Is a Russian or European hair sheitel worth paying double?

Raisin

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 2:15 am

maybe there are more women selling hair in russia, so the choice is better, and therefore quality is better.

Raisin

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 2:20 am

http://www.survivalinsight.com......html

I was curious about selling hair so I googled.

marina

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 4:53 am

If russian hair is sold as cheaper than EU hair, I would guess it is asiatic hair and is just being called russian b/c there are some asian cultures there.

If russian hair is sold as more expensive, I would guess that it is a marketing gimmick.

imaima

Wed, Mar 09 2011, 5:00 am

Raisin wrote:

maybe there are more women selling hair in russia, so the choice is better, and therefore quality is better.

DOn't they sell hair in the USA, too? As in O.Henry's story?

hot mom

Mon, Jan 30 2012, 8:36 pm

ok just found this thread so I wanted to clarify some misunderstandings:

Russian hair is considered to be "true" european hair, as in Russia which is considered part of Eastern Europe, is finest, unprocessed hair for blonds, ash blond, light brown that are more ashy, etc.
Russian hair that is black or dark brown hair is actually dyed to be that color=processed

European hair is a mix of hair from countries in Europe (not Russia) and from South America. Unprocessed, it is generally dark brown or black hair.
European hair that's lighter or blonds is dyed to be that color=processed

Of course not all Russian unprocessed hair is so fine. There are frizzy textures too. A sheitel macher purchases a large quantity of hair (for abt $30,000) and does not know the ratio of good vs bad quality hair in the package. She hopes that most of it is good hair and then her investment pays off bec. she can now make many wigs from that package and earn back her investment plus profit. The same with European. Except with Russian hair, the hair is in demand for it's unbelievable quality (of the good hair)-it doesn't frizz, wears for many years and still looks amazing, does not need to be washed so often, and does not oxidize as quickly.

(Note: all hair oxidizes over time even just sitting on a shelf, it can oxidize. The question is how quickly? If it's processed or dyed-within a few months to a year. If never processed, can take couple of years to lighten.)

So to sum it up: If you have dark hair-go with unprocessed European hair which is cheaper to get than Russian.
If you're more to the lighter, ashier, blonder type of hair, and want unprocessed natural blond hair, go with pricier Russian hair.
As far as price-you can get Russian hair (in blonds), long for about $2500-3500 depending on where you go. Personally, I like to pay once a lot of money to last a long time (ex 5-7 yrs) then to spend $1500 for cheaper hair every 2-3 years.

How do I know all this? I own a few Russian wigs, I am immensely happy with all of them and wore them over 4+ years. Oh-and I use Esther Aron who knows exactly what she's talking about and is extremely honest.

Sorry for the long post-I just felt ppl should know what they are buying when making such an expensive purchase.

Ruchel

Tue, Jan 31 2012, 4:08 am

Asia blond is ultra dryed out and doesnt stay nice.

amother

Seablue

Tue, Jan 31 2012, 1:14 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Asia blond is ultra dryed out and doesnt stay nice.

That's because Asian hair starts out as very dark brown/ black. In order to make it blond, it needs to be bleached first to remove the color and then toned with the correct shade of blond = heavily processed hair. If you look closely at someone with bleached hair whose natural hair color is dark, most of the time you'll notice that the hair is very dry and damaged. (The hair condition can be improved somewhat with expensive keratin treatments...)

Last edited by amother on Mon, Feb 05 2024, 8:17 am; edited 1 time in total

hot mom

Tue, Jan 31 2012, 2:48 pm

Ruchel-are you responding to my post? Cuz Asian hair isn't considered Russian hair. What SVFL said is exactly true.
European blond hair, as I posted earlier, is naturally dark, but might not be as heavily processed as Asian hair-that I am not sure about which gets processed more-maybe SVFL can answer that.

black sheep

Tue, Jan 31 2012, 8:58 pm

mommy of a.s. wrote:

are your blonde russian wigs esther aron, or another brand? I'm curious because I am blonde and am currently shopping for a new wig. cannot decide what to buy.

Ruchel

Wed, Feb 01 2012, 7:52 am

Euro or Russian hair can be naturally black, or platinum, or anything in between.

amother

Seablue

Wed, Feb 01 2012, 9:11 am

.

Last edited by amother on Mon, Feb 05 2024, 8:33 am; edited 1 time in total

winter_rose

Sun, Feb 19 2012, 1:21 am

I'll second Eurowig. My mother got one used and it was still nicer than my brand new "Russian" hair piece of ......ehem. Hers was blond and the hair was so soft and natural and the part was so amazing people at my wedding who didn't know she was wearing a sheitel thought she wasn't, but it looked way nicer than her natural hair does now.

I got a chinese hair cheepo wig that's nicer than the new Russian one I got in Israel and the hair is much nicer. I might be inclined to actually wear a sheital more often if I could afford anything nice.

FraidelR

Sun, Aug 05 2012, 5:17 pm

RL Moda in Montreal sells unprocessed Russian hair sheitels. They are also made with extremely comfortable caps. I believe there's a sheitel macher in Brooklyn who orders from them, or you can order directly.
The prices are reasonable.
http://www.chossonandkallah.co......html

newbie

Wed, May 29 2013, 11:52 am

marina wrote:

I can't bear the thought of paying as much as for a used car as for some other person's hair on my head.

My thoughts exactly. How on earth do people come up with $2000 for a sheitel? I always pay around $500 and consider that a lot- and I am very happy with the quality etc. in my opinion, paying that much is just not worth it.

Merrymom

Wed, May 29 2013, 12:23 pm

Just thought I should mention that you could get a brand new wig every month from China on Ebay and your entire cost for the entire year for gorgeous knock offs would be about $125. I just found out about this and am seriously considering it. Think of it as disposable shaitels, you don't even have to bother paying someone to wash it anymore, just get a new one. I don't expect it would have the same nice hair like my human hair has but still, the shaitel machers are forever ruining my shaitels anyway, I'm tired of having to buy a new one constantly because they burn it with their blow dryers.

Cookies n Cream

Wed, May 29 2013, 2:41 pm

newbie wrote:

marina wrote:

I can't bear the thought of paying as much as for a used car as for some other person's hair on my head.

OOC, how often do they need to be replaced?
I know some people that have $1800-$2000 wigs that have lasted 8-10+ years

gamanit

Wed, May 29 2013, 5:33 pm

How long a sheitel lasts depends a lot on what it's exposed to. If it's sitting in the closet most of the time, it's easy to see how it can last so many years. Think about your real hair- how long can it get before the hairs become lower quality? Hair grows six inches a year. Figure out yourself how soon it takes to get damaged... and a sheitel is made out of the ends of someone else's hair...

Blueberry Muffin

Wed, May 29 2013, 6:31 pm

Merrymom wrote:

u dont always know what your getting... I once ordered a light brown adorable wig from china - it came soooo dark and not at all like the picture....

hot mom

Wed, May 29 2013, 6:52 pm

black sheep wrote:

mommy of a.s. wrote:

are your blonde russian wigs esther aron, or another brand? I'm curious because I am blonde and am currently shopping for a new wig. cannot decide what to buy.

My wigs are all from Esther Aron. They really do not oxidize until 4 1/2 yrs after purchase and are in perfect condition.
But I will add, that anyone who invests money into a wig needs to care properly for it. That is key for it to look good from washing to washing and to last longer.

A few tips that I would recommend:

1. Always gently comb it out with a sheitel comb and pick when taking it off and putting it on the sheitel head
2. Use pincurls and velcro rollers to maintain the styles especially for bangs, angles, and height on top
3. try to not wash it crazy often (like every month) because it kills the wig net. (Russian hair also looks good even when it's dirty!) I wash a wig that I wear daily every 2-3 months and I try to switch off with other wigs so as not to wear it out. A shabbos wig that I wear for shabbos and simchos can get away with being washed even less frequently like 3-5 months
4. it pays to wash it by a sheitel macher who charges more for a wash and set but at least doesn't ruin the wig than to go to someone who does it for really cheap and risk ruining your wig in which case you pay hundreds to repair it.
5. you shouldn't cook with it because the fumes and heat will not be good for the hair

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jun 03 2013, 3:45 pm

mommy of a.s. wrote:

5. you shouldn't cook with it because the fumes and heat will not be good for the hair

Agreed! I prefer to cook with oregano, myself. Much tastier that way. Besides, who wants hair in their food? Tongue Out

Finding an unprocessed red that is the right shade is SO hard, can take up to 6 months just for them to collect enough hair, and then they want charge you 10 to 20% extra on top.

I haven't heard anyone discuss Mongolian hair yet. Most Chinese wig made specifically for the European market are Mongolian, sourced from northern China, where it is ethnically much closer to Russian hair. Because it only comes in black or brown, it has to be processed if you want another color, but unlike Chinese hair you don't have to be so harsh with it. The prices are very reasonable, just a shade over what you would pay for thicker Chinese hair, and the texture is much closer to Brazilian hair. If you want curl or waves, go with Mongolian, for sure. If you love that stick straight, sleek look, then you'll do best with Chinese.