bonnie donovan

A Stylist’s Perspective

She’s had them all, from beads to clip ins, we talk about extensions with stylist Bonnie Donovan.

Bonnie Donovan is a Great Lengths Educator today, but back in the day Bonnie tried every extension under the sun. With naturally fine, shorter hair Bonnie tried clip-in, weaves, microbeads and more. We asked her to tell us about her experience.

“I’ve had them all-  clip-ins, weaves, microbeads, nanobeads, tapes, and then Great Lengths. I’ve never looked back. I’ve had them non-stop for nearly eight years and I’ve just taken them out.” said Bonnie. Looking at Bonnie today, she has beautiful long hair that is all her own. She credits the damage free aspect of Great Lengths as what’s enabled her to grow her hair out so no longer need extensions. “I always wanted longer, longer, longer and now I’ve taken out extensions and I actually need to cut my hair!” It wasn’t always this way. Bonnie recounts all of her many dalliances in her search for longer, thicker hair.

Clip-Ins

“Clip- ins were easy to put in, but I’m a hairdresser. They are not easy to or look natural. It’s just one strip of hair so it can make a lump in the back of your head if you have fine hair. Mine stuck out and no matter what it looked like a lump.  In short, it looked like a clip in- which I guess is what is it!”

Weaves

“Weaves  were the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.  They create an extremely tight braid from temple to temple across the back and the sewed the weft in using needle and string sew the weft in.  My braid was tight on my head I couldn’t move my eyebrows. I cut it out after three weeks.  I have clients now who’ve had weaves and after prolonged use, they get bald spots.”

Microbeads

“They wouldn’t stay in my hair properly and I had a 120 strands. They continuously slipped out so I added an extra bead to each, making each strands ‘double beaded’. It was 240 metal beads holding it in and it was extremely painful. It was like sleeping on a bed of bobby pins.  When I took them out there was snapped off hair everywhere.”

Great Lengths

“That’s when I turned to Great Lengths. I was actually a model in my class when I was a first year apprentice.  I loved it. I had 110 strands of long blonde hair -I had a bob previously. I think that was 2010.  I have really not removed  them since until now.”

“When clients ask me about different types of extensions or want my opinion I just tell them that personally I would rather have no extensions in if it’s anything else by Great Lengths. I wouldn’t put anything else in my hair for therefore I would not put anything else in my clients hair. Extensions should not be painful. They should look realistic, not tacky.  They should make people feel better about themselves.”

bonnie before

Bonnie before using hair extensions

bonnie after

Bonnie after

Bonnie Donovan is not only a Great Lengths Educator, but you can find her at One Room Salon in Bronte where she looks after her clientele.  Over 90% her clientele are Great Lengths wearers and she’s been in the business for over a decade. To reach out to Bonnie, check her out on Instagram.

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply