Georgie Kennett
Major Project
Sourcing Hair
Types of Hair
Human Hair
Wigs are mainly made from either human hair or synthetic fibre. Horse hair, crepe hair and yak hair can also be used for certain types of wigs (e.g judges’ wigs are horsehair).
Hair also comes in varying quality: there is good quality real hair and synthetic fibres, as much as there are cheaper options. This impacts on the look, durability and feel of a wig.
Human hair for wigs comes from various places, mainly Europe (Spain, Italy and western Russia are common places) and Asia (India and China).
The hair needs to be processed, which weakens the structure and can make it porous. Asian hair in particular needs a lot of processing, as it needs to be lightened in order to be coloured.
Hair also no longer has a natural supply of oil, and it can become very dry with use over time. It needs caring for to preserve it and keep it from drying out and breaking.
It can be washed in shampoo and conditioned, is set and styled just like real hair is, and is affected by heat, rain and humidity. It may not, however, behave exactly like hair on our heads.
Remy hair refers to hair that still has its cuticle. A lot of hair used in the hair trade has been stripped of its cuticle.
European Hair
European hair is the most desired human hair available because of the colour variety, the hair quality is generally the best simply because the hair tends not to be as drastically bleached or dyed compared to asian hair as asian hair is naturally dark and thick. Wigs look more natural and realistic with european hair depending on the model or actor etc. If you use asain hair in a wig designed for a european actor or actress the authenticity of the wig will not be believable.
Image Reference: Wholesale natural human hair: European, Uzbek, Bleached Savic hair (no date) Available at: http://www.ukrhair.com/
Asian Hair
Asian hair is less expensive than european hair for the previous reasons I have talked about, generally asian hair is available in limited colours. If there is blonde or light asian hair available it is normally in a relitively bad condition because of the difficulty to dye such dark hair.
Crepe Hair
Crepe hair is sheeps wool, it can be bought in ropes of various colours that have been dyed. It can be used to make hair pads like bun rings as well as for laid on hair work such as beards and moustaches. It can be bought cheaply in most colours. crepe hair is relitively cheap to buy therefore can be a go to choice when human hair is not in the budget however it is used for smaller make-up effects and generally to support structures and tends not to be the main body.
Yak Hair
Yaks grow hair that is quite a long length and it is coarser than human hair. It is widely available in pure white, this is useful as pure white human hair is rare and if available generally dyed a lot. Hair from the belly of a yak is the finest and softest. Yak hair can also be dyed almost any colour especially if its white yak hair.
Image References: Professional Hairdressing and Wigmaking materials (2016) Available at: https://www.banburypostiche.co.uk/ (Accessed: 6 February 2016).
Synthetic Hair
With technological advances, synthetic hair has come a long way in recent years. In some cases it is difficult to tell the difference -- the denier and texture are such that they feel almost like human hair. As a matter of fact, with some of the higher quality synthetic pieces, you would never know they were not natural human hair if you didn’t have the human hair right next to it to compare!
The most appealing aspect to synthetic hair is it can often be worn right out of the box with little or no styling. The fiber used has "memory" for wave, curl and volume which lets hair bounce back into place with minimal effort -- the curl pattern is permanently set. It can even hold up in bad weather and can guarantee no drooping or frizzing.
However, what synthetic hair offers in ease, it lacks in versatility. It cannot be styled to look many different ways like its human hair counterparts. Only special Heat Friendly synthetic hair is heat styleable to change the curl pattern. Keep in mind, even the heat friendly fiber can be difficult to style as synthetic fiber is more resistant to change. Synthetic hair is also less durable than human hair. With proper care you can expect synthetic hair wigs and hairpieces to last about 4-6 months – heat friendly synthetic hair 2- 3 months.
Types
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Polypropylene fiber, and is made to look like human hair, but that is about all it does well. It typically comes in a jumbo braid, like a poofy braid pattern. And it is meant to be installed in cornrows or individual braids. It doesn't hold its shape well and it does not seal very well. It doesn't seal smooth. It kind of splatters when you apply heat to it. So it's good for braided applications, not a whole lot else.
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Toyokalon holds its shape incredibly well. Toyokalon is manufactured in a lot of products that are meant to hold a style over time. So you will see Toyokalon being used in a lot of braiding fibers that already have flips at the end or that have other kinds of curl patterns to them. It is often what is used in synthetic weaving hair which is hair that is on a weft. So it is going to have that retention over time.
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Kanekalon is actually manufactured to specifically be manipulated by heat. What that means is that when you apply an open flame to it, it has a smooth melt. It means it is not going to splatter, it's not going to sputter, it's not going to smoke, it's not going to do all these things. It is going to actually melt onto itself so that it can actually be rolled into a heat seal.The other thing about Kanekalon is that it is used a lot to make synthetic dreads. Or to make curl patterns because it has that nice retention with that heat. So it is used a lot for boiling dips or other things like that.
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Shapeshifter also works very well with heat, but it works at a higher level. Shapeshifter was made to be a human hair alternative. It has the same sheen, the same denier (which is the thickness of the strands). It has a lot of those working properties that you would find with a human hair. So, it can be used in a lot of applications where Kanekalon is also used because it can be manipulated with heat, but it is made to be more of a human hair look and feel.
Doctored Locks(2013). Types of synthetic hair and when to use them - DoctoredLocks.com
After doing all the research on the hair I managed to order some to test for the various looks. The testing is shown on the other page and my decision making as to which hair is the best to use.
I ordered this hair from Diversity Hair but when I went to order the rest of the hair for the wig and for the wig and for the roses the hair was out of stock. I did email them asking when the hair would be restcocked and it wasn't for a couple of weeks so I looked elsewhere and found a seller called cyberloxshop. I ordered the hair from here and it came extremely quickly which was great.