How To Test The Quality Of Hair
How To Test If Hair Is Good Quality
1. Shedding Test
As we all know, it is normal for your hair to fall out like your natural hair. But too much shedding is an obvious sign of poor-quality hair. So you can run your fingers through your hair to test the quality of your hair extensions. If the hair is silky, smooth, and easy to detangle with little shedding, it means the hair is of high quality. While if you find your hair is easy to tangle and has too much shedding, it is a sign of inferior quality hair.
2. Burn Test
This is the one foolproof way of making sure whether the hair is 100% virgin human hair or synthetic. You just need to pull a couple of long strands of hair out and hold them above a flame. And it would be better to cut a small bundle of hair to avoid accidentally damaging more hair. When the hair starts to burn, it is time to observe carefully. During the burning process, observe how it burns, how it smells while burning, how easily it can be extinguished, and what kind of ash it leaves behind.
★ Human Hair, as a protein fiber, will burn briefly and will not continue to burn unless you hold it to the fire. Besides, the brief flame is orange, then the hair will leave dark ash after charing and also will turn to powder when crushed. Don't forget the smell is similar to the odor smells of burning flesh or burning feathers.
★ Synthetic hair is either nylon fibers or polyester fibers.
Nylon Fibers, usually will burn rapidly and then melt. The sparkling flame has a blue base and orange tip. Different from protein fiber, the ash is similar to hard amber beads and will give off the smell of boiling green vegetables.
Polyester Fibers will burn and melt quite rapidly in the same instance. But the sputtery flame is orange and with black smoke. What is the most different is that it will melt, drip, then become sticky to the touch before forming ash of hard black beads. Through noticing these changes, you can tell what hair extensions you purchase are made of, thus judging the quality of your hair extensions. In the process of the burn test, please make sure you use a lighter or an unscented candle.
3. Scrunch Test
4. Bleach Test
As above mentioned, burn tests can help you differentiate synthetic hair and human hair. And the bleach test can help you recognize the quality of hair. After all, chemically processed hair might have been bleached or dyed before, so it is difficult to bleach the hair again.
5. Washing Test
It is a quick test to check if the hair you bought is processed with chemicals. Pure virgin hair is 100% chemical-free.
By putting your hair in clear water, apply a neutralizing shampoo in the size of a dime after wetting the hair, and then massage the hair. If there are chemicals added, the shampoo foam will turn pink. For 100% virgin human hair, the water should be clear and clean as before you placed the hair in the water. However, this test might not always be fully accurate. If the vendor has taken the time to wash the chemicals out, you won’t see the clear change.
6. Tangle Test
7. Cuticle Test
Real virgin hair has the cuticles aligned in the same direction from root to end tips and also is called Remy hair. While hair with cuticles in a mixed direction is called non-Remy hair.
8. Observation Test
Many people might think the hair on your hair extensions should be absolutely perfect. In fact, it is a wrong thought. Because real virgin hair grows naturally on the scalp, you’re unlikely to find virgin hair with perfect tips or totally symmetrical curls. If you find the hair has irregular curves, waves, or ringlets, it’s probably real virgin hair.
If the hair looks very perfect and has a completely uniform texture, that’s a warning sign that you may buy synthetic or processed hair. If the hair is totally straight and even without any styling, it’s very likely that the hair is synthetic hair, too.