How to Tell Your Virgin Malaysian Hair Weave Unprocessed?

Unprocessed virgin hair is the best hair to use for weaves, wigs, and other hair pieces; unprocessed virgin hair lasts longer, is easier to work with, and has a much nicer appearance than hair which has been chemically processed or otherwise put through harsh treatments. But when you buy an unprocessed virgin hair weave, you may not be getting exactly what you pay for--unfortunately, intentionally and even unintentionally, companies that sell unprocessed virgin hair may send customers hair which has been processed or is not even 100% human hair. If you want to know how to tell if your Malaysian hair weave is truly unprocessed, consider the following steps to checking the authenticity of your unprocessed Malaysian hair weave.

Step 1: Smell. The first step in determining whether or not your Malaysian hair weave is truly unprocessed is a simple one. Take the hair out of the package and give it a smell. What does it smell like? Unprocessed hair should smell natural--that is, a very subtle natural scent that is devoid of perfumes, alcohol smells, or any other chemical smells. If you can detect a chemical smell, it’s highly likely that your weave was processed or treated in some way. However, the “smell test” is not fool-proof, so should do the additional steps just to be sure.

Step 2: Wash. The next step in determining the authenticity of your unprocessed virgin hair is to wash it through a neutralizing shampoo. Neutralizing shampoo is designed to wash out hair products and chemical products, such as chemical agents, dyes, and more. If your Malaysian hair weave is truly unprocessed, then the water will be clear of any chemical wash-outs. If it’s been processed, you will see the chemicals in the water as you rinse out the hair.

Step 3: Curl. This final step is primarily designed to weed out hair that is not 100% human. Some companies may mix in plastic fibers with regular hair in order to save the amount of money they need to spend on sourcing authentic human hair. Authentic human hair will curl naturally with a hair curler, whereas plastic fibers will not curl naturally using hot styling tools. You may also detect a plastic burning smell if your weave contains any artificial fibers.

(Optional) Burn. If the above tests still leave you with doubt, the final way to determine if your unprocessed virgin hair Malaysian hair weave is authentic is to snip off a small section and burn it. Human hair will have a distinct smell and will turn to ashes when you burn it. Artificial hair will clump together when it burns and it will not have the tell-tale scent of burning human hair.

Final Thoughts

If you have completed the above steps and you still aren’t sure about the hair’s authenticity, your final solution may be to approach a beauty shop with experience selling weaves and ask them to authenticate the hair for you.