What is virgin hair?
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The term "virgin" is now widely used and unfortunately, used inappropriately or inaccurately.
Virgin hair means that the hair has not been subjected to any artificial processes that permanently change its inherent physical qualities. These processes include chemical applications (such as coloring or descaling) or mechanical treatments (such as extreme heat or pressure) that result in damage to the cuticle (the protective outer layer) and cortex (the protein core of the hair). If hair is not subjected to any artificial processes, the hair is considered in pristine, or virgin, condition, meaning that the hair possesses its original physical properties and the cuticle layer and cortex remain intact.
When purchasing virgin hair, here are six important questions to ask retailers:
1. Is the retailer a vendor or supplier?
If the retailer is a supplier, then the retailer is directly responsible for gathering hair from hair donors and has significantly more control over the quality and subsequent treatment of the hair collected.
2. If the retailer is a vendor, how does the vendor ensure that the hair is virgin?
If the vendor is not responsible for the collection of hair, it can be difficult for that vendor to vouch for the quality of the hair. The supplier could have applied any number of chemical and mechanical processes to treat the hair before selling its product to the vendor. However, if your vendor is diligent, it will travel to visit the facilities of its supplier and review its collection methods.
3. If the retailer is a supplier, what is the supplier's process to collect and sanitize the hair?
To ensure cuticle-aligned virgin hair, the supplier should be the responsible party for harvesting the hair it sells. Hair sold should not include any fallen hair or hair collected from auctions (which infers that the hair was collected by a party other than the "supplier").
Ideally, the supplier would not use any of the following common industry practices to sanitize the hair: bleaching (damages the cuticle), boiling or steaming (denatures the protein) or use of pesticides (damages the cuticle).
4. Is the hair subjected to descaling or cuticle removal?
If the answer to this question is yes, chances are harsh bleach and acid treatments have been used to smooth, or remove altogether, the cuticle layer.
5. How are the hair patterns achieved?
If a retailer offers uniform hair patterns, chances are the patterns have been created chemically (perms and relaxers resulting in damage to the cuticle) or mechanically (excessively high temperatures and pressure resulting in damage to the cortex).
6. Is your hair color treated?
Hair that has been dyed isn't virgin.
___ ___ ___
The term "virgin" is now widely used and unfortunately, used inappropriately or inaccurately.
Virgin hair means that the hair has not been subjected to any artificial processes that permanently change its inherent physical qualities. These processes include chemical applications (such as coloring or descaling) or mechanical treatments (such as extreme heat or pressure) that result in damage to the cuticle (the protective outer layer) and cortex (the protein core of the hair). If hair is not subjected to any artificial processes, the hair is considered in pristine, or virgin, condition, meaning that the hair possesses its original physical properties and the cuticle layer and cortex remain intact.
When purchasing virgin hair, here are six important questions to ask retailers:
1. Is the retailer a vendor or supplier?
If the retailer is a supplier, then the retailer is directly responsible for gathering hair from hair donors and has significantly more control over the quality and subsequent treatment of the hair collected.
2. If the retailer is a vendor, how does the vendor ensure that the hair is virgin?
If the vendor is not responsible for the collection of hair, it can be difficult for that vendor to vouch for the quality of the hair. The supplier could have applied any number of chemical and mechanical processes to treat the hair before selling its product to the vendor. However, if your vendor is diligent, it will travel to visit the facilities of its supplier and review its collection methods.
3. If the retailer is a supplier, what is the supplier's process to collect and sanitize the hair?
To ensure cuticle-aligned virgin hair, the supplier should be the responsible party for harvesting the hair it sells. Hair sold should not include any fallen hair or hair collected from auctions (which infers that the hair was collected by a party other than the "supplier").
Ideally, the supplier would not use any of the following common industry practices to sanitize the hair: bleaching (damages the cuticle), boiling or steaming (denatures the protein) or use of pesticides (damages the cuticle).
4. Is the hair subjected to descaling or cuticle removal?
If the answer to this question is yes, chances are harsh bleach and acid treatments have been used to smooth, or remove altogether, the cuticle layer.
5. How are the hair patterns achieved?
If a retailer offers uniform hair patterns, chances are the patterns have been created chemically (perms and relaxers resulting in damage to the cuticle) or mechanically (excessively high temperatures and pressure resulting in damage to the cortex).
6. Is your hair color treated?
Hair that has been dyed isn't virgin.