Is 12a Hair Good?

Hair extensions have been widely used by people all around the world. They have come to a point where you can’t even tell if someone has hair extensions or not! The quality of hair extensions has gone up since the time of the Ancient Egyptians and they are only going up. Sellers often grade their hair extensions according to a system made for grading introduced in the 1990s. But they cannot all be reliable.

So is 12a hair good for hair extensions? There is a lot to dissect before we get to the infamous grades of 12a and above. The quality of hair has surely gone up but it is now often very exaggerated and used as a marketing scheme more than actual grades for the hair. So we will look at the grading system and the types of hair there are in the market and come to a definitive conclusion about 12a hair that has many people talking!

Understanding the Quality of Hair

Hair extensions are made up of either synthetic fiber that is made to look very similar to human hair or use actual human hair to make up a weave or wig! Some processing is done with the hair before they end up as a wig and this is what determines the quality of hair so let’s take a closer look at how these qualities define hair.

Weft

This is the process where the hair is sewn. The quality of hair is determined by how the hair is sewn into the fabric that becomes your hair extension or wig. If I take the 12a hair for example, the stitching is with a double-drawn weft so that the hair is more durable and does not break or shed easily. This is more durable than single-stitch wefts where the chances of hair becoming damaged are higher. It also differs in how far apart the hair is woven together and the length of the hair that eventually determines the quality of the hair.

100% Human Hair

Some hair extensions come from only one donor making the hair less likely to become tangled while others are made with multiple donors which are then woven together. The quality of the hair donors basically makes up the quality of hair as not all donors take care of them in the same way and there are subtle differences between them. Sometimes hair extensions can also be made with synthetic fiber alongside real human hair so there are obvious differences in quality there as well. Some might be 100% real human hair while others can.

Styling and Usage

Some hair is more stylable than others, where you can curl them or straighten them by washing them. This also determines the overall quality of the hair extension or weave because some may want to change up how the hair looks to match their look. Taking the grade 10a hair as an example, it is durable for most hairstyles which need heat to set the hair while higher grades are much easier to do so. Some hair wigs can also be dyed to get the color that you are looking for to style your look like cosplaying.

Types of hair

To determine the quality of hair, the type of hair that is used is also important. Some are chemically treated while others, like virgin hair or raw hair, are kept natural and have no treatment done to it. Remy hair, which is probably the most famous of them all, is either treated or virgin. It gets its name because the cuticles are facing the same direction so that they don’t get tangled up. Mostly the type of hair is in the texture of the hair and how it feels, whether it is soft and silky or curly etc.

Length & Weight

The length and weight of the hair also matter for the quality of the hair. Some hair bundles consist of both shorter hair and long hair to make layered hair. Some are only one length, usually 12 inches or longer. All of these have their own weights that determine their quality, where the heavier they are means the thicker the hair is.

Cost

Quite an arbitrary factor that I do not judge by but the notion is that the higher the quality of hair, the more expensive it will be. I will get to why this is mostly a non-factor but in the general market, this is considered to be the most defining factor that affects the quality of hair.

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12a Hair and Hair Grading System

All the qualities that were mentioned above are what make up the grading system for hair. However, now that all these qualities are somewhat incorporated into the grading system of hair, other qualities are not even put into consideration! That is where we get grades such as 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10a, and 12a. These can be somewhat misleading so let’s dive into why this is so.

The simple way to put it, the hair grading system is all up to the vendors and sellers of the products and doesn’t really follow the criteria for a certified grading system! So why it is that sellers are able to do this? It is mostly because they are all marketing schemes that sellers are able to put whatever grade that they so wish. This is all because no certified board checks the hair grading system!

It all began in the 2005s when the highest grade of hair was the 3a. That is until the 4a came about around the early 2010s and that became the highest quality of hair out there. Then in 2013, it was the 5a. And then the 6a came about, then the 7a, all the way up to 15a which is supposedly the best quality of hair out there in 2023! So you can imagine how much of a mess the grading system is for customers when they are trying to buy a good genuine product.

So where does the 12a hair stand in the grading? It really is dependent on the seller of the hair. If it is from reputable brands like QTHAIR, Mrladgo, or AGADES, then you can be assured you are getting a product worth getting. But even then they have their own marketing schemes like virgin Brazilian hair, Malaysian hair curls, and Indian Remy hair. The quality of hair cannot be really determined by just the letter grade attached to it and should be inspected to assure the quality.

12a Hair – Good or Not?

Think of the grading system as a way to judge the current best hair extension that is out there. The best current one is considered to be 15a. 12a hair is mostly made of virgin hair with no chemical processing done to keep it natural. It is usually from a single donor making it have a longer lifespan than other types of hair and more styling can be applied to it. Just a grade higher at 13a is almost exactly the same, where the difference lies in the seller and how they make the hair bundle.

12a hair is considered to be good because of all the factors I have mentioned. Each brand will have their own unique twist to it but anything above 12a is more or less the same. Higher grades of hair are given by the brand themselves and don’t mean much when you compare them to 12a hair. So if you are looking for reliable hair, you can’t do much wrong with a 12a hair as opposed to higher grades. All you have to worry about is the brand and how they made the hair because that is what really determines the quality of the wig, weave, or extension you are looking for.

So if you have been worried about 12a not being good enough, it is in fact really good grade to buy!

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Overall, the hair grading system has been complicated with different sellers selling different grades. What really determines the quality of the hair is how it’s made by the brand and the type of hair they used to make it. 12a hair is a good quality hair extension and you won’t have much trouble in terms of length, styling, weight, and the cost for good quality virgin human hair in 12a. When you are going to buy a bundle, make sure to look at reviews from others as that is what will tell you the real story and not the letter grade itself. There are endless options for 12a as it has been out for a couple of years. So when you are choosing, make sure to do your individual research so you get the product that you are looking for!

Key Points

• Quality of hair is important because the quality of the same letter grade can be different from each other due to the differences in quality.
• The hair grading system is very complicated and deceiving because the grades are given by the brand and not a certified board.
• When comparing 12a hair to higher-grade hair, they are more or less the same. The difference lies in how it was woven and created by the brand.
• In conclusion, 12a hair is good quality hair but you will have to do your research on the brand that sells it to get the quality of hair you want.

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