Great Lengths
History
HISTORY OF GREAT LENGTHS
Great Lengths starts in London back in 1991. Over twenty years on, Great Lengths can be found worldwide in over 50 countries and is still today the leader in the world of hair extensions.
The Great Lengths concept originates from the textile industry taking inspiration from the heat transfer system which bonded fabric to fabric on a molecular level; this was an attractive idea for Great Lengths who then started testing, and later adapting it to hair extensions, creating and patenting a method that molecularly bonded extensions to natural hair aiming to an extremely resistant but gentle attachment.
In addition to the bonding investments, Great Lengths has developed its brand by giving priority to quality. Great Lengths hair is in fact treated with the same sophisticated method of cashmere and adopts its same concept of removing the pigments rather than breaking them up through the bleaching process which is certainly faster, less expensive but too aggressive.
Never before has this method been utilized for human hair processing and, coupled with the exceptional integrity of the Indian temple hair, it truly provides a reliable and unsurpassed hair quality, so good that the hair withstands the most rigorous of lifestyles including subsequent chemical treatments without color fading. Color fastness is a result of the cashmere process as color pigments find a proper space to occupy in the de-pigmented hair rather than just covering hair surface where bleached.
Great Lengths supplies incredibly healthy hair extensions, totally ethical, traceable and in a wide range of rich and vibrant colors which guarantee versatile satisfaction and creativity to you and to hair stylists.
Great Lengths has been one step ahead from the start: no other system has developed a comparable non-compromising technique of attaching additional strands to the customer’s own hair. It goes without saying that only 100% natural human hair of the highest quality is used.
Great Lengths is the leader in the worldwide market of bonded hair extensions. This reputation is largely built upon the depth of extensive product R&D, and sourcing of the highest quality hair on the market.
Hair
GREAT LENGTHS HAIR
Where does Great Lengths hair come from? This question is posed by women all around the world who are considering hair extensions and their ethicality. We are justifiably dubious about the origin, quality and traceability. While most extension companies source and purchase their hair from a third party, Great Lengths chooses to source hair directly to provide the highest quality 100% real Human Hair that is guaranteed to be ethically sourced and traceable, making it unique in the Extension industry.
Great Lengths sources their hair from the Hindu Temple, Tirumala, where the traditional religious ceremony “tonsuring” is practiced. Entire families (men, women, children, grandparents) make the pilgrimage to the temple to voluntarily have their heads shaved. This act of thanksgiving typically takes place before or after a momentous, joyful event.
QUALITY OF HAIR
The finest source of hair from the Temples of India, with quality that is unmatched in the market.
Great Lengths utilizes only “remy” hair which means that the cuticle layers are all facing the same direction from root to end and, therefore, do not tangle. This also ensures that the extensions behave exactly like your own hair, blending in superbly with yours and looking super natural!
Keratin
GREAT LENGTHS KERATIN BONDS
The method of bonding patented by Great Lengths is of the highest technology. The keratin is a polymer compound whose molecular structure is very similar to that of human hair and respects its same properties and alterations. When wet, hair expands and when dry it contracts back to its natural state. Our keratin moves and behaves like your own hair, ensuring a gentle yet strong hold without damage.
Other polymers:
In 1992, Great Lengths International developed and patented the first pre-tipped, synthesized keratin bond polymer. Because of this ground breaking technology, many, if not all extension companies, claimed a “keratin bond” as their form of attachment. Factually, any form of keratin can be combined with any type of polymer to qualify as a “keratin” bond, regardless of whether it makes any functional difference or benefit in the bond itself. Unfortunately “keratin bond” has become more a marketing feature than a functional benefit. The GL Synthesized Keratin Bond’s molecular structure is specifically designed to mimic the molecular structure of human hair. The result gives the GL bond functionality that is not available in any other hair bonding compound in the marketplace. The functionality is the GL bond has the ability to expand and contract with human hair.
For example, when you wash your hair or get it wet, the hair shaft expands. When it dries it contracts. Bonds that do not possess such function will soon begin to shed the extensions and ultimately slide off the client’s natural hair because the bond is being stretched with no capacity to contract each time the client’s natural hair expands and contracts. This is a Great Lengths exclusive feature.
Color Process
DE-PIGMENTATION
The hair undergoes a delicate process of de-pigmentation lasting 15 – 20 days.
The black pigments are slowly removed from inside the hair, not from the outside. The typical method of lightening/bleaching hair using ammonium derivatives damages the cuticle layer, thus compromising the hair’s texture and condition! Our de-pigmentation process does not damage the hair and permits the removal of the black pigment without altering the quality of the hair. The color molecules are actually removed rather than bleached.
OUR PIGMENTATION PROCESS
Great Lengths hair is subjected to a special process of pigmentation that does not require hair colour, peroxide, or bleach. Because our hair strands are not treated with harsh chemicals normally used to alter colour, the hair’s structural integrity, condition and texture are maintained. This process provides the wearer and the professional the luxurious, silky feeling of virgin hair that has consistent quality without colour variations coupled with a vast range of colors in the palette. The new pigment has a clean, empty space to occupy. This ensures that the molecule sits firmly in place and thus the colour will not fade out… just like your cashmere sweater!
THE COLOURIZATION PROCESS
The only processes performed on Great Lengths hair is our colourizing process. Great Lengths is the only Company that does not use any toxic chemicals (i.e. ammonia and/or bleach derivatives) in the de-pigmentation and re-pigmentation processes of our hair. The result is colour-fast hair that has not been subjected to damaging ammonia and/or bleach chemicals to remove the hairs original colour or to achieve the range of available colours.
The benefit of this GL patented process goes beyond the Great Lengths hair quality – it makes Great Lengths International the only Company that can factually state that there is no negative Eco impact from our production process. This point becomes magnified when compared to the significant negative eco impact created by all hair processing facilities, of which the overwhelming majority are located in China and Indonesia where there are no effective regulatory agencies to monitor such production.