What is Raw Hair?

Since we did name our company Christopher Anthony's Premium Raw Virgin hair, we thought it would be a good idea to explain exactly what the terms mean. It is always surprising to us to discover that, with the wealth of knowledge out here on the interwebs, there are those  who do not know the difference between raw hair and virgin hair. No worries, we'll tell you everything that you need to know so that you can choose the hair that is right for you.

So, let's start with raw hair.

What exactly is raw hair?

Raw hair is just like the hair on your head in it's pure and unprocessed state.  Raw hair has not been treated with chemicals, Raw Indian and Indonesian hair, as sold by Christopher Anthony's Premium Raw Virgin hair, is sourced from temples where pilgrims go to have their heads shaved as an offering to the gods (for healing, wealth, good luck, and so on). The hair from the women is cleaned and sold as is for use in weaves, wigs, etc..  But, the hair from the men is used for  the extraction of l-cysteine a semi-essential amino acid that is obtained industrially by hydrolysis of human hair.

When pilgrims go to the temples, their hair is pulled up into a ponytail , to keep the hair together and the cuticles flowing the same way, and cut very close to the scalp with a razor.

The temples then hold auctions to sell the hair to wholesalers to fund the work of the temples.

When the hair gets to the Indian factories the hair is checked for lice and other bugs, tangles and loose hair is removed and the hair is soaked and thoroughly cleaned and conditioned. The cleaned hair then gets wefted for sew-ins or made into wigs frontals and closures.  And that’s it, nothing else happens to raw hair before it gets to you! 

The throwaway parts of this process(gray hair, dirty hair, hair swept up off the floor etc.) is bagged up and sent to China

This is why we say, treat raw hair as you would the hair that grows out of your own head. Use good sulfate-free shampoos, deep conditioners, leave–ins and oils. Avoid blow drying, flat irons and other heat sources. Raw hair can last for years if you take good care of it.

Raw hair comes in three textures straight, wavy and curly as most donors are Asian (no matter what you've heard there are  just not enough donors in Brazil and Peru for the hair market). Speaking of texture, let's talk about virgin hair.