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Some years ago, the hair extension and hair replacement industry introduced client service plans intended to help clients plan ahead both financially and cosmetically. At the time, most plans offered to replace hair systems about every six months in exchange for a monthly fee. Recently however, the replacement period has been getting shorter, and today, some plans offer three monthly or even monthly replacement options. It goes without saying, that these high-turnover plans consume more hair, but does that hair have the same resilience and longevity of its predecessors? And does it matter?

Clearly hair that is intended only to be worn for a short period cannot cost as much as hair which was expected to be permed, color corrected, and thickened routinely over its 12 to 18 month life span. Cheaper hair is likely to be lower quality hair. So the question arises, is it better to rotate poorer quality hair more frequently or pay a little more for premium hair that will last longer? It is not only the issue of longevity. A poor quality hair product will always be a poor quality product. The client knows to tell the difference.

Today's new service plans

It is important to analyze the benefits of frequent hair rotation versus the possible loss in hair quality before you make a recommendation to your client. Could it be that today's new service plans have your clients wearing hair that is no better than yesterday's hair systems after six months of wear? To understand the dilemma, you must to see it through the eyes of a hair factory manager. Hair extension and replacement factories have a choice of many different grades and sources of human hair. The highest grade is of European origin, usually from Eastern Europe. This is the most expensive hair available anywhere and the longer lengths are limited in supply. Next comes the Indian hair extensions, which in many respects, with the exception of color, can resemble European hair. Finally there is a Chinese hair, known for its strength and affordability.

Clearly hair that is intended only to be worn for a short period cannot cost as much as hair which was expected to be permed, color corrected, and thickened routinely over its 12 to 18 month life span. Cheaper hair is likely to be lower quality hair. So the question arises, is it better to rotate poorer quality hair more frequently or pay a little more for premium hair that will last longer? It is not only the issue of longevity. A poor quality product will always be a poor quality product. The client knows to tell the difference.

Cost of goods

But the cost of goods is not the only consideration. Factory managers also have to maintain close relationships with their overseas wholesale hair suppliers and the cost of travel, ongoing contact, and the business infrastructure necessary to accurately place and track regional orders can be considerable. So the search for economies is inevitable and you need to know where those savings are likely to happen - and who is going to be affected by them.

A client who is replacing his hair system every 4 to 12 weeks is unlikely to receive exactly the same hair he got in the past. Professionals should be aware of those differences even if their client is not. If the client used to wear European or Indian hair extensions, the first point of difference may be the diameter (denier) of their new hair. The hair that is most likely to be used in high-turnover system comes from China and has a thickness of 0.1 mm and up on average. As a result, it is not going to have the same texture, luster and manageability as European hair, or even Indian hair, even after decuticalisation.

Furthermore, it is likely that the color palette has had to be changed and this means removing much of the original, dark hair pigmentation and re-dyeing the hair, usually with a fabric die, to the desired shade.  While most factories have perfected this technology, it is nonetheless an assault on the hair extension, and it becomes more vulnerable no matter how gentle the color correction process may have been.

A bigger risk

But there is a bigger risk. In order to handle the increasing volume of hair orders, ever-accelerating deadlines and the constant pressure to reduce costs, factories may seek operating economies, some of which may compromise hair quality. For example, small, undisciplined factories could extend the interval between changes in the acid baths during the removal of the hair cuticle. This may seem trivial, but there is a minimum concentration of active ingredients necessary to effectively remove the cuticle. Anything less will fail to soften the ragged cuticle edges. Any more, and it would dissolve away the hair’s entire outer protective layer.

When a factory tries to cut down on chemical ingredients, labor, or quality control procedures, the effects may not be seen until the hair system has been worn by its new owner for several weeks. If they are lucky, the poorer hair quality may not be noticed at all before the hair extension or hair system is replaced. However, it only takes one or two dissatisfied clients and years of goodwill will go out the window!

Is your average client likely to notice the difference in hair quality? Perhaps not. But what about that 5% who you have pampered with your highest quality and now won't settle for second-best? Where can you turn for a top quality hair system that you can integrate into your service plan?

It is surprising that while most wholesale hair manufacturers offer all manner of design configurations and base types, few of them offer those same designs with a choice of hair quality. Perhaps this explains why so many retailers shop around, switching from one manufacturer to another on the recommendation of their friends as part of the ongoing experiment to find what's hot this month! This is a waste of time and resources.

Some suggestions

Here are some suggestions to help you take the best possible care of your clients. Let’s start with education. The first priority is to instruct your clients to maintain their hair better. Teach them to use the right shampoos and conditioners and other hair care products.. Unfortunately, in today's saturated market, it is difficult for most people to determine what products are actually beneficial to the hair and which ones are damaging. For example, SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) is a harsh detergent which actually dries the hair, yet most shampoos contain SLS, sometimes in concentrations of up to 10% by volume.

Turning to conditioners, most of those sold to the public are not appropriate for the hair used in hair systems because of a marked difference in the surface energy of hair that no longer has its cuticle. Using the wrong conditioner will coat and weigh down the hair without delivering the expected benefits. Contrary to popular belief, the key function of a conditioner is to reduce friction between adjacent hairs, preventing the loss of vital hair cells, the generation of electricity both of which impact the hair's longevity and manageability. Moisture retention is a benefit that was added at a later stage in the development of conditioners as scientists came to understand the physics of hair growth. Even today's best conditioner can only retain moisture in top quality hair for 2 to 3 hours. Damaged hair, or over-processed hair extensions may lose its moisture in half that time. However there are a few conditioners specifically formulated for processed hair extensions, but without your advice, your clients are unlikely to be able to find them.

If your client plans to buy a conditioner in his or her local drug store or supermarket, encourage them to select one that states on the label that it is for "Light blond hair" or for "Damaged hair”. The surface energy of light blonde hair at 36-38 mega neutrons approximates the surface energy of processed hair (42 mega neutrons). For comparison, the surface energy of regular, growing hair is 30-32 mega neutrons. A sophisticated (obsessional?) client might try calling his or her cosmetic company to request the surface energy range of the hair their shampoo or conditioner is designed to react with. Alternatively, they could request the surface tension of the shampoo or conditioner itself to determine its compatibility with their own hair type. Unfortunately most of the time, they will find that the manufacturer does not have this information and probably does not even understand the question. This reflects the fact that most research dollars today go into fragrance, color and other cosmetic attributes, not the science of hair care.

To the best of my knowledge, there is only one company at this time that manufactures a line of shampoos and conditioners and best hair care products specifically for the type of hair used in today's hair replacement and hair extension systems. As a matter of professional etiquette, I choose not to go into more details in this article, but I would be happy to answer questions from any professionals who would like to contact me directly.

Solution lies in your own hands

The second, and perhaps most important, solution lies in your own hands. To satisfy that critical 5% or 10% of your customers who demand the very highest standards, you should ask your manufacturer or wholesale hair distributor to give you the option of ordering hair extension and hair replacement systems of differing hair quality. Obviously, European hair is not for everyone, but for those discriminating clients, it is a choice that you should be able to offer. The cost differential between a hair system with short to medium length hair using Chinese hair versus European hair is likely to be only $25 to $30. Many of your clients might be happy to pay this small surcharge in order to look and feel their very best! We have to be honest here and to inform them that the $25-$30 difference is at a manufacturer level. How much the manufacturer and then all the ON RITE'S/Large distributors will want to make- we can't tell but it is very very good that the market will know that there is such a small difference in price to this solution because the magazine is creating a point of pressure from the side of the consumers on to the manufacturers and saying: "WE KNOW GUYS THAT IT COST YOU ONLY $30/UNIT. LET'S SEE NOW HOW MUCH MONEY YOU WANT TO MAKE ON US"