When an email hit my inbox announcing that Just Extensions -- a salon that, as the name suggests, just does hair extensions -- was opening in Los Angeles, I was really reluctant to be the office tester monkey.

To be completely honest, I was terrified.

I'd seen nightmare images of hair extensions before and after. The pictures of Naomi Campbell and Britney Spears' bald spots are permanently burned into my brain. Plus, I didn't want (nor did I think my hair could handle) any more damage. I'm already making up for using relaxers for years.

Skip ahead to see my hair extensions transformation.

But I decided to take one for the team and make an appointment. After all, specialty salons like Just Extensions are popping up like Starbucks and Micki Ds. The Dry Bar seemed to start the trend, and braid bars and bang bars were soon to follow. In fact, these cheap, quick-service salons quickly became one of the biggest beauty trends of 2012, and the fad is only growing in 2013.

So, do hair extensions actually look good when they only cost $150? Did they make my hair fall out? Keep clicking to see my hair extensions before and after photos.

I've never had hair longer than my collarbones, mainly because that's where it usually stops growing. And although my hair's natural texture is tight ringlets, my go-to style is flat-iron straight.

Before I could decide if I wanted Kardashian-length strands, I first had to settle on what type of hair extensions to get. Just Extensions offers all the usuals:

• Braided sew-in. This is when a stylist cornrows your natural hair and then sews the extensions to the braids.
• Keratin tip. This is essentially an advanced way of gluing the extensions to small sections of hair.
• Micro-links. Think of this like clip-ins, except the clip is tiny and attaches to very small sections of hair.
• One-step weft. This is when the extensions are sewed onto small beads that have been attached at the roots of your hair.

I decided on the one-step weft process, because it only takes about an hour and is the least likely to damage hair since nothing is actually sewed or glued directly to your natural hair.

No turning back now! After carefully separating my hair into two sections (top and bottom), the stylist then parted my hair again across (side to side) at the nape of my neck. Next, she slipped the small beads into position near the root of small sections of my hair. She added five beads in a row so she could then sew the string of extensions to the beads.

After the stylist added five layers of extensions to the bottom section of my hair, she used the top section to cover them. This is so the front could look completely natural -- no weird wig effect here.