning in hopes of violently removing a wig or extensions?

Indeed, how can someone possibly justify what is essentially assault, just to satisfy their curiosity. Again, thankfully they did not grab my hair (I would have been much more angry about that), but similarly, I had a complete stranger make a grab for my crotch, excusing themselves with "I could not tell if you were male or female because of your hair"... It's like, did you not think to just freaking ask instead?!

[Kat]

Indeed! It is perfectly natural to be curious, in all fairness - but we're absolutely not entitled to satisfy that curiosity at anyone else's expense.

And if she really needed to know... she could have simply asked. (Though I still maintain that that's a rude thing to do.) I mean, okay, she may have mildly wondered if someone's hair was real. It's not going to ruin her life to not find out; she would've forgotten about it in five minutes.

[MusicalSpoons]

And if she really needed to know... she could have simply asked. (Though I still maintain that that's a rude thing to do.) I mean, okay, she may have mildly wondered if someone's hair was real. It's not going to ruin her life to not find out; she would've forgotten about it in five minutes.

Exactly - and yes asking can be rude which to me counts as being at the other person's expense. We are not entitled to have every curiosity satisfied.



Indeed, how can someone possibly justify what is essentially assault, just to satisfy their curiosity. Again, thankfully they did not grab my hair (I would have been much more angry about that), but similarly, I had a complete stranger make a grab for my crotch, excusing themselves with "I could not tell if you were male or female because of your hair"... It's like, did you not think to just freaking ask instead?!

That … wow, that takes the biscuit *shakes head in almost-disbelief* Most definitely assault. I'm so sorry you went through that.

[kikuhoshi]

...I had a complete stranger make a grab for my crotch, excusing themselves with "I could not tell if you were male or female because of your hair"... It's like, did you not think to just freaking ask instead?!

*long slow blink* Hhhhwat?

[Outmoded]

That … wow, that takes the biscuit *shakes head in almost-disbelief* Most definitely assault. I'm so sorry you went through that.

Thanks, but not to worry, I have developed a pretty thick skin for that sort of thing; I honestly would be more upset by what happened to Garnetgem, as that would hurt and cause hair damage, and they would actually be touching part of me, no layers of clothing in between; not to mention, with the person being behind you, it makes it not only completely unexpected, and therefore more of a shock, but places the assailant in a much less convenient position for you to punch if you so desire.

[conniekamilla]

Yes!! All. the. time lol daily on TikTok since I started sharing the real ways to longer lengths. Some claim they see the lace or extensions. The angry hairstylist comments are so fun as well...

[TatsuOni]

Yes!! All. the. time lol daily on TikTok since I started sharing the real ways to longer lengths. Some claim they see the lace or extensions. The angry hairstylist comments are so fun as well...

Now I'm both curious and scared to know what comments hairstylists leaves...

[Kat]

Exactly - and yes asking can be rude which to me counts as being at the other person's expense. We are not entitled to have every curiosity satisfied.

I think some people no longer think it's rude, though. I mean, I get it-- it's not as socially taboo to have fake hair/fake eyelashes/fake nails/fake boobs, and that's a good thing, but it also means people have no qualms about asking, which is... well, to me it's still rude. And rude partly because it doesn't seem nice to me to be like, "There's no way you have hair that nice naturally." Um... (Actually, yeah, if anyone ever asks me, maybe that's how I'll respond. "Why do you ask?" Make them say it out loud.)



Thanks, but not to worry, I have developed a pretty thick skin for that sort of thing; I honestly would be more upset by what happened to Garnetgem, as that would hurt and cause hair damage, and they would actually be touching part of me, no layers of clothing in between; not to mention, with the person being behind you, it makes it not only completely unexpected, and therefore more of a shock, but places the assailant in a much less convenient position for you to punch if you so desire.

But in your case, it was not only assault, but sexual assault...

[BeverlyHills]

I wish people would ask me this! I guess that would be my real goal :) I have fairly thin and frizzy hair so that makes it obvious that it's real.

[alewyn]

I haven't gotten this exact question (probably because when my hair was longest it was also its least healthy :p) but when my hair was around hip length in high school random people would say, "wow, your hair is long!" all the time. I always found that odd because it wasn't always said in a complimentary tone, so my stock response was the classic, "thanks, I grew it myself!"

[Kat]

I haven't gotten this exact question (probably because when my hair was longest it was also its least healthy :p) but when my hair was around hip length in high school random people would say, "wow, your hair is long!" all the time. I always found that odd because it wasn't always said in a complimentary tone, so my stock response was the classic, "thanks, I grew it myself!"

Yeah, that was always the remark that makes me kind of :shrug: because it's so ambiguous. Like, how do you mean for me to take that? I've decided I'm going to stop thanking people when they say that. If it's supposed to be a compliment, then they should give me an actual compliment ("your hair is pretty" or "I like that style" or even "it must have taken a lot of work to grow it that long"), not expect me to read their mind/read between the lines to try to figure out what they're meaning to say. Otherwise I'll take it at face value: they are making an observation, same as if they said "Your shirt is red" or "you're wearing shoes," so it would be odd for me to thank them (for what? Noticing?).

[alewyn]

Yeah, that was always the remark that makes me kind of :shrug: because it's so ambiguous. Like, how do you mean for me to take that? I've decided I'm going to stop thanking people when they say that. If it's supposed to be a compliment, then they should give me an actual compliment ("your hair is pretty" or "I like that style" or even "it must have taken a lot of work to grow it that long"), not expect me to read their mind/read between the lines to try to figure out what they're meaning to say. Otherwise I'll take it at face value: they are making an observation, same as if they said "Your shirt is red" or "you're wearing shoes," so it would be odd for me to thank them (for what? Noticing?).

Agree! It always struck me as one of those no-filter blurt things that people say when they're not thinking, so I kind of hoped the bluntness of the I-grew-it-myself response would jar them back to the reality that it's a weird way to frame a comment to a stranger. Maybe I was being too deferential and I should have just been like, "yup!" lol.

[Kat]

Agree! It always struck me as one of those no-filter blurt things that people say when they're not thinking, so I kind of hoped the bluntness of the I-grew-it-myself response would jar them back to the reality that it's a weird way to frame a comment to a stranger. Maybe I was being too deferential and I should have just been like, "yup!" lol.

I think most of them probably mean it as a compliment. But it still just feels weird to me. (I mean, I'm sure if I respond, "Oh, yes, it is" I will imagine my mom in my head admonishing, "You say 'thank you' when someone compliments you!!" and "they're just being friendly!" and so on. But, oh well.) Maybe I'll just turn my head and look at it and say, "Oh, I guess it is; I didn't even notice." Or maybe, "Oh! Thanks for letting me know!" as if they just told me my shoelaces were untied or something (with the right tone it won't come across as sarcasm). LOL. (I think I've seen people here say they want to react with surprise: "OMG! It is???")

[Dark40]

I've got natural strawberry blonde hair which seems to be very eye catching at any length and often people ask me if my hair color is natural, however now that my hair is right around tailbone length people are asking if my hair is real or if I have extensions in because it doesn't seem believable. Where I live a majority of the folks with longer hair mostly have it between bsl and wl so I suppose I stand out a bit when I wear it down. My question is do people ask if your hair is real and if so at what length did people start asking?

Yep, I had gotten that when I little around 8 or 9 years old. One day I was wearing 2 big pigtails in my hair, or 2 big twists that was reaching at the length of almost hip length, and this lady grabbed my hair and asked me to give her some of my hair. :D I really think she was testing to see if it was real.

[Kat]

Wow. That's extra-creepy and inappropriate to grab a child like that, especially with a "joke" that they should give you a part of their body.