Feather Locks

Looking at the nation's favourite 'Geordie' Cheryl Cole its easy to see just how quickly hair trends can be started and the level of style-envy that can source from one celeb's hairstyle choices; the effects of which can be most recently seen rippling through society as a wave of Chezza-endorsed mahogany hair dye. As a scrimpy student, I'm always looking online and in magazines for new ideas and hair trends that will update my look without costing a fortune and that's when I stumbled across an exciting new product; feather hair extensions. A simple, removable and relatively cheap way of bringing Coachella-chic to your own hair irrespective of length, colour and style. Fresh from America this boho-inspired hair trend has made it's way to British shores and is rapidly causing a frenzy on our side of the pond. Type 'feather hair extensions' into any search engine and you can see for yourself the stir these little coloured strands are already causing fashioned by the likes of Hilary Duff, Jennifer Love-Hewitt and not forgetting fellow bloggers hot on the trail of this latest beauty trend such as Gemma of Gemsmaquillage, Evelinicutza and Kandee Johnson of YouTube who are already feathered-up and ready for summer. 

It was actually through Ingrid better known as Miss Glamorazzi, who is a fave YouTube guru of mine, that I first heard about the idea of using feathers in this way. In her regular Birchbox vlog - a post discussing her monthly subscription service that is now operating here in the UK as GlossyBox http://www.glossybox.co.uk/ (which I hasten to add I am extremely eager to try in the upcoming months) - she talks about the feathers they offer on their site. Sadly as I don't live in America ordering from them wasn't an option as they don't offer international posting. Instead of admitting defeat I decided I was determined to find  a UK-based company offering the same level of quality but without the hefty shipping charges of some of their international competitors. It was no easy task and after hours, and I really do mean hours, of looking I found two sites fitting the criteria: http://www.aheadofhair.biz/ and http://www.hairfeathers.co.uk/. 

Both sites sell a range of feather extensions, with the latter focusing on combinations of more natural tones and the former offering brighter, more extrovert alternatives. Despite Ahead Of Hair stocking a wider variety of feathers and at very reasonable price points of £4.99 and £5.99 I decided that personally I was after more blend-able shades that would be noticeable but not too noticeable in my dark brown hair. However, it wasn't as straight forward as just clicking a few buttons and waiting for my feathers to come flying through the letterbox as their website left a little lot to be desired for. As far as product descriptions went all I had to go on was the title of each item (Brazilian Princess, Hawaiian Princess, Natural Princess and Indian Princes), a £14.99 price tag and no pictures for guidance - not enough to warrant the hassle of returns, refunds etc if the product didn't suit. 


After inquiring to the Harland Corporation, the company behind the the site, it was explained by Darren Williams (Company Director) that their online store had only been launched the week before and was still work-in-progress. Understandably he was interested to find out why I had decided to choose their products over those offered by the alternative website and, as a marketing student with an extreme ability to ramble on, I sent a reply reaaaally detailing my reasons. Explaining the pros and cons of both themselves and their competitor site I managed to whip up a reasonably lengthy email and consequently - as a gesture of gratitude for my "extensive" thoughts - I was lucky enough to be sent two samples from their range to review and give similarly honest feedback on; pictured below. 

                   Left: Hawaiian Princess, Right: Natural Princess

Alongside the feather sets themselves application requires some additional tools that can be purchased from numerous websites, or appropriate hair/beauty shops. To apply the extensions yourself you'll need a hair threading needle/loop and a set of hair pliers; both of which I found new on eBay for under £5. I also ordered some additional micro beads from eBay, however the extensions do come with six beads of various sizes and colours so ordering them separately isn't necessary. 

As a complete extension-bonding novice I can happily say that the application was extremely easy and totally painless. You can curl, straighten and even sleep with the extensions in your hair however the longevity of the product will vary depending on general wear and tear. I've worn them a couple of times now and so far am loving the little something extra they give to my otherwise unremarkable mop, plus they got the stamp of approval from my biggest cynic and older sister which is a pretty big ask in itself!

I'm still experimenting with the feathers; trying to determine where they look best and how I plan on styling them but what I do know is I definitely will be wearing them especially as summer arrives and festival fever well and truly sets in.

Hawaiian Princess
Sorry about the poor quality, blame the BlackBerry

  Hannah x