This Woman Traveled Over 6,000 Miles To Get Her Hair Done In Turkey Because Apparently It's Actually Cheaper Than Getting It Done In America
If you have ever contemplated getting hair extensions, you might have made it one step into the process before you realized they were waaaay out of budget. And if you never have, well, they're EXPENSIVE, like, thousands of dollars a year expensive.
For content creator Bryn Elise, one appointment for three rows of 22-inch hand-tied extensions cost $4,450 at her US salon.
For context, hair extensions can vary in price based on the extension type, how many "rows" a person gets (the more rows = more volume and hair), the salon, as well as the length and thickness of a person's hair. Clip-in extensions are typically the cheapest option, where tape-in and "hand-tied" extensions, which are sewn-in and cut by hand, are more permanent, expensive, and require a stylist.
After realizing it'd cost $4,450 to get her "dream hair," Bryn did some research and found it would actually be cheaper to travel to Turkey to get extensions put in — airfare, hotel, and service included — than for just the service in the United States. Now, in a viral video, which has been viewed over 10 million times, Bryn is showing people why she does it.
She began, "It's that time of the year again when I travel to Turkey to get my hair done instead of just going to a salon down the street... Let me explain why it's 100% worth it."
"This all started last year when I received an email from my US salon letting me know that they were raising the prices of the extensions I get to $4,450. So, I decided to do a little shopping around and realized a lot of the hair inspo photos I'd saved on Instagram were from this absolutely world-class stylist who lived in Turkey... I slid into his DMs to get a quote, and tell me why this man said he would do my dream hair for $500."
She told BuzzFeed, "I was a little nervous but mostly because I thought there must have been some miscommunication over the pricing. The price was SO far below what I was expecting I was positive that I had misunderstood and an appointment with him was really going to cost me thousands of dollars...[but] my hair the first time cost me about $550, the second time $500, and the last time I went, the prices had decreased to around $450. That’s just because the US dollar is very strong right now against the Lira."
Of course, I was a bit skeptical that an entire European vacation including a hair extension service would be less than just getting extensions done at a local US salon, but Bryn broke it allll down. She said, "If I am strategic with my travel dates, I can find roundtrip tickets to Istanbul for around $700–$800. You can get gorgeous apartments in Istanbul for less than $350 a week on Airbnb, so that’s what I’ve done the last couple of times. Food prices can vary, but you can get a meal in a nice restaurant for under $10!"
"If you cook some of your meals at home, you can easily get away with spending $150 a week for food and eat some incredible dishes." So in total, Bryn spends around $1,750 for a weeklong trip to Turkey which includes her complete hair service (hair extensions, bleaching, and toning), flights, accommodations, and food, and amounts to $2,700 less than just getting her hair done in the US.
In the comment section of Bryn’s video, many were quick to point out that extensions require more maintenance than just the initial install. And they're not wrong — when hair grows, extensions either need to be moved up or replaced, which requires visits to the salon every 3–4 months. This means Bryn has to visit Turkey about three times a year, which amounts to roughly $5,250 a year.
Still, if she continued paying for extensions in the US, she'd pay $13,350 a year for three visits. So, while dropping $5k a year on extensions and travel is definitely not cheap, it's over $8k less than getting them done in the US. "I have been to Turkey to get my hair done three times now, and the price always differs a little due to fluctuations with the Turkish Lira. It actually has continuously gotten a little less expensive each time I go," she told BuzzFeed.
Now, people in the comments are taking notes for their next hair appointments and vacations:
Commenters even laid out other places that offer cheaper beauty services, like knotless braids that purportedly only cost $20–$30 in Guyana:
Most people are probably not spending this much on hair, but Bryn's video has led to a greater conversation about the concept of "beauty tourism," whereby people travel to countries where their dollar goes farther for cosmetic services like hair, skincare, dental work, and tattoos. Other TikTokers have shared their experiences with skin clinics in South Korea, and Bryn has also documented her trips to Thailand for dental work. Now, she's proposing group beauty tourism trips for those who’d like to potentially travel and save on accommodations together.
She told BuzzFeed, "Ever since I announced my plan to put together group beauty tourism trips, the response has been overwhelming, and I now have a long list of people waiting to be notified of upcoming trips... I want the providers to be the best of the best while also offering services at affordable prices since the entire concept of these group trips is that by booking beauty services abroad versus getting those same services in the United States, you can save money and also get a 'free' vacation out of it."
Even so, Bryn still had a few reminders for people thinking about beauty tourism. "The most important thing to remember when booking services abroad is to do your research. Whether you get these services in the US or abroad, there is always going to be some risk. Read as many reviews as you can, reach out to providers for virtual consultations, and always make sure you have travel insurance."
For those looking to go to Turkey for hair extensions like she did, she said, "I think that if you have a lot of questions or directions for the stylist, or have a list of very specific things, going abroad might be trickier unless you can find someone who speaks excellent English or you hire a translator for the day. BUT if you are down to just sit back and put your faith in a new stylist, I’m confident that you will have a great experience and walk out of there with incredible hair."