Hi Tara
I cant help with your area I am afraid but I can comment on the types you can get. I have had a weave in my hair when I had hair extensions. This is basically where there are 3 corn rows going from one side of the head to the other, like little plaits against your head, there were 3 because I had half a head not a full head. The hair was then sewed onto the corn row using cotton, it was real hair and there was a lot of it and it weighed a tonne and was on a weave, like a big bit of cotton! Looked great though! The benefits of this method is that its cheaper than other extensions especially glue or bonded ones and the hair doesnt fall out in chunks like the bonded or glue ones can. However the corn rows can drop which is what happened to me and you can get them tightened but I had mine taken out because they dropped by about 4 inches because I do lot of dancing and tied it up a lot which can cause it to drop. The other thing is you have to have your own hair covering the corn rows because they can be quite visible because of the cotton and the hair that is sewed onto it, you could deffo see mine when I wore it up because of the sides by my ears. They last about 6-8 weeks but again this depends on the dropping and how well you look after them. My own hair wasnt damaged at all after having them which was great coz its kinda long anyway.
Other types are bonded/glued extensions like Racoon and other well known brands. They are loads of money compared to the corn row way but they can last a lot longer and you can get better match of colours because they are applied a few strands at a time rather than a whole row of hair on a weave which is then sewed onto the corn row. I have heard that glue and bonding can damage the hair but I think it depends on where you go and if they know what they are doing as they shouldnt damage the natural hair.
Basically it depends on what you can afford and what you like I guess? I really wasnt worried about my corn rows but some of my friends freaked because of the cotton and the fact it was sewed in, it wasnt sewed onto my head just my own hair!!!!
Whatever you decide try to get the best quality hair you can, always human hair and deffo not synthetic, and ask the place where you go if they have a portfolio of their previous work, it doesnt have to be a posh catalogue just some polaroids of some hair they have done before. Also if you can go somewhere that other people rate as a good place then thats always good!
Hope this has helped and hope I havent gone on too much!
You can always ask me more questions if you need to
Gail
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