Hair Extensions For The Latest Hairstyles - See Why They Are Much More Affordable Now

Hair extensions, hair weaves, hair integration, call it what you may, but, from second-tier celebrities like Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson to certified superstars like Britney Spears, the last word in the latest hairstyles today has to be the idea of hair extensions. Certainly, all of the salons easily advertise 100% natural human hair in their hair extension services, and to look at the pretty flower-scented salons, we certainly could not imagine that they got their 100% human hair in any way that could be disturbing. Disturbing or not would actually depend on you; but before you sign on for the latest hairstyles with extensions, perhaps you should hear the story of how those lovely tresses come to be attached strand by strand to yours.

It used to be the hair extensions were a lot more expensive than they are today. There were not that many women in European countries or in America who would just go to a barber and ask to have their waist-length hair lopped off. The hair salons where they did come by this precious supply, would have the hair processed and colored to have sold at very high prices. And then, perhaps to answer the call of heightened demand in the latest hairstyles in long hair, processing technology improved so far that they could get any hair, and process it to look like Caucasian hair. And that's when the southern Indian town of Tirupati, one of the most spectacular sites of Hindu devotion in India, became a superstar presence in hair extensions industry.

If you were to visit this place, you'd be taken by all the crowds of normal-looking people climbing up a mountain to pay their respects to the deity at the temple on top, and be alarmed at the number heading down on the other side, with clean shaven heads, little girls, grown women and all. What goes on up there is in observance that dates back centuries. People with full heads of hair go to the temple, and renounce it, as an abject sacrifice to appease the gods. The latest hairstyles would be the last thing on your mind if you visited the tonsure hall at the temple; to look at the drab concrete surroundings, the clumps of hair scattered about, and the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere, you would be forgiven for thinking of fading photos you saw at one time or another of a factory slaughterhouse or a concentration camp. But there is a difference; the people who come here to give up their hair do it completely willingly, and even consider it a privilege.

In this impoverished place, if these women knew that the head of hair they so willingly laid down would go on to fetch $3000 on the international market, and much more when turned into the latest hairstyles for women in America, perhaps they would not be so willing, if perhaps only for the moral principle involved. As it happens, a good part of that money (upwards of $20 million a year )goes to community programs organized by the temple to feed and heal the needy.

Once the hair leaves their heads, it begins an exciting jet set journey through factories in the Far East, Italy and America, to be sorted, processed, dyed and polished into coveted fashion accessories that will enable the latest hairstyles of those who are able to afford it. As it happens, the massive level of accessible supply from India, has made hair extensions a lot more affordable than they used to be. Indians look upon the tonsuring of head as a sacred duty. The most they ever know of the sale value of their hair comes from the cheap wigs they see around town selling for a dollar or two apiece. It might take a little away from their devout satisfaction if they knew of the clambering international business that greedily waited for their hair on the other side with no time for the sentiment or religious belief the owners of the hair might have had.

Hair Extensions For The Latest Hairstyles - See Why They Are Much More Affordable Now