If you've ever noticed a short-haired star change her look to long locks relatively quickly, then you've seen hair extensions. A few strategically placed strands can mimic highlights, or larger chunks can make hair appear longer and fuller. In Britney Spears' case, they can cover up a bad haircut. But there are a few things to know before you start the process. First, it's not cheap. An application of human hair over the entire head can run you $2,000 or more. Then there's maintenance as your natural hair grows out and products made specifically for treating extensions. They last several months if maintained properly and if applied by a professional stylist. You can opt for synthetic hair or actual human hair, which blends with natural hair better, is much easier to style and can be curled, blown dry or heat styled in any other way. Synthetic hair typically melts when heat is applied, so it's best only for straight styles. A stylist should select extensions that match your own hair's weight and texture to create the best match.
The next decision the stylist should make is how to attach extensions to hair. There are several ways, but adhesive-based fusion seems to be the best and most natural-looking. Some stylists use bonding, which is cheaper and faster, but the removal method is messy and time-consuming. A weave is exactly that - hair is braided into natural hair at the base of the scalp where it can't be seen. It's painful and creates tension in natural hair that can cause breakage. Metal and heat-shrink tubing are two other methods that are not recommended. It's important to get as much information from two or three stylists, including a written cost estimate and her methods, before committing to extensions. And that's the long and short of it.