Hair Extensions Technical Terms Explained – Q & A Session 20

Let’s get technical

Have you ever been confused with so much of this hair extensions technical words, not knowing what they mean or what the difference between it really is? from today we will start busting all the hair extensions jargon.

Is Cliphair ethically sourced?

Yes, we are an ethically sourced brand, which means we only use suppliers that guarantee that the raw material they collect is sourced by ethical means, and no laws, or human rights are violated during this process.

What is human hair extension?

As the name suggests, human hair extensions are hair extensions made using only human hair. There are a lot of other types of extensions available in the market, including synthetic, horse, human hair etc. some sellers also do a mix of extensions, so you have to be careful when buying extension so make sure the hair you are receiving is 100% human.

How do I know if it is human hair or synthetic hair?

There are many differences between the two, visually you can tell both apart, as synthetic hair has an unnatural sheen. If not, you can judge by touch as synthetic will feel like plastic. Synthetic hair also cannot take heat and cannot be dyed using a regular hair dye.
However, some of the synthetic hair is now being produced to look very close to or just like human hair, and it can take some heat as well. Now to judge this type, you can use 2 methods, one is burning and second is dye.

If you dye a strip of hair and it does not dye at all, it is not human hair. When doing the burn test, when you burn human hair as compared to synthetic hair, you will need to look out for a few things. When you burn synthetic hair, it turns to hard plastic like balls and gets stuck together as it is melted into each other, however human hair will burn and contract and once you touch, it will be all ash and not like hard plastic.

What is Remy?

Remy hair is hair that is collected from a human donner and has undergone minimum processing, to keep the hair soft and silky. The Remy hair is supposed to have its cuticles in one direction ensuring the hair does not tangle.
The main terms for a hair to be Remy is human hair that does not tangle more than any normal human hair would. Contrary to popular believe Remy hair can also be stripped off from cuticles, and still be classified as Remy hair, if its high-quality hair raw material and does not tangle.

What is cuticle?

Cuticles are scales that goes all along the lengths of the hair, kind of like pores on the skin. These cuticles protect the hair from damage and makes them last longer. These cuticles also effect the porosity of the hair. However, hair with cuticles can be porous or non-porous.

What is porosity?

Porosity of hair means the absorption power of the hair, a highly porous hair will absorb any thing fast and easy, may it be dyes, conditioners, masks, water but this will also lose all this fast and easy. porous hair is often frizzy due to the absorption of too much water. A non-porous hair will not absorb anything and any product you apply will simply remain on the surface and this will mean it will be impossible to nourish this type of hair. The best kind of hair is a medium porosity level hair, which has the property to absorb but not too much.

What does it mean by double drawn?

Double drawn or one ratio means the hair is the same thickness from top to bottom. This is not a natural look, as when our natural hair grows it gets thinner at the bottom tips. So the double drawn hair extensions are more expensive as these are made by combining all the hair of the same length together, as all hair is not the same on the donors head, a double drawn look is achieved by hand to give the customers the top to bottom thick look.