Weave Kween: Your guide to virgin hair Part 1

In January 2013 I started my hair company: Belle Universelle Hair Extensions (www.buhairltd.com). Offering virgin hair as well as colouring and wig making services. I never thought I'd receive the level of custom I have with minimal promo and I am so grateful to God because I can honestly say no customer has given me anything I cannot deal with although the business itself is pretty stressful.

There are so many questions women have about virgin hair so I thought I would answer them and let you know more. Before you buy do your research, question the seller it may annoy them but if they know their stuff then there should be no issue. Hair is one of my many passions so be warned this is a very very long post.

I am only going to write about 3 things today as everything else has pretty much been covered by everyone else on YouTube. Today's topics are:

-Hair textures&Prices
-Lengths and Weight
-Lace and Silk Base Closures

Hair Textures&Prices

There are so many different hair textures sold at different prices and no-one seems to know the difference in what they are purchasing. At BUhair we stock Brazilian, Peruvian, Malaysian, Cambodian, Filipino, Mongolian and Russian virgin hair. Other popular hair textures include Indian, Uzbek and Eurasian. These are not just random names allocated to the same hair...unless you're purchasing Chinese hair but we'll get to that later.

All these hair textures vary in thickness, lustre, curl pattern and how coarse the hair is.

INDIAN - Indian hair can vary in texture. Straight hair is often very smooth can an amazing luster and very dark, almost a black colour. However their wavy hair is often looks quite coarse/frizzy and is noticeably thicker than the straight hair, the waves tend to be quite big and very defined.

Available in Straight and Natural wavy (body wave)

BRAZILIAN - very soft and light weight hair. The strands tend to be of medium thickness hence why the hair is light weight they are also very smooth in texture. Typically Brazilian people are a mix of races so they produce the most diverse range of curl patterns

Available in Straight, Natural wavy (body wave), Deep wave, Mulatto or tight curl

PERUVIAN - the hair is soft but the strands have a slightly coarse texture, for this reason I think Peruvian hair is best for curling as the curls stay in the hair longer. This texture makes it very versatile and takes particularly well to heated appliances or bendy rollers. Peruvian straight hair tents to be quite thin at the ends so I suggest you trim your ends once the hair is styled.

Available in Straight, Natural wavy (body wave), Deep wave 

*side note Brazilian and Peruvian straight hair have a slight wave to it when air dried

MALAYSIAN - Malaysian hair is very similar to Chinese hair as it is sleek straight have a nice natural shine to it and is extremely light weight but still has a lot of body. It is typically very dark and very fine in texture.

Available in Straight and natural wavy (body wave)

RUSSIAN - Like most European hair Russian hair is of a medium to thick density. Typically Russian hair starts in a very mousey brown colour all the way to a very pale/platinum blonde colour. You would have to dye the hair in order to have it a deep brown or even chocolate colour. The soften hair texture and my personal favourite

Available in Straight and a very loose natural wave pattern

CAMBODIAN - Both thick and soft, Cambodian hair is usually lighter brown than the 1b colour most virgin hair comes in. Cambodian hair has a luster similar to Malaysian hair but it a lot thicker in texture. Great for pony tail styles.

Available in Straight

FILIPINO - Filipino hair is the second thickest hair on the market. It has a very slightly natural kink to it. In the Philippines it is common for women to often perm or relax their hair as people with Afro-Caribbean hair would to remove this kink and leave the hair sleek straight. As virgin hair is unprocessed hair, it will be in its most natural state but the hair is still easy to manage.
Available in Straight and Natural wavy (body wave)

MONGOLIAN - The thickest and most coarse hair cuticles of all the hair we stock. Great for tight curls and blending with kinky or very thick coarse relaxed hair. Although Mongolian kinky curl is a very popular hair texture it is a processed curl pattern unlike Brazilian mulatto curl Mongolian people do not naturally have kinky curled hair. 
Available in Straight

As you probably noticed I stated what curl patterns these hair textures are available in naturally, not what is available on the market. If you see a hair company selling all these hair textures in every curl pattern then I can guarantee that they sell processed Chinese or mixed hair. 

Everyone seems to have something against Chinese hair when there is nothing wrong with it at all as it is still 100% unprocessed virgin hair. However, processed curl patterns tend to drop after a while or after being washed this is because the hair is steam processed to keep it virgin but attain a particular wave pattern. If the curl pattern does disappear after a while it can be reformed by either boiling the hair or using a silicon cream and shampoo. The disappearance of curl patterns is most common with body wave hair. People will purchase the hair and it will have a nice even wave pattern with a curls falling and bouncing in unison, but when washed the hair is bone straight. Hair that has a natural curl pattern will not have the same curl pattern in every strand, although they look similar. What you want to avoid is chemically processed hair such a mixed 'virgin' hair.

Mixed hair is often not virgin hair at all. It is plastic fibres that can be curled at a high temperature but not coloured above a colour 4, similar to the 'human hair' found in hair shops such a the Premium range, Milky Way, Remi Goddess and Sleek. It is usually mixed with animal or synthetic hair and has a slightly weird smell to it. If your hair is difficult to straighten or tangles and mattes then I suggest you do the burn test on it. As it is a mix of hairs it is often chemically processed to remove any curl pattern in any of the hair so all stands look identical. As I am always around virgin hair I can often tell if it is human or not just by looking at the hair. There are a few vids on YouTube but I'll try to make a post regarding real and fake virgin hair.

Virgin hair is nothing new, full human hair wigs have been around for centuries especially in the world of showbiz. But when China learnt to replicate and mass produce, as they do, virgin hair it changed the game completely. Finding real virgin hair suppliers is a very long processes and has now become harder than ever. It took me about 4 months to find a few that would offer me amazing quality hair for a good price. Although it was tempting to buy wholesaler rather than a legit vendor, I had a not so pleasant experience a few years ago when my aunt introduced me to Alibaba.

Because of the number of Chinese wholesalers the demand for virgin hair has increased resulting in more competition and ridiculously cheap prices. What you get is exactly what you pay for. If someone offers you a 12" Peruvian bundle for £20 not at sale price then I would be rather sceptical. 1. they don't understand the concept of business and want to make no profit or 2. they are buying the hair for ridiculously cheap meaning it most likely isn't virgin hair at all. The price of the hair is not so much a reflection of the quality but more its rarity. If the person you want to buy your hair from tells you that one hair type if better than another then I would avoid them. All the hair should be of the same great quality just vary in rarity and texture. These '6A 7A 8A' grades of virgin hair were all invented by Chinese wholesalers to entice customers to buy their better quality virgin hair. The actual hair categories are:
A or 1A: Synthetic - plastic fibres the often cannot the curled or straighter with heated hair appliances
2A: Packet 'Human' - this could be anything at all. Most often its mixed hair and treated with chemicals so all the hair looks the same.
3A: Remi - similar as packet hair but the cuticles all fall in the same direction so there is minimal tangling
4A: Virgin - virgin hair is genuine human hair that has been cleaned and usually steamed before distribution
5A: Raw Hair - the most virgin hair. Literally cut off the person's head and without the cleaning that virgin hair goes through.

Indian and Brazilian are the most common hair types that can be purchased in abundance with far more raw supplier selling it. Peruvian, Malaysian and Cambodian follow closely then Filipino and Mongolian. Russian hair especially raw Russian hair, in naturally light blonde shades is probably some of the rarest and most expensive hair you can buy. For a whole head you could end up spending £2000+ before it has even been installed

Lengths&Weight

When buying virgin hair you'll notice that most companies start their hair at 12", however there are shorter lengths available such as 8" and 10". The most rare and and superior hair, Russian and Scandinavian hair, starts at 4" and cost you anything between £200-£500 for about a 75g bundle.

Most companies only stock up to 30" or 32" at BUhair we stock up to 36" although I have seen companies in America stock up to a whopping 52"! I don't know why anyone would want 52" hair, you'd be sweeping the floor everywhere you went but each to their own I guess.

When measuring the length of wavy or tightly curled hair you must stretch it out rather than measuring it in its curled state.

More common virgin hair types such as Brazilian and Peruvian weigh 100-110g. It is recommended that you use 300g or 3 bundles for a full head style. I often suggest people purchase 400g of hair for lengths up to 24" as people often use 350g. As well as this, once hair gets to about 24" or 26" the length of the wefts becomes shorter the hair gets longer. This is so the wefts remain tight and thick keeping the hair intact and reducing shedding. 

I have used up to 7 bundles in the past with a closure and I can tell you that I had a very sore neck! That wig lasted about 2 weeks before I had change it. I double track all my hair when sewing it in for extra thickness so the hair isn't bulky or lumpy as many would assume with some many bundles. 

Closures weigh about 35-70g depending on the density of it. They cost more than a bundle of the same length despite weighing less as they take a lot longer to construct as well as the price of the lace.

Lace&Silk Base Closures
This leads nicely on to my last topics: closures. I've worn closures and frontals since 2011. My first lace frontal was ok but I wasn't a big fan of it, I got it obviously hoping it would look like Beyonce's but it really didn't. To be fair those were the days when I knew little about virgin hair and how easy it is to tease the hair so it looks exactly how you want it. 

Closures are a piece of lace which has hairs ventilated through it so it resembles a scalp or so it should. We've all seen some ridiculous closures but I'll post some pics just in case you haven't. This is the same for silk base closures the the hair is then ventialted through a peice of silk which creates an even more realistic illusion. Both can include baby hairs and can be parted as you wish. The come in 3.5"x4", 4"x4" and 5"x5".

what closures should looks like:
Left -lace closure looks very natural but if you look close enough you can see the holes in the lace
Right- exactly the same as the lace but with the layer of silk to cover the holes

What closure often resemble:

Please do not be a victim of a bad hair dresser. Countless hair dresser's lie and say they have done closures before when they really haven't. Even if a hair dresser has been doing closures for the past few years if the hair looks picture worthy then they will definitely take one. We live in the digital age now so don't just take his/her word for it as for evidence of their work. Lil Mama and Nicki Minaj have fallen victim to the same problems over bleached roots, of plucked parting under plucked hair line. If the roots hadn't been bleached as much and the parting started at the hair line rather than behind the baby hairs then both ladies would have just about gotten away with it.

Personally, I dislike silk base closures purely because I like to change my style daily and I wear my side fringes with a lot of volume. Although silk base closures do look a lot more natural and blend a lot better I find them very stiff and slightly padded as there is two layers rather than one. When they grow out it is a lot harder to disguise also. If you are a closure virgin the I suggest you invest in a lace closure first so you can get used to it and manipulate the hair and parting

Lace closure tips

-Ask the person you are buying from to bleach the knots for you otherwise, use a 6% developer to bleach the reverse side of the closure for 10 mins max. If it isn't light enough once you've washed it then repeat the procress but for less than 5 mins this time.

-Make a parting and pluck a small amount of hair evenly, over plucked or plucking too much in one section can leave you looking you're going bald.

-Make the cainrows under the closure smaller than the rest of your head, this is so it later as flat as possible.

-To avoid loss of baby hairs only sew the closure down, do not use glue

Silk Base Closure Tips

-Be very careful when cutting the lace of the front, you may cut off baby hairs or even worse cut the bond between the lace and silk which will cause it to open.

-When it grows out get it re-fitted!

I'll update this post in a day or 2 and add frontals in case you were wondering about those too.

I hope this was of use to you. My next hair post  will include:
Hair Care 
Colouring Hair
Wigs
Using relaxer on your virgin hair

you can purchase your virgin hair from www.buhairltd.com

If there's anything else you would like to know then leave a comment below or find me on twitter @StaceyLeeBanks x