QuoteReplyTopic: Cuticle Aligned/NonCuticle Human Hair Posted: June 19 2008 at 5:11pm
Donna posed some information about some problems with vendors I think this is something we need to look for when getting hair:
"The cuticle: The outermost surface of the hair shaft and is composed of a very hard keratin. It consists of flattened platelets of amphorous keratin, wrapped around the hair shaft in several layers, each layer overlapping the adjacent one progressing from the root of the hair to its tip. The cuticle scale is sub-divided into three further layers, the endocuticle (third layer), exocuticle (middle layer) and epicuticle (the outermost layer) respectively.
The cuticle is the outermost part of the hair structure and its function is to reduce nutrition loss and block the invasion of foreign matter. It is the most important part to keep your hair looking healthy."
Most commercially processed hair is from China and has been processed with a type of acid to remove the cuticles. One of the reasons cuticles are removed has to do with how the hair is collected. Another reason acid is used is to thin out each hair strand. At this time Caucasian hair is the most popular in extensions, and wigs. By removing cuticle the hair strand becomes finer resembling Caucasian hair.
The hair is then sorted into lengths, colored, and usually permed. In the factory it will pass through a lot of hands from start to finish. When hair is passed on from one person to the next without strict quality control some of the hair can easily become inverted. It's extremely easy to turn the hair, even for professional wig makers, there is always that possibility. When working with hair you cannot tell which way the direction is by looking, all the hairs look the same. This is where strict quality control, and continually testing the hair with each step, from start to finish comes in.
In the long run it takes more time for quality work, but is well worth it. The amount of companies who are offering custom hand tied wefts are diminishing quickly. Assembly line hair is made on industrial sewing machines and will always be less expensive, sacrificing quality for profit. Some companies claim their hair is the same cuticle direction but they strip the hair anyway. This doesn't make sense, and is counterproductive. If the hair is truly all in one direction why strip it? The only reason is poor quality control. Removing cuticle will make the hair useable for a few weeks although the process to remove cuticle makes the hair lose its luster, and compromises the hairs natural beauty.
Once the hair has been processed it will need a silicone layer to bring back shine, and keep the hair from feeling scratchy. This silicone layer does wash off in time, meaning generally you must buy all new hair every 8 to 12 weeks. Human hair growing from the scalp is always roots to ends in the same direction. The type of hand tieing we do is from roots to ends, and only done on the best quality unprocessed human hair.
In processed hair the silicone layer wears off, and you will notice the hair becomes dull and tangles easily. At approximately 1 to 2 months time the tangles form into mats at the top of the weft. You will never see processed hair in actual custom made hand tied wefts. There's far too much work, and time involved to custom make wefts with a lesser quality of hair.
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Human hair extensions are made from genuine human hair that is paid for and harvested from people, usually young women, all over the world. Human hair extensions can vary broadly in quality.
On the low-medium end of the scale, hair is chemically stripped of its cuticle so that it can be machine processed without regard for direction or root-tip alignment. If the cuticle were left in but the root-tip alignment mixed up, the microscopic scales that form the cuticle would be opposed and snag on each other causing tangling.
The negative effects of stripping the cuticle are brittleness, reduced protection from sunlight, dryness, salt, chlorine and pollution as well as a tendency to absorb liquids and swell or matt. It is not advisable to colour or heat-style this hair.
Remi [AKA Remy] hair refers to hair that has not had its cuticle stripped and has at least been partially hand-processed to maintain root-tip alignment. This hair is more expensive but will remain in good condition for much longer than stripped hair. It can also be heat styled and coloured.
The other main scale of measurement of hair quality is the ‘percentage full length’ Hanks or Wefts of hair are often made of differing lengths of hair strands. Average quality hair that is 18 inches [45cm] long may have 20% of the strands measuring 18 inches [45cm] a further 40% measuring from 14-16 inches [35-40cm] and the other 40% measuring 6-12 inches [15-30cm] A few of the superior grades [e.g. Bohyme Remi] are in fact full length, meaning each strand is exactly the stated length.
Colours of human hair are usually described by a colour scale which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but they are available in a very wide range of natural and psychedelic colours.
Outside of these, there is a third type of hair. Virgin hair is hair that has not been chemically treated. It is harvested, sanitised and sold as bulk hair in hanks. The colour remains the same and the quality is completely dependant on the donor. Having said that, hair that is in poor condition [Split ends, chlorine/salt/UV damage etc.] rarely finds it way into this market as the buyers are quite discriminating.
Texture & Style
Human hair is generally processed and sold in two textures; Silky, also called European and Yaki sometimes spelt Yaky. Silky (European) hair is pretty much exactly as it sounds, straight and silky.
Yaki (Yaky) hair has more volume, it feels coarser to touch than Silky (European) hair. This effect is created by imparting a very slight crimp to the hair strands during processing. Under a microscope, one can see a wave in each strand even though they appear straight to the naked eye. Yaki (Yaky) textured hair is a good match for relaxed African hair. It is also used by people who want a fuller style. Yaki (Yaky) textured hair tends to be sold only in straight styles but Silky (European) textured hair is curled and waved into a myriad of styles of hair extensions.
These are named according to their curl/wave and include styles such as: French Wave, French Refined, Italian Wave, Body Wave, Spanish Wave, Brazilian wave, French Curl, Spring Curl, Corkscrew, Afro-Kinky, Tight Curl, Deep Wave, Deep Curl, Wet Look, Natural Wave and Body Wave.
To test human hair for quality, perform the following;
Scrunch Test: Holding the hair by the top [tied] part, place your other hand under the tips and push the tips up until your hands meet. Rub briefly and release. Run your fingers through the hair, your fingers should slide freely through the hair. The more it snags, the lower the quality.
Grip Test (AKA Length Test) Grip the hair at the top, near the weft or band securing the hair if it is bulk hair. Slide your hand down and grip it about a quarter of the way down, repeat it for halfway and three quarters and finally grip it just before the tips. . Poor quality hair will be significantly thinner at each step of this test. Most good quality hair will be the same thickness for the first three steps only thinning in the final quarter of its length. Great quality hair is made from hair strands that are all approximately the same length so the thickness of the hair should be the same all the way down its length. This is rare and expensive, such hair is called ‘full length’.
Dye Test Dye a sample of the hair. If it is 100% cuticle-intact human hair it will change colour uniformly. If it develops streaks, highlights or lowlights, it has probably been mixed with low-grade human hair or even synthetic hair (usually high temperature fibre, see Synthetic hair section)
The type of hair you use for your extensions will be the most important factor in your final look. If you buy cheaper hair it will look good for the first month or so but after that it will start to deteriorate and shed. Shedding is one of the most embarrassing things about low quality weaves. Leaving a trail of hair behind you is the last thing you want.
Different Types of Human Hair
The quality and type of human hair used will dictate how natural wefts look and feel.
European Cuticle Hair: This is the silkiest type of hair. The strands have a fine to medium thickness. European hair is usually bone-straight but sometimes comes with a very slight wave in the tresses. Many believe that European hair is the highest quality of hair available, but that is not necessarily true. European hair is great but it is not suited to everybody. Our advice to you is to buy the texture of hair that would be most similar to your own if your own hair was long, also bearing in mind how your own hair looks when it is pressed or permed.
Asian Cuticle Hair: This hair has a slightly more coarse texture than Indian hair and often needs more conditioning. This is the most processed hair and the most likely to tangle. Asian (usually Chinese) hair is rather thicker than European hair, so to prepare this type of hair for suitable use it must be made thinner. This is done by the method we mentioned previously: dipping the hair into a vat of acid to strip the cuticle and then applying silicone as a false layer. The hair takes on an impressive sheen, but not for long. After a couple of washes it is dry and brittle and ready to be thrown away.
Indian Cuticle Hair: This is the most popular hair at the moment. It comes straight, wavy or curly; these effects are obtained by careful processing methods which do not strip or damage the cuticle, leaving the hair very soft and easy to manage. Cuticles are like theDNA in human hair that is 100% human hair, cuticle (root to tip), with no silicone on it, which means that the hair has no artificial shine and is matt and tangle free. If we need to dye the hair it is gently processed and de-coloured. The gentle process of removing the hair colour makes the hair more tolerant of added colours. New colour molecules are then put back into the hair. The cuticle layers are still left intact, which ensures that the hair is less prone to be dull. The hair can be permed and coloured, and treated just like your own hair.
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you SexiB. Thank you for posting this info.
