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" I&amp;#039;d like to say it&amp;#039;s just hair, and I love myself as much with our without it. But the truth is, it&amp;#039;s not. And I don&amp;#039;t. We all have those parts of ourselves that define who we are, or that we&amp;#039;d seriously\u00A0love to change. I&amp;#039;ve always been\u00A0defined by my hair. And it&amp;#039;s always been a struggle for me. Fine and curly, in my teen years I abused\u00A0it\u2013trying all sorts of relaxers and processing options in order to make it straighter and easier to manage. Some worked for a while, but they took a toll on the health of my hair. I desperately wanted it to grow, but it never seemed to. It&amp;#039;d break off before anything much would get anywhere. I was just so frustrated and unhappy. For many, hair is seen as a marker of health and well-being. Maybe even economic stability. If you can afford to have regular blowouts and great color, you are probably doing pretty well in life. But there&amp;#039;s a downside to that reality\u2013when we&amp;#039;re doing pretty bad in life, it shows through our hair.  And so, about four years ago I went through a pretty intense six months health-wise. It\u00A0consisted of two surgeries and a great deal of\u00A0medication. Due to this, my fragile hair grew even more fragile;\u00A0it was weaker, finer and much\u00A0more brittle. I may have not been experiencing hair loss or thinning in the obvious sense, but my hair had changed in a real\u00A0way that was devastating to me. Even as I grew physically healthier,\u00A0I still looked unhealthy. And I needed to do something. Anything. To feel more like me again. And so, I finally did. I got hair extensions. I ironically got my Rapunzel-like locks at a place called RPZL\u00A0in New York City. Those 18 or so inches of additional length of hair added to my self-value and happiness. I felt pretty again, I walked differently, I carried myself differently. Extensions have a\u00A0bad reputation,\u00A0but when you are wearing them, your own hair is protected from the same degree of wear and tear. You may discover\u2014like me\u2014you need to shampoo and style a lot less often. And that means less heat damage and healthier hair. Is it shallow to define how we feel about life based on a good hair day? Maybe. Our self-esteem is inherently tied into how we feel about ourselves when we look in the mirror. And with longer, thicker hair, I just feel better.  What people don&amp;#039;t realize, too, is that hair extensions offer a\u00A0way to deal with all sorts of other hair desires we may have. Choose the right shading, and blend the extensions right and you can look like you have highlights. Have a great length but no volume? Adding hair can help as well with this. They offer endless freedom\u2013and it was that, I think, that my soul craved the most. Freedom aesthetically, and freedom to feel good about myself. And the magical thing that has happened is that my hair\u2014without being\u00A0abused by constant styling and tugging with irons and blowers in order to train it into a style\u2014has been growing. Every three months I get my extensions touched up, and every time, my\u00A0hair looks better and better. Slowly but surely\u2013like me\u2014my hair is healthier and stronger on its own. And I have the long beautiful tresses bonded to my head to thank for it. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/beauty/hair/a44816/i-drastically-changed-my-looks-with-hair-extensions/>