European Human Hair vs Asian Human Hair - Which Is Better?
European human hair vs Asian human hair. There is something uncanny about wearing the hair of another person. We have all heard awful stories about the hair trade and how hair is sourced. Chris Rock's documentary, Good Hair sheds some light on this topic. In short, because there are no regulations, boutique owners and wearers have little to no control causing many to feel helpless.
As a wig wearer, I quickly grew tired of being told that European hair is better than Asian hair. I actually found it incredibly insulting because all hair is beautiful! What really determines the hair quality is the processing techniques used on the hair. Here is what you need to know when buying a human hair wig:
- Is the hair remy or fallen(processed or non-remy)? Remy hair means the hair is collected from the root to tip (top to bottom). Fallen hair or non-remy hair is simply hair not remy hair so the hair isn't collected for the root to tip. Remy hair is important because it allows wig manufacturers to keep the cuticle intact. When the cuticle is left intact the hair is often softer, air dyes nicely, & will last longer.
- Remy hair doesn't mean the cuticle is always intact!
- Fallen (processed or non-remy) Hair. For two years, I have been manufacturing (which means I have designed a wig and sourced everything on my own (I am not reselling Alibaba wigs and calling them my own), I have learned that the majority of hair is sold to dealers or brokers. This hair is purchased in bulk, the cuticle is completely removed, and then because human hair dye is expensive, textile dyes are used, and then finally the hair is coated with silicone to give it a smooth finish. The finished product feels good but in reality, we can't do anything with it. In short, you get what you get and that's it. Therefore, we have to spend endless hours finding and compromising on the hair color to get what we want.
- How to determine if the hair you have is remy hair or how do you know if the cuticle is intact? It's simple, resistance or pullback is your guide (see video here). Remy hair will feel smooth against your fingertips going from the top to bottom but you will feel pullback or resistance against your fingertips from the bottom to the top. That pullback or resistance is the cuticle!
- Finally, does European hair go through less processing than Asian hair? We are told that European hair is the best hair in the world because it is the only hair that we can buy that isn't black and therefore the hair goes through less processing. Manufacturers know we want/need this hair so they often charge 4x the price for it. I believed this for two years because it makes sense -if you buy brown or blonde hair and use less bleach the hair isn't as processed so it is a higher quality, right? Well, after manufacturing for two years, what have learned is that is not always true. There are ways to process the dark hair colors & keep the cuticle intact! It's a very slow, delicate process and nonetheless, it can & is being done and it's being done at a large scale! In reality the "European" hair, you think you are buying might actually be "dark" hair that is processed in a way that keeps the cuticle intact.
As a manufacturer, I have decided to take a stand on this topic. Instead of talking about European vs Asian hair, I have decided to instead focus on the more important topic, which is how the hair is sourced. In my mind, I would like to know that the hair that I wear every day has been willingly given. That is why, all Encelia human hair wigs are made from ethically-sourced Remy human hair purchased from Hindu temples where the hair is willingly donated through a ritual called tonsuring.
From there, our hair is peacefully preserved, which means the cuticle is left intact using the slow processing method I mentioned above. Our hair is clean, which means no silicone, textile dyes, or henna is used on our hair so your wig can easily be customized to any color you desire. Our premium Remy human hair is super soft and it gives us back the freedom to customize our hair color, which the hair loss community deserves!
My hope is that this will provide the hair loss community complete peace of mind (from beginning to end).
Xoxo,
Allison (Founder of Encelia)
Allison (Founder of Encelia)
