Many women today use hair extensions as a way to add body to hair and achieve long, luscious locks they might not be able to grow out naturally.
In fact, the number of people who wear hair extensions is quickly on the rise. Studies show that there has been an amazing 28.5% growth (no pun intended) of the number of hair salons that offer hair extension services across the U.S.!
But would you actually benefit by using hair extensions to add body and length to your short hair styles? Here are the biggest pros and cons of choosing to wear hair extensions — some of them might just amaze you:
Pro: An instant new hairstyle
This is the most obvious pro of getting hair extensions — in a tiny percentage of the time it would take to grow out your hair naturally, you can add inches of length to your locks. And as soon as you’re ready to go back to your natural length, you can do so in mere seconds. For many women, this instant gratification is a huge source of enjoyment.
Con: Potential hair and scalp damage
Our scalps are able to support a huge amount of hair — but biologically, the scalp is used to slowly adjusting to the weight of more hair as it grows. When extensions are added on, a huge amount of weight is added at once, which could potentially damage or irritate your scalp. In addition, extensions could do damage to your hair itself, depending on how tightly they’re woven in or if you get glue-in extensions.
Pro: Low maintenance and versatility
Hair extension services provide extensions of virtually all lengths, colors and textures, meaning it’s virtually guaranteed that you’ll be able to find extensions that match your natural hair. In addition, you can usually style your extensions just as you’d style your hair regularly, last as long as three months and often don’t require any extra maintenance.
Con: Time and cost
Hair extensions can take several hours to put in — more or less depending on the length and number of extensions being applied to your hair. It’s not necessarily unheard of for a hair extension appointment to take as long as eight hours! Another potential disadvantage of extensions is their cost — extensions typically range in price from $300 to as much as $10,000 for the highest-end products.
What are your favorite things about wearing your hair weave or extensions? Have any other questions for us about hair extension services? Let us know what’s on your mind in the comments below!
