West Sussex woman has revealed how paparazzi snapping a photo of her bad hair day while she was working for Peter Andre wrecked her self-confidence – and how she used her humiliation to build a hair extension empire helping others get their confidence back and earned herself some new celeb admirers.
In her teenage years, Kerry Buckell (32) worked as a barista for New York Coffee Club – a business set up by Peter Andre in East Grinstead, West Sussex. She explains that when the business was first launched, Peter Andre hosted a party attended by Amy Childs, Gino D’Acampo, and other celebrities when paparazzi caught a picture of her that left her mortified.
“They were filming for his ITV show at the time so there were cameras everywhere. I knew pictures would be all over the press but when I saw the picture of me online I couldn’t believe it. I’d been wearing clip-in extensions since I was 15 years old and you could clearly see them poking out the back of my head. I felt humiliated – extensions were always my source of confidence and all I could think about after that picture was how dreadful I looked”.
Kerry explains that, like a lot of women, her hair was a big part of who she was – and once her friends discovered the picture, her confidence hit rock bottom.
“Without my extensions I’d always felt like a completely different person, like I was stripped of my confidence. Back then extensions weren’t as popular and people didn’t know as much about them. I hoped that nobody would see the picture, but my friends found it and started asking me what was going on with my hair. Their questions confirmed my worst fears – I could never leave the house again without being terrified someone would make a comment about my hair or my appearance. My source of confidence was gone. I was having a full-on identity crisis and there was nothing anyone could say to make me feel like myself again.”.
The humiliation Kerry felt eventually turned into determination as she became motivated to make sure no one else would have to feel insecure in their appearance because of their hair. She began designing her own hard-to-spot clip-in extensions and before long, KB Hair Extensions struck a chord with people like her all over the world. “Christine Quinn from Selling Sunset wears our extensions, and we’ve custom-made some 30-inch extensions for Saweetie when she performed at iHeartRadio festival. I started designing extensions so that I could feel like myself again. It feels so surreal to now see them being worn by people I admire”. Kerry explains that, thanks to her own invention, she has undergone a “complete evolution” from the person she was before – and her ultimate dream is for other women to feel confident in the way they look using her extensions.
“I’ve had people come into the salon suffering from alopecia or trichotillomania and they say my extensions help them to feel like themselves and that means the world to me. I look back at the self-conscious girl in that picture and wish she could have found something like what I’m making – so I’m really glad I get to give that to other people now”.
ABOUT KB HAIR EXTENSIONS
KB Hair Extensions is a multi-award winning, qualified hair extension technician specialising in micro rings, tape, weft and clip-in hair extensions based in and around the West Sussex area with an online shop stocking award winning clip-in hair extensions and after care products.
KB Hair Extensions is also one of the Bronze Category at this year’s 12th Annual National Reality TV Awards and here is what Kerry Ann Buckell, CEO of KB Hair Extensions said said:
“KB Hair Extensions is the multi award winning hair extension specialist and proud winner of hair extension brand of the year 2021 and is honoured to sponsor the 12th Edition of the National Reality Television Awards. I have been a fan of the NTRA’s for years and I am completely thrilled to be working alongside the National Film Academy. I look forward to next year’s event and can’t wait to introduce KB Hair Extensions into the British Film Industry.”
To find out more on KB Hair Extensions, check to their:
