Microscopes to view hair...........?

Aphrodite wrote: I also look at the hair shaft under a microscope.  You can see the cuticle that way and it helps to determine if the suppliers' claims are accurate.

I have been looking at some microscope models over the last few months
myself and I was told that hair has to be magnified at a certain level to
clearly view the hair cuticles clearly. Very interested to hear about your
microscope you have and I know a few others would probably like to
know too as this has been discussed before.


What model microscope do you have? What is the magnification on that
model? What exactly did you observe? How clear did you see the cuticles
of the hair?

Thanks in advance

SAS - My microscope is called "EcoScience" and its maximum is 1200x.  This is more than adequate to view cuticles.  It was $39.99 at Toys-Are-Us! Ha!  Needless to say, there are no "USB" ports,,lol.  I am not a mad scientist!  I just want to see hair cuticles clearly!!!!

Anyway, I am still learning about what to look for.  If you go online, you can search around various studies that have been done and show what a hair cuticle looks like after it had been bleached, for example, 5x and 10x etc.  I am currently assembling info with which to use to interpret what has been done to hair.  This is of course only one tool.  Hair can be perfectly fine and have been processed.  I just aswant to make sure that if I am "claiming" it has not been processed, then that must actually be the case.   

Also, I can't emember which thread this was in but someone asked if had worn the hair I plan to sell, and what my findings are...yes, I have worn many samples of hair.  What you need to remember is that as a retail supplier, just because I wore some hair, and liked it, does not mean that the hair you get is going to be the same.  Most often retailers get hair to try, do so, rave about it, and then order a bunch of pre-packaged hair and sell it.  Well, if you are lucky, the consistency is there.  The problem herein lies that they do not open and test or put all the hair under the microscope etc.  It can get very impractical and costly.  I hope to be able to look at all hair before it leaves my business.  This is why I am sourcing direct.  Many of us got a bit of a taste of this with LUSH hair.  Amm wore it, tested it etc. but look at how many of us did not get quality hair...she did what she could but unless all hair comes from the same person, it is all different. We see that LUSH is no longer available.  Does this mean that Amm didn't do all she thought possible to ensure quality? No, it just means the hair was not consistent.

Now, as far as "fast research"....unfortunately, this is anything but fast.  It shouldn't be.  It should be ongoing, with each weft and with each shipment received.  I hope my supplier is consistent.  If he is not, and I discover it, it will be made known.  If a customer has issues with it, I will want to know.  I cannot claim there will not be bad batches, but I will make every effort to discover this before it leaves my door.

If anyone is interested, I will continue to report my findings/discoveries as I learn them!       

Very interesting! I would love to see this for myself under the micro-scope.  Thanks for the info Aphrodie! x

sherrie215 wrote: Bravo Aphrodite! You go girl!!

 I´m with ya .

i looked at my own, very overprocessed hair under a microscope.  It was very interesting.

My hair is bleaced lighter than 613, and its actually see through under a microscope, with absoltutly NO cuticle left at all.

Personally as a hairdresser im shocked that i still have a full head of hair, which, despite the microscopic findingd, is quite healthy! If i had a client come in to me with hair like mine i'd be horrified!