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JAYNE BOND: Bonds & Co. Mid Glamorgan, Wales
“ My salon may be in a small place, Williamstown, not far from Tonypandy, but it’ s busy, busy, busy all the time. I have a team of 14, five of us do extensions, and I’ m the busiest. I’ ve been hairdressing 25 years and have been a big fan of Racoon extensions ever since they came on the market. I’ m one of its biggest customers, we book in about 150 extensions’ appointments every month. Because we’ re so busy with extension work, we have four‘ preppers and passers’. They remove extensions, then cleanse, detox and dry them, ready to pass up to the extensionist to re-apply. This saves a lot of the extensionists’ time and is a professional, efficient way to work.
“ I’ m passionate about extensions, they make anything possible, even for those with the finest of hair. My hair is horrid without them, fine and lifeless and without extensions my confidence is definitely affected for the worse. We get lots of clients who come for extensions because they’ ve had haircut they hate or just can’ t live with. They come in crying and leave happy and smiling; now how rewarding is that?”
WARREN LEE-JENKINSON: Hair by Volume, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
“ About 30 percent of my clients have extensions, mostly for extra length and volume – the classic look Essex girls are known and loved for! My bills are anywhere from £ 150 for partial work to £ 800 if the client’ s going for a complete change. I love the huge impact extensions have on people. You can raise their confidence in a matter of hours, make people happy with themselves when they haven’ t been happy with the way they looked before.
“ Having RAT Pack team mates to turn to when needed is great. For example, when I did my first Hair in Recovery client, a lady not yet 30 with really bad alopecia in her crown area, being able to call on the experience of Elaine, Jayne and Esther was really reassuring. I double checked I was going about it the right way; regardless of your confidence and training, there’ s nothing like having a second opinion. While doing this client’ s hair I literally watched her confidence come back in leaps and bounds, she was absolutely thrilled. Emotionally it was tough, but so rewarding.”
HAYLEY JENNINGS: House of Creation, Ripponden, West Yorkshire.
“ I’ m from Halifax, a hairdresser for 16 years who began working with extensions in 2004 after a Racoon International training course. Suitably impressed with my work, Racoon approached me to become an Educator, something I really enjoy. I love the way extensions can totally transform a look, even if it’ s just a few in the fringe area or a flash of colour. Clients can wear their hair the way they’ ve always wanted, express their real personality.
“ A reason so many of my clients have extensions is down to me being part of the RAT Pack I think. Because we learn new ways of working with them, experimenting artistically and bouncing ideas off each other, it fires your creativity and passion for extensions. We also get the opportunity to do photo-shoots and stage work which is just brilliant. When planning to open my business – finding premises, builders, sorting planning regulations etc. – with my partner Remy McDonagh( a barber) one thing that didn’ t need thinking about was having Racoon extensions on the menu – that decision was a given!”
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