The manufacturers and distributors seem to try to keep their naming unique, allowing those consumers to keep the various looks and hair types available straight in their minds
while they choose the hair they want to work with. The sheer variety and availability of virtually any hair type ensures that you can get some practice with any hair texture, wave pattern and length you may need, BEFORE
you have to touch a human client.
You do need to be aware that you may pay more for less-common hair types and lengths, specifically since some types – like the naturally curly hair manikins – are made using
virgin hair and cannot be created by chemical means. Longer hair manikins will definitely be at the higher end of pricing ranges given the length of time required to grow hair to certain lengths. If you want to get
an idea of the time involved, remember that the average hair growth is around one-half inch (1.27 cm) per month and a manikin will require more than the listed length of hair in order to manufacture the head.
If you estimate an additional inch of hair to make the manikin, a manikin with natural human hair that is 28 inches (71.12 cm) long would take a minimum of 58 months (without
any hair trimming) which means nearly five years time to grow the hair. This assumes that a single individual could grow enough individual hairs to make the manikin. Since the number of hairs per head varies with
individuals, it could easily take multiple people to grow enough hairs for one manikin. {These calculations are NOT industry specific, but are the generalizations used to illustrate the amount of time and effort that
would be involved in producing a human hair manikin.}
For common hair types of Standard Quality, manikins usually average around $30 (U.S. Dollars) each. Longer manikins can range into the hundreds of dollars for human hair manikins,
though haircutting manikins made from protein fibers can be found for less.
The key is to decide what you want from your manikin. If you need to practice cutting, then you can perhaps simply use a lower-quality manikin to get that practice and save some
money. But if you need to work with color and perming chemicals, you want to make sure to choose a good-quality manikin that will allow for that. The options are out there, and with a little careful consideration, you
can get the product you want, without having to break your budget.
