How To Know If Your Hair Extensions Are Of Good Quality

Thanks to the widespread use by famous artists and fashionistas, hair extensions have now become an option for beauty and look refreshment for many people. As a result, the hair industry has also grown rapidly and brought profits to manufacturers, distributors and retailers of hair products. However, the assessment of the quality of hair from which to determine the appropriate price seems to depend solely on the sellers, leading to the situation where customers – with little or no information – end up spending a fortune to buy low quality products. 

In order to prevent seller’s scam as well as equip customers with basic information on hair products, in this article, Anka Hair will help you to distinguish good quality versus low quality hair and the way to determine if your hair extensions are of good quality. 

How to determine quality of hair extensions?

Usually, the quality of a hair type is judged by its origin: Is it human hair or artificial hair? As you may already know, there are two types of hair commonly used to make extensions and wigs: Synthetic hair and human hair. From these two types, we can also have human hair blend , remy hair and non-remy hair. These hair types have different origins and compositions, resulting in their different quality and prices. 

The hair which is collected from one single donor with cuticle intact and has never been processed is the highest quality hair. The more blended and the more treatments it has, the lower quality it will be. Synthetic hair which is made from artificial materials and processed, dyed, bleached is considered the lowest quality hair. Accordingly, the quality of each hair type mentioned above can be sorted as follows:

Types	Origin	Processed	Quality
Synthetic hair	Artificial materials	Yes	Low
Human hair blend	Mixture of artificial hair and human hair	Yes	Low
Non-remy hair	Mixed donors human hair	Yes	Low
Remy hair	2 – 3 donors human hair	No	Good
Virgin hair	One single donor human hair	No	Best

In order to know if your hair extension is of low or high quality, you need to determine the type of hair used to make it. It is tricky and challenging but luckily it is possible. There are certain ways to test and see if the seller is telling you the truth. 

How to know if it is synthetic, human hair blend or human hair?

Let’s start with synthetic hair and human hair! 

By appearance: Synthetic hair has a flat-tone shade. Sometimes it is coated with silicone to have an over-shiny shade which can be washed away after a short period of time, leaving behind a dull, unnatural color. Human hair, on the contrary, is shiny and silky even when getting wet. 

By touching: Synthetic hair is dry and frizzy. It is hard just to brush or run your fingers through it. Human hair, with aligned cuticles, is smooth from root to tip. You can run your fingers freely through the hair or comb it effortlessly. 

By heat: Synthetic hair has been through all kinds of treatment that can leave a smell of chemical or odor. If you cut some strands of synthetic hair and set fire to it, you can see a high flame with burned hair clumps up and a smell of plastic. Human hair has no smell of chemicals. When burned, it becomes ashes that can be crushed easily by hands. 

Human hair blend is a mixture of synthetic hair and human hair. In fact, you can tell a human hair blend extension easily just by looking at it since synthetic hair and human hair in some ways can not be blended smoothly, especially after using for some time. 

How to know if the hair is processed or unprocessed?

Now if you know your hair extension is made of human hair but are not quite sure if it is processed or unprocessed, there are ways to find out. Processed hair, or non-remy hair is a term for mixed donor human hair that has been collected from different sources such as salon floors or a traditional religious ceremony. It is often of poor quality and needs to be treated with heat or chemicals. Unprocessed hair refers to remy hair and virgin hair. 

By appearance: Unprocessed human hair has the look of flawlessness: It shines naturally from root to tip, hard to get tangled even in the wind. You can also soak the hair in water, if it remains smooth and silky even when getting wet, it is unprocessed because the cuticles have done their job to keep all strands uniform and prevent tangling. Processed hair can not do the same. It will be frizzy and get tangled right away. 

By testing cuticles: The biggest difference between processed and unprocessed hair is the status of cuticles. Processing hair, either with heat or chemicals, will result in cutiles’ uniform. Use a blade or scissors to gently scrape off the cuticles of the hair. Hair that has not been processed will have white scales, while hair that has been dyed or chemically processed will have a brown or black color.

Where to buy reliable, real human hair?

To be short, a good quality hair extension is one that is made of unprocessed, human hair. If you want a long lasting, silky looking and smooth touching hair extension, remember to never go for low quality hair. After reading this article, you may have a basic idea of how to tell if it is synthetic hair, human hair blend or human hair or if it is processed hair or virgin hair.

However, in order to have the best quality human hair extension, you’d better get it from a reliable provider such as Anka Hair. We have factories and warehouses that can provide a large amount of real high quality human hair products collected from local women which are guaranteed to not go through any kind of treatment. You can be assisted by a team of professional and dedicated staff who can give you all the information, videos and pictures for you to check before ordering. For the best quality human hair and support, contact the Anka Hair team!