| Hair Extensions By Karen Marie Shelton |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 5/28/06 |
Introduction
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|
Carrie
Underwood
American Idol Finals - 2005 |
|
DailyCeleb.com
All rights
reserved. |
Hair extensions have been on my radar since the very
beginning of
HairBoutique.com. In fact, they were on my
screen even before the website was launched in 1997.
It all started with my own quest to grow long hair
back in the 1980s. While I struggled with finding
the answers to growing my hair long, I noticed a woman
where I worked who showed up one day with hair that
seemed to instantly sprout six inches of new growth.
At that point I was completely in the dark about hair
extensions. I had no idea that they existed or any
of the details.
I wanted to approach the woman in question and ask
her to spill her guts about her instant hair growth but
didn't want to offend her. Afterall, maybe she
didn't want people to know what she was up to.
I finally gathered my courage and approached her
starting with a compliment about how much I liked her
new hairstyle. She laughed and said "oh, it's fake
hair". Measuring my shock, she explained that she
had recently gotten "100% human hair extensions.
I pumped her for all the details. She told me
that she had spent close to $10,000 for her extensions
which she said was certified human hair from Russia.
She was a sale executive at the company where I was
employed so it made sense with her salary that she could
afford to spring for such a luxury. The woman also
told me that it was her second experience with hair
extensions and that the first had been disastrous for a
number of reasons including opting for "synthetic rather
than human hair" extensions.
 |
|
Carrie
Underwood
2006 |
|
DailyCeleb.com
All rights
reserved. |
For the next few weeks I watched the woman closely to
see how her extensions stood the test of time. By
the end of the second month she had discarded the
extensions and was back to a much shorter hairstyle.
When she spotted me in the parking lot shortly after,
she explained that while her extensions could have been
"adjusted" to accommodate her hair growth and allow her
to wear the extensions for a longer period, she was
ready for a new look.
Overall she was very positive about her experience
and encouraged me to consider them as an option for the
future.
Although her job afforded her the ability
to spring for the deluxe package, I was definitely under
tighter spending constraints at the time and could not
begin to imagine spending that much for add-on hair.
However, I did start to really examine all the options.
Celebrities Brought Hair Extensions Out Of The
Closet
Although I would be hard pressed to give you the exact
date that celebrities brought hair extensions out of the
closet, I would definitely point to Jessica Simpson as a
major contributor to the hair extension celebrity
movement during the period of 1999 - 2000.
Talk to any celebrity hairdresser and they will tell you
that celebrities have been wearing wigs, length and spot
extensions since the beginning of Hollywood. Most
celebrities required absolute secrecy around their use
of wigs, hairpieces or extensions.
Jessica took a completely different approach as far back
as 1999 and was willing to share her hair ups and downs
with the world. The beautiful blonde star was
definitely a celebrity who did not hide the fact that
she extended her hairstyles with a wide range of wigs,
hairpieces, extensions and temporary add-on pieces.
She was also very candid with the media about any hair
hue changes.
As a result of Jessica's openness about her use of hair
extensions as a form of a wonderful new fashion
accessory, many more celebrities have "come out of the
closet" which sparked a major trickling down into the
consumer world.
As more consumers expressed interest towards hair
extensions, an entire new industry sprung up around the
trend. As a result, hair extensions are not only a
viable fashion trend, their popularity has sparked
constant new innovations in the quality and array of
options available to consumers.
Consumers would be hard pressed to find celebrities that
don't openly show off hair extensions in a variety of
entertainment venues. American Idol Carrie
Underwood (shown above) is a great example. If you review her
photos over the past two years, she has deployed a wide
range of hairstyle looks that definitely indicate a use
of hair extensions, hair pieces and add-ons.
Summary
HairExtensions can offer some great options for both men
and women. They have come a long way since my
first introduction back in the 1980s. In fact,
HairExtensions as a topic field is rich with information
that can be explored right here on HairBoutique.com. |