Published on Styling YouView Article Source October 2010
Guest blogger:  Britt Natolo is a 33-year-old living and working on the Gold Coast.  She owns a real estate business with her husband.  She’s the marketing/advertising manager and property photographer for the agency. Five years ago she contracted glandular fever and lost half of her hair. Since that time I have only managed to grow my hair to my shoulders and it has never gotten its fullness back.

Great Lengths Hair Extensions (cost: depends on length of hair extensions and amount of hair extension strands used but average is $1000-$2000)

The Facts: Great Lengths hair extensions are 100% human hair sourced from Indian Temples. They are received by donation and in turn the proceeds from the hair being sold to companies such as Great Lengths hair extensions goes back in to the Indian community for funding for schools, etc. The Indian temple hair is then washed in a treatment to remove the pigment to produce the 50 plus shades of colours available to choose from. The hair is not chemically treated at all.
The Review:  I was booked in for an initial consultation so my stylist, Amy from Togninis hair extension salon in Brisbane, could see my hair, explain the procedure and count how many hair extensions would be needed. I was given a detailed booklet explaining about the product and what after-care is required. We also discussed colours and I booked in for a colourist to tidy my regrowth and add a few more highlights. We chose a base colour in the hair extensions plus two highlights.  On the day of putting in the hair extensions my hair was cleansed three times, dried, trimmed so it would blend and then meticulously separated in to sections. A small plastic disc is then used to obtain the right amount hair for the bonds to hold on to. The hair extensions have a polymer bond on the end, which once heated with an applicator about half the size of a hair straightener, bonds the hair extension to your own hair leaving what feels like a tiny little knot.
After three hours I had long luscious locks, which at first did feel quite heavy because I am not used to having thick hair, but the one thing that shocked me was I could not feel the hair extension bonds at all against my scalp. The bond itself is not a glue but a polymer, which will not damage the hair and is extremely hard to see. I have had people search through my hair to find them always ending in a gasp of excitement that they can hardly be seen. 
For after-care maintenance, I use Great Lengths Shampoo and Conditioner and I brush twice a day with a Great Lengths hair extensions brush so no tangles form in the bonds. This will all help with the longevity of the hair extensions.
For a person who had extremely fine and limp hair before which would take at least half an hour to style, I can now get out of bed, run the brush through my hair and its done! I can still put my hair in a ponytail, swim, go to the gym and do everything that I would normally do. They do have a natural wave to them, which is fantastic as I have naturally dead straight hair but they can be easily straightened with a hair straightener or curled with a curling iron.
This has been a truly positive experience from start to finish with an amazing team of professionals.