The Truth About Where Hair Extensions Come From | Shady | Refinery29
This week on Shady, our host, Lexy Lebsack, takes us into the underground world of human hair trafficking. Wigs and extensions are often made of real human hair, but have you ever questioned how that hair was sourced? Watch this episode of Shady to learn where hair really comes from!
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Shady is the side of the beauty world you haven't seen. Hosted by Refinery29 Senior Beauty Editor, Lexy Lebsack, the series swivels between the unexpected and uplifting, dives deep into the dark underbelly of beauty, gives a voice to those trampled by this quickly growing industry, and questions what it’s all worth. From counterfeit makeup to skin trafficking for cosmetic procedures, we go there.
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It’s like getting a haricut but the hair dresser pays YOU.
Imma start donating my hair to dan lmao
Lol yeah that’s so cool 🤣🤣👍
They are poor,they use that money to live, not to buy an iphone
Roast BEEF it8s because the person was willing to cut a big amount of their hair
I just did it like 2 weeks ago
I actually cried after the First Lady said that she’s scared of cutting her hair. It’s so awful how people are scamming these ladies by only giving them $2-3 and I was so happy that she was receiving $100+
Cookie Unicorn that’s still a little
Your Hawt Cup of tea not really. she gets to feed her family for a month
Gabby I know but it’s still seems bad because she took a long time to grow it and make it beautiful and they get paid about 100$ but when they sell the wigs they sell them way more expensive
@@yourhawtcupoftea6379 in their country you can get A LOT out of $100
That woman who went on that trip should get an award or something for her research.
Thanks for the heart love your content
+marksuckerberg That means so much to us!! Thank you! 🙂
That was my aunt XD and if u don’t belive me ask the channle
Refinery29 is the woman who went on the trip is candy ice creams aunt?
@@willow304 it really is :3
after he cuts their hair
he gives them a cute little hairstyle
im glad we have people like this
Hardly compensation for years of looking after your hair, you can see she is upset and disappointed
@@pigeonlove She wasn’t forced to do it, she sacrified her hair, something valuable to her for the well-being of her family.
welp. im your 1k like
I’m glad we have people have that photo as their profile pic, “welp”. Fucking genius
kipper Well that’s a lot better than scamming her and only paying a few bucks and giving her a crappy cut sooo…
$2 how insulting. That’s barely enough for a coffee. Shame on some of these vendors.
Bruh she can get chocolate or a nice notebook or lays, just go to dollar tree bruh, I would cut my hair 4 some of these cuz I don’t care about how tall my hair is
N05 They are poor, she used that money to stay alive not to eat a damn chocolate.
its more than you think in poorer countries. Yet, they’re getting scammed.
coffee in vietnam can be lower than 2$, but selling hair for 2-3$ is not enough to live.
D J yup
The pain in her face while he’s cutting her hair is honestly heartbreaking
ikr 。in east，south-east and especially south asian countries，the biggest trend for thousands of years is to have beautiful，long， luscious hair 。you’ve probably seen indian women with super long hair that can reach their legs，because our culture has been that way for thousands of years 。whenever i’m in malaysia，nearly everyone，including many males，have super long and flowing hair 。。
I actually teared up at that point.
It will grow
it wasnt even my hair and my heart sank for her
I agree. She looks regretting after looking at the mirror.
I literally had chills when that lovely lady was told that with her short hair she looked “young, fresh and really pretty” her reaction was soooo sweet.
She looked so happy with her new style. She really loved it. And then the next lady they showed was too.
It was really interesting how she covered her face
Covering the face with a bit of hair in the hand is the sincerest shy smile women do (and some fake when flirting).
I smiled along when I saw her smiling
And then the lady said she was starting to like the haircut🥰🥺
the fact that he treated the woman’s hair with respect really warmed my heart
and the woman’s reaction to the girl saying she looked beautiful was seriously heart warming
i know! her smile was HUGE and she honestly looked amazing with that cut. it brings focus onto her beautiful face. she’s really lovely.
I literally am crying 😭
Right she was so ginuwine sweet and beautiful !! You could tell , it made me so happy to see that lady happy about it since she was scared of how she’d look before
CamiliaxBoba what?? the man did the womans hair, then the blonde women complimented the women who got her hair cut. whats the point of ur comment?
What i like about this guy: He could have Cut her hair to the neckline but He didnt. He left her enough for both HER feminity and dignity. Already this is Making all the difference.
Well yeah, the cameras were rolling.
@@coyote_0056 i dont believe it Was just for the camera. I dont know for Sure but People talk. Especially the women who sell their hair. Never underestimate gossip even in a country like this where people dont have TV.
@@velveteenrabbit5804 koi
@@shubhodeepdutta5794 i Dont understand. Yes maybe?
Fue lo primero que pensé y eso me encantó 💓💖
The girl who sold her hair for books and tuition looks so happy to finally have enough money to get proper school supplies and I’m really happy for her!
And then she realised the education system is mainly bullshut
@@DivineAtheistWannabe and I oop-
we meet again, wisteria
@@adrienchen yayyyy
Yea as a Vietnamese person school isn’t even a choice an doing this helps out Vietnamese girls having an education
It sort of restores my faith in humanity a little bit that Dan is so willing to make such a massive change in an industry that doesn’t ordinarily care where it’d products come from. He could majorly screw these women over by cutting their hair so much shorter and paying less money, but not only does he give them all a gorgeous hairstyle, he pays them excellently too. Sure, the world can suck sometimes, but it’s people like Dan who remind you that good people still exist even in industries such as this.
As a Vietnamese girl and love long, smooth, natural hair. I understand very well how difficult the care process can be. Honesty, to have beautiful and long hair, it is not possible to calculate the care time by days and weeks but by months and years. It took me over five years to get my hair from shoulder length to waist length. We love our hair very much, it is not only about our beliefs but also about our spiritual values. It breaks my heart when women have to sell their hair for their lives and pay unjust and undeserved prices. Please do not say bitter words to the reluctant, unlucky women who have to sell their hair.
Chao Chị! Thank you for putting what I felt in words. As a Vietnamese girl it also infuriates me to ever hardly hear about the criminalizing acts that America did to Vietnam, leaving our country to shredded pieces, and to see that the effects continue. The women’s hair that are so pure, nuanced, and one-of-a-kind gets sold to American companies that capitalize off of many woman’s impoverishment and lack of establishment to build a better life for herself and her family, therefore causing her to be compelled to sell her hair as there is no option not to. It will always pierce my heart whenever our people live through these abhorrent expenses that take a toll on their well-being and innocence. It is forever undeserving and Vietnam has never done anything to deserve this.
All of these comments largely made by Americans if not solely made by Americans just prove to be that they still don’t get it and that they cannot come close to comprehending how the monstrosity of the Vietnam War transcends to Vietnam’s current life-threatening issues. They want our hair as accessories but fail to respect us… :/
@@tiffanylam2510 I’m not American, {UK} and think it’s so wrong that women should be exploited for their hair, which is naturally raven black, glossy and like silk.
It ends up on the heads of wealthy women, on film stars..a neighbour {UK} makes wigs for Hollywood elite, they are many many thousands of pounds for even a short hair wig, A long one would be a small fortune. {Neighbour is a well respected wigmaker, but lives in a modest house}
If the Vietnamese women were given Thousands for their hair, it would be much fairer.
The ”End user” is likely a multi millionaire American who uses the very finest Vietnamese hair.
The Vietnam War was awful.
Barbaric. People are still suffering from birth defects from defoliants.
it is because black women are too lazy to look after and grow their own hair, they dont care one bit about vietnamese ladies, they are very racist to you in USA.
Easy solution is to not sell the hair.
@@sarcasticallyrearranged so they die?
This genuinely made me tear up. I grew up in a place where I didn’t associate my hair with my femininity, but rather it made me feel unsafe and targeted for the femininity it presented, and I’ve only recently started growing it out again. It’s amazing to see the other side of the spectrum where these women pride and cherish their hair, and it can help their families and homes.
in india hair is a womens pride
I’m sorry you had to go through that:( I hope you can get to a place where you love your hair🤍
So disheartening, I have been wearing human hair for over 15 years without ever thinking about where it comes from. Watching this with tears in my eyes for women who get scammed off their hair and for those who sell their much needed hair to support their families.
If I am ever going to wear human hair again, I’d buy from this Dan guy, but I may never be wearing human hair ever again.
That’s a good decision 👏 maybe you don’t have to give it up completely though. It seems you like real hair wigs/extensions a lot and would be a shame for you to lose them. So maybe you can do some research on what you’re getting before buying and only get the best of the best. Good luck
I just got extensions because my own hair is too sparse due to health issues. It cost me a LOT of money. But thinking of how most of that money went to the dealer and nearly none to the actual person who GREW my extensions, I’ve been feeling very weird. It’s almost like an organ transplant and yet I felt so rushed and desperate to have decent hair that I had no money to get to know where it even came from.
Idk. I’ve had my hair cut in a country which is one of the biggest exporters of hair for extensions. The hairdresser’s just save the hair as they cut it instead of letting it fall. I didn’t even understand what they were doing honestly thought they just wanted to save time on cleaning up. Now I realise they probably collected it for sale didn’t even know. It’s not always like this
Not all hair comes from unethical sources. I pay thousands for ethnically sourced Caucasian (because it matches mine) hair.
15 years is a long time to use a product and not think about its origins.
I just got reminded of the time I went to get my hip length hair cut and the woman who cut it suddenly started collecting my hair saying she was gonna use my hair to sell it for extentions. I hadn’t agreed to that but she wanted to make money outta my hair so I got ticked off and took my hair from her and donated it to a cancer charity. Learned my mistake (I should have gone there from the get go).
I’m mostly indigenous so my hair was mostly straight with a hint of waviness so to that woman it was perfect for sale without my permission.
My suggestion to folks, if you have really long good hair and want to get a shorter cut, donate it to those who need it before going to a salon or at least get a good deal for it. I almost got my free hair sold off (almost stolen off. That woman made plans for my hair without consulting me ffs)
Glad this man actually gives these women good deals and great cuts too. Can’t believe some people only offer 3$ for all that hair when some women with long hair might only cut it for financial reasons.
If you didn’t plan on donating it or selling it, tf do you care? Lol.
Do you get mad at the garbage man for doing the same with your rubbish and recycling?? Educate yourself, but most importantly HUMBLE yourself.
@@peps1943why are you bring sout to her? Ofc the woman needs to make a living but at the same times she sounds like she’s taking her hair with out her permission which seems a little explotive
It is so touching to see a businessman with such a good heart. Remy NY must be the new industry standard!
The fact that we pay $1500-2000 for hair yet somebody offered them $3 is FOUL… truly sickening… I wish I could give my money to them directly😩😩😩 I hope these women still feel as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside🤍
$1500-2000? What kinda hair you buy 😂😂 I’ve gotten some of the best hair on the market and never spent that much.
Cambodians have the best hair. We need to farm them for hair. Problem solved
@@jocelyndavis5687 I live on a small island in Canada (Newfoundland) and the price of everythingggg but especially non essentials is CRAZYYY😩 me and my friend are gunna take a road trip to Toronto this summer just to get some lip injections🤣 we pay up to $800 for ONE syringe of filler here🥲 (and that’s not even going to an ACTUAL DR) for reference, in Toronto well be able to get a syringe for $200… to say they are taking advantage of the fact we live on an island and don’t have any other options is an understatement 🥲🥲🥲
That’s capitalism for you
@@rachell4383go to Mexico it’s cheaper. Latin America has cheap cosmetic procedures the dr, Colombia, etc
I only wear synthetic wigs. I’m happy I made that choice now knowing this. Props to Dan for being ethical
I agree. I wear synthetic hair too. And now I will continue.
@@MzBrOdUs18- I just learned about harmful chemicals in synthetic hair. I’m done with hair extensions😢
The woman selling her hair for swim lessons for her son knows she is providing him with a life-saving skill and I love that.
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