It can’t be durable and natural at the same time… FALSE.

While you can easily achieve a more natural appearance with a system that is made with lighter more delicate materials it is not impossible to get the same result with a more durable construction.

Hair replacements being made today use a variety of base materials. Recently the trend has gone towards “Program Hair” meaning you have several units, change them frequently and throw away the system when it’s time to change to a new one. What this means is that the hair retailers in the recent past demanded that the manufacturers make products that were lighter, thinner and most importantly they wanted them cheaper and faster. This is where the breakdown begins.

If you require cheaper products manufactured at a faster rate, something has to give, and that’s quality. Once the retailers started getting their cheaper faster systems in they discovered that without the quality they had only one option and that was to sell the consumer more products. Keep them “addicted” to hair and get there hands on your credit card so they could keep charging you monthly whether you needed service or a new system or NOT. Great gimmick!!

This is what has trapped so many into programs where the retailer holds the customer’s additional hair replacements hostage to keep the customer’s business. Here’s the funny part – many of those retailers are still buying your systems one or at best two at a time. It’s your monthly fee that is paying for each new system you’ll require. In our 25+ years of working with retailers, the number who have actually ordered more than 3 systems at a time for a client is next to none. They just don’t do it.

If your hair replacement provider tells you your hair piece is custom, take it with a grain of salt. Most all program hair is stock and readily available for immediate delivery from one of the big wholesalers. Fast and cheap. These systems aren’t made to last longer than 30 to 60 days. Implanted hair and loops fall out like your own growing hair. They look great, for a while, but they aren’t intended for long term wear. We see this most frequently in Skin units as they are most susceptible to breaking down more rapidly than their mesh base counterparts.

If you want durability and a natural look we can give it to you. You won’t be using some of the materials they say are necessary for a natural look, but we’re certain you’ll be happy with the end result. It’s all a matter of taking your desires and your lifestyle into consideration and working with you to give you what you want and need. Remember the two areas that are most important for a natural look are the front of the hair replacement and the blending areas. Give us a call or email us. We can help.

When deciding between ordering custom hair or stock hair pieces there are a few issues to take into consideration up front. First can you be accommodated with stock hair pieces? If you’ve worn stock hair pieces in the past and it worked for you and you were comfortable with stock I would suggest you stick with it. Stock hair replacement systems are generally very consistent in many ways. The ventilation, base size and contour are always the same. Stock hair replacements become a part of the production that never varies as the specifications are set and the job of the manufacturer is to keep that consistent with every piece that’s made.

Custom is required when a stock hair piece won’t work because of size, color, hair density, hair style, contour and frontal design. Generally speaking most will be accommodated with stock but there is nothing like a custom system for best in fit and appearance. We can help you determine what will be best for you based on your requirements and desires. Call us for a Free Phone Consultation and we’ll tell you honestly which way we think you should go. Naturally we make more money on a custom order but we want you to be happy and come back to us for your future hair replacement needs and we really do want what is best for you.

Virtually all the hair being used in hair pieces available on the net and in the salons is processed hair. There are several reasons for “Processed” hair. First, the hair used in productions comes from many heads. The hair must be treated to reduce or flatten the cuticle. The typical technique is an acid wash that causes the cuticle to flatten to the hair shaft. With the cuticle flattened it is less likely to catch on other hairs causing extreme tangling. It is impossible to remove the cuticle as this is the protective layer of the hair shaft not unlike our own skin.

The newest method of flattening the cuticle is the use of Silicone based products. Silicone on the hair shaft fills the cuticle and damaged hair and protects it. The silicone used is more concentrated than the hair care products you’ll find available in the salon and will remain on the hair for an extended period of time. It will however eventually wash off. This is why you sometimes get a hair replacement system that’s ok for awhile then suddenly after a washing, tangles. Silicone is almost always used after acid wash to give the hair a smooth silky feel and greater shine.

Processed hair also includes bleaching, dying and chemical waving (Perms). 99.9% of human hair used in production comes from China and India. Generally the hair most suited in China comes from regions where the diet consists more of wheat products than rice products. The growing hair in these regions has more characteristics found in European hair, meaning it is softer and has a thinner diameter than hair coming from other regions of China where the hair is straighter, thicker and generally very straight.

The hair used comes in basically 3 shades—Black, Blacker and Blackest. In order to meet the demand of the Western market this black hair has to be bleached down to get the myriad of colors of hair found in the Western world. For the darkest colors generally you’ll find 100% Indian hair is used. There is enough color difference in Indian hair to accommodate all dark shades with minimal bleaching. Indian hair is more like Caucasian hair in diameter and wave. For dark red and brown colors the will have a combination of Indian and Asian hair. While the hair undergoes more bleaching than the dark shades the inclusion of the Asian hair helps to buffer the chemical treatments required and the two types of hair become more Caucasian in appearance.

For the Lightest shades of Blonde and Red it is almost exclusively Chinese hair that is used. The reason for this is that the Chinese hair can be bleached to a higher level than Indian hair. If the factories were to bleach Indian hair to the level needed for the lightest blonde colors the hair would turn to MUSH. Chinese hair once bleached to the highest level becomes softer and more accepting to color and perms. However, this is the most delicate color range to work with. The amount of hair lost to High Level colors is tremendous which is why it is sometimes more expensive to obtain a product with very light colored hair.

This is an incredibly huge subject but let’s just say that Processed hair is the norm, it’s probably in your current hair replacement and it is designed to make your life easier by eliminating the negatives connected with Cuticle / Virgin hair.