Hi Emmet --my last unit which I got from a Dublin company was 60% fiber and 40 % human -- fiber is more resistant to fading than real hair. I know Ireland has a reputation for being quite wet, but as you know, we do have good weather too [ also skin -cancers are on the rise here so that proves we get strong sunshine too ! ] Over time, human hair will fade and also frequent shampooing with strong shampoos will contribute to fading. In my experience of both types of hair system, less is best. There is no real need for very frequent shampooing unless you work in a dusty / industrial environment. Too much styling products also build up on the hair [waxes especially] and make the hair look lifeless after a few days, which then leads to having to shampoo it strongly and over time, that shortens the life of the piece ---- that`s been my experience of wearing over the last few years so now I use products sparingly, and when I am shampooing it, I fill a sink with luke -warm water and mix in about a tea -spoon of mild shampoo and just immerse the piece in that for a minute or two ,then rinse out ---again with luke -warm water and just blot it dry with a soft towel ---- that`s what works best for me. It`s more important to keep the base clean especially if you have an oily scalp [I have] or if you are doing physical work and you have been sweating, the acid in sweat can weaken polyurethane bases /perimeters in particular -- I just pop the piece off and use a cloth with even just warm water to neutralise the negative effects of the sweat -- hope that helps ---there is much useful information on the site here too. I am new to wearing lace units but as I ordered colour 1b, I had no need to go bleaching or colouring it as it`s ok as it is ---- what colour is your hair? I have coloured units in the past [ones I got in Ireland] but I never had any problems with it -- my own hair is not quite black --it tends to be a heavy brown but I prefer it almost black so I colour it myself --there`s a good hairdresser suppliers shop in Cork --it`s supposed to be for wholesale sales to professional stylists but they also sell to the public -- I get the colour there and mix it myself --- I was wary of doing it the first time or two but now it`s no problem to me --the only thing to remember is that the hair on the pieces is much ``drier`` than your own hair and it really ``grabs`` the colour so you can`t leave it on much more than 2 or 3 mins otherwise it`s like coal !! You could leave it on your own hair for 20 mins to get the same depth of colour. I just experimented and got a bit more confident of doing it. Hope that helps and thanks for the comments on the pics -- I was pleased with the way she styled it -- I think she got a bit of fun out of it --it was something out of the ordinary for her though she had some experience with womens hair systems when she was training , so she wasn`t too nervous of tackling it ! Regards, Paul.