The fastest way to tell human hair and synthetic hair: pull the strand out of the wig and burn it with a match. Human hair will burn slowly, giving off a distinctive odor. A strand of synthetic fiber, on the other hand, will either ball up and melt, extinguishing itself (a characteristic of a synthetic like Kanekalon), or it will continue to flame and burn out very quickly (typical of polyester). In either case, it will not give off an odor.