Are Hair Extensions Cursed? Some Believe So

POPSUGAR Photography | Larkin Clark
POPSUGAR Photography | Larkin Clark

There are many reasons that hair extensions have a cult following. They can enhance finer strands, act as protective styling on natural coils, and add length to a mane that refuses to grow. But some weave aficionados are starting to avoid their beloved sew-ins for a bizarre reason: they believe the hair to be cursed.

A spree of weave-related thefts and murders in Memphis, TN, caused local news outlet NBC-WMC to investigate the dangerous world of hair extensions. The journalists' research revealed that many are convinced that the cause for these hair-raising crimes has a darker origin. A search for "cursed weave" online results in a bevy of personal accounts from women about how their hair extensions have led them to be possessed.

"[Whoever's] hair I was wearing on my head, that heifer had a bad omen and that bad omen followed her from India and came on top of my head, and I took on her spirit," said YouTube user BBWKristy Love. Some think that the hair becomes bewitched during the Hindu ritual of tonsuring. This is a religious custom for which women shave their heads entirely at a temple, then donate their strands to God. This hair is often collected and sold to create weaves.

While many of the wearers of these extensions are convinced that they may have purchased "a person's hair and their demonic spirit," some are skeptical. Members of the Christian community in Memphis don't believe that demons would inhabit wigs. "That's from animistic beliefs . . . religions and cults that practice this concept of evil spirits taking possession of evil things," Dr. Bill Adkins, pastor at Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith, told WMC.

Anyone who has tried hair extensions knows that their attitude changes once they see their new look, but is confidence in your style really a sign of being spellbound? If that's the case, we're pretty sure our whole cosmetics collection is possessed, because we have feelings once we achieve a chiseled contour or perfectly defined cat eye.