Hairy Affair

I sat on the salon chair, and in self mocking demeanor offered the lovely hairstylist to work with limpest locks he would have come across.He had a look at them,ran a quick hand, fiddled with them and reassured, don't you worry darling, tell me when you are ready and ill have Rapunzel put to shame. I laughed. He then contemplated and said a match for these are very easy to find and they are cheaper than blonde. Wait! what did you just say i asked him. He said Extensions honey!

Oh yes, extensions i thought to myself they are the hottest trend we may choose to ignore but they are never going out of fashion ever.

It was months back that i had watched a small clipping on one of the talk shows regarding hair extensions and their origin. And was amazed to discover that the best quality of human hair extensions are made out of hair exported from India especially the Southern India. Hair export is a huge business back home, And if you are wondering how do they collect the hair, its no rocket science, the holy Temples. Yes, the temples in India are the prime source and make millions of dollars by selling the hair which is offered by the devotees as a offering to their beloved deity. Anyway who cares as one of the devotees said, i offered it to my lord and now its up to him! God bless you women.

Moving on, Approx hair worth of 8 million dollars a year is exported to the US, where it is processed and is converted to weaves. The hair exported is of various forms one of which is called the dead hair. The dead hair is nothing but the hair which comes out in combs. It was interesting to see many women in the village cleaning the dead hair and pulling them to form a bunch. i was happy to see they earn decent amount of wage through it. Anything that generates income for them makes me happy.

So,the reason why Indian hair is in demand has to do with its high cuticle compatibility with the western hair.The oval shaped, 8 micron cuticle is considered ideal as it takes pigmentation and de-pigmentation processes well. And hence they are firm and breakage proof and take the exact hair colour needed. Hair from other countries like china and japan are naturally healthy and have thicker cuticle circumference which makes them difficult to process as they aren't easy to permeate.The process of converting the hair to weaves is tedious and intense and involves heavy duty scientific terms,hence i shall refrain from mentioning the details.

In short if you are one of those whose self esteem is shattered coz of a limp hair and have developed serious psychological issues coz you couldn't wear your hair in latest trend at prom, for the lack of it, go for it.Btw if you choose to get for the heck of it, go ahead too, i am all for free will! But just make sure it is Indian or European!

As for me, i chose to get a tiny trim!



Photo Credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/