Sore Scalp After Attaching Hair Extensions

As Editor of Hair Resources, I frequently get Emails with questions about hair extensions. Below is a recent inquiry from someone who recently got hair extensions.

Hair Extension Question:

I doing online research about hair extension hair. I recently had hair extensions attached and I am concerned about care and maintenance at this point more than anything. I would like to learn more about how they were applied as well. I am wondering why it was so uncomfortable when they were applied. My scalp was sore for a few days. Is this normal?

Hair Resources Editor:

Both of the Ebooks, 2005's Most Popular Hair Extensions and Hair Extensions-The Official Consumers Guide to Getting Hair Extensions have care and maintenance tips for hair extensions. The tips encompass all the different methods available today. Some methods will have special care instructions that you hair stylist should be telling you about.

Our tips are more general in nature, a compilation from many different extension hair stylists and hair extension companies.Both books also contain the details of 27 different hair extension methods. The most recent details are in the Hair Extensions-The Official Consumers Guide to Getting Hair Extensions, along with several before and after photos.

As to your Great Lengths extensions application issue, no application of extensions should hurt. You say "uncomfortable", and that your scalp was sore for a few days. I am not sure that this should be the case with these types of extensions. I do know, from my extensive research on hair extensions that the application of the hair extensions should not hurt you in any way. If it does hurt, then they may not be applied correctly.

A specific method that I know this refers to is the braiding method, where your natural hair is braided and the extensions are sewn into the braid. If the braids are done too tightly, you will have a very sore scalp and possible hair loss issues down the road. I can understand the scalp being a little sore, but from the added weight of the extension hair not from the application procedure. Human hair is very heavy.

Thieves Take $30k in Hair Extensions

ATLANTA (WAOK) – It is all the rage today for movie stars, singers, athletes and moms who want to look their best. It is hair weave and it apparently is one of the hottest items to steal. Robbers targeting expensive extensions hair pulled a smash-and-grab early this morning at a southwest Atlanta beauty supply store.

Lucien Poko, manager at the Beauty Master store at 3031 Headland Drive SW near Greenbriar Parkway told Atlanta police four burglars were driving a black Chevrolet Suburban when they smashed the two front doors of the shop with a rock and went directly to the display of Remi hair extensions.

Poko said the robbers took dozens of hair extension packages, worth about $30,000.

Some of the most expensive hair weaves can cost around $200 a package, but hair extensions have been revealed to be sold out of car trunks for as little as $25.

This is the second smash and garb style robbery for hair extensions in the past few weeks in the Atlanta area. Last month, thieves rammed a car through the front door of a Clayton County beauty supply store, then made off with an estimated $10,000 in hair extensions.

Hair weave thefts have also been reported in other cities. According to the New York Times, last month thieves targeting extensions stole $150,000 in hair from a Houston salon, $90,000 in extensions from a beauty supply store in Chicago and $85,000 in hair from a store in Missouri City, Texas. Thefts of hair weave have also been reported in San Diego, San Leandro, Calif., and Dearborn, Mich.

Beauty experts say Halle Berry, Kim Kardasian, Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton all use hair extensions.

If you were to get hair extensions

This type of crime isn't just happening here; it's happening all over the country. Storeowners in Texas, California, Michigan, and Illinois reported thousands of dollars in hair thefts last month.

Joanie Lamb, owner of Joanie Lamb Hair Salon says this type of hair procedue is becoming more common.

"TV people, movie stars, they're all getting different hair extension hair," she said. "It's a very hot commodity right now for people to want to have hair extensions because it gives them a whole new look and attitude."

The rise in popularity means a rise in demand. A rise in demand means a rise in price.

"If you were to get hair extensions put in your hair it would cost around $700 to $1000," Lamb explained.

That's hair and labor included. With that kind of price tag, hair extensions have become a hot commodity for theives.

"What they're probably doing is getting them, and selling them to their friends," Lamb said.

And deputies have one reason they think people steal them.

"Opportunity," Richmond County Sgt. Bill Leisey said. "That's it, opportunity. It's just a way to make money."

Hair stylists say the most expensive type of extension can cost up to $200 a package. The ten packs stolen in Augusta were worth $290, so that's about $29 a pack.