- 2 hours ago
The hair trade has been shady for centuries and most people who wear human hair don't know where it comes from. Lexy investigates and finds a company that is trying to do some good.
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00:00This is the hackle. Respect the hackle.
00:04This is Mariah.
00:06She's a master wig maker whose skill and expertise has made her a celebrity favorite.
00:12This is what they do after they cut it off the ponytail to get that shorter hair out.
00:16She painstakingly sews each wig by hand in a process that can take months to complete and costs as much
00:23as $15,000.
00:24Close it off, and then there you go.
00:26And how you tie it determines the way the hair, like, flows and falls and parts.
00:33She knows everything there is to know about hair, except for one thing.
00:37Where does most of the hair being sold in the industry come from?
00:43I try to source from people who I know where it's coming from, but I don't know.
00:50As Refinery29's senior beauty editor,
00:53I've been on set for dozens of shoots and interviewed hundreds of hairstylists.
00:58Nearly every one of their kits holds the same things.
01:01Flat irons, curling irons, brushes, product, and hair.
01:06But Hollywood's best-kept secret is far from new.
01:09Both Black and Orthodox Jewish communities have openly worn hair for generations.
01:14But it's just now that the popularity has exploded into the mainstream.
01:19Celebrities have opened up on social media about wearing human hair,
01:23revealing just how common wigs and extensions are on the red carpet and in everyday life.
01:29These extensions have really pushed the hair trade up.
01:32People want things that are disposable.
01:35They just, like, want long hair today, and that's that.
01:40There's something intimate and uncanny about wearing the hair of another person.
01:44It can transform the way you look, but at what cost?
01:48Close your eyes.
01:49I couldn't help but wonder who this hair once belonged to.
01:53It's difficult to trace the origin of much of the hair on the market.
01:57It's no surprise, because the hair trade has always been shady.
02:01For centuries, hairbrokers have used any means necessary to get their hands on hair.
02:06In the 1800s, peasant women in France were lured into being shorn like sheep.
02:12In the early 1900s, it was reported that hair sold in the States
02:16was coming from sewers and corpses in China.
02:19Hair dealers were thought to be so shady, they were banned from Ellis Island.
02:24Controversy continued into the 21st century, as reported by CNN.
02:28She lost eight inches of hair.
02:31From the robber's perspective, it's quick and relatively easy money.
02:35One constant in all of this is that the hair trade sets up shop
02:39wherever women are the most disenfranchised.
02:42And the people who end up wearing the hair
02:44are often unaware of the journey it took to get to them.
02:49Most people do not know where their hair comes from, and I don't think they care.
02:52Rika Hales, the founder of a hair extension salon in Los Angeles,
02:56didn't particularly care either, until she got scammed.
03:00I had already lost $10,000.
03:02I couldn't afford to lose anymore.
03:04They have these great pictures.
03:05They tell you how it's going to perform.
03:07They say you want a dream.
03:08That's the issue with it.
03:10Rika went on a hair-buying trip to try to get some answers.
03:13You want to know if all the hair in Malaysia is really coming from Malaysia.
03:16She traveled across six countries and found the lack of regulation in America
03:20and around the world makes it hard to guarantee what you're getting.
03:26Push it, push it, push it, push it.
03:28There you go.
03:30Oh, it fried the hair.
03:31It fried the hair.
03:32I can smell it.
03:33It smells like, what is that?
03:34Is that burnt hair or is that plastic?
03:35That's plastic.
03:37Plastic, mixed with what's known as fallen hair.
03:40It's the cheapest tier of human hair,
03:43collected from salon floors, hairbrushes, and drains.
03:47The hair is detangled, processed with chemicals,
03:51coated with silicone,
03:52and sometimes mixed with synthetic and animal hair.
03:55While okay for some uses,
03:57it's a less expensive version of a higher quality, more elusive hair.
04:02Virgin Remy.
04:04So everybody's secretive about where their hair actually comes from.
04:08That's where the hair broker makes this money.
04:10Let me.
04:10Let me.
04:11Remy.
04:11Okay, let me do it.
04:12Passing off non-Remy hair as Remy
04:15is just one of the many tactics of hair dealers.
04:19Where do you get your hair from now?
04:21I get my hair from India.
04:32Widely considered to be one of the most ethical places to source hair,
04:36Hindu temples are a crucial part of the industry.
04:39Every year, millions of devout followers travel to temples like this one,
04:43the Sri Benkateshwara Temple in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
04:48It's the most visited Hindu temple in the world and perhaps the most lucrative.
04:54Here, devotees shave their hair as an offering to the gods,
04:58which becomes an easy revenue source for the temple,
05:00bringing in more than $7 million per year.
05:04It's a practice that provides a constant supply of cheap, high-quality hair.
05:08But it's not for everyone.
05:12For some, matching specific textures and colors is worth paying top dollar for.
05:18Blonde, red, wavy, coily.
05:21The more niche the hair is, the more expensive and harder it is to source,
05:25making this type of hair prime for exploitation.
05:31After months of back and forth,
05:33only one of them agreed to show us their operation.
05:38We set out to Vietnam to meet him.
05:42Vietnam is in a moment of major transition.
05:45With one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia,
05:48its growth is a mix of opportunity and exploitation.
05:53Hairsellers here have been known to offer women next to nothing for their hair,
05:57or offer them what sounds like a good rate,
06:00only to disappear before payment.
06:03Even though Dan agreed to meet us,
06:05I still had no idea what to expect,
06:07or how legitimate his operation would be.
06:13Hi!
06:16The way other companies operate,
06:18everything is going to be under the radar.
06:20Some of the women that we've bought hair from,
06:23they've been scammed before.
06:25We're trying to be different than everybody else.
06:29Dan's mission is to make his company, Remy New York,
06:33one of the first ethical and totally transparent companies on the market.
06:37These are going to be our dyed hairs.
06:40So we do have different varieties.
06:43This is so exciting!
06:44Different colors.
06:44Yeah.
06:45Really cool.
06:46You have short ones, too.
06:47Sure.
06:47So if a girl were to come to you and want to cut her hair,
06:51but she has short hair, you would still buy it?
06:52Of course, yeah.
06:53Okay.
06:54We try not to turn away anybody,
06:57just because everybody needs help.
06:59So this one is going to be one of our long ones.
07:04This one is pure virgin Remy.
07:07You can feel the softness of it.
07:10In my six years in the beauty industry,
07:12I had never seen hair like this.
07:14Amazing, right?
07:16Oh my gosh, this is so long.
07:19This level of high-quality hair isn't something you can fake.
07:23And as soon as I saw Dan's hair,
07:25I knew he was doing something right.
07:27But he invited us out to see for ourselves.
07:32Dan travels across the region to buy hair,
07:34in person and at a fair rate.
07:36Here in the countryside,
07:38having long hair is still an important sign of femininity.
07:43Hi!
07:43Yeah.
07:44Hi!
07:45How are you?
07:46Good job.
07:48Good job.
07:48Good job.
07:48For Win Thi Thuy,
07:49it's a promise of a better future.
08:07Will you miss your long hair?
08:30Because for the previous times,
08:32they only offer about two or three dollars for her hair.
08:49It hits home that the hair trade starts with women like Thuy.
08:54Behind many of these wigs and extensions
08:56is a woman making the tough choice
08:58to sell her hair to better her life.
09:13Dan zip ties Thuy's hair to avoid tangling
09:15and to keep it all in the same direction after it's been cut.
09:33It looks beautiful.
09:34I think it looks beautiful.
09:36You look young and fresh and really pretty.
09:40Will you tell her that?
09:46How are you feeling?
09:47You do, yeah.
09:48How are you feeling?
09:49How are you feeling?
09:53How are you feeling now?
10:11They have the potential to change lives.
10:13It's a mission dance taking across the country.
10:18From a woman who wants to use the money
10:20to put her son through swim lessons for the first time.
10:25To another who needs to pay for books and tuition at school next semester.
10:31And even a woman who wants to advance herself through the trade.
10:35You know, there's no shortage of hair companies in the world.
10:38But there's no companies that want to make a difference,
10:40that want to change lives.
10:41The reason why I'm doing this
10:43is because I know that nobody else will.
10:46And nobody else has.
10:47While it's still the early days for Dan's company,
10:50a lot of eyes are on him to see if Remy New York
10:53can be a new standard within the industry.
10:56What does an ethical supply chain for hair look like?
11:00It sort of looks like fair trade.
11:02This guy in Vietnam, he's transparent.
11:04And the girls are getting something in return
11:06that's extremely valuable.
11:08You have to make an effort to understand where the hair is coming from,
11:11do your research,
11:12make sure that the women it's coming from are getting a wage.
11:16I think that's how change happens.
11:17Hair can be more empowering than we ever thought possible.
11:22For the women who wear it
11:23and those who use it to create businesses
11:25that enrich their communities.
11:28But also for the women who sell it
11:30to better their lives and the lives of their families.
11:33A fair trade, transparent supply chain
11:37can leave everyone better off.
11:39That is, if the industry allows it
11:42and the customers demand it.
11:44Right?
11:49Think about it.
11:51Think about it.
11:51Think about it.
11:51Think about it.
11:51Re Hauten