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Good Housekeeping

From expensive designer dresses to high-street court shoes, the Duchess of Cambridge is able to sell out any fashion item in a matter of hours, making her influence on the nation's style undeniable.

And it's not just Kate's clothes we're after — the royal is famed for her gorgeous mane of hair; the term "Kate Middleton hair" is Googled tens of thousands of times a year, with many hoping to emulate those tumbling, glossy waves.

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There's little chance that I can afford to replicate Kate's outfits — but maybe, just maybe, I could get my own Princess-worthy head of hair?

I decided to visit one of London's top hairdressers, Inanch Emir, in her city center salon, to see if she could transform my straggly locks into a 'do worthy of the Duchess.

It wasn't going to be an easy task — mainly because while Kate has thick, lustrous hair, mine is fine, flyaway and thins at the ends, rather than getting thicker, like the Duchess's.

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My hair in its natural state.

The solution to this is extensions, says Emir, who specializes in the art of applying them. She said she'd be very surprised if Kate doesn't have extensions herself (hair normally gets thinner as we age, whereas Kate's has seemed to get thicker since her university days). This was a relief to hear — maybe I could achieve the Duchess's look, after all!

There are two extension options to choose from: first, you can have clip-in extensions, which look remarkably realistic. Although they're temporary, once they've been removed you can keep them, so you have your own ready-made swishy locks whenever you need to look extra marvelous.

Secondly, there are permanent extensions, which are fixed into the hair using polymer bonds, and which last around three months. I decided to go for this option because, HELLO, who wouldn't want hair like Kate for a whole quarter of a year?!

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Before my transformation.

The process started with my hair being washed. If you want to create a big, bouncy blow-dry a la Kate, Emir recommends using minimal amounts of conditioner, as it weighs the hair down.

Next, my hair was brushed through to detangle it (always a challenging process) and roughly dried, as tresses need to be dry in order for the extensions to stick.

I was amazed how quickly a couple of rows of extensions can be added to your head — I'd always assumed they were a full day job, but within half an hour, Emir had attached a whole bunch of expertly-matched hair into my own locks, and then cut them to the same length.

I felt like I had twice as much hair, even though in reality I only had two rows of extensions added at the bottom of my head (a full head of extensions is more high maintenance).

Next, it was on to the styling — how does Kate get that famous blow-dry?

The answer, says Emir, is pin curls. Basically, hair fixes itself into a certain shape while it cools. So if you tong your hair, but then let each curl hang as it cools, it won't retain the shape as well as if you pin the curl to your head (see me modeling the latter below — lovely eh?).

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I should wear it like this more often.

Before adding the curls, Emir dampened my hair with a spritz of water and some wonder spray called R+Co Dallas Thickening Spray to boost volume.

Then, after blow-drying and tonging my hair into curls and fixing them to my head with pins, I was left to "cool down" for 10 minutes, before the pins were taken out to reveal my newly thickened tumbling curls.

The key trick here is to brush the curls out with a paddle brush, so they look smooth and sweeping rather than poodle-like. I'm always a bit tentative with brushing curls — won't they just disappear? — but if you've fixed them in the correct way they'll stay in place.

And here's the finished result:

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Now obviously, Kate wouldn't be seen dead with roots like mine, and in an ideal world, I'd also be handed her face and wardrobe as part of this transformation, but I'm definitely impressed with how different my hair looks.

The extensions make it appear thick and lustrous at the ends, and I've definitely got some of that Duchess of Cambridge shine going on.

Now where's my diamond tiara?!

From: Good Housekeeping UK