Whining and dining: Affairs of heart hit by credit crunch

London: Hold off on the flowers, go easy on the gifts and put the champagne back on ice. When the cost of just about everything's going up, something’s got to give.

“The old adage that when money flies out of the window, love walks out of the door, is what we are seeing happening on the ground,” says Sandra Davis, whose law firm recently conducted a survey in London’s financial district.

Seventy nine per cent of those polled said they were worried the divorce rate will increase as a result of the credit crunch. One in 10 said they think their spouse has already seen a solicitor. The reason, they say is too much stress, little cash.

Singletons too are feeling the financial impact. Instead of spending money on wining and dining with potential suitors, they're choosing a cheaper option — online dating. A month’s membership at one of the many dating websites on the Internet costs $ 30 dollars, which is lesser than the cost of a dinner date.

“From September of last year right through to April, there has been a fairly flat line in terms of the number of people joining, but all of a sudden we started to see an increase and that increase has escalated. It has been 30 per cent for the last three months. In fact, our database has doubled in size over the last three months,” Stephen Moylan of plentymorefish.com, a dating website, says.

Those who've already found love are finding ways to keep the costs down and romance alive.

While some say they spend a lot more time at home watching DVDs and things as opposed to going out and socializing, others says they have completely stopped going out.

“My boyfriend and I argue quite a bit over who is paying for dinner and things like that. I wish he was richer,” says a disgruntled girlfriend.

However, some still believe going the old school way. Love is all you need, they say, and if you love somebody you don't need the money.

Where Do Human Hair Extensions Really Come From?

Hair extensions have become huge of the last few years and we all love to add a little length to glam up our look for a big night out- but have you ever wondered where that hair really comes from?

"It's horse hair," swears my friend, "Or from dead people. Honestly who would really cut off all their own hair if it was that long?" Well he's wrong. There are in fact thousands of people around the world who do just that every day and they don't always get paid for it.

The best quality hair comes from Asian or Eastern European countries where poverty is high and work is poorly paid. These women often see selling their hair as the best way to make money and feed their families.

The 'hair factories' are very serious when they sign women into a contract to grow their hair a certain length and have strict conditions under which the hair must grow.

The women- and sometimes whole families- must keep their hair away from any contact with pollutants and make sure it is kept in top condition while to grows. Sometimes the factories even provide food for it's workers to ensure that the hair grows to a good enough standard.

When the time comes for the hair to be harvested the women line up at the factory before their heads are shaved completely bald and they are sent out to start the whole process again.

This may seem like a girl's worst nightmare to you but for many of these women it is the easiest and most effective way of providing for their family and the alternatives are much much worse.

However not all hair 'donors' benefit financially from such a huge sacrfice. In some parts of India women are conned out of their precious locks without even knowing they are then being sold to beef up the hair of beauty conscious women around the world.

In 2006 the Daily Mail reported how in the hills of Tirupati, in India, a Hindu temple has become the second richest religious site in the world- due mostly to it's sale of human hair.

The newspaper reported how every day, up to 4,000 women visit the temple to take part in a religious ceremony, called tonsuring, during which they shave off their hair as a sacrifice to the god Vishnu.

These women believe that taking part in the ceremony is a sign that they are willing to give up their pride and vanity, and to thank the gods or ask them for health and happiness in the future- but what they don't know is they are also making a lot of money for those who run the temple.

After the ceremony all the hair that is collected is combed, sorted into lengths and dyed before being shipped to Western countries to sell as wigs and hair extentions.

So while we see our extensions as a great way to give us a beauty boost and make us feel great as we hit the town- there is in fact a much bigger human story behind every lock of hair.

Courtesy : http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/lifestyle-fashion/styletrends/extensions-5192.html