Hair Extensions FAQ

We provide Single Drawn but can also provide Double Drawn. We generally do not process double drawn in Remy as the shorter sized hair will lie unused due to which the price doesn’t work out for you as a buyer as well as for us as a manufacturer.

We have an in-house procurement team with knowledge and experience of hair passed on through generations who take care and ensure that the finest quality of hair is sourced from South Indian Temples mainly through TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams).

Order processing time and estimated shipping time for customized orders will be mentioned in the Invoice or will be notified via email at the time of purchase or submitting your order.

We accept the following payment methods (Transaction fees will be at Actuals) Wire Transfer, ONLINE PAYMENT via PayPal, Western union and MoneyGram.

We Ship Worldwide! All International orders will be shipped using FedEx International priority services, Orders placed within India will be dispatched from a local postal carrier.

Immediately upon dispatching the order, buyer will receive an email with the AWB No (Airway Bill Number) /tracking number which can be used to track the status of your shipment.

Approximately thirty Indian manufacturers supply the entire world market with Indian Remy hair. Most of these Indian manufacturers purchase the raw hair through an established acquisition agent who has acted as the primary intermediary to the temples (where women donate their hair to religion) for the past forty years. SalonLabs was made possible because of a personal connection between our founders and this acquisition agent – allowing us to secure the healthy supply of premium hair required to establish our business. The other important point to understand is that most of the other thirty Indian manufacturers do not sell hair directly to retailers or consumers. Instead, their concern is only with unloading their hair as fast possible (at wholesale prices) to middlemen for resale to retailers (at marked-up prices). SalonLabs has eliminated the middleman by controlling every aspect of the hair development cycle, from source acquisition to processing and packaging. Importantly, this ensures the purity and quality of our Remy hair. We deliver a high quality end product (through our U.S. distribution center in Ann Arbor, MI) to retailers at the “raw” price - thereby undercutting the market. The marketing emphasis for our company, however, should be quality, quality, quality (and the consistency and reliability of our quality) as our distinguishing property.

A hair strand is made up of an inner core and an outer layer of cuticles. The cuticle layer is formed by tightly packed scales in an overlapping structure similar to roof shingles. Most hair conditioning products simply affect the cuticle. The pigment cells that give hair its color are embedded beneath the cuticle layer within the inner core of the hair strand. The hair cuticle is the first line of defense against all forms of damage and is responsible for much of the mechanical strength of the hair follicle. A healthy cuticle is more than just a protective layer, as the cuticle also represents the structure that controls the water content of the fiber. Much of the shine that makes healthy hair so attractive is due to the cuticle.

The cuticles of hair strands are all directed in the same direction. If the cuticles were positioned in opposite directions, they would “catch” on each other like fish hooks and tangle. For this reason, the hair industry puts a premium in value on the services of hair collectors who cut the hair directly from people's head, in the form of a ponytail so that all the hair strands are maintained in the same natural direction. This hair is sometimes referred to as “cuticle” hair, or virgin cuticle hair (with the term virgin implying that it (cuticles) has not been damaged through artificial processing (i.e. coloring or heat)). It turns out that south India is the only place in the world where women donate their long flowing virgin hair as a religious sacrifice (at the temples). Ironically, it is these religious customs in south India that are the “key” to the supply of the ultimate human hair on the world market.

European Hair is a popular form of hair for its straight and soft texture. There is also a widespread misconception that soft and silky hair is the best quality but any type of hair can be made soft and silky through the use of certain conditioners or oils. However, Indian hair has its own inherent advantages – it is simultaneously supple yet strong. SalonLabs believes Indian hair is the ultimate on the world market and cannot be surpassed in natural luster, body, versatility and durability.

The term “Remy” hair is originally derived from the Indian practice of women “remitting” their hair to religion at temples. Remy hair can more broadly be applied to refer to human hair that has been harvested from the scalp in such a manner as to keep the individual hair follicles and cuticles all aligned in the same direction (head to tail).

Remy hair is considered “virgin” as long as it has not undergone any processing to change its structural composition (such as chemical dying or heat-based texture changes). Hair that has undergone any kind of artificial physical alteration is considered processed hair. Natural Indian women’s hair comes in black (#1), natural black (#1B), and dark brown (#2) – all other colors are created through chemical processing and dying. Technically, such hair is no longer virgin as the chemical process causing some damage to the cuticle layer (as the coloring process requires chemicals to open up the cuticles to strip the original dark pigment and allow the new color dyes to impregnate into the hair shaft).

Similarly, the hair industry employs heat processing to change the texture of hair. The natural virgin hair textures of Indian women include straight, wavy, and curly hair. Processed hair includes a variety of textures: Yaki (closely resembling relaxed African-American hair), silky (resembling very straight Asian hair), “European” texture hair, as well as varying degrees of wavy textures (Body/Deep/Jackson wave). Importantly, even though the Remy hair undergoing dying or texture change technically is no longer “virgin,” the source hair that SalonLabs works from is in such pristine, undamaged condition that even the processed hair maintains a high level of integrity. For this reason, the SalonLabs nomenclature remains “Remy” even for such processed hair. It is important to note that Indian women, unlike their western counterparts, do not treat their hair chemically - through coloring or heat - and nourish their hair with oils to ensure beautiful long flowing hair that cannot be surpassed in natural luster, body, versatility and durability.

However in today’s market, this terminology is no longer accurate, with the word "Remy" is being completely abused on and falsely advertised on packaging for even synthetic blends. Ultimately, however, quality comes through tangibly – and those who feel and wear true Remy hair appreciate it as the ultimate in human hair.

Non-Remy hair is often referred to as ‘fallen” hair because it can be procured in barber shops or other unknown sources - and is the most commonly available form of hair. In other common hair-harvesting methods, the hair is simply shorn from the head and bagged up with no regard for the way the cuticle layers of the hair shafts are aligned. When the cuticles are not aligned, tangling and knotting is a problem. Yet because of its inexpensive price, non-Remy hair is the largest selling kind of hair in the world (and the one most prevalent at beauty supply stores).

Interestingly, non-Remy hair is sometimes chemically processed to strip off the cuticle layer from the hair shaft in order to create “tangle-free” hair that can be used in making extensions, wigs and hair-pieces. It should noted that the strands still run in opposite directions, even without the cuticle coating, noting that the head of a hair strand is thicker than the tail (accounting for the feathery feel to the ends of natural hair). Sometimes referred to as “tangle-free” or “silky” hair, this cuticle-free product is considered somewhat superior to standard non-Remy hair. While still inexpensive, this processed hair lacks the strength and durability, versatility, natural luster and shine of unprocessed hair.

SalonLabs also sells a line of hair extensions that uses non-Remy source hair but utilizes a non-chemical approach to enhance the overall texture of the hair. Our processing technique involves pulling the hair unidirectionally through a fine toothed device (nail brush) that selectively strips only the damaged (lifted away from the hair cortex) cuticles facing into the direction that the hair is pulled through and even removes entirely those hair strands with the most significant cuticle damage. All of the hair strands with cuticles facing the opposite direction are not stripped but pass freely through the sheering device (and are even flattened to a more “virgin” state in the process). Ultimately, the resulting finished product consists of the majority of the hair strands with cuticles all aligned in the same direction and the remainder of the strands with cuticles that are relatively “flat” even though they are aligned in the opposite direction. This approach improves the overall quality of the end product and reduces the likelihood of tangling. SalonLabs calls this hair “Remy” rather than non-Remy because the hair is essentially identical to Remy hair except for the fact that the non-majority of the strands are removed of their most damaged strands/cuticles and relatively “virgin” in their cuticle appearance. The advantages of our unique processing are that we can produce human hair product that is superior to other non-Remy brands (including “silky”) and resembling Remy in quality but for far lower costs.

In order to differentiate Remy from Remy hair, SalonLabs uses the term “Remy Pure,” which is essentially hair with 100% unidirectional cuticles – and with all the strands aligned from head to tail (as natural hair grows). Remy Pure hair may be virgin or “processed” (undergoing color or texture change), though even the processed Remy hair (technically no longer “virgin”) retains a relatively undamaged cuticle coat (since the source hair was so high in quality).

Synthetic hair is produced using a wide array of different synthetic fibers. Generally, synthetic fibers do not last as long as human hair – though the best in synthetic hair extensions claim to last up to a year (with the proper maintenance). As a comparison, well-maintained Remy hair extensions can be expected to last four to six months. However, synthetic hair will never look or feel like human hair, as its structural composition lacks the flexibility and bounce of natural hair. Synthetic hair is much less expensive than human hair, with costs typically ranging from $10-$20 USD per pack and around $40 for a full wig (depending on the quality, length, brand, etc.). Synthetic hair typically cannot be shaped or processed in any manner (and is therefore better used for shorter wigs). Heating appliances such as curling irons and straightening combs generally should never be used on synthetic hair (though it should be noted that newer types of synthetic hair do claim to allow styling with lower temperatures of heating appliances).