Educate Yourself...What Type of Hair Make Are You Really Buying
Hair comes in many different qualities and from many different sources.
Virgin Hair is the best type of hair to purchase for hair extensions. Unfortunately, many companies today are calling their hair Virgin and it is not really Virgin Hair. True Virgin Hair is 100% real human hair that has never been altered by a chemical process at the time of collections (no perms, dyes, color, ect.).
Virgin Hair means the hair is extremely pure that it has never been processed or chemically treated EVER. The hair more than likely came from a younger donor, so there are little to no grey hairs or split ends. When choosing virgin hair, hair donors must have long, full, healthy hair.
Non-Remy/Fallen or Brushed Hair – This is the cheapest hair available and is not recommended for long term wear. Non-Remy hair is collected from cutting room floors, hairbrushes and anywhere else long hair can be found.
It is then thrown in a vat of acid to wash away as much of the cuticle as possible to try to prevent tangling,(with no cuticle the hair swells terribly with washing and humidity).
At this point coloring will take place. The hair is then put in a silicone bath to make it shiny and feel beautiful. The hair is then aligned and put into wefts, keratin tips or bulk. If a texture needs to be permed into the hair more silicone will need to be added.
Chinese hair is the best hair to go through the acid bath because of its strength. There are some companies who are very good at this process and can produce a product with minimum tangling. The trick for them is to get the entire cuticle off without the acid destroying the hair. Any remaining cuticle will cause matting and tangling as soon as the silicone is washed away.
Single Drawn-This hair has been placed in a ponytail or braid and then cut from the donor’s head. At this point the very shortest hairs are removed, (the shortest hairs are “drawn” out, hence the name single drawn). This leaves some hairs that are shorter than the full length giving it a slight tapered, layered look. This makes for easy blending and the most natural look. 95% of all true Remy hair is single drawn.
Double Drawn-This type of hair is all one length. There are no shorter hairs in the extensions like single drawn hair. All of the short hair has been “drawn” out. 95% of the time double drawn hair is the inexpensive non-Remy hair. Double drawn Remy hair is very expensive because so much of the hair is discarded. The advantage is you always get the length you want without it being too thin at the bottom. A disadvantage is unless you are an expert at cutting with a razor the hair can look doll like and rather fake.
