shiny and lacquered stiff [SEP] this is synthetic but the strands are stuck together and coated heavily with some type of lacquer that i cannot remove it is impossible to comb through the curls to make it look more natural i have tried shampooing it soaking it in water with vinegar nothing removed the hard coating it looks pretty fake maybe if your hair is also coated with hard gel it may match but who wants helmet hair and a helmet ponytail the curl are approx purple perm rod sized i did not have the time to return it so it is going in the trash