What the coating does
After an acid bath removes the cuticle, hair is left rough, porous and dull. A silicone layer fills the surface, restores slip and reflects light. In the hand it can feel better than genuine Remy: heavier, glassier, perfectly smooth.
It also masks every diagnostic signal a buyer relies on. The directional friction test disappears. Porosity feels uniform. Colour appears even. The sample performs beautifully for two to four weeks of client wear.
When it fails
The coating leaves progressively with each wash. Typically between wash five and wash ten the hair changes character: dullness at the mid-lengths, increasing drag through a comb, then knotting at a consistent point on the shaft. The client blames the salon. The salon blames the hair. The supplier is already three orders down the road.
Stripping before you judge
Never evaluate an incoming sample as received. Clarify twice with a sulphate shampoo and no conditioner, air-dry, then begin your assessment. If a sample's quality drops sharply after clarifying, you have learned what you needed to know at the cost of ten minutes.
A five-minute test any salon can do
Take one strand from the bundle. Wash it twice with a clarifying shampoo and no conditioner, then let it air dry.
Coated hair changes character: it feels rougher, loses shine and may start to knot at the mid-lengths. Honest cuticle-aligned hair feels much the same as before the wash.
Do this before you install a new supplier's hair on a client, not after.
Why blondes are where coating hides most
Lightening opens the hair. Fast, harsh lightening damages it, and coating is the quickest way to hide that damage for the first few weeks.
This is why our highest-grade blondes are strictly silicone-free, and why we lift slowly in stages instead of in one hard step.
Buyer Questions
Is silicone always a bad sign?
No. A light finishing product is normal. A coating that materially changes the hair's behaviour when removed is the warning.
How do I strip it?
Two clarifying washes with a sulphate shampoo, no conditioner, air-dry between.
Is all silicone on hair extensions bad?
A light finishing product is normal. The problem is heavy coating used to hide stripped or mixed-direction hair. Once it washes off, the real condition of the hair shows.
How many washes until silicone comes off?
It varies, but most heavy coatings show noticeably after a few washes with clarifying shampoo. That is why a wash test before buying in volume is worth doing.