The Truth About Synthetic Hair

Synthetic hair has come a long way in recent years.  In some cases it is difficult to tell the difference.  The texture feels 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 style-able 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.

Synthetic hair is a polymer. It is composed of fine plastic fibers, made to look just like human hair.  Basically, synthetic hair is made from low-grade acrylic that is heated and strung into strands to make individual hair fibers. The strands are then laced or tied into extensions and hairpieces. Typically, these types of synthetic hair fibers are used in costume wigs, and lack the movement and texture of real hair.  The appearance of these fibers is waxy and plastic.  The more sophisticated synthetic hair has texture and luster, and could be passed off as human hair. The fibers range in type from straight to kinky/curly with coarse surfaces to silky/smooth surfaces. The complex methods of spinning synthetic polymers into fibers include using volatile solvents and a spinneret to form multiple continuous filaments. Both, mono-filament fibers and poly-filament fibers are used to fabricate the hair. Typically, fibers of mod-acrylic, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, polyester, nylon are used for artificial hair.  Each of these fiber types are made by combining two or more polymers in one chain via melt spin or solvent spin processes.   

And you wonder why your SCALP is ITCHING!!! Synthetic hair is a treated plastic that you more than likely are allergic too.  You can soak the hair in APPLE CIDER VINEGAR and let dry before installing the hair.