Variation #1337 of Silk Lace Closure: Wavy

By Colleen Garey On October 22, 2013 · Add Comment

As an experienced human hair wefter and manufacturer I have had the privilege of evaluating hair sent to me from all over the world. It is widely believed that human hair obtained directly from the temples of India is in fact the best quality hair you can buy. The Hindu believe that shaving the head sheds ego and humbles a person and leaving your hair at the temple is indeed a very humble sign of gratitude for the deity.

A high percentage of black business owners who are currently purchasing hair through overpriced middlemen lack the knowledge of how to purchase human hair and cannot differentiate the type of hair quality they are actually purchasing. Just because a middleman tells you the hair you are about to purchase from him is “TEMPLE HAIR” that does not necessarily means you are purchasing his absolute best quality. The term “TEMPLE HAIR” is now becoming a tag word like “REMY”, “VIRGIN” and “RAW”.

A vast percentage of the hair on the market was actually obtained from the “Temples” but this hair goes through several steps in order to be sorted and then sold to the highest bidders. Multi-million dollar hair companies usually purchase the best of the best at auctions in vast quantities and then you have your mid-level companies who purchase what is left. When the hair from the temple is sorted companies usually have wastage as high as 20 – 25% (e.g. If you purchase 100 kilos of hair at auction after you sort you are left with 75 – 80 kilos). This 20 – 25% fallen waste hair is not thrown in the trash….this hair is now “NON REMY” . The marketplace is saturated with NON REMY hair masquerading as “TOP TIER” virgin Indian hair. This is what most of the black human hair businesses are actually buying.

Vast quantities of this hair is sold and exported to China, which is then processed and sometimes mixed with animal hair and synthetic hair to mimic human hair. So many black business owners travel all the way to India, Cambodia, and China, to purchase this hair just because the middleman verbiage included the term “TEMPLE HAIR”. All too often enthusiastic business owners show up at my studio to have this hair wefted and I am usually amazed to see how excited they are about their misguided investment and their ignorance about the product they are trying to sell.

So, yes, the hair you are purchasing from the middleman is probable “TEMPLE HAIR”, but the quality has been comprised as it goes through the sorting process. If you started your business with this quality of hair not knowing what “TOP TIER” TEMPLE VIRGIN HAIR really is then you are inclined to believe that the hair you purchased is the best quality. You are led to believe that the hair has to be “Temple Virgin Hair” because it can be lightened and it doesn’t tangle! Sure, this is quite possible with hair that is expertly processed and stripped of its cuticles!

CHEAP “VIRGIN HAIR” YOU BUY ON-LINE IS THE SAME HAIR THAT IS SOLD AT YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY KOREA BEAUTY SUPPLY STORE

A majority black business owners actually think that they are purchasing 100% Temple Virgin Hair at $15.00-$20.00 a pack wholesale, then they private label and resell this hair for $40.00. The price for this so call “Virgin Hair” is less than your local Korean beauty supply store’s bestseller.

Bobby Boss, a well-known brand that is sold at every Korean beauty supply store retails at $50-$80 per pack. It defies logic to think that a vendor would sell “TOP TIER VIRGIN TEMPLE HAIR” at $15.00-$20.00 a pack wholesale, so these startup businesses can then sell it back at less than most packs of hair sold at the Korean stores retail. All this cheap virgin hair you see saturating the market is the same quality of hair that a brand like Bobby Boss sells. The only difference is this ‘TEMPLE VIRGIN HAIR” is being sold by ill-advised black-owned businesses as the real deal! I have seen 30 inch long so called “VIRGIN HAIR” “EUROPEAN HAIR” online for less than $100.00!!! Really?? Oh, I almost forgot “EUROASIAN” most black businesses don’t even know what this hair is. Sounds exotic a mixture of “European and Asian Hair” NOT REALLY!!!!

I think it is a beautiful thing that African-Americans are trying to establish their own human hair retail businesses, however, I also think that before you fly across the globe to buy “TEMPLE HAIR” hair, understanding hair quality and knowing what to look for in Virgin hair is important. If you don’t, and sadly a majority of black businesses have absolutely no idea, then you are selling and private labeling lower tier hair that is the equivalent of what is being sold in most Korean beauty supply store.