[MamawW]

Synthetic vs. Human Hair
Most women prefer synthetic hair. It's easier to maintain and less expensive. Most synthetic wigs have their style molded into them, but some can be reset. The advantage to style-able wigs is that you can change their look, just as with real hair. The disadvantage is that they have to be reset every time they're washed. Synthetic hair also dries faster than real hair. Well-made synthetic wigs may look real, but they never totally feel or move the way real hair does. Nor can you treat them like your own hair -- they literally fry when exposed to heat. So no curling irons or blow dryers unless they are specifically designed for wigs. Hot rollers can be used, but only at low settings. And avoid exposing the wig to any intense heat sources such as an oven. The blast of heat will cause frizzing.

Wigs made of human hair will obviously look and feel more like your hair, but are expensive, starting at $1,000, and are far more time consuming. You can use heated appliances on them for touch-ups, but you'll probably want to take them to a professional to be washed and styled. There are three types of real hair used in wigs: Asian, Indonesian and European. The most readily available and least expensive is Asian. It is also the heaviest and least like the hair found on Western European women. Indonesian is slightly finer and considered a mid-grade hair. European is the finest and most rare, and is priced accordingly. Since all these wigs are cleaned, stripped, dyed and possibly permed, it is often difficult to tell what type of hair a wig is made from by the color or the curl alone