Why are Mark Glenn fibre extensions better than human hair extensions?
In our opinion, our hand-made fibre has a multitude of benefits over using human hair for extensions, including:
LOOK
Hair looks thicker, glossier and smoother and, more importantly, stays that way. Because human hair has a cuticle - which is often aggravated during processing prior to being sold - it's more likely to matt and tangle and take on a "frazzled" appearance in the weeks after you've left the salon. Our hair doesn't fade in sunlight and isn't, for instance, affected by chlorine in swimming pools.
COLOUR
Rather than obtaining the "closest colour match" from a human hair supplier, we actually custom-blend the colour of the extension hair whilst you're sat in front of us. And if you change your mind, we can adjust the colour in minutes. For convincing extensions, perfect colour matching is crucial and it's something we excel at.
COST
There's no sliding scale of charges depending upon length of hair. All our hair goes in at one length before being cut to the size you'd prefer. So if you suddenly decide to go longer or shorter than planned on the day, no problem and no extra charges.
STYLING
It's much easier to style our fibre hair because it acts like your own hair should. In other words, it's dream hair. It holds curls, goes perfectly straight if you want it to and, because it reacts to heat, you can achieve some spectacular results with styling appliances. With human hair extensions, because the hair's not from your own head, you don't know how it's going to behave. All human hair has an individual "personality" - e.g. some goes curly when wet, or has a wave in it. So often, what looks lovely in the salon can turn into a styling nightmare when you start to "live" with it and you can end up with "dual-personality hair".
AFTERCARE
The hair is non-porous so any shampoo or conditioner you buy is for the benefit of your own hair, rather than the fibre. Unlike human hair extensions, you don't need to buy expensive conditioners and aftercare products to keep the hair from losing its lustre.
SAFETY
Our hair is attached and taken out without the use of any glues, bonding solutions or harsh chemicals - that's because we use a specialist braiding technique that needs two people working at once to achieve, rather than one. It's more complicated, but we think it's worth it. Nothing is "stuck" to your hair. No matter how it's described, human hair is typically either attached with glue or some form of clip. And dissolving the glue during removal is typically done using an acetone-like product - i.e. nail varnish remover - and a pair of pliers to tease the stuck-on hair away from your own, a bit like removing chewing-gum, with a clear potential for damage. Applied incorrectly, any hair extension method can damage your hair, but the horror stories you hear about breakage and traction alopecia caused by extensions is typically from the human hair variety.
LEAVES YOUR OWN HAIR IN BETTER CONDITION
Because your hair can be left in such a poor state when human hair extensions are removed, many people find they get "trapped" into continually using them to disguise the damage done. With our system, your hair will look just as good the day you take them out, as the day they were put in. And if you "lose" any single extensions between visits, they just slide off your hair - they don't pull your own hair out with them.
COMFORT
At around half the weight, our fibre is lighter than human hair, so it doesn't feel "heavy". Human hair extensions can feel quite "weighty" on your head and they also have a tendency to pull on your own hair and scalp, particularly when too much hair is glued or clipped to too little.
IT'S NEW, NOT SECOND-HAND
For the same reason you probably wouldn't want to wear someone else's teeth, our clients don't want to wear someone else's hair - particularly when they don't know exactly where it's come from and under what circumstances it was taken from the donor's head in the first place.
ETHICS
Human hair is a valuable and scarce commodity and, as is increasingly becoming known through various campaigns and investigations, has spawned an unregulated industry that typically takes hair from the poor in developing countries. Indian temple hair - one of the most prized varieties - has attracted much media attention recently for the questionable way in which it's sourced. You can learn more about this here ⇒
For some, human hair extensions are the only way to go and we'd never judge them for it. It's all down to personal choice. We'd advise anyone considering extensions to look at all the options before coming to a decision - there are pro's and con's on all sides.
And, in our case at least, we're just glad our clients share the same values and appreciation for the fibre alternative as we do.
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