Remy Hair -True or False?

Monday, January 14, 2008 10:30 AM

I think all of us at Hair Direct take great pride in what we do. But, sometimes I’m embarrassed by tactics that are generally accepted in our industry. One of those tactics is being misinformation about Remy Hair.

First, let me explain what Remy hair is. Remy hair is of course human hair and is cut from the head and specially tagged “root end first” and throughout the entire manufacturing process, the hair is carefully kept in order root to tip.

There is no chemical processing or removal of the cubicle, which eliminates common problems normally associated with all other human hair systems, especially tangling and matting. With the traditional manufacturing process in non Remy hair, the cuticle layer (outer layer) of the hair is the cause of the problem.

When hair is examined under a microscope the cuticle layer looks like the bark of a palm tree and when the hair gets wet the shaft swells and the cuticle opens causing horny barks. Through the normal manufacturing process the hair is blended, hackled and ventilated. This process leaves the hair cuticle going in opposite directions and unless the cuticle is removed through an acid bath it will tangle and mat when wet.

The acid bath which will not totally remove the cuticle slightly degrades the hair shaft and leaves it in a weaker condition which eventually causes breakage and hair loss. Also, hair without the cuticle layer intact will oxidize (loss hair color) faster then hair with the cuticle.

With your own natural growing hair all the cuticles are flowing up, in the same direction, which prevents tangling and matting problems when the hair is wet. With Remy Hair the cuticle layer of the hair is left intact and all cuticles are lying in the same directions.

When a hair system is looped or knotted it is impossible to have Remy because all of the returns are going in the opposite directions. Only half of the hair will be in the same direction and with true Remy all the cuticles are going in the same direction. When the hair is injected there are no returns and all the hair is root to tip with 100% of the cuticles going in the same direction.

With knotted and looped Remy construction we’ve tested tying returns short and beard trimming the return but the knots loosen very easily and the hair fell right out. We even tried cuticle removal of the returns but that still tangles when wet because of cuticle remnants going in the opposite direction. And in truth, even if it did work, we couldn’t call it true Remy, when in reality it’s not.

Because Remy Hair has been so touted over the years, it has created a demand. So, to make life simple most retailers use processed Indian hair and call it Remy. That’s the easy thing to do. At Hair Direct, we choose to take the high road. We’ve painstakingly tried everything from beard trimming to processing the returns with limited success. As a result we are no longer going to offer Remy Hair unless it’s on a true Remy base because we are not going to lie to you and just use Indian hair and say its Remy hair when it’s not.

As with all other placebos when people pay more and think it’s Remy they perceive it as being better. But I’m sorry, at Hair Direct we’re not going to play that game. We refuse to take advantage of the placebo effect. That’s why when we developed the true Remy base we gave it that name, true Remy.

The Remy Hair cheating game sometimes start way back with the raw hair supplier where they claim they are selling true Remy Hair when at times it’s not. Our factory has a painstaking labor intensive process of root turning the hair so that we can all be assured that it is true Remy provided it is only injected and never looped or knotted.

Have a great hair day,

Bill