Soon to be Ripon stylist named UK's best hair extensions specialist
A hair extensions specialist working from a farm studio near Bedale has been named the best in the country, in her first year of trading in North Yorkshire.
Kylie Hammond, 39, who runs FAKE at Crakehall, took national first place in the Hair Extensions Specialist of the Year category at the UK Hair and Beauty Awards.
The awards were presented by television personality Jake Quickenden at the AO Arena in Manchester recently. Entries are submitted anonymously and assessed by a panel of three independent judges, each with at least ten years' experience in the field, and Kylie was ranked first in the national top 100 published for her category. The organisers said the 2026 awards attracted thousands of entries nationally.
Kylie comes to the award after more than 20 years in the hair industry, including 13 years in stylist and management roles at London salons specialising in hair extensions and hair loss, where her clients included film and television actors, professional models and content creators.
She returned to North Yorkshire two years ago and opened her own studio at Crakehall last year, where she has developed her own style of tailor-made hair extensions.
Each set is created by hand in the salon, with a colour-matching and fitting technique designed to make them virtually undetectable.
"Winning this after only a year of trading feels like an incredible achievement, but I've been working towards it a lot longer than that," Kylie said.
"I spent years in some of the best hair extensions salons in London, and after developing my own style of hair extensions, we decided we wanted to come back to North Yorkshire with the goal of building the number one hair extensions salon in the UK.
"Being crowned the UK's number one hair extensions specialist is just the start for us, but it's an incredible reward for the work we've put in over the last 12 months of trading."
FAKE specialises in premium hair extensions, with hair sourced from Eastern Europe. Each set is made by hand in the salon to the client's own specification. And FAKE is currently renovating 15 Fishergate in Ripon for a November launch.