What do you do to test new hair extensions?

[Suki]

Hi,

My new hair has arrived today which is supposed to be cuticle correct Indian Remy. I have been practising using a make called I&K which is pretty lowgrade chinese hair so I am hoping this will be slightly better- I can't afford to use the expensive stuff whilst I am still doing practice sets for free.

At first look it doesn't appear to be massively different, does anyone have a good way of testing if it is what it is supposed to be?

In the meantime I have ordered a sample from here Virgin Russian Hair Pre-Tipped & Bulk Loose
I figure if this is the best of the best it will give me a gauge of what I should be looking for. Has anyone ever bought from here and pretipped it? Guess it still works out very expensive.

Suki

 

[-sophisticutz-]

Wouldn't bother with the Russian, if that's what it is. Russian hair has been illegal to use as human hair ext. in the UK for 19 years.

European hair is not normally great to use and pretty non-existent. Any hair only has to pass through the one and only European processing plant to be called so.

Chinese is normally good to use as it is closer in denier to European (our) hair so doesn't have it's cuticle shaved. The cuticle is intact.

If I want to test it out I normally use a regular, reliable client and put the hair in at cost. This has always worked for me.
Good luck and I hope you find what you need.

 

[Suki]

Wouldn't bother with the Russian, if that's what it is. Russian hair has been illegal to use as human hair ext. in the UK for 19 years.

Thanks for the reply, I had no idea that was the case, I remember the celeb extensionist in the Jamelia documentary used russian hair as she sourced her own!

 

[minky]

Thanks for the reply, I had no idea that was the case, I remember the celeb extensionist in the Jamelia documentary used russian hair as she sourced her own!

Hi Suki , I had a conversation back in may with the British Representative of this Russian Hair company, a lovely man , he happened to be over here in Britain and he was willing to come out show me some samples of this Russian hair,
the man who rang me up was extremely knowledgeable about all hair different types and the different industrail processing that others tend to use ,
I normally do not listen if they mention any processing of their hair product
but he never so I listened intently to him because he really knew his stuff and In great depth ,
and from he what he told me the hair they sell sounds exceptional ...... its just simply pure Russian unprocessed hair ...the creme de la creme of hair

Unfortunately I declined to look at the hair sample offers because the price of the hair was far to expensive for what the average customer on the high street would pay for hair extensions
so I pointed him in the direction of a few other potential City Centre customers who do acutually use Russian Hair wefts and may have been interested in what they had to offer

I too think true Russian hair is fab.... but personally I think it's far too expensive for using as hair extensions
I would reccomend this type of hair stays on a weft , but maybe film stars or mega rich people would use it for exensions
who knows x minky

Here are some more hints and tips about hair that may help
http://www.salongeek.com/hair-geek/...air-extensions.html?highlight=hair+extensions

 

[-sophisticutz-]

I was under the impression that all ext. needed to be processed for human use. As part of my educator training we were taught that there were 7 legal processing plants in the world for processing human hair. We were also told that it was a legal requirement for hair to pass through one of these plants to be used for human 'consumption'.

We were also told the reason Russian hair was not now legal to use was to stop exploitation as the government was selling prisoners hair for their own gain.

I'll have to look into this as obviously I don't want to be teaching the wrong thing! The rules may have changed. I love looking in to the science and ethics behind things :green:

I do think also the ethics of sourcing is a big thing. I have found clients will pay more if they know someone hasn't been ripped off selling their hair.

 

[lancashirelass]

I think the best thing to do when trying out new hair from a supplier is to try it yourself either wear it yourself and put it through the process of washing drying etc, I normally get a pack of hair and in the colour of of my client who tests out all my hair after I have wash and dry it on a daily basis for a couple of weeks or so then if its upto the daily wear of a clients head. My client who wears the hair will give me feedback on a weekly or fortnightly basis and comes back to me at intervals so that I can see how its holding up. If they like it and I am satisfied with it I will then introduce it into my service. I use these three suppliers and have one more on standby.

I too watched that programme of Jamelia and found it very interesting I have attached the youtube link here for people who have not seen it.

YouTube - Jamelia: Whose Hair Is It Anyway? - BBC Three

If you want really good quality hair try Tash Jacks www.tashjacks.com her hair is fantastic and you wont have any problems with it. She knows her stuff and has loads of experience of dealing with all types of hair expecially russian hair.

I have just fitted hair from this company for my client and its fantastic, its virgin russian hair and its gorgeous.

I would highly recommend this company

 

[minky]

Hi, selling hair has been going on for ages even in England I remember as a kid in certain hairdressers they would cut off your pony tail or plait .... and buy it from you for a small amount,
reminds me of the film little women where she sold her hair .....
when you think of it it's great to buy fair trade Items
but what about the people who are not represented by fair trade .... they are even poorer ...... and if we just bought fair trade then others would suffer ,
too it gets so complicated ,
I try to buy from companys that have been going for many years
:hug: x minky

 

[persianista]

Russian hair is not "illegal"!!! I have been using European (Spanish), Polish and russian hair for many years. It is far far better quality than Indian or Chinese for use on European Caucasian people. I only use Indian hair if people want a cheapo temporary job.
My favourite is Polish hair as its really beautiful and silky.

 

[-sophisticutz-]

Russian hair is not "illegal"!!! I have been using European (Spanish), Polish and russian hair for many years. It is far far better quality than Indian or Chinese for use on European Caucasian people. I only use Indian hair if people want a cheapo temporary job.
My favourite is Polish hair as its really beautiful and silky.

I am only repeating what I have been taught. In the 80's Russian prisoners were shaved and the government sold their hair for profit, so it was made illegal. We were taught that the fair and legal way for hair to be sold was to go through one of the 7 processing plants in the world.

I was also taught Chinese hair was the best to use as it is closer in denier to our own and doesn't have to be prepared so harshly as other races hair. Of course this could be only opinion and every hair company has their line to spin.

Just because it can be bought doesn't necessarily mean it's not got through some legal loop hole and been obtained legally and fairly. I personally like to know the products I am using have been ethically sourced. However, this is of course only my preference and opinion. :green: