Customer: “Is there a way to test the hair to see if it is actually real human hair or a synthetic fiber?”

Answer:
We often get this question and this is how you can conduct your own test. It is not necessary to conduct a microscopic analyzation to find out what type of fiber the hair extension or hair piece contains. Often a simple burn test will reveal the type of fiber.

In the textile industry it is often required to know how to conduct a fiber burn test to identify the content. The same tests can be done on hair.

1. Remove single strands of hair from different areas of the questionable unit.

2. Hold a single strand with tweezers and use a lighter to keep a steady flame. Do not use matches as they will mask the odor.

3. Pay attention to the odor, ember and flame.

Human hair is a protein fiber that burns with a small flickering flame and will not continue to burn unless you hold the flame continuously to the strand. It burns briefly with an orange flame and then chars leaving a dark ash that turns to powder when crushed. The odor is of burning hair or burning feathers.

Synthetic fibers are either nylon or polyester and each burns quite differently.

Nylon fibers burn rapidly but briefly and then melts. It has a sparkling flame that has a blue base and orange tip. The ash is like hard amber beads. The odor smells like boiling green vegetables (burning celery).

Polyester fibers melt and burn rapidly at the same time. It has an orange sputtery flame with black smoke and gives off a sweetish odor. The ash drips and is sticky to the touch before forming into hard black beads.

Remember to burn test each fiber seperately as your piece may contain a blend of both human hair and synthetic.

Customer: “Can we dye the hair?”

Answer:
If the hair is our Russian virgin hair extensions then it is possible to bleach, highlight and dye the hair, but you run the risk of drying out the hair. Remember this is cut hair which begins losing its moisture rapidly. It reacts differently than scalp hair so usual recipes may give different results.
If the hair is our custom European hair extensions or our Indian Remy hair extensions then it is only possible to dye to a darker color. Most likely we have already bleached and/or dyed the hair. We use permanent fiber dyes that cannot be easily removed and stains the hair in such a way that makes removal and fading very difficult. If you try to highlight or bleach the resulting color will be stained and uneven. Unless the hair is a “bleach” color. Our color ring contains 7 bleach colors that we do not dye so the hair can be highlighted, bleached and/or dyed.

Additional details:

Russian Virgin Hair: This hair type can be bleached, colored and permed but contains the same risks as chemically treating normal scalp hair. Since this is cut hair its moisture levels are lower than scalp hair and may react differently to chemicals. Your risk is that the hair will tangle.

European Hair: This hair type may be a mix of various hair that was bleached, dyed and/or blended to obtain a custom color and texture match (all textures are 100% natural). It is advisable not to highlight, tint, dye, perm or apply any other type of chemical process since it is likely the hair has already been treated.

“Bleach” colors do not have any dye deposits. Only this type of hair can be easily highlighted, tinted and dyed. We strongly advise against further chemical treatments on light blonds. Your risk is damaging the integrity of the hair beyond repair.

Indian Hair: This hair type may be a mix of various hair that was bleached, dyed and/or blended to obtain a custom color and texture match (all textures are 100% natural). It is advisable not to highlight, tint, dye, perm or apply any other type of chemical process since it is likely the hair has already been treated.

“Bleach” colors do not have any dye deposits. Only this type of hair can be easily highlighted, tinted and dyed. We strongly advise against further chemical treatments on light blonds. Your risk is damaging the integrity of the hair beyond repair.

Cuticle Free (non-cuticle) Hair: We strongly advise against any and all chemical treatments. This hair type has the most chemical processes applied upon it and will react negatively with additional treatments. Your risk is damaging the integrity of the hair beyond repair.

With any of the above hair types please conduct a strand test. Every group, batch or order of hair may be from a single donor or a combination of donors. The donor’s environment, diet, weathering and maintenance affect the performance of the hair long after it was cut and manufactured.

Customer: “I’m confused. I’m looking at the Layered hair and it is very thin. How many extensions would I need to use? I currently use only 160 strands for a full head but the extensions I have used from another company are much thicker than these.

Answer: The Layered hair extensions are made with single drawn hair creating full strands at the root with tapered ends. During manufacturing we take the raw hair and only clean out the top 6-8″ of short hairs and then leave the bundle as it was naturally grown.

You need an average of 150-200 strands of large density tips for a full head. So the quantity is the same as you apply from the other company. You will always want about 6 bundles for a full head.

The Layered hair extensions are perfect for adding fullness and no more than 4 inches of length. If you want to add more length than fullness our Premium hair extension line would be more appropriate.

Here is a photo of our Layered hair:

Customer: “I wanted to clarify some information regarding your products. I noticed you sell Russian virgin and Indian Remy hair. I also noticed at another point on the site you said you sold European hair. Do you sell Indian hair that is European Grade or actual European hair?”

Answer:

Indian Remy hair - We manufacture this hair type in pretipped extensions and ready made weft extensions. We manufacture this hair through our Indian factory. Our premium line is Indian hair but called European grade.

Russian virgin hair - We manufacture this hair type as pretipped extensions, raw hair by the kilo and for custom hair orders either loose or in hand-tied weft extensions. We collect this hair in Ukraine, prepare it in our US production warehouse and then send it to our Indian factory to be made into pretipped hair extensions.

European hair - This is grade B Russian hair that we bleach and dye for custom European hair orders made either loose or in hand-tied weft extensions. We collect this hair in Ukraine and manufacture our custom hair orders only in our US production warehouse.