This article comes from a person who has been in the hairdressing industry for many years.

What's the difference between raw hair and virgin hair?

Why does one bundle of hair cost more than the other?

Today I will do a deep dive into hair extension quality and bundle cost. I won't hold back any information from what I've Learned from being in the hair industry for the past decade and spending months working directly with my manufacturing partners in China.

 First, let's discuss the difference between raw hair and virgin hair. Okay, without a detailed inspection, these two bundles look very similar. You might even expect them to cost the same. They're both thick to the ends, weigh about 100 grams and have a length of 18 inches. What you can't see with the naked eye is that one of these bundles has had its cuticles aligned, virgin hair, and the other is in its natural state, raw hair.

 

Virgin hair is the most common hair sold on the market today. It's cost effective, easy to find and performs well when coloring, styling and applying heat for curls. Generally, this hair is sourced from countries like India, Varma and Mongolia, sometimes is referred to as fallen hair because of the way it's brunch together, and then sold to manufacturers, which are often in China. A lot of hair quality comes down to how it's sourced and the cuticle is preserved.

 The cuticle is the outermost part of the hair shaft. It's formed from dead cells and overlapping layers, forming scales that strengthen and protect the hair shaft. Virgin hair begins with the cuticles not aligned, which will cause the hair to tangle. To fix this problem, the hair is soaked in a solution that softens the hair and makes the cuticles flexible. A machine is then used to realign the cuticle so they all face the same direction. Having the cuticles facing all in the same direction is called Remy hair. The process of aligning the cuticles to make virgin hair should be considered a budget version of real Remy hair. If you take a bundle a virgin hair, wet your fingers and then apply pressure to the hair, while moving up the bundle, you will only notice a small amount of cuticle. The lack of cuticles is also because many cuticles are stripped during the alignment process. Stripping the cuticle, similar to aligning, will help reduce the chances of the hair tangling, but it also reduces the hair's ability to curl for an extended period of time and also affects the hair coloring process. About a decade ago, most hair manufacturers would give the hair an acid bath to remove the cuticle from the hair. This technique was used to reduce the amount of tangling caused by cuticles facing the opposite direction. It also made the hair have a smell that resembled corn chips. However, this process was harsh and very damaging to the hair.

 There have been many advancements over the past decade when it comes to the manufacturing of hair. China does a fantastic job of making bundles. In addition, their techniques for realigning the hair, cuticle shackling, wefting and making curl patterns are second to none. Recently, the new technique I discuss that softens and aligns the cuticle has been used. This technique allows us to offer a relatively high quality product for an affordable price. The hair will still hold a curl pretty decent, and you can color the bundle to a No. 27 honey blonde. Virgin hair also holds up well in human environments where raw hair will act more like your natural hair and frizz up. This is one of the few benefits of virgin hair compared to raw hair, besides the lower price. If the bundle can't be dyed, it's because the hair has been pre colored to a one b natural black, or possibly a No. 1 jet black. This is often a technique used when using a lower quality raw material of hair that could have had a lot of gray hair or mixed colors. Another situation could be the hair donor previously colored the hair brown, blonde or something else and then dyed it back to a natural black color. This bundle type should be the least expensive human hair on the market. Okay, now that we have gone over the specifics of virgin hair, let's get into the higher quality raw hair and what makes it so special. Raw hair will be the highest quality, longest lasting and most expensive type of hair you can buy.

 The sourcing process usually involves rubber banding a woman's hair into a ponytail and then cutting it off. This keeps all the cuticles facing in the same direction. Remember, that's called Remy hair.

 Raw hair is much more difficult to source and less raw material is available. With the laws of supply and demand, this increases the price of the hair. When manufacturing bundles, raw hair from multiple ponytails is often mixed, shackled and wetted. If single donor hair is used to make a bundle, it's on a rare and even more expensive occasion. I only believe a bundle is from a single donor if I work with my trustworthy manufacturing friends. The term single donor hair is often used as a marketing tactic to raise the bundles price without any additional benefit.

 Raw hair is known for being able to color to a blonde or even platinum blonde. When colored professionally. Raw hair can also hold a fantastic curl and can easily last a year or more with proper care. Many clients tell me they have used the same raw hair from multiple sew ins over the past few years. You will pay more but get a much better product that lasts longer.

 Raw hair is mainly sourced from the temples of India for religious reasons and the sacrifice of material beauty. Hair is donated to the temples, which is then resold to manufacturers to make bundles, wigs and other hair products. Hair donated to the temples generate so much revenue in India, they often refer to hair as black and gold. Countries where a large amount of raw hair is sourced correctly are India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia and China.

 As much as you hear people saying that they're wearing Brazilian hair, it's probably from somewhere in Asia. Using different country names to describe hair started many years ago and people still have to use it today. The good news is that I will tell you what will determine the price of a bundle and how you can, too. First, you will want to know if you're purchasing virgin hair or raw hair. Next, find out if the hair has been pre dyed to a natural black or is it in its original color state. The weight of the bundle will become a factor. Companies will shave off a few grams of the bundle to save on the cost. You might wonder why someone would do that for only a few grams of hair. Well, when you sell tens of thousands of bundles, those few grams of hair really add up. For example, let's say a manufacturer sells 100 g bundles of hair, but it's really only 95 grams that saves 5 grams of the hair raw material per bundle. Next calculating 5 grams of bundle for 10000 bundles a month would add up to 50000 grams of hair or about 500 additional bundles. Let's say the manufacturer sells a 20th bundle for $40, we would calculate 500 bundles by $40 and get in an additional profit of $20000 per month. So yes, those few grams really do add up. Quick note, not all bundles are going to be 100 grams. For example, I sell custom long length single donor hair bundles from my celebrity clients and Celebrity Hairstylist. These bundles usually range from 50 inches to 70 inches in length and weigh 250 grams or more. Once again this is only for rare occasions and would be ex explicitly marketed by the length and weight.

 Now this is a perfect time to mention the length of a bundle and how it will affect affect the price. Shorter bundles like the 10 inch on my right will cost much less than the 30 inch bundle on my left. The longer hair takes much longer to grow which creates more value. Also here over 26 inch lengths generally starts increasing at a greater amount per 2 inches as it's much more difficult to source when compared to a 10 inch bundle. An example is that the wholesale price difference between a 10 inch bundle and a 12 inch bundle is only one to two dollars. Then compared to the difference between a 26 inch bundle and a 28 inch bundle, the price difference could be significantly more at $10.

 The cost of hair will also increase based on the curl pattern. Straight and body wave textures are often the same price as the process of making a body wave into an s pattern is relatively easy. However, a bundle price will increase once you get into more curly textures like a deep wave or Spanish wave.

 Now that the hair texture will increase the bundle cost for virgin and raw hair that steam into the desired curl pattern. The next variable is hair ratio. The hair ratio refers to the number of short hairs compared to long hairs. The more long hairs closer to the finished length of the bundle, the fuller and the more expensive it will be. Double drawn is a term used to describe a bundle of hair with a high ratio of long strands, which would make it full to the ends. There's no real standard to what the exact ratio is, so make sure you really inspect a bundle marketed as double drawn to make sure it's really full. Once installed, a bundle with a better ratio will have fewer flyways.

 Amazing coconut wax stick. A fuller bundle will also allow you to hold a curl pattern longer. There are a few ways to quickly know the number of short hairs in a bundle. First, you can hold up a straight bundle at the top and bottom, shake the bundle and you will see the shorter hairs come out. To demonstrate this first bundle has a lot of short hairs and is less expensive. This next bundle has fewer short hairs which should create a better hairstyle, but it's also more expensive. Another way to compare a bundle with more short hairs versus a fuller bundle is by holding the top of the bundle with one hand, and then holding the top of the hair with your other hand. Then slowly move toward the end of the bundle if the middle of the bundle feels thick and then quickly fins out, that you have a bundle that has a lower ratio of long hairs. If you take Brazilian bundles and perform this task, you will notice the bundle is more consistent from top to bottom.

 One characteristic that can significantly increase the cost of a bundle is if it's colored blonde, ombre or a custom color. The lighter color the more expensive you should expect it to b once again, if it's more work it will cost more. Highlighting a natural black 1B bundle to a chocolate brown is less time consuming than a 613 Russian blonde or 60 platinum. The final characteristic that could change the price of the bundle is if it has filler.

 Hair is really annoying and and often not the fault of the manufacturer. When sourcing tons of hair raw material, the suppliers often add fill her hair to save a little even if it's just 1% they will do it. Yes, it's annoying. I ask my manufacturing partner about this. I said, can you just pay a little more for the raw material supplier not to add filler hair? He said he had paid more in the past and they still do it. When the hair is being shackled, the technicians will do their best to remove all the filler hairs, which are usually just synthetic strands. Our second quality check is ironing the bundles before steaming into a curl pattern or package. Straight heat usually does a great job of exposing any possible fillers in the hair.

 I hope today's video has helped you learn more about why some bundles cost more than others and the difference between Virgin and, and raw hair. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

Hair Shop Online Website: https://rossprettyhair.com