Achieving Excellence
Tel: 0115 941 5117
In the heart of nottingham, M Hair Extensions stands as a beacon of excellence and innovation providing high-quality hair enhancements for those affected by hair loss. Proudly recognised as the only supreme status great lengths global Little Princess Trust ambassador, James Henderson has worked tirelessly to cement M Hair Extensions as a business of the highest quality standards.
“I’ve been hairdressing for over 30 years,” James told us. “It started as a family business where I worked with my mum and sister, then when I was 14 started working at a different family salon helping at the weekends. They had a new stylist starting who had just moved from London, and he focused on hair extensions. At the time, you needed two people to do hair extensions and I was his assistant. That’s how I was introduced to the whole world of extension services.”
James continued: “As technology and innovation moved on, I started looking at different methods and tried different brands until I found Great Lengths in 2013. I’d heard so much about the ethics of the brand, quality of the hair, and noticed it was a brand that a lot of celebrities were wearing.
“I meticulously researched Great Lengths and they ticked all the boxes I was looking for. We were quite a well-established salon within the hair extension market and had a strong client base where we quickly moved over to Great Lengths and worked our way up the ranks to be the only Supreme Salon in the UK.”
Adding hair extensions to your salons services is a great way to gain additional clientele and enhance your creativity. “I’ve always been creative, doing different things and making things a little bit different to everybody else,” explained James. “I really loved the concept of a service that could completely transform someone within a few hours, and it really appealed to me because it was new in the industry.
“I like being one step ahead of the curve if I can, but I knew that this was going to be a huge trend, so I wanted to get in there early. We pointed our business in that direction and have grown from there - pointing our business in that direction.”
This is something that clients have really responded to, as James told us: “It’s giving clients something that they've never had, I get clients coming in with very fine hair. They suffer from low confidence due to thinning hair, and I love being able to transform their confidence. It’s a great feeling.”
On top of being a Great Lengths Supreme Salon, how does James ensure M Hair Extensions stand out? He said: “We stand out as we are a full-service salon, we aren’t solely an extension business.
We really focus on educating the client on the aftercare process, how to maintain the extensions at home, and talking them through everything step by step.
“We offer full customisation which a lot of salons don’t do. What we offer is very bespoke, and we customise everything to the client's own hair density and their requirements. No two heads are the same, and that’s what really separates us from other salons.”
When it comes to hair extensions, it’s not a one size fits all category as James said. It’s also a great remedy for women who find their hair thinning for a variety of different causes. “We appeal to a wide range of clients and cater to a diverse range of hair types,” James added. “We have a huge cross section of clients in different age groups, whereas many people just think extensions are for younger females and a lot of brands market themselves that way. Our clientele is so mixed, we can offer something for everyone and cater to the everyday women on the street.” One key thing about James’ partnership with Great Lengths includes his idea to introduce the hair extension recycling scheme with the Little Princess Trust in 2015. “As I’ve said before, I’ve worked with extensions for a long time but what I noticed with Great Lengths was that when I was removing the extensions, the quality was pretty much as good as when it gets installed.
“TO BE ABLE TO HELP THE CHARITY GIVE THESE CHILDREN WIGS AND MAKE THEM FEEL MORE LIKE THEMSELVES WAS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.”
“It seemed so crazy to me to be throwing out this hair, so I got in touch with the Little Princess Trust. It said online that they don’t accept hair extensions, but I gave them a ring and explained what Great Lengths do and how they differ to other brands. I just said, ‘Look, let me send you some of the extensions and have a look at the quality’. They made a test wig, and the response was really positive. That’s how the collaboration started.”
What was James’ inspiration to start this project with the Little Princess Trust? He said: “Hair loss is very traumatic, especially for children. It affects them so much more because children often don’t understand the severity of what’s causing it, which is why this charity holds a special place in my heart.
“To be able to help the charity give these children wigs and make them feel more like themselves was something very important to me. In the past, we have donated client’s hair, but I wanted to do something on a completely different level.”