How hair extensions can give a boost to women of any age. Beauty expert ROSIE GREEN’s ultimate guide to the products that are affordable, undetectable and can even make your hair healthier

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Like energy bills and Gerald from Clarkson’s Farm, hair extensions are often misunderstood. We think they are about making hair look longer. That they are for the young or the naff. That they look fake and are the preserve of the rich, vain or famous.

Well, it’s time for a rethink. I’d argue hair extensions should be renamed hair filler, because I think their primary purpose has shifted from delivering Barbie length to adding volume. They are still loved by the young, yes, but they are also becoming key in older women’s beauty arsenals, as they lose hair density thanks to hormones, life events and the ageing process. It now seems that weight-loss drugs accelerate hair loss, too.

Today, if done well, extensions are virtually undetectable and so have been adopted by the chic set (you just wouldn’t know it).

I’ll concede they’re still relatively expensive, but their increasing popularity means the cost has come down. There’s also a common concern that they’re damaging to your hair. Hadley Yates, the beauty editor’s go-to extensions specialist, agrees they can be. He says if you attach too-heavy extensions to your own hair it can stress follicles and impact further growth. To avoid breakage, he says it’s essential that you: a) are realistic about what you can achieve and b) go to a reputable practitioner. To ensure the latter, he advises checking that the salon or individual is working with a respected extensions brand (such as Great Lengths – for your nearest salon visit greatlengths.com) and always have a consultation first to gauge their professionalism because ‘it’s an industry that needs regulation’.

All the experts I spoke to said that, applied correctly, extensions should cause no lasting damage, but that careful removal is essential.

On the flipside, Zoë Irwin, renowned stylist and extensions advocate, claims there is one way that extensions can actually increase the healthiness of your hair. ‘When people feel they’ve lost density in their hair they tend to overstyle it, making it prone to breakage as a result. When we use extensions through the front of the hair, clients feel more confident and often stop that damaging habit, so hair grows through stronger.’

There are now lots of types of hair extensions offered in salons, and the products and techniques have vastly improved over the past few decades. Here’s what’s available – with a sliding scale of cost and commitment…

Clip-ins

Requiring the least spend and time, good-quality clip-ins can look very natural and give an instant volume boost. Reusable wefts of hair are attached to a small comb that then snaps to firmly attach near the roots of your own hair. Try Hadley Yates’s fillers from his Curated range, which uses ethically sourced premium-quality hair. You can apply/remove them in minutes.

Fringe clip-in, £35, filler clip-ins, from £69 for two, and full-head clip-ins, from £275 for ten, curatedhairextensions.com

Hair halo

Beauty editor friends rave about the instant va-va-voom this innovative DIY hair piece provides. Hair is attached to a circular wire that sits on top of the head. It looks complicated, but is surprisingly easy to do. It’s also undetectable and reassuringly secure. Simple to remove, too. A friend reports she wears hers daily and it has lasted a year.

Front halo hairpiece, £120, nothing2see.co.uk

Tapes

This method works on straight or wavy hair and involves using slim strips of tape to stick wefts of extensions to your real hair. These wefts are reusable and are ideal for creating thicker, fuller, more luscious hair for special occasions. They last for around six weeks and blend well into your own hair. I am currently sporting three hair pieces, which took Zoë Irwin an hour to put in, and they blow-dry better than my own hair does!

Hair Tweakment, from £250, johnfriedamayfair.com

Bonds

These extensions deliver the most natural, long-lasting result of all. The process involves attaching individual strands of hair to your own with a keratin-based adhesive that is set with heat or ultrasound (you are left with a glue bobble the size of a grain of sand). Hadley Yates says that bonds are easily customisable to a client’s needs – you can have a full head, half head or simply thicken up round the front/ fringe areas (the price adjusts accordingly). I had them last year with Vicky Demetriou, an extension specialist with a stellar client list, and she gave me a thick mane that rivalled my teenage one.  It was a four-hour process (she gave me a cut, too) and the extensions lasted well beyond the four months promised.

To book keratin bonds with Vicky Demetriou, from £450 including a cut, visit larrykinghair.com

Under a tenner

Simple Pure Soap Oatmeal Bar (£1.60 for two, amazon.co.uk) is a new gentle eco- (and purse-) friendly way to cleanse. Leaves skin soft and not at all tight.

Rosie’s beauty clinic

Q I’ve noticed my under-eye concealer looks white in party pictures. What’s going on?

Jenny Brown, 53

A Oh yes, the reverse-panda-eye phenomenon. Are you by chance using YSL Touche Éclat (£32, yslbeauty.co.uk)? It is not a concealer. It’s a highlighter, which is why it reflects the light this way. Use the brand’s Touche Éclat High Cover Radiant Concealer (£27, harveynichols.com) instead.

Luxe buy

Jones Road Gel Liner (£30, jonesroadbeauty.com) is truly excellent. Goof proof! I use it with the brand’s The Precision Eyeliner Brush (£24) to create a line that doesn’t smudge or budge.