I'VE done pretty much everything to my hair over the years.

From my first Shaders and Toners sachet at 13 in Copper Beach to bad perms (including the fringe), cropped cuts and dramatic colour changes, it doesn't stay the same for long.

However, the one look I've never had - and therefore covet - is long hair.

The type of effortless, beachy waves that Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks rocked in the 1970s.

The kind of Kate Middleton hair that feels substantial in a ponytail and swishes when you walk.

Unfortunately I have hair that starts to thin out when it grows past my shoulders.

It looks best in a one length bob and I am - in the main - happy with it.

However, I'm not quite reconciled to a lifetime without having long hair, just once in my life. YOLO and all that.

I've been thinking about the idea of extensions for a while but like many people, the TOWIE and WAG connotations put me off.

Like most people I've seen bad extensions on girls on the street and even on celebrities like Britney Spears, where money presumably is no object.

So I wondered, is it possible to achieve a natural look, without the big and bouncy (and often very fake-looking) type favoured by some celebrities?

I am immediately put at my ease when I meet Linda, from legendary Glasgow hair salon Taylor Ferguson, who is tasked with turning my light ginger bob into the hair of a Titian goddess.

She loves her own extensions and admits she feels less like herself when they are out but, is reassuringly as low maintenance as me.

She refuses to give clients "too much hair" because that's when it ends up looking artificial.However, she warns me that I may get addicted to the extensions because they are apparently, easier to style and look after than your own hair.

She begins by taking my over-highlighted hair back to a shade closer to my own strawberry blonde.

Linda then spends a considerable amount of time selecting a few shades from samples to mimic the tones of my own hair.She's clearly a perfectionist, constantly re-assessing my own hair and the extension samples to get a perfect match.

Like many people I've worried about the ethics of hair extensions. With many companies, it's impossible to say exactly where the hair comes from.

Thankfully, Taylor Ferguson uses Great Lengths which sources its hair from Indian temples. The hair is donated willingly as part of a religious rite, and the profits are ploughed back into charitable causes such as specialist hospitals and homeless shelters. 

After my extensions are removed, they will be donated to the Little Princess Trust, which creates wigs for children suffering from cancer.

A few days later I return to the salon and Linda gets to work. I start to feel quite nervous when I see all the hair lined up in tray.

At one point Linda tells me to relax my shoulders, which have hunched up and I'm embarrassed to be this nervous about a new hairdo.

She trims my blunt cut bob so that the extensions will blend into my own hair and applies the extensions using the Cold Fusion method, which does not cause heat damage.

Using a hand held applicator, she attaches small flat keratin bond to the hair with a click. It looks deceptively simple because Linda is so skilled, with more than 16 years experience in extensions.

I'm getting 150 pieces of hair attached which will add length of about 14 inches.

I am slightly concerned I will resemble Daryl Hannah in Splash but Linda reassures me it will be trimmed and layered when the application is complete.

It takes her around two hours, much less time that I imagined. She then trims it to a believable chest height length and layers it softly to blend in the extensions.

The results are nothing short of incredible. The colour match to my own hair is amazing and I'm sure only a trained eye would spot it's not my natural hair.

It's not cheap - you can expect to pay in the region of £800 for a full head - but Linda says you get what you pay for with extensions.

I'm a bit nervous about handling this much hair but it's pretty straightforward and aside from a bit of a bumpy first night's sleep, it's starting to feel like my own hair, but with a beautiful  natural wave that doesn't frizz like my own hair.

A friend who has known me for almost 15 years is blown away by the change.

I'm told the extensions should last for around three months if I look after them, which involves brushing twice a day with a tangle teaser, washing no more than three times a week with a good quality shampoo and using conditioner only on the ends to protect the bonds.

Until then, I'll be twirling like Stevie Nicks in a fringed cape.

Prices for Great Lengths hair extensions are subject to consultation but start at £450 for a half head and consultations are free.
Taylor Ferguson, 106 Bath Street, Glasgow Tel: 0141 332 0397
www.taylorferguson.com