Indian Hair 101: "Truth vs Hype"
Choosing a hair supplier can be overwhelming, now that so many sellers claim to offer “virgin,” “remy,” or “real Indian hair.” Unfortunately, with the growth of the market, comes competition. Many retailers are now resorting to dishonest and deceptive practices to market their products. Many are marketing
Chinese, processed, animal or "beauty supply store" quality as Premium Virgin Remy or Full Cuticle Hair. They also add silicone and chemical products to hair to enhance its appearance. Another dishonest practice is representing chemically textured and processed hair as naturally textured. At Indian Hair Company we do not subscribe to these dishonest practices.
What is Virgin, Full Cuticle, and Remy/Remi Hair?
Virgin hair is hair that is free of any chemical processing or altering. It is the pure, 100% natural human hair cut from the head of a single or multiple human donors.
Full Cuticle hair refers to hair that has not been subjected to an acid bath cuticle removal or any chemical altering. All cuticles remain intact maintaining the integrity, strength, and sheen of each strand.
Remy hair is hair that has been collected from the heads of women directly. Remy hair is collected in a method in which all hair strands stay aligned in the natural direction as it grew (i.e. holding the hair in a ponytail and cutting), top at top, and ends at ends, to maintain the natural texture pattern and cuticle direction. This eliminates tangling problem commonly found in non-Remy or low quality hair.
Where does Virgin, Full Cuticle, Remy Hair come from?
The best virgin remy comes from India. Europe also produces full cuticle hair. European hair, while expensive, is not in high demand, due to its fragile strength, lack of texture, and scarce availability. The majority of European hair is procured from Russia, and other eastern European countries. Indian remy is in high demand and most sought after, because of its natural body and texture, fullness, seamless blending and versatility with both ethnic and Caucasian hair textures.
Why do I want Virgin Remy Hair? Isn't it the same as the Remy sold in stores?
In order to pull off your best look, the hair must flow like real hair, behave like real hair, and look like real hair. You need hair that you can custom color and match to your own, perm and style, without damage. The only hair that can achieve this is virgin remy hair.
Wearing hair extensions is your secret, and no one should know but you! The difference between virgin remy Hair and beauty supply store hair, is the difference of people saying “She has such beautiful full hair” and “She is wearing wet ‘n’ wavy!” At Indian Hair Company we don’t believe in “cookie-cutter hair.” Despite what commercial grade “remy” hair sold in beauty supply stores may claim, we can promise you that commercial beauty supply store hair is in no way virgin or remy and you, the consumer, should be aware of that!
The Truth: About 90% of the human hair for sale (including commercial “remy”) by beauty supply stores and some online hair retailers has been heavily processed to achieve the look and feel. It is usually low quality, stiff and wiry hair of Asian (Chinese) origin, and sometimes mixed with synthetic and animal "filler" hair. Such hair is collected in a disorganized manner (tops/ends mixed up), stripped of its cuticles by soaking it in an acid bath, colored with metallic dyes, and further chemically processed to achieve certain textures. It arrives coated heavily in silicone, giving it a temporary "tangle free" nature and unnatural shine, which rinses away with the first few washes. Once the silicone coat is gone the significantly degraded hair leads to intense tangling, gathering, matting, stiffness, and dryness. Because the hair has been so heavily processed, it usually cannot handle any further processing (e.g coloring, perming, heating, curling, straightening). This type of hair is usually only good for one extension service and must be disposed of, leading to an expensive yearly cost if you are a frequent extensions wearer.
Additionally, there are some health concerns with the use of this type of hair. Skin and scalp allergies have occurred in people who are sensitive to the synthetic, animal, and chemically processed fibers found in commercial beauty supply store hair!
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