Kristi Noem's Frequent Hair Extension Fails Will Always Haunt Her

We'll be the first to admit that women tend to get the harsh end of the stick when it comes to style. Even in the most serious professions, it seems like no one can quite look away from what women have on. That said, Kristi Noem is largely the architect of the flack that comes her way, especially when it comes to her hair extensions.

Because she's the Secretary of Homeland Security, you'd think she'd treat the office with the utmost seriousness in every way possible, right? Wrong. Noem tends to put a lot of stock into over-the-top glam that backfires at times. This includes adopting the "Mar-a-Lago face" trend, rocking false teeth (which ended in a lawsuit), wearing inappropriate "cosplay" outfits that have become synonymous with Kristi Noem's name, and, of course, styling outrageous hair extensions.

The biggest issue is that Noem (or her hairstylist) is in desperate need of a refresher course on extensions. We're not against added length in general, and Kristi Noem also makes a big hair mistake with her short updos, so we understand why she might gravitate toward extensions. The problem is how poorly they're being used, with them often sticking out or not looking fully blended into her natural hair.

One of the reasons we think Kristi Noem needs a refresher on the things you need to do before getting hair extensions is that her fails repeatedly ignore the basics. For example, in the above photo that appeared on Noem's Instagram story in May 2025, the visible pattern disconnect in the middle not only shows where the extensions were added but also reveals that she didn't research the best kind of extensions for her hair. Added hair is supposed to be seamless — it's the whole point. What's more, the bottom parts look dried, frayed, and generally in poor condition, and it's not a good look. In fact, the only thing that's worse than choppy hair is choppy hair with poorly added extensions. 

Finally, if you look clearly enough, it becomes obvious that the natural hair color is different from the extension's. Granted, it's not that big of a difference, but with those government checks, she could surely afford better. Noem clearly uses hair extensions to lean into the glam look, but with her execution, the reverse is actually the case. It also doesn't help that her added eyelash extensions are super visible thanks to the angle of this picture.

We've established that Kristi Noem's hair extensions don't look great from the top, but unfortunately, the back and side views aren't much better. Here's the thing: The DHS secretary has short hair, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Short hair was all the rage recently, and hair extensions are a great way to switch it up. But it's important to learn how to seamlessly blend extensions into short hair, and the first step to doing this is understanding placement and styling.

In the left photo taken during an event with the U.S. Coast Guard Bears in November 2025, the back view of Noem's hair shows how unbalanced the placement is. The majority of the hair stops at one point, with two random sections extending below. A simple trim would have nicely evened out the look, and though it would have been slightly shorter, it would've looked a lot more realistic and put-together.

The same goes for the photo on the right, which was taken at a Louisiana press announcement in September 2025 and posted to Instagram. There's a long-running internet joke that Noem wears hats to hide her hair extension fails, and this shot makes the claims more plausible. For whatever reason, the styling and blending here is really poor, which is visible on the sides with the extensions. The hat, unfortunately, does nothing to salvage the situation. All in all, Noem's frequent hair fails are proof that longer isn't always better.