Sheitel 101 help!!!

cbsmommy

Sun, Oct 02 2011, 12:32 pm

Welcome to sheitels! Honestly, my best advice is before you do ANYTHING look at your budget and decide what you can afford to spend.

Next, you need to understand that there is NO SUCH THING AS THE PERFECT BRAND. Every brand will have better/worse pieces. Sometimes a sheitel is made poorly even though it's from a great company. Sometimes a sheitel that's from a so-so company is made amazing. Don't CONCENTRATE ON BRANDS. All brands will have longer/shorter pieces. All brands will have more/less expensive pieces. Most brands will offer all hair colors (if you are a redhead you'll have a few more issues than if you were a dark brunette).

It's similar to buying a car. Some people will swear up/left/backwards that a Toyota = the best brand ever. They go for the name. No matter what you are buying (car, truck, minivan, etc) they will tell you to ONLY go to a Toyota dealer. But the smart shopper knows that if she is looking for a midsize sedan, she'd be silly not to also look at Kia Optima, the Hyundai Sonata, the Honda Civic, etc and see what she likes/doesn't like about each brand, who's got the best sale, the best warranty, customer service, etc.

Next you really want to decide what you are looking for. I'll be honest, you won't know what you are looking for until you wear the darn thing on your head for 12 hours. At that point you'll say "why'd I get bangs, I can't see!" or "Why'd I get side whisps? they annoy me!" So, if you can, try and borrow a sheitel in your size for a bit. You also want to figure out if you want a ponysheitel, a headband sheitel, or a full sheitel.

What's the difference? A ponysheitel is typically slightly longer and it has a clip at the back of the neck so that you can left ALL of the hair off your neck. It's typically machine weft made because the stress of pulling hair into a pony is 'too much' for hand sewn knots. Machine weft will add some weight, so a ponysheitel is a bit 'heavier' on your head than a full hand sewn sheitel. Is it a 40 lb weight? No. But if you are prone to migraines, have super curly hair, or if you hate having any pressure on your head, you might want to 'try before you buy' for longer to make sure you feel ok while wearing. The front of a pony sheitel will typically have bangs/a few side pieces so that it doesn't look 'wiggy' in the front.
A pony comes in tons of colors but it will typically only be straight or wavy hair.

What's a fall? A fall can be have hair that is hand sewn or machine wefts (flip the sheitel inside out, if you see horizontal lines, it's machine weft.) Again, some people are ok with machine weft. Some people prefer hand ties. Hand ties can be more expensive, but if you get migraines every time you wear your shieitel, you haven't done yourself any favors.
A fall may/maynot have a multi-directional skin part (so that you can part the hair differently).
A fall comes in lots of different lengths.
A fall can be worn under a hat.
A fall DOES NOT have a front. The cap ends about 3/4 of the way up your head. Some people will pull their bangs up and over a fall and 'integrate the hair'. Some people will only wear a fall with a headband that covers every last drop of hair. Decide where in that spectrum you fall.
A fall can have curly, wavy, or straight hair. A fall can also have more/less volume depending on the piece.

A full sheitel can be hand tied or machine wefted. It may/may not be multi-directional. It can be long, short, have bangs, no bangs, etc. Some are curly. Some straight. Some have more body. Some have less body. Try as many pieces on from as many brands as you can!

What's the deal with the virgin european shtick?
Hair is either synthetic, real, or blend. Let's ignore synthetic or blend b/c I get the feeling you're refering to real hair sheitels. Real hair comes from a variety of different countries. South America (hair tends to be darker and straighter). Europe (hair tends to be a brunette, variety of textures) and Asia (big Kashrus issue. Indian hair tends to be dark, straight/wavy.) Remy hair = hair that has the cuticles in the same direction. Technically, remy hair is currently a marketing ploy and nowadays tends to be equal to 'highly processed hair'.

Virgin European hair technically means that the hair was cut from someone in Europe by a hair collector, ensured that the cuticle was in the right direction and bundled in a pony, and then sewn into the sheitel....

But that's NOT (edited to include the word not) really how you'll hear sheitel machers explain it to you.

When a sheitel macher says virgin, 9/10 times she means that the hair is unprocessed, and so she can charge a high price.

She's confused.

All hair used for sheitels start out as being unprocessed virgin hair. About 1% stay that way.

Why?

Well, because real hair is a mess. Somedays it co-operates. some days you are 'blessed' with a bad hair day. As a result, factories typically process the hairs to make it softer. (How do you know if a sheitel is processed to make it softer? Run your hand up a strand of hair. If it's as smooth going up as it is going down, the cuticle has been removed and the hair has been processed.) MOST OF THE SHEITELS IN THE MARKETPLACE HAVE BEEN PROCESSED! (About 1% of all sheitel machers worldwide understand this concept.) Since all hair starts out as virgin, they'll say the 'sheitel is virgin european hair'. It's a misnomer. It 100% started out as a virgin unprocessed piece. It ain't unprocessed anymore. Virgin hair costs more than 'processed'. But...as we just established, many reputable establishments don't understand what is/is not virgin european hair. Don't be tempted to buy a $2,000 virgin piece b/c...

Processed hair isn't always a bad thing...

but that depends on what processing was done. A softening process is actually quite helpful b/c you don't want to deal with someone else's constant bad hair day.

But, if the hair used to be black, and it's currently blond then the processing done to that hair included a severe dye job. A severe dye job in any direction can cut the shelf life of a sheitel. A small dye job (my sheitel oxidized slightly after 3 years and needs to be a bit darker) won't really harm the hair at all. Do your best to avoid purchasing hair that underwent a massive color change.

Another 'process' that is done to hair is either curling or straightening it (perming/relaxing). A relaxed sheitel IS NOT GOING TO HOLD A CURL. If you dream of having a sheitel that holds curls for days on end DO NOT BUY A STRAIGHT PIECE. On the flip side, a severely permed sheitel is NOT GOING TO STAY STRAIGHT. If your dream sheitel is straight, don't buy something that looks like it came off of Shirley Temple's head. If you want a piece that you can wear as a 'curly' or as a 'straight' consider a wavy piece. If it rains, you're wavy will get frizzy, but on the flip side, it'll hold a curl through a 3 day yontif without making you look/feel silly.

Now the part that you've been waiting for...PRICES! I personally feel that the less you pay for your first sheitel = the better. Most sheitels will last an average of 4 years of solid use (wear it once a week on Shabbos for 2 hours to shul, and it will last longer than if you wear it for 12 hours a day). (Also Keep in mind that if you are having your sheitel 'done' every two months, even if you are only wearing that sheitel once/twice a week for a few hours, the heat from blow-drying, straightening, curling iron will take a toll on your piece.) Sheitels range from typically $650 for a Milano pony sheitel to $3,000 for a custom Shevy.

YOU decide how much you want to spend. Go to different sheitel machers. Try on EVERYTHING. Don't commit to one brand. (And although it can be frustrating) don't feel a need to commit to one person. and whatever you do, DONT buy something online for your first piece. You really want to try it on.

Also, find out who does the cutting for your piece. ALL hair (even a precut) will need SOMETHING in order to match the piece to your face. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' cut and you'll need some tailoring. Once you find something you like ask questions like:
1) who does the cutting?
2) If I hate the cut in a week, what's your policy?
3) if I think it needs bangs next week after wearing it for a bit, do you have an additional charge?
4) if it goes bald, what's your warranty?
5) will the warranty only stay in place if you cut it, or can I bring it anywhere?

Next, find out policy on wash and sets. You DONT need to bring the sheitel back to the person you bought it from for wash-n-sets. But you DO need to find out how often you are advised to wash the piece. (please note, a very curly piece you typically wash and scrunch yourself. I personally love my curly piece b/c I save $30 every two months and I have a fresh smelling sheitel whenever I need. Some people hate maintaining their own sheitels. It all depends on your comfort level.)

Hope this helps!