Great Lengths hair extension hair is sourced exclusively from Indian Temples.
Great Lengths is the only hair extension company in the world that guarantees with documented support that all Great Lengths hair has met the following criteria:
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Great Lengths Hair Extensions are a cut above the rest – sourced ethically from India
Every strand has been donated willingly and with the full consent of the donor.
- The donor has been treated with respect and care.
- A fair and reasonable price is agreed for the hair and the money paid to the Temples to procure the hair is used solely for charitable endeavours, not for personal or individual profit.
- A Great Lengths company representative procures the hair to cut out unreliable middlemen and ensure full and direct knowledge of the origin of the hair.
- Great Lengths International does not work through hair brokers. Great Lengths operates and employs their own staff and facilities in India so that they are always 100% sure of the source of their hair.
- Exclusive in-house production process: Used from procurement of the hair to the wholesale selling of the extension to ensure full and documented traceability.
Why Indian Hair?
Indian hair is considered to be the best hair available in the world. It is strong, thick, healthy and in virgin condition ie has not undergone any chemical processes.
Many other human hair extensions companies use European or Chinese brushed hair which is proven to be unsuitable for high quality hair extensions because it easily tangles due to the cuticle layers not being aligned.
Most European human hair has been chemically treated and therefore is not in its virgin state. The majority of European human hair extensions is also sourced from unfavourable origins. Hair buyers have been known to prey on poor Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian women who are forced to sell their hair as a way to make ends meet.
Hair being treated, colour and passing strict quality testing at the Great Lengths headquarters in Italy.
Chinese hair is available in greater quantities, yet it is not structurally compatible with Caucasian hair. It has a round cross-section which differs from the oval shape of Caucasian hair making it too thick and rigid for a high quality natural looking human hair extension.
But they still use Chinese hair for hair extensions! Chinese hair undergoes an acid process which completely destroys the delicate cuticle layer of the hair strand. The hair is then covered with a silicon layer which gives it a healthy look, but this protection is short lived and makes the hair extension of a much lower quality. After a few washes the silicone layer starts to wash away and the hair becomes dull and brittle.
The hair extension made from Chinese hair will continue to degrade when you wash, blowdry or iron the hair.
Why Indian Temple Hair?
Indian Hindu’s have a strong belief in the practice of sacrifice: when one gives of oneself, they receive true spiritual fulfilment. On a daily basis, devout pilgrims travel to temples across India to pay homage to their gods by making an offering to the temple.
Worshippers donate objects such as gold trinkets, personal possessions or their hair, a symbolic offering to show their devotion to the deity. This ritual shaving of one’s hair is known as tonsuring.
In the past, tonsuring was a symbol of repentance, today pilgrims make an oath with God and should their prayers be answered, they shave their heads as a precious sacrifice and sign of gratitude and faith.
Great Lengths ethically sourced high quality hair.
In the past, donated hair was often used for the manufacture of oil filters for cars (the microscopic hair cuticles would trap impurities when compacted into a filter) or simply for the filling of mattresses to sleep on. Traditionally, no money changed hands in this process.
In recent times, human hair extensions has created a market for the donated hair. The high demand for high quality virgin hair has meant that temples obtain a good price and the funds are used to aid the poor. Whilst hair donors do not receive monetary payments, the temples who receive the money use a small portion for regular upkeep of the temple and pays the wages for temple workers. The remaining money is invested into the local community, providing food, shelter and medical assistance to those in need.
All Great Lengths hair extensions hair is 100% traceable and sourced directly from Hindu temples.
