In the hair extension world, quality means everything. It’s the difference between having your extensions for years rather than months. It’s what keeps them looking natural and gorgeous from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to sleep at night.
We’ve talked a lot about terms like Virgin or Caucasian hair and how, when used correctly, they are the best indication of the quality of the product. Today, we want to teach you a bit about Remy hair, and why you should always look for it when buying your extensions.
Defining ‘Remy’…
Remy hair is simply human hair cut from a single donor with its original cuticle still intact. This is important as the cuticles are what keeps your strands of hair from tangling and matting with each other, as they are all facing in the same direction. This allows them to glide past one another without getting caught. To put this into perspective, your natural hair is Remy – even if it gets a bit tangled at times, you can always tame it as your cuticles are working with rather than against each other.
Remy hair is simply human hair cut from a single donor with its original cuticle still intact. This is important as the cuticles are what keeps your strands of hair from tangling and matting with each other, as they are all facing in the same direction. This allows them to glide past one another without getting caught. To put this into perspective, your natural hair is Remy – even if it gets a bit tangled at times, you can always tame it as your cuticles are working with rather than against each other.
Non-Remy options, on the other hand, combine strands that face different directions, meaning the hair gets caught on one another. The end result is incredibly tangled, matted hair that looks more like a mess than a beautiful set of extensions! Trust us, this is something even the best brush in the world can’t fix – which is why you want to avoid it at all costs!
How factories attempt to mask the problem…
If you’ve worn extensions before, you may have come across the term Remy in the past. Unfortunately, this word has been so misused that some people have learnt not to trust it at all. In fact, it’s not uncommon for clients to come to us saying they specifically don’t want Remy hair. Why? Because they’ve had it in the past and it’s ended in disaster! We tell every person the same thing; you DO want a Remy option, but you want the real deal.
The truth is that these clients have most likely bought a factory-made set of extensions that claimed to be an authentic Remy product. As we said earlier, Remy hair is collected from a single donor and has every cuticle facing the same way. Factories, however, take hair from multiple different sources and, knowing that it will begin to tangle the second you touch it, they completely strip the cuticle with harsh chemicals. Then, to make it seem like the silky-smooth hair of your dreams, they treat it with chemicals such as silicone. This works for a few days or weeks until you have washed your extensions a few times – at which point, the chemicals will have worn off and you will be left with dry, tangled extensions that look and feel awful!
SO, KNOWING ALL THIS, THERE’S ONLY ONE MORE QUESTION…
How can you make sure you’re buying an authentic Remy product?
Although many products are marketed using misleading terms, it is possible to find high quality Remy extensions. At LDL, we only use the very best Virgin, Caucasian Remy hair available – which is why our clients get to love their hair not for weeks or months, but for years! There is never any tangling or matting and our hair hasn’t touched any chemicals – ever! After 20 years of working with hair extensions, we have become masters of identifying Remy and non-Remy hair – and we haven’t gotten it wrong yet!
The most important thing to remember is that you should never take labels as gospel. Do some research (our blog is a great place to start!) and know what you should be looking for before you buy. Remember that if you’re wanting the very best, long-lasting extensions available, you won’t find them in a ready-made packet waiting to be installed. The most incredible options are always custom made to you, and you should be able to see the raw, unprocessed pony tail that has been cut from the donor’s head – like you can in our Melbourne salon!