Unfortunately many companies are calling their hair extensions 'good quality' and 'real hair' when they are not, simply because the industry is not internationally regulated, so really there is nothing legally stopping companies from doing this.
Your best fight against this is being as educated as possible both as a wearer of hair extensions and as a hair extension artist. 💆🏼♀️
Remy Hair
Is not a brand, but instead is a process where human hair, which has been cut from the head in a certain way so that when placed as extension it looks as natural as possible by placing the cuticle all in the same direction.
When customers are looking for extensions they want them to be as natural and ‘real’ looking as possible, which additionally makes it easier to blend with the natural hair and hence was why the ‘remy’ process was invented.
One main characteristic of remy hair is that it is cuticle correct hair - meaning that the cuticles remain intact and aligned as much as possible.
Non-remy human hair, may have cuticles facing different directions and be prone to tangling and matting.
True remy hair has been carefully braided or tied before being cut from the donor's head as this keeps all the cuticles aligned.
The remy hair is then carefully and delicately handled through all of the colouring and conditioning process to keep those cuticles aligned.
Extensions made with Remy hair usually contain some short hair with a natural taper at the end that gives you a very natural looking hairstyle.
How to tell if it is Remy Hair
You can tell non-remy hair in the following ways;
- Will tangle and matte easily after washing
- Will give a ‘burn smell’ when using a flat iron
- Will sometimes melt the hair slightly when using a flat iron
- Has a very shiny ‘fishing line’ look to it
Scrunch Test: While holding the hair by the top, place your other hand underneath the ends and push them up until they meet the roots. Rub your hands together to cause slight friction in the hair, then release. Run your fingers through the hair. Your fingers should slide freely through the hair. The more it snags and gets caught, the lower the quality of hair.
Consistency of Thickness : When holding the hair in a ponytail, grip it at different lengths to feel the consistency of thickness throughout it. Poor quality hair will be noticeably thinner at each step of your grip test. Higher quality hair will be almost the same thickness all the way through.
Flat Iron Test : Non-remy hair will give off a slight burn smell when a flat iron is used on it.
Washing Test: Wash the extensions vigorously with shampoo, rinsing the hair thoroughly with clean water. Low quality hair will be very difficult to brush through, feel coarse and tangle easily. This is because the edges of the cuticles are inverted and catching on each other creating friction, rather than laying flat in a uniform direction like fish scales.
⚠️ Please note, non-remy hair is not recommended for long term hair extensions, however there is a time and place for it for in short term clips-in’s for example. ⚠️
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