Nkem Ndem l Monday, December 12, 2016
LAGOS, Nigeria – Are you visiting Lagos and looking for cheap human hair to take back home with you? You may want to take a rain check on the invitation from hair vendors at Lagos Island market.
No doubt the human hair trade in Lagos is budding and the market offers a myriad selection of gorgeous human hair: Russian, Peruvian, Chinese, Burmese and more, however, the options you find in the form of wigs, weaves (extensions) and attachments may not necessarily be the best, and for valid reason too.
Jumia Travel, Africa’s no. 1 online hotel booking service suggests 4 of the reasons why Nigeria may not be the best place to buy human hair.
Too many fakes
Human hair is supposed to be premium, but with the abundance of “exotic” human hair including Peruvian, Brazilian, Mongolian ,Filipino, Cambodian, Russian virgin hair and more on the market, one does have to ponder and wonder if it all is not nothing more than a marketing ploy. Most vendors at Lagos Island key into the mystique of human hair being the ultimate premium virgin hair with the perfect texture and luster and sell all sorts to unassuming customers as most times, it is even hard for an expert to tell the difference between these fakes and the originals.
Over priced
Although fake human hair abounds within the market, the cost price in general is still very steep. Human hair is especially expensive, even when they are original, as the marketer usually factors in the cost of importing it, caring for it and packaging it. Vendors at Lagos Island end up purchasing the hair about twice the original price.
Harsh storage conditions
Human hair is originally natural- they can be bleached, dyed, curled, straightened and more, just as you can do with normal growing hair- and are most times affected by extreme heat and moisture if not stored properly. The stalls at the Lagos Island are not well equipped to store these bundles of hair as they expose them to harsh conditions and hardly care for them properly. As a result of this, these human hair bundles quickly lose their natural luster after purchase and buyers very difficult to groom and manage.
Shedding and Bulky wefts
In the bid to reduce cost, some of these vendors at Lagos Island buy the hair in its original form and take on the task of processing the hair, either chemically or by steam, so as to achieve a desires wave or curl pattern and a luster that will blend with textured hair. In the process however, sometimes the original texture of the hair is tampered with and the hair is not properly sown, leading to eventual complaints of shedding and bulky wefts from patrons.
