Virgin Hair
What is virgin hair?
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 her product to the vendor. However, if your
vendor is diligent, he will travel to visit the facilities of its supplier and
review her 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.
Remy Hair
Similar to virgin hair, the term “remy” is now widely used
and unfortunately, also used inappropriately or inaccurately.
Strictly speaking, remy or remi hair, is hair that has been
remitted in Hindu temples. Some women in India and other regions practice
tonsure. Tonsure is a religious practice associated with Christianity, Buddhism
and Hinduism whereby the devotees shave their heads as a demonstration of their
religious devotion.
Today, the definition of remy has been broadened
considerably and can include the following :
Indian hair gathered by a variety of methods, including
fallen hair. Fallen hair is hair that is not collected directly from the hair
donor, but rather is collected from hair brushes and refuse.
Hair possessing cuticle layers that are aligned or removed.
It’s important to remember that hair can be remy, but not
virgin. That is, the hair could be sourced from the temples of India, but
processed chemically or mechanically. And it works the other way as well. Hair
can be virgin, but not remy. Hair collected may have its original physical
properties intact, but the hair has been collected in such a manner that the
cuticles are not in alignment or removed altogether.
Why is it important that cuticles are aligned? (And what are
cuticles?)
The cuticle of the hair is a hard, shingle-like layer of
over-lapping cells some 5 to 12 layers deep. If the direction of these shingled
layers is misaligned, these layers can rub against one another causing friction
that results in tangling and matting. Even worse than misaligned cuticle
layers? Cuticle layers that have been removed altogether, leaving the cortex
exposed. Initially, due to a silicone and bleach treatment, the hair will
perform wonderfully. But ultimately, the cortex cannot remain intact exposed,
resulting in a complete entanglement of the hair.
Ok so now what is Virgin remy hair...? Stay Tuned
