very short hair a problem??

Hi everyone! Great forum, i have been looking for info on extensions and a stylist and was stressing, since I haven't found much. This should be a big help. I am going to link to some pics of my current do, I just got it done, and am really unhappy with it. I am considering extensions, but before I ask around at local stylists, I need to know what type of hair, and what methods are best for me. And (while I realize it varies) can anyone give me an estimate for what I want? I am just hoping it is not more than 500 and wondering if this sounds reasonable, or should I keep dreamin??!!

So first question, is my hair too short? I don't know anything about extensions yet, and assumed from friends of mine that had them, that long hair blended better, but with short you would see the spot it is glued/braided/whatever..

also, if anyone has a link to perhaps the different types of extensions so i can learn the difference, and the "best" the pros and cons of each, etc, I would really appreciate it.

I want long, straight, simple. nothing special, my hair is thick, and prefer a thick do....more carmen electra, less nicole ritchie...

can they do the bangs too? because i would prefer it all be done, and not have bangs, but I would understand if that is sketchy, since you would be doing it right there on the visible hair line...

and one more thing :) advice on anywhere in florida. I am in melbourne, but since there isn't squat here, would assume I would have to drive to orlando, or ft lauderdale for quality, and am certainly willing to do that. I also go to atlanta quite a bit, and know of a place up there I went to years ago (possibly 10) called superhair13 (IIRC) am willing to go up there too, if anyone knows these people are exceptionally good.

Any help would be great, thanks in advance :)

oh darn, i have to host my pics to post them dont I?? ok instead of posting them, just gonna let you know, that it is damn short. top of head around 2-3 inches, shortest hair one inch.

Thanks for the quick reply jenny...do you mind if I email my pic to you? So you can see it?

That open ended braid sounds cool, I think I would like that look, if it is what I am thinking. My original intention was a classy long hair do. simple. kindda what I like to call the stripper/playboy pin up hair. (again, think carmen electra) But I dont mind a funkier look, and in fact, would probably really like it (if what you described is what I am thinking of, with that open end braid) Do you have any pics of that type? *runs off to google*

edit: my hair is longer at top and only an inch around the nape, so maybe it is possible, if, like you say 2 or 3 inches isnt' a problem.

again, would be happy to emial my pic to you so you can see it. the pictures I have here are about a month or so old, so it is a tiny bit longer now, and probaly would not do this for a month or so anyway, so have time to grow a bit. If only growin an inch or so is necessary, that is fine.

OK, I just checked out your photos, and if they were taken a month ago and you won't be getting them for another month and your hair grows quickly, you may be able to to get any kind of extensions. It may not be the ideal blending at first because of the shorter pieces on top, but you can make it look good with some strategic cutting and/or styling. Your hair also looks like it's in good condition, which helps.

The short hair on the bottom half of your head is kind of immaterial, as long as it's long enough for the attachments. As you apply extensions up the head, one layer sort of camoflagues the next, so it's only the crown hair and the hair on either side of your part that you need to worry about, really.

I would suggest looking at various before and after galleries for people whose real hair looks like yours. Kristin has had a few clients with pretty short hair and she's been able to give them a nice, long look, so it's definitely possible. You can check out her work at http://www.haircandy.net/

And here are some additional galleries:
BoogieMama: http://www.boogiemama.com/album/index.php
Hairpolice: http://dreadperm.com/gallery/index.php?cat=0
Mark Glenn: http://www.markglenn.com/gallery.htm
AngelEmma: http://www.angelemma.com/photos/
Snarl Hair: http://snarlhair.com/

Once you've found some pictures you like, you just need to decide on the method you think is best for you and find a stylist who can do it.

Good luck! :)

My advise is to make sure you find a stylist who can assure you a good job, my hair was very short when i got my first extensions and i looked like i had a mullet. i never took pics with the extensions bc i was so mortified (crying all the time) but here's what my hair looked like b4 so you know how short it was... http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/44/IMG_352644/Thumb/T40402181126400.jpg
http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/44/IMG_352644/Thumb/T40402091501020.jpg

these pictures were taken purely to email to the extensionist so she could see the length on my hair. i wonder if she had cut it/blended better it may have come out different of if she had said no and told me to wait a month or to it would have been better..... the color was also a problem, (it was 18/22 which is a highlighted look) she colored my hair to match but it never wuite matched right.

since then, i have always bought my hair on my own and had the hair dyed to match and it has been seamless

She could go to an african braiding salon and have a weave done for around $120. I would have them braid synthetic hair into the cornrows so it doesn't slip out. It will probably last a month. It would look like this at the part...
http://www.braidsbybreslin.com/weaves.html

this kinda shows it

looking for better pics

edit here is one http://www.hairweave.us/top-of-head-after-hair-weav.jpg

I am also still considering the weaving method, since it does sound best for my hair while it is short.

But with that one, does the cornrow/track does it run along your hairline? I mean, if the tracks are just put on horizontally all the way down, wouldn't it be very obvious, and you would see a large gap between each row?

sorry if these questions seem silly. New to this, just trying to get it all figured out as much as possible so I go the right route. We don't have money to throw away!!

Hey Shaman,

You'll probably get some different answers on this one, because some of it's a matter of preference/taste, but I'll try to explain it as best I can...

With a traditional strand-by-strand method (links, locs, rings, fusion, shrinkies, pinchbraids, and the like)--and even traditional wefts that aren't full weaves--you wouldn't do the extensions right up to the part--you'd do them at least an inch down from either side of the part (and probably more); you wouldn't want to go any closer to the part than that. The links, rings, whatever are sort of "buried" underneath the top hair (at the roots), so if you have long hair on top to cover them, they should be concealed effectively (more so if your hair is thick, or whatever, but that's the basic jist).

OK, now if you have short hair, those links, locs, whatever will still be concealed theoretically, but the hair on top (an inch or so from either side of the part) will be much shorter than the extension hair (hence the "mullet effect"), unless you do a lot of layering (and it would require quite a lot).

Now, it's easier to sort of blend those different lengths on straight, fine hair, actually, imo (although you run a greater risk of the locs or links actually showing). Kristin would have to tell you for sure, but my guess is that some girls on her site who have have relatively short hair are able to blend that hair with the extensions because it's the same straight texture and color. It may not ideal (as having long hair would be), but it can be done.

With my own hair, for example, there are sections on top that are rather short (about 3 or 4 inches long) and others that are longer (don't ask why), but since it's all very straight and thin, I'm able to sort of hair-spray the hair down and blend it relatively well. Again, it is not ideal, but it works OK--nobody would think I have a mullet because the hair is all straight and limp and just sort of falls in line with the rest.

Imo, thick or wavy hair presents more challenges in terms of that kind of blending (although there are great advantages to thickness in other ways). The problem isn't that the links themselves will necessarily show; it's that there will be a noticeable difference between where you hair ends and the extensions begin. Of course, if there's a heavy wind, or your hair moves out of place a bit, there will be a greater risk that you can see the locs, links, whatever, too.

So--and this is only as far as I know--there are two methods that would enable you to sidestep these issues altogether: a full weave, and open-ended braids. I know nothing at all about full weaves, so I'll leave it to others, like Metalgirl, to advise you on that one. All I will say is that sometimes Causcasian hair needs to be "reinforced" when it's cornrowed, which can be done by adding synthetic hair to the braids (a few people have said this works well). The open-ended braiding techinique, which I described before, has the advtange of enabling you to add hair to every section of it (including the part, bangs, whateve); the disadvatage is that it's more of a funky (less natural) look.

Per your question about seeing gaps between the rows, I think each layer (weft) would conceal the next, so you really wouldn't have that problem, although I'm still not clear on how the part is done (I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this; I just don't know the method).

As far as doing the open-ended just at the part, I'm sure you could probably do that, and perhaps use extendtubes or shrinks for the rest (if you want to DIY).

As far as the texture, if your hair is naturally wavy (and unless you're going to conceal all your hair via a full weave or braids), the best route would be to use wavy hair; AMM's is gorgeous and would be the gold standard for human hair, imo (she has lots of posts on the products she uses and her styling routine, if you want to search). Combining straight extensions with naturall wavy or curly hair can be quite problematic--unless you're willng to painstakingly flatiron your real hair every day; even so, you may not achieve optimal results. It's far easier to to the reverse: combine straight hair with wavy extensions (which is, by the way, what AMM has done).

Sorry if this is confusing. Extensions can be a hard concept to digest, until you've actually had them on your head. And the situation you're describing--blending short hair with long extensions--is a bit more complex still.

Perhaps others can chime in here to clarify.

Good luck! :)

when you sew in wefts to cover the entire head so your natural hair doesnt show, they braid it in a kind of big spiral pattern, so you dont get "big gaps"

only if not done right

yup. I also dont have a freak out if a couple shrinkies show though. personal preferance.

BTW - the shortest hairs on my head are an inch and a half, and i Was able to shrinkie them no problem.