Where do my hair extensions come from? Are they sourced legally and manufactured in a humane way?

My quest to uncover the truth!

I choose all my gears and personal care products responsibly. Yet hair is one thing where I could not find any good vendor who has legitimate sourcing and compassionate manufacturing. People claim to sell Indian hair, Brazilian hair, Peruvian hair, Cambodian hair, Mongolian hair and even Malaysian hair but little time on google will tell us that none of these countries except India has a source of hair. Even China, the world’s largest hair exporter sources hair from India - but this is cheap balled hair from Indian villages that are smuggled out to China illegally. 

Is temple hair the best as it claims to be?

In such a complicated industry my search is never ending. People claim to source hair from temples but their products don't look so. I have been using extensions since 2012 and I could tell the difference between real human hair and processed hair which I believe is the cheap balled hair. So what happens to these so-called temple hair. Where can I buy them? I even tried the big hair stores in the US and they couldn’t send the raw and natural hair either. You must see the amount of dye the hair releases during a wash.

Can I find a real good hair company anytime soon?

I felt a ray of hope when I landed at VAKA hair store. The moment I realized my responsible choice of hair is possible. They had every expectation of mine checked - legally sourced from temples in India and a very good work environment. I was surprised to hear that they are the only hair company in India that has 5 days a week work. Also their work timing is 8 hours against 9 hours. Indians work 6 days a week. And the best part is they are 100% women powered factory. Literally blown away. Yet I was still unsure and the quality of hair extensions will determine the reality.

Is VAKA hair worth the hype?

When the bundles arrived, I must say I nailed it. Felt kind of achieved for finding a hair vendor who has the most ethical practice of hair sourcing and hair extensions manufacturing and importantly the best hair ever - The texture n color and the way it takes heat !! Coloured it a week before and stopped at dirty blonde - gave me an all new look! It was wanting more - could have achieved platinum blonde easily but I stopped at the color I wanted.

PS: After sending this story, I was contacted by VAKA to see and experience what I wrote. Special thanks to team VAKA for showing their factory and letting me chat with their employees. I couldn’t understand their language but could sense the kind of joy in their faces. Also they shared their factory attendance log over the call to show the 8 hour and 5 day a week schedule. This is inspiring and I am more than grateful to see my words in action.

Signing off, Fiona

VAKA Thanks:

Thank-you Fiona for sharing a different perspective of VAKA. We at VAKA are proud to have industry standard work conditions. We are the pioneers in the hair extensions manufacturing industry to have the safest working conditions with great benefits for all our employees. We always believe that we do not work as a team but as a family and together we grow.

VAKA CARES, An initiative by VAKA for an end to end sustainable eco system in our manufacturing, processes and relationship. 

VAKA Hair Stories:

We welcome our customers to share their VAKA hair experience and how it impacted their life. Selected stories will feature on our website and magazine. You can send your stories to our email: info@vakahair.com