Hair decision help

[clpsmum]

I'm in my late forties with fine hair just below my shoulders. I've been growing it for around five years now and it's literally not moved. It is so boring! So I'm either going to chop it off or go for extensions to thicken out and add an inch or two of length. What would you do? Any iinspiration is welcome

Try extensions first you can always have a big chop later.

Personally I'd chop because I am very lazy with hair and if it's long enough to tie it back then that's what I default to.

I would chop, as extensions can absolutely wreck fine hair and then you get stuck in a spiral of needing the extensions to hide the thinning hair that gets thinner with the extensions, if it's fine I would go for chunkier layers rather than fine wispy layers, my hair is fine so I have a blunt bob that makes it appear fuller than it is.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other - at any length you can put a few in for thickness. Extensions give you the freedom of choice. It’s just harder to blend extensions if you have a blunt, short cut.

to be honest, my natural hair is on the fine side so I know nothing I will do will ever give me naturally thick hair. I wouldn’t say extensions are always damaging - I wear nano extensions, which are more likely to slip out of my hair vs cause undue tension!

Maintenance at home is important, my extensions never tangle at the root so removal isn’t a problem. At refresh appointments, my hairdresser uses pliers to release the extension ring attachment, slips the extensions out, then brushes through my hair. There’s probably a small amount more shedding than not having them in and going through this step but after 1.5 years, my hair looks the same without extensions in as it did when I started. It’s longer and healthier too, there’s no heat or glue involved. I can also still wear my hair up and generally they go undetected by others.