Where Yo Wig From?

Human hair wigs are a multi-billion-dollar global industry — but whose hair is it, really?

This week, Your Mama dives into the human hair trade: temple donations in India, factory processing overseas, billion-dollar beauty markups, and the uncomfortable truth behind “virgin Remy.” From TikTok installs to thousand-dollar lace fronts, we’re asking the question nobody wants to answer:

Where does that hair actually come from?

Is it empowerment? Is it exploitation? Is it just capitalism doing what capitalism does?

We love the glam. We question the supply chain.

Keep it cute. Keep it conscious. And maybe… keep wigs fake.

Bitch, don’t be dumb.

Music by Nathan Wills.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're tuned in to BDBD. Bitch, don't be dumb. I'm your mama. No daddy's allowed. Welcome to the Don't Be Dumb Podcast. This is your mama. Welcome back. Beattie Beattie. Don't drop it, don't stop it. I'm your mama. You're the beaties. We're gonna do this. Let's get it up. Ladies, ladies, what have you been doing this week? Have you been riding that neck? Have you been having a good time? Have you been smoking blunts and taking shots? I mean, we all do what we want to do, okay? There's no judgment here. It is a judgment-free zone. Welcome to episode 14 of the bitch don't be dumb podcast. Woo! Episode 14? Man, this shit is rolling along, ladies. Shout out Rhode Island. I see y'all joining us this week. Utah in the house in the his ass. Welcome, welcome to our new listeners, our reggies. We are the beaties. If you have a penis and you're here, you're weird, but you know, pull up a chair and fucking learn something. This is a podcast for women, by women, biological women, uterus life, the ovaries are happening. It's all included in the package deal of bitch don't be dumb. Hello. We're all very happy that February is almost done. Um, that shit's about to just be complete, and here in the Northeast, New York City life, we're very glad that that's where we are. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about the weather. I'm not here to get anything fucking, you know, personal looped into this. We are here to talk about this week's topic. And this week's topic is where the fuck your wig from Oh yeah. That's right, bitch. For all you bitches wearing a wig on your head right now, this one's for you. First of all, we love wigs. We as women love wigs. We love dress up, we love doing plays, we love any kind of theatrical dramatics of ourselves that we feel that we are enhancing something or or just getting hotter or more fuckable, right? Like, do you want to fuck me more with a wig? I guess that's pretty much. Because what's the real purpose of a wig? Outside of being a TikTok, a TikToker, outside of being a TikToker in Florida where there's nothing to fucking do except for drive, so you have to just put wigs on to make content. Um or you're just like a reality person that has to wear a wig. So I don't know. You feel like everyone thinks you look hotter? Wigs are a thing. I'm not mad at them. We we stand on wigs, but the question is, what the fuck is your wig made of? Do you know what your wig is made of? Where your wig from. Do you know where your wig is from? Because I'm pretty fucking sure that you actually likely don't. Let's have a little bit of background. I did some research, bitches. Your mama is researching beaties. I don't come in here talking out my ass. I come in here with the facts. I come to speak facts. I come with reality so that you can all know and we can get educated together and be better bitches going forward. You know what I'm saying? It's a progressive podcast, bitch. We're all we're all going forward. Fucking take a step. Wigs. Wigs are worth roughly eight to ten billi worldwide annually. So every year bitches drop like ten billi on motherfucking wigs. And the question is, why do you have to wear human hair? And there's this exoticness where bitches will be like, oh, this is my wig. It's real hair. It's real hair. Whose hair is it? So, first of all, before I go on my tangent, because BD's, you already know this is gonna be a ripper tangent. A ripper? First of all, why are you wearing someone else's hair? You know, I don't really believe in Santeria or any of that voodoo, that voodoo voodoo shit. That's not that's really not how I ride, but you know what? If I was going to believe in voodoo, the first thing I would do is find some other bitch's hair and like glue it to my head. Because that seems very like, yeah, Santeria. I don't know like all those those weird gods that they have, the names of them. Like my third crazy husband had one of them. I threw it in the lake and he got very upset. But, anyways, all I'm saying, don't wear another bitch's hair. Why do you feel that you need to take the head? Cause it is the head, right? Like, I mean, it's close enough to their freaking head. Like, why does it have to be real hair? Can't it just be synthetic like your tits? Can't it be fake like your veneers? It's like you will plug your lips full of poison to make them fakely fat or put fake contacts in your eyes, change the colors. Like everyone's happy to do synthetic everything, but then when it comes to their hair, it's like, oh no, we need real hair. Where the fuck is that hair coming from? Have you ever thought about it? Because I think you fucking should. So most, if we're going to continue on the research that I did for my episode, because I'm here to fucking tell the story, um, most of your fake hair on your head is actually coming from India. It's coming from Cambodia, and there's even parts of Latin America that are essentially scalping young women so that they can treat the hair in chemicals. And that's what's funny, too. That's also what's hilarious. Bitches be putting on an orange wig, talk about it's real hair. No one's hair is orange. Well, my sister's hair was kind of orange, but anyways, you know what I'm saying. They're putting on a fucking pink, they're putting on some dye to ass shit. Some synthetically altered shit, and being like, oh, it's real hair. But anyways, basically, if you want to know where your hair comes from, in these, I mean, in these countries that have their own economies, hair is like part of the economy. And so in India, again, for example, there is an entire temple of bitches that be shaving their heads as a religious offering. And then the temple takes their hair and auctions it off for like millions of dollars, and it's being auctioned to like US peddlers that fucking diet and sell it on Amazon or wherever the fuck you're buying it from. Like, can't you wear a synthetic wig? I think that's gonna be the name of my episode. Instead of where's your hair from or stop wearing real hair, can't you just wear a synthetic wig? Like I said, you got your fake titties, you got your fake ass, right? All the time, you got your BBLs. Why is it that everything can be fake and then all of a sudden you're like, oh no, my hair's gotta be, it has to be scalped off of a virgin from Cambodia? Like, what the fuck? Think about it. And these bitches be changing their fucking wigs more than they change their goddamn panties. For real. I seen it. I seen it all. I seen all of the the TikTokes that are out there with their wigs. And you know what? I don't think it's right. I'm gonna I'm gonna say what I say. I'm going to stand for myself. It's like, was the hair donated knowingly? Was the seller fairly compensated? Ask yourself this. Bitches, sisters, women. The next time you're putting your wig on, were the factory workers treated humanely? Like, and it's not funny. It's not funny because I think that it's like it's probably one of the most commercialized horriblenesses. And I I get it. Like, people are like, I don't want to wear plastic hair. Okay, you don't want to wear plastic hair, but you're gonna wrap your scalp in a piece of fucking nylon polyester before you put, I don't know, you know, Amanda's hair on that got cut off in India last week. I just feel like it it's I have a hard time fucking following, if that makes sense. It's like a massive percentage. They actually call it virgin hair, which is fucking gross. Yeah, because you're getting like, these are these little girls, they've been growing their hair for like 15 years, you know, 12, they're like teenagers, and then their their society tells them that if they get scalped, it's gonna like help the world, so they get hacked, and then you fucking put it on so you can do a TikTok and throw it in the garbage two weeks later. That's pretty much where we are. That's evolution at the moment. So all I'm saying, rural women in poor regions, they will sell years of hair growth. And like they'll sell it for a couple days' wages. So a few days wages in fucking Southeast Asia might be equivalent to like 27 US dollars, and then guess what? It gets fucking sent overseas, and then these bitches pay a thousand bucks for it. That is so fucked up. Like, it's so fucked up. Just put on a fake wig, dude. Just be fake with it, be fake with it. Like, I don't understand. It's not your hair, so does it make you feel less fake because you're putting real hair on fakely? So now you feel it. Stop wearing other bitches' hair. How's that sound? Do not put these women's hair on your fucking head. Knock it off. Like, come on. And it's always dyed stupid colors. Oh, I have a leopard print down the side of my head. Oh, it's fucking midnight blue. Like, I feel I'm a very spiritual, which also comes along with being a relatively superstitious person. You cannot pay me to wear another person's hair. That is like that's the most voodoo hoodoo shit that I've ever fucking heard in my life. Like, a lot of the processing that's happening to that hair, that that beautiful quote unquote human hair that you think is in fucking Chinese factories, dude. Literally, they're bleaching it, dyeing it, ventilating it onto the lace. Like, it's going to be exposed to chemicals. Like, it's it's not like they had pink hair when they went to get it shaved off at the Ashram in India for whatever fucking reason. Like, that's not exactly how it got to you. And the billions of dollars that are spent on extensions, wigs, etc., etc. It's not just aesthetics, it's economics, yo. Like, you are feeding the system more than you could possibly imagine. And that's fine. We all feed the system. Who ate McDonald's this week? I did. I ate McDonald's this week and got McDonald's for my kids, which is terrible. I shouldn't give them McDonald's, but you know what I'm saying? It's the same fucking thing. It's pretty much the same thing. And then, you know, shout out to our drag friends, but Lord knows those bitches love a fucking wig. And it's just crazy to me because like hair carries DNA. Like, it's literally someone's biological material. Would you wear their toenails? Would you wear someone else's fingernails? Let's ask you this. So, bitches that are getting tips, you're going in and you're going to get a new set, right? And they say, Aw, you'd never believe it. We just fucking chopped off Jenny's fingernails in Sri Lanka. We're gonna glue them onto you. You'd be like, oh, I don't want that. And yet at the same time, you're willing to wear fucking Amanda's wig from India. Is that am I talking all over the place? I feel like I'm telling the story relatively straight. I think so. It just comes down to that the Southern Hemisphere is supplying the raw materials, India, South America, girls that have beautiful hair, beautiful, silky, lovely tresses, are being convinced to hack them off for bullshit money on their side. Let's face it, they're not getting any fucking money for that. They're gonna hack off their shit so they can mail it to Florida so a TikToker can put a leopard print on half their head and dye the other side black and wear it for four days before they swap it for a purple one and throw that one in the garbage. It's like people are paying a thousand dollars for wigs, like for getting them in put on, installed, in place, da-da-da-da-da-da. And meanwhile, the women that it's coming from are faceless, right? They're invisible. That's crazy. I think at the end of the day, it's just funny that we have industrialized something that should be sacred and intimate and biological at your fucking hair. I have long hair now, not as long as it was once before. I'm trying to grow it out. Not that I cut it short, but you know, you get old like me, and fucking your hair doesn't grow as fast, and then you have to like deal with that, but it's still long, it's past my shoulders. It used to be to my ass when I was young. And I had a traumatic fucking haircutting experience. My sister got married, my mother brought me to a hairstylist, they fucking hacked my hair. I never got the length back. It was fucked. Anyways, I understand the appeal of long hair, different hairstyles, wigs are fun. Put it however you want to put it. But at the end of the fucking day, think about where your wig comes from. Try to be somewhat conscious. Try to have a vague, just pretend that you care. You don't even have to give a fuck. But like, act like you do. I have I love, and don't get me wrong, I think extensions are fly and wigs look dope most of the time. You know, I'm not, I am not yucking anyone's yumbees. I say that all the time, and I'm really not. I'm just saying, where the fuck is your hair from? Check the supply line. It's the same as your diamonds. We live in an era of responsibility. Everybody wants to say that they're so, you know, peace, they're so one with everything, they're so this, they're so that, and then they go home, pull out a curling iron, and curl the fake ass fucking pink hair that just got imported from I don't know, somewhere in India. Like, knock it off. I'm not buying it. I've seen too many wigs on TikTok this week, BDs. That's why I was just like, where does this fucking hair come from? Like, I really got to thinking. That's why I did my research. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, it's not, I'm not mad at wigs. I think they're hot, but at the same time, how did we build a global luxury system on strands of someone else's body? Like, how do you I just don't understand how you wear someone else's fucking hair. I feel like you're fucking shaking your rainstick and running around fire at that point, right? You got your mask on, there's a fucking, you got some rings on your neck and a disc in your lips. And that is real talk. It's like some tribal fucking shit. Honestly, don't wear other people's hair. Maybe that's the message. Maybe that's where I'm going. I, you know, I've had a rough week. I don't get very personal on the podcast. I do have a lot going on at the moment. But in addressing this week's topic, I feel like I'm fucking with it. I think that I've brought a reasonable amount of arguments to the table. Don't wear human hair. Gross. Gross. Why would you want to? Like, you know, the first time, like, and um, as these things got popular and I saw like the extensions coming out and this coming out, I'm just like, don't wear it. Like, why are you why are you wearing someone else's hair? Like, you can't think of another way around that. I don't know. I just feel like you are literally wearing part of somebody else's body. And I also feel that considering how much of it originates from poorer regions, because I'm talking to the bitches in the States. I'm talking to you American bitches right now, because you're the ones that are wearing all these other hoes hair. Like, what the fuck? Like, it's spiritually weird. Like, you have someone else glued to your scalp. It's so strange. That's fucking weird. I'm all for a fake wig. Just keep it fake. Keep wigs fake. The amount of fake shit. That is out in the world these days. You can't find a fake motherfucking wig. You have to go to a goddamn poor ass country that has no money and prey on some fucking teenage girl to like chop her shit off so that you can shake your fucking ass to R. Kelly on TikTok. I mean R. Kelly might not be a good one example, but you know what I'm saying. It might as well be. Seriously. I just think people want to complain about synthetic wigs. Boo-hoo. They're acrylic, they're polyester, fossil fuels, microplastics. I don't give a fuck. Like, why are you wearing human hair? It's all fake. Like you're presenting yourself. If you're gonna present yourself with fake hair, then just let me fake. You're like, oh no, this isn't fake hair, this is real hair. But it is fake. Does that make sense? I don't know. I just think that if you're gonna fucking present yourself, if you're gonna just put on a costume, because that's essentially what you're doing, right? When you put your wig on, you got a costume on, if you're upset that it's a synthetic wig, and I I get it, synthetic wigs, they have a shorter lifespan, they tangle, they frizz, they melt under heat. I guess considering that the TikTokers spend like two hours a day curling the hair to show that it's real I don't know. Wearing somebody else's hair is some freak ass motherfucking shit. Like that's honestly, that's really, really how I feel. I'm not worried about a carbon motherfucking footprint. Um I just think that the ethical lane is real. So the next time that you buy a wig and you want to insist on human hair, if you want a curly wig, buy a synthetic curly wig. If you want a straight one, buy a synthetic straight one. You don't have to go on tikki tacky with a goddamn fucking crimper to get your extra 10 minutes of content. You dig I'm just saying stop wearing human hair, stop encouraging the industry because it's gross. It's fucked up, and bitches don't need to be having to fucking scalp themselves so that American cons can put that shit on their heads and be like, oh look, I'm a Kardashifu. Knock it off. That's what I have to say this week. I hope you guys have had a good week. I'm I'm under a lot of pressure at the moment. I have a lot of things going on personally, which I'm not gonna discuss here, so I'm just gonna fucking close it and wrap it up and say, bitch, don't be dumb. The next time you get a fucking wig, get a synthetic one, and Martha in fucking Cambodia will thank you because she didn't have to get her shit cut off at her fucking 13th birthday so that you could shake your ass to whatever's fucking trending to make$28 today. You know what I mean? You didn't have to get the horse face or whatever the fuck is going on TikTok to get you money at the moment. I love you, BDs. I love y'all. I hope you are cozy and happy and comfortable and having wonderful lives. And I will, as I do every motherfucking week, every week I pull up every goddamn week. I'll be here next week with the knowledge. Your mama, you know, my baby, I'm your mama. Don't stop it, don't stop it. Have a good fucking day.