How To Tell If a Wig Is Human Hair? [The Quality of Human Hair Wigs]
Human hair wigs are the highest quality wigs, and probably the most sought after as well. Many women love them because they look and feel just like natural hair. With the best human hair wigs, it is even difficult to differentiate between the wig and real hair.
But as more human hair wig manufacturers enter the market, we have more and more stories of fake wigs beings touted to be human hair wigs.
Imagine how disappointed you would be after spending hundreds of dollars on a supposed human hair wig only to find out that it’s a fake.
To avoid that, you should learn how to identify human hair wig and distinguish it from synthetic or blended wigs.
How Can You Tell If a Wig Is 100% Human Hair?
If you’re not a wig expert, it isn’t always easy to tell at a glance. However, if you know what to look out for, you can identify a 100% human hair wig from other types. Here’s a list that should help you.
1. Study the texture
Real human hair would be soft and should feel natural against your hands. Feel your natural hair and compare it.
It shouldn’t feel stiff or be too shiny, because that’s not the nature of pure human hair. If you notice that some parts of the wig have smoother textures than others, it might be a blend.
2. Accepts Curls
This can be a little tricky because some heat-resistant synthetic wigs can be curled. However, human hair will curl easier, will have more motion, and will be able to handle higher levels of heat without smelling funny or melting.
3. Do the water test
100% virgin human hair should retain whatever waves and curls it has even when it is wet. It should also revert to its natural state once it is air-dried without needing to be styled, curled, or stretched.
4. Do a burn test
Set fire to a strand from your human hair wig and see whether it melts or burns, If it burns, it is real human hair, but if it melts, then you have a fake on your hand.
When taken to fire, a human hair wig strand should catch immediately, curl up while burning, and smell like burning hair. Don’t mistake it for the rubbery smell from fake hair.
5. Check the Price
One obvious giveaway is the cost of a human hair wig. These wigs are expensive, so when you come across a wig at a surprisingly low price, it is most likely fake.
Don’t be carried away by talks of discounts and sales. There is always an acceptable price range for 100% human hair wigs.
6. Inspect the Cuticle
100% human hair wigs ought to have cuticles. Run your fingers through the hair to feel for cuticles. While the hair should be smooth against your hands when you feel downwards, there should be some resistance when your hand goes up the shaft because of the cuticles.
If it feels smooth all through, then the wig cuticles must have been removed, probably using chemicals.
7. Avoid perfection
100% human hair is collected straight from the donor’s scalp, so like natural hair, it should have some imperfections and irregularities, whether in color or smoothness.
For instance, a smooth jet-black human hair wig might be suspicious because even the darkest natural hair shouldn’t look perfectly black. There should be shades or tans.
How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Synthetic and Human Hair Wig?
These days, there has been so much improvement in the production of synthetic wigs that many of them look just like human hair wigs. But how do you tell them apart? Let’s compare synthetic and human hair wigs based on features/tests.
1. Burn Check
Burning human hair wig smells like burning natural hair or burning sulfur, while synthetic smells like burning plastic.
Human hair strands burn out extremely quickly and easily turn to ash, while synthetic appears gooey after burning. Human hair strands will also come off after just a little burning, but synthetic hair would stay attached to the strand.
2. Texture Check
Human hair wigs have a natural softness and silkiness. If the strands feel coarse and thick, then you are dealing with a synthetic wig.
When you rub your hands through your wig, human hair wigs should feel smooth when you rub downwards but feel a bit resistant and less smooth when you rub upwards. However, synthetic wigs feel smooth whether you’re rubbing upwards or downwards.
3. Bleaching Test
You can easily bleach a human hair wig and rapidly lighten it by a shade or two depending on the wig’s initial color. However, you cannot bleach synthetic wigs the same way because they could burn. Most times, you can only color synthetic wigs to be darker and not bleach them lighter.
4. Tangling
Although even real human hair wigs can tangle just like your natural hair would, these tangles are not easy to undo, and they can be moderately handled. However, tangles on synthetic wigs are harder to deal with.
How Can You Tell the Difference Between Human Hair and Human Hair Blend?
A human hair blend, often called Human hair style mix by some people is a combination of human hair fibers and synthetic fibers in the same wig.
The ratio of each hair fiber in the wig varies depending on the manufacturer. While some produce 70% human hair and 30% synthetic, some others will go 60/40 or 50/50.
Many people have bought human hair blends thinking they got 100% human hair wigs because they were deceived by the human hair strands. However, some ladies knowingly buy human hair blends, especially because of their affordability.
Let’s discover the differences between human hair wigs and human hair blends.
1. Hair Texture
Human hair blends have been chemically treated and processed, which results in more tangling and matting, especially after a few uses because the human hair strands are weak. On the other hand, full human hair wigs don’t tangle and matt easily.
2. Weight
A human hair blend is lighter than a full human hair wig, primarily because of the added synthetic strands that are naturally lighter than human hair strands.
So, human hair blends can be a lighter option than a human hair wig.
3. Cost
Naturally, a human hair blend is less expensive than a full human hair wig because of the synthetic strands that are priced lighter than the human hair strands. Human hair strands cost a pretty penny, so you can expect them to be more expensive.
4. Style
Due to the synthetic addition, human hair blends hold their style for a long time, even after washing the wig. So, thanks to the synthetic part of the wig, it can keep a style in place for longer than a human hair wig.
How Can You Tell Quality of Human Hair Wigs?
1. Appearance
The first sign of a quality human hair wig is that it doesn’t look like a wig. When you have it on, it should sit perfectly on your head and look like your natural hair, especially if you are using it to manage hair loss and thinning.
A quality human hair wig can replicate your hair’s natural thickness, texture, thickness, and color.
2. Touch
When you touch the wig, find out whether it feels cool to the touch or warm to the touch. The cooler the hair feels, the higher the quality.
Pick up a strand or two, run your fingers down to the tips gently, and hold the tip with one hand. Then, run the other finger in the opposite direction.
If you feel resistance when moving your finger back up, then the cuticle has been removed. While that doesn’t automatically invalidate the wig, it just shows that the quality isn’t 100%.
3. Comfort
Sometimes, the comfort you get from wearing a wig, or the lack of it can tell you about the quality of that wig.
Good quality wigs go beyond the hair fiber to reach also the manufacturing process. The breathable fabric should be used in making the wig so that it is comfortable to wear and doesn’t trap heat between the wig and your head.
Generally, human hair wigs made of high-quality human hair will look and feel natural.
4. Durability
Although this isn’t an instant sign, it is a long-term testimonial of the quality of a human hair wig.
Considering how expensive a human hair wig is, it should have a long lifespan, which is a statement of its quality.
Human hair wigs should last at least 1 year and span as far as 3 years or more with adequate maintenance. If your human hair wig doesn’t last up to a year or more, then it wasn’t a good quality wig and you would do well not to patronize the manufacturer again.
Final Words:
A lot of thought needs to go into the simple act of buying a human hair wig, but it is very necessary to be observant because a human hair wig is a great financial investment.
Now that you can differentiate human hair wigs from synthetic and human hair blends, we wish you a successful experience choosing the best wig for you.