Best KK?

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Afrocare_Kelley
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Best KK?

Post by Afrocare_Kelley » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:17 pm

For years, Afrocare and 1StopHair have sold KK Jumbo faster than LATrend and Jazzy (and Bilmerton back in the day) could make it. (Thank you! :i12: ) We have hiccups when colours are out of stock with the manufacturers and this seems to be happening more often and for longer.
:i3:
It is beginning to look like we should think about getting our own brand made and as so many of the board members here buy from us, we would like to have your input.

The procedure is like this;
1,Find factory
2, send sample
3, receive counter- (manufactured) sample back,
4, repeat 2 & 3 until
5, Agree quality and price,
6, Production starts.

As you can all no doubt imagine, this all takes ages but we foresee some shortages in the not too distant future and if we don't start the ball rolling it could get ugly. . .

We are now at step 2 and ready to send samples to factories. If you can spare a moment to let us know what you would most like our new KK Jumbo to be based on, this will be helpful. This is not a question about colour, we will get to choose later, this is about the fibre itself, how soft it feels, how crimped it is, how it handles, backcombs, seals, etc.
Feel free to suggest basing it on a brand we don't stock, we can always buy some to send as samples. . . We are also open to suggestions about size, the industry standard has always been 3oz (85g) with some manufacturers more generous than others

It will be genuine KK fibre and not one of the cheaper shiny fibres. This means we will never have a paper-white one [the whitest KK is 1001A] and some colours will be impossible but we should be able to get every colour we have ever stocked including some long-lost ones like Bilmerton's old Sky Blue and Orange as well as lots of new ones.

Thanks

Kelley
I'm not here as much as I appear to be. . .
Everything for hair extensions - http://www.afrocare.com

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thecutealternative
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Re: Best KK?

Post by thecutealternative » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:40 pm

This sounds great! I have plenty of colour suggestions when your ready for that ;)

Firstly, Im really sorry about how naff I am at explaining things. I suck, so I hope it makes some sense.

I like to work with a matte fibre, not at all shiny if that makes sense, I find it easier to work with as I like to use my hands to feel the fibres when Im working which isn't easy with silkier kk, also I find it makes a more natural looking dread, and can blend easier. Also not too soft, but then again not harsh thick fibres. I find very soft fibres harder to backcomb and also they don't seem to steam as well which makes loose dreads. And thicker stranded kk, no way. I have a lot of trouble with some brands which have random thick strands that are hard on fingers and also tend to cause lumps in dreads.

Crimped is definitely better for me than silky. I find it a lot easier to backcomb and for some reason always less knotty, you know with silky I always seem to get horrid stubborn uneven lumps that take an age to get out.

Steam-ability and sealing, really, is the most important thing for me when making dreads. I like my dreads to be pretty damn solid and smooth. I will refuse to work with some colours, and even lose customers because I don't work with buyhair, this is due to the fact their kk does not seal. I will only use kk that I know will seal well. Oh and also once steamed, I like it too be sleek and smooth, not crunchy as some kk is!

I hope all of that helps in anyway possible!

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Gracey
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Re: Best KK?

Post by Gracey » Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:42 pm

Yes, pretty much as stated above.

Jazzy brand has always been as close to perfect as I have ever found; anything that could match that quality but broaden the colour range would be brilliant.

Generally speaking though, I don't think a wide range of colours in a lesser quality is worth as much to me as a narrower range of quality fibre. I'm happier to pay more for good quality than I am to pay less for a lesser performance fibre.

If it helps at all, I have totally abandoned use of the lower-grade stuff; as said above, good quality hair is easy to blend and I'm happier these days doing that than toiling with bad quality hair and ending up with a product I'm not 100% happy with.
What, that? It's a spade.

Gracey xx
Formerly known as Woolhairhabbit

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rivetlicker_
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Re: Best KK?

Post by rivetlicker_ » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:49 am

For non-UK brands, I think Anytime (formerly Modu) is a good fiber to work with. It's soft, has quite a bit of kink and it's easy to work with. There were a few exceptions... Those few batches of snow white that were slimy (still sealed well, just was more of a bitch to backcomb). Once upon a time, it wasn't slimy, then it was. I think the navy blue and emerald green were always like that too. Mind you, the pinks, 613, 1, purple, sky blue and neon green were great to work with. This was back in the day sorta thing. Not sure how they're going now.

I've unfortunately never got an opportunity to order from you guys because the GBP/AUD exchange rate wasn't the best at the time I was selling dreads.

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[Phexxie]
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Re: Best KK?

Post by [Phexxie] » Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:28 am

ive always enjoyed working with Jazzy due to how easy it is to back comb and how well it reacts to steam, i also prefer matt KK to shiny for the reasons mentioned above

though i still use buyhair on occasion, i am loathe to because the quality of the hair is awful and you never know what youre going to get between different batches, so some consistency is most definitely a good thing!

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poxabomination
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Re: Best KK?

Post by poxabomination » Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:05 pm

only input I have is that I've recently worked with modu lime/neon green and it was wonderful to work with, especially for a first timer :)
"Distant beavers sound the alarm"

"Its not stylish if you look witty."

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Monique_marion_may
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Re: Best KK?

Post by Monique_marion_may » Thu Jun 09, 2011 2:25 pm

woolhairhabit wrote:Jazzy brand has always been as close to perfect as I have ever found; anything that could match that quality but broaden the colour range would be brilliant.
TRUTH.

twigletstar
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Re: Best KK?

Post by twigletstar » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:54 am

What they said ;)

Matt hair, without a 'sticky' texture. Personally I think LA Trend hair can be 'too' dry in some cases and this makes it brittle enough to break when backcombing, so it might be worth looking out for that :)

(Thanks for asking us btw!)

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Afrocare_Kelley
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Re: Best KK?

Post by Afrocare_Kelley » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:55 pm

Thank you for the input.

So far, it looks like Jazzy all the way. That makes it simple enough. I'll wait another week or before we send the samples in so there's still time to get your opinion in.
I'm not here as much as I appear to be. . .
Everything for hair extensions - http://www.afrocare.com

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Kaminoke
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Re: Best KK?

Post by Kaminoke » Sun Jun 26, 2011 3:57 pm

I doubt most people here have gotten to use it, but American Dream Twin Braid was epic. Sealed like butter! I'm a bit iffy on some of the Jazzy colours to be honest - the non-natural colours always seem easier to work with than the natural ones.

For natural colours, I've been using Expression Premium Ultra Braid. It's a lot like the Twin Braid, if a bit finer and rougher.

Personally I hate shiny hair. I don't care how easy it is to seal, if it's shiny I won't use it. Unless someone reeeeeally wants it for a custom order, but so far that's yet to happen 8-)

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