What is raw hair?
Raw hair is unprocessed, 100% human hair. When you think about unprocessed this means it has not undergone ANY chemical, heat or steaming process. Raw hair is the most purest and natural form of hair available on the market. Raw hair is outsourced directly from the donors and then it undergoes a vigorous sanitising process. It is great in that the quality is top notch and can literally last you years. The down side to raw hair is the availability of variety.
Most raw hair donors are from Cambodia,India, Vietnam and Burma. Hair patterns from these donors don't vary all that much so you won't get those trendy styles like tight curls.
it is available in two styles straight and natural wave or wavy, less silky and very slightly closer to coarser textures as compared to virgin hair. Raw hair can also be available in curly hair patterns.
The beauty of raw hair is that no two bundles are the same.They aren't very different from each other but never identical and that's because the hair is not steamed to form uniformed patterns.
Note: Single donor hair simply means that the hair is only cut from one donor. with the demand of raw hair its become increasing difficult provide a full bundle of single doner. Raw hair can mean multiple donors as long as its not processed in any way. most companies will specify whether or not the raw hair bundles are single or multiple donor. In our opinion, the quality is still great with either single or multiple donor of raw hair as long as the hair cuticles are uniformly aligned.
what kind of raw hair is there?
Here are the most popular types of raw hair:
Raw Cambodian
it is full body and most known to have curlier styles available. check out our Raw Cambodian Hair
Raw Indian
This hair usually comes in those lighter brown colors which maybe a pro if you need to blend it with lighter coloured natural leave outs.
Raw Vietnamese
It is bomb in their straight texture. Super smooth and are perfect for those smooth sleek looks. the texture is also great for blending with natural hair.
Ok, we've much summed up the raw hair and now we can move the heavy hitter which is Virgin Hair
It is the most popular term in the world of hair extensions. just about every hair company claims to carry virgin hair and if not educated properly you can get scammed and lose out on thousands of dollars and end up with jucked up hair. No girl, we don't play that. Education is Key!
Virgin hair is a term for hair that has never been chemically processed (treated, permed, relaxed, bleached or dyed.)
why is hair chemically processed?
The simple answer is it looks nice.
Remember the "pack hair" that was literally sold in packs...shiny and glossy? its because it was chemically processed.
Chemical processing gives hair extensions a more uniform and beautiful appearance. It coats the hair with silicone's that make it shinier and more appealing.
The downside of this type of hair was once you washed it the hair was no longer “good”. It would matte, shed, tangle and even change colors.
The virgin hair in today’s market is now defined as hair that has only been steamed processed.
Steam processing or steaming allows for the creating of those hot exotic and unique styles like, body wave, deep wave, mink or silky straight, Italian curl or Spanish wave, kinky curl, tight curl, curly wave, loose wave, kinky straight, 4C Afro kinky, natural wave, Bomb Blonde and so much more.
Industry standards for hair extensions is so much different than what it was just a few years ago.
In fact the definition of virgin hair in 2016 would automatically imply the hair you were purchasing was single donor unprocessed hair.
The market has changed rapidly since. The beauty industry is an ever evolving industry and the hair market reflects that
What’s great about virgin hair is that hair weave bundles look identical to one another which make for an effortless sew-in weave or wig.
Also, with a manufacture or trusted hair company that has perfected their steaming process your hair can last you a very long time while preserving the style and pattern you bought it in.
What are some kinds of virgin hair that exist on the market?
The most popular kinds of virgin hair are:
Peruvian – coarser, thicker, durable
Brazilian – light, shiny, silky
Malaysian – heavier, softer, silkier
Please be aware that hair does not originate from the countries and areas they are named after.
These are more so industry created names that help to market hair and sometimes reference a type of quality for that particular company.
Genuine raw hair, on the other hand, originates from its source. So Raw Indian hair comes from India and Vietnamese hair from Vietnam and so on and so forth!
Please also be aware that if a company sells Indian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese and other hair that is typically categorized as raw hair it is your responsibility to find out if that hair is truly raw.