Everyone wants healthy, shiny hair with great volume. Whether this is achieved using high-quality hair care products, extensions (or both) depends on the lengths you’ll go to for your crowning glory.
However, with the global hair extensions market set to be worth a whopping $5.89 billion by 2030, it’s clear that a huge number of people love extensions. We decided to find out what consumers in the UK thought about them. To do this, we used AI-driven audience profiling to synthesise insights from online opinions over a year ending March 3, 2025 to a high statistical confidence level. These opinions gave us insight into what 295,042 people in the UK who have hair extensions consider before updating their look, why they wear them, what they look for when buying hair, and a whole lot more.
Index
- 37.5% wear hair extensions to change their hair color
- 45.2% prefer sew-in hair extensions over braided or clip-in
- 53.4% get salon recommendations before buying hair extensions
- 75% of people in the UK buy hair extensions online
- For 73.8%, spending over £200 on hair extensions is the norm
- 82.6% are concerned about price when buying hair extensions
- Colour match is a crucial defining factor for 46.7% hair extension wearers
- 100% of our audience in the UK prefer textured hair extensions
- Rihanna inspired 34.1% of our UK audience to get hair extensions
- 60.7% of UK hair extension weavers live in Bristol
- Methodology
What Is Your Main Reason For Wearing Hair Extensions?
37.5% wear hair extensions to change their hair colour
Our UK audience has a few different reasons for wearing hair extensions:
As far back as Ancient Egypt and Rome, people have worn hair extensions and wigs to change and elevate their appearance. These hairpieces were important markers of attractiveness, health, and social standing, which were highly valued. However, times have changed, and today, people across the UK have rather different reasons for wearing hair extensions.
Of our audience, 37.5% wear hair extensions mainly to change their hair colour, while 26.9% prioritise the added volume they give. Following closely behind are the 22% who wear them primarily for length, while almost half those (12.4%) want to make a fashion statement. Just 1.2% say they wear hair extensions primarily for protection of their natural hair, highlighting how priorities centre far more on enhancing appearance than pure practicality.
What Types Of Hair Extensions Do You Prefer?
45.2% prefer sew-in hair extensions over braided or clip-in
Here’s which type of hair extensions people in the UK prefer wearing:
The type of hair extensions people choose often depends on their budget, lifestyle, and desired look. While clip-in extensions are ideal for quick changes or non-committal style transformations, sew-in and braided hair extensions offer greater longevity, lower maintenance, and better prevention against damage such as split ends.
In the UK, it’s clear that the majority of people wearing hair extensions want a more semi-permanent solution, with 45.2% preferring sew-in and 41.5% braided. In contrast, clip-in extensions only garnered 13.4% engagement from the audience, proving that long-term is the go-to option for 86.7%.
Where Do You Get Information Before Purchasing Hair Extensions?
53.4% get salon recommendations before buying hair extensions
Pre-purchasing information is important, especially before something related to your appearance. Below, we can see where our audience learns about their hair extensions:
Salon recommendations may take the top spot at 53.4%, but when it comes to where people get their information about hair extensions before purchasing, professional expertise has little to do with it. Instead, social proof and real experiences count, with 31.1% of our audience learning about hair extension products from social media influencers. Considering studies show that 74% of consumers have bought a product because an influencer recommended it, it’s unsurprising that this is such a highly rated source of information.
Thereafter, engagement numbers plummet, with just 7.1% of those wearing hair extensions in the UK getting information from price comparisons, 3.7% from brand websites, 2.4% from online reviews, and 2.2% from beauty blogs. The large jump from the top two to the bottom four shows just how big a divide there is in where information is sourced from.
Where Do You Usually Buy Your Hair Extensions?
75% of people in the UK buy hair extensions online
From online retailers to local boutiques, here’s who is shopping where for hair extensions in the UK:
75% of people who wear hair extensions in the UK buy them from online retailers. This correlates with reports that the online sector has the largest market share of all distribution channels. The online market also shows the highest growth due to accessibility and convenience, far outpacing land-based retailers. In contrast, only 20% of those with hair extensions in the UK usually buy from hair salons. This is interesting, as we saw above that more than double this number sought advice from salons before purchasing.
Only 5% of our audience buys extensions from local boutiques, revealing that these smaller stores are not a real source of competition for online retailers or salons.
How Much Do You Spend On Each Hair Extension?
For 73.8%, spending over £200 on hair extensions is the norm
The below chart shows how much people in the UK are spending on their hair extensions on average:
Some surveys say that the average cost of hair extensions in the UK ranges from £80 to £850 for a full head depending on the hair type, location, and services required. Our audience definitely spends on the higher side on average, with the vast majority (73.8%) saying they spend over £200 at a time. Thereafter, there’s an exact split, with 8.7% all saying they spend between £50 and £150 every time.
What Are Your Biggest Concerns When Buying Hair Extensions?
82.6% are concerned about price when buying hair extensions
Our audience has three main concerns when buying hair extensions, and these are:
What Defines The Quality Of Hair Extensions You Purchase?
Colour match is a crucial defining factor for 46.7% hair extension wearers
Quality is essential when purchasing hair extensions, and our audience has specific definition criteria:
For 46.7% of our audience, colour matching is a crucial hallmark of the quality of hair extensions. Considering that we previously found 37.5% of our audience wears extensions primarily to change their hair colour, this statistic aligns closely. 26.7% say length defines hair extension quality, and this also links closely to the 22% we found who wear them mainly for length.
For 20.5%, texture is the main quality hallmark, while just 5.1% say that double-drawn extensions (extensions where 85% of all strands are the same length) are the ultimate criteria. Only 1% say shine is a key feature, which suggests that most have other priorities and know they can use a product to add shine if required.
Which Celebrities Inspire You To Wear Hair Extensions?
Rihanna inspired 34.1% of our UK audience to get hair extensions
Celebrities are some of the biggest hair and beauty influencers, and these are who have inspired UK hair extension wearers to enhance their look:
She’s a style icon with her own beauty line, so, unsurprisingly, Rihanna’s ever-changing hairstyles have inspired 34.1% of the UK to get hair extensions. Kylie Jenner follows not too far behind with 30.1% citing her as their inspiration, while Ariana Grande with her famous bouncy ponytail has been responsible for just under half that (14%).
Original influencer and Kyle Jenner’s half-sister, Kim Kardashian has influenced 12.3% of our audience to wear extensions, while supermodel Gigi Hadid is responsible for 6.3%. Although she’s also famous for her ever-changing style, Zendaya has only influenced 2.1% to get extensions, while Cardi B just notches up 0.7% and Nicki Minaj 0.5%. These two lower figures may be due to these celebrities not changing up their hair as drastically as the others, or simply their getting less media attention when they do.
Where In The UK Do You Live?
60.7% of UK hair extension weavers live in Bristol
In the graph below, it’s easy to see where in the UK our audience lives, with one city taking the lead:
According to Treatwell, over 1600 venues offer hair extensions across the UK. However, when it comes to where the majority of our audience is located, Bristol is a clear frontrunner. An impressive 60.7% of people who wear hair extensions in the UK live here. As Bristol is famous for its individual style, fashion-forward focus, and street art, it makes sense that it tops the list. Yet, it’s surprising that the rest of the UK, particularly fashionable London, is so far behind.
Liverpool takes the second spot more than 50% behind Bristol, with 10% of our audience living there, followed by London (8.8%), and Birmingham (8.1%). Manchester and Sheffield tie for the last two spots with 6.2%, which is interesting as Sheffield has around 290,000 more residents.
These hair extensions statistics paint an interesting picture of what people in the UK like, what they prioritise, and who inspired them to try something different with their hair. They also highlight that extensions can fulfil different purposes and are an excellent way to enhance your style, transform your look, and feel like your favourite celebrity!
Methodology
Our data was sourced from an independent sample of 295,042 opinions of hair extension wearers in the UK on X, Quora, Reddit, TikTok, and Threads. Responses are collected within a 65% confidence interval and 12% margin of error.
About The Representative Sample:
- 69.1% of people wearing hair extensions in the UK are younger than 55.
- 56.5% identify as female.