Synthetic or Human Hair Wig | Kelly Beauty Supply

Synthetic or Human Hair Wig?

Synthetic is the better buy if you want several looks, want them cheaply, and do not want to style anything. Human hair is the better buy if you want one unit you wear most days, want to change its color or texture, and are willing to maintain it. Most of the disagreement about this comes from people applying one set of priorities to the other situation.

What synthetic does well

It holds its style permanently. Wash it, let it dry, and it returns to the shape it was made in, with no heat and no effort, which is genuinely remarkable and is the main practical advantage. It costs a fraction of human hair, so owning five units in different lengths and colors is realistic. It comes in colors that are difficult or damaging to achieve on human hair. And it needs almost no product.

Where synthetic runs out

You cannot restyle it, cannot dye it, and cannot apply heat unless the label says heat-friendly. It has a shorter life, particularly at longer lengths where friction at the nape wears the fiber. Cheaper fiber has a shine that reads as artificial in daylight. And it cannot be made to match your own hair if you are blending anything.

What human hair does well

Everything the fiber cannot. Heat styling, coloring within reason, cutting to suit your face, and a movement and light response that synthetic approximates but does not equal. It lasts far longer with care, often a year or more of regular wear, so a daily wearer spends less over time. It also blends with your own hair, which matters for U-part units, half wigs and anything with leave-out.

Where human hair costs you

Money up front, and time every week. It has no scalp feeding it oil, so it dries out and needs conditioning it will not survive without. It loses its style when washed and has to be re-styled each time. It tangles more readily than a good synthetic. If you want to put a unit on and go, human hair asks more of you than people expect.

The cost-per-wear question

Divide the price by the number of times you will realistically wear it. A synthetic unit worn twenty times is inexpensive per wear. A human hair unit worn four times a week for a year is inexpensive too. The expensive purchase is a human hair unit bought for occasional wear, or a long synthetic unit worn daily until it mats. Match the material to the frequency and both are good value.

Blends

Blended units mix human hair with heat-friendly fiber, taking some styling ability from one and price and style retention from the other. They are a reasonable middle for anyone who wants light heat styling without human hair upkeep, and all four Kelly Beauty stores carry them alongside both extremes.