Human Hair

Human hair extensions are made from genuine human hair that is paid for and harvested from people, usually young women, all over the world. Human hair extensions can vary broadly in quality.

On the low-medium end of the scale, hair is chemically stripped of its cuticle so that it can be machine processed without regard for direction or root-tip alignment. If the cuticle were left in but the root-tip alignment mixed up, the microscopic scales that form the cuticle would be opposed and snag on each other causing tangling.

The negative effects of stripping the cuticle are brittleness, reduced protection from sunlight, dryness, salt, chlorine and pollution as well as a tendency to absorb liquids and swell or matt. It is not advisable to colour or heat-style this hair.

Remi [AKA Remy] hair refers to hair that has not had its cuticle stripped and has at least been partially hand-processed to maintain root-tip alignment. This hair is more expensive but will remain in good condition for much longer than stripped hair. It can also be heat styled and coloured.

The other main scale of measurement of hair quality is the ‘percentage full length’ Hanks or Wefts of hair are often made of differing lengths of hair strands. Average quality hair that is 18 inches [45cm] long may have 20% of the strands measuring 18 inches [45cm] a further 40% measuring from 14-16 inches [35-40cm] and the other 40% measuring 6-12 inches [15-30cm] A few of the superior grades [e.g. Bohyme Remi] are in fact full length, meaning each strand is exactly the stated length.

Colours of human hair are usually described by a colour scale which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but they are available in a very wide range of natural and psychedelic colours.

Outside of these, there is a third type of hair. Virgin hair is hair that has not been chemically treated. It is harvested, sanitised and sold as bulk hair in hanks. The colour remains the same and the quality is completely dependant on the donor. Having said that, hair that is in poor condition [Split ends, chlorine/salt/UV damage etc.] rarely finds it way into this market as the buyers are quite discriminating.

Texture & Style

Human hair is generally processed and sold in two textures; Silky, also called European and Yaki sometimes spelt Yaky. Silky (European) hair is pretty much exactly as it sounds, straight and silky.

Yaki (Yaky) hair has more volume, it feels coarser to touch than Silky (European) hair. This effect is created by imparting a very slight crimp to the hair strands during processing. Under a microscope, one can see a wave in each strand even though they appear straight to the naked eye. Yaki (Yaky) textured hair is a good match for relaxed African hair. It is also used by people who want a fuller style. Yaki (Yaky) textured hair tends to be sold only in straight styles but Silky (European) textured hair is curled and waved into a myriad of styles of hair extensions.

These are named according to their curl/wave and include styles such as: French Wave, French Refined, Italian Wave, Body Wave, Spanish Wave, Brazilian wave, French Curl, Spring Curl, Corkscrew, Afro-Kinky, Tight Curl, Deep Wave, Deep Curl, Wet Look, Natural Wave and Body Wave.

To avoid huge files and loading times, I will use links instead of pictures where possible. To see pictures of human hair extensions in most of the types/styles/textures mentioned here, click here: http://www.1stophair.com/catalog/View_All_Hair_Extensions_346.html

To test human hair for quality, perform the following;

Scrunch Test: Holding the hair by the top [tied] part, place your other hand under the tips and push the tips up until your hands meet. Rub briefly and release. Run your fingers through the hair, your fingers should slide freely through the hair. The more it snags, the lower the quality.

Grip Test (AKA Length Test) Grip the hair at the top, near the weft or band securing the hair if it is bulk hair. Slide your hand down and grip it about a quarter of the way down, repeat it for halfway and three quarters and finally grip it just before the tips. . Poor quality hair will be significantly thinner at each step of this test. Most good quality hair will be the same thickness for the first three steps only thinning in the final quarter of its length. Great quality hair is made from hair strands that are all approximately the same length so the thickness of the hair should be the same all the way down its length. This is rare and expensive, such hair is called ‘full length’.

Dye Test Dye a sample of the hair. If it is 100% cuticle-intact human hair it will change colour uniformly. If it develops streaks, highlights or lowlights, it has probably been mixed with low-grade human hair or even synthetic hair (usually high temperature fibre, see Synthetic hair section)

Hair extensions are any artificial hair that is added to one’s growing hair.  Hair extensions are used to increase length and/or volume, cover thinning hair and bald spots and add adornment. Hair extensions are manufactured in several different forms for different application techniques.

For the last 18 months, I have been a consultant on the 1Stophair  customer service team, answering questions, testing new products and experimenting.  Great fun!  I have been asked to write a series of in depth articles covering hair extensions so here goes.  Over the next few weeks, I will try to produce articles covering everything about hair extensions from what they are made of right through to any issues of environmental impact and human rights involved in their manufacture.

I hope to provide information about all types of hair enhancement available today. This information is intended as a reference only and I do not advocate any of the methods or products described. I will write completely objectively and all external sources of information will be cited.

As they are published, please feel free to comment on the articles, suggest anything you feel I have missed or request future chapters.

Natalja