Types of Hair Pieces: Clip-In Bangs, Ponytails, Buns and More

hair wraps and buns

Most bun hair pieces and hair wraps are a ready-made tousle of hair on an elastic, a scrunchie with hair attached. Make a small bun or ponytail, wrap the piece around it, and tuck in the ends. Others clip on with a comb or a claw clip. The one our customers buy most is the Playful Hair Wrap by Jon Renau, a small ring of 2.5-inch curls that twists on like an elastic and weighs less than an ounce. Our own Natural Hair Wrap Scrunchie by Cardani is the messy-bun kind. For coily or textured hair, the Coily Wrap by Hairdo is 7 inches of tight, springy coils on the same kind of elastic.

A bun or wrap isn’t only for an easy day. Wound around a neat bun, it makes a polished updo for a wedding or an evening out.

Tousled wraps are forgiving to match. The texture blurs the line between your hair and the piece, so a shade close to yours is usually close enough.

Not sure which you would wear most? The 3 Piece Hair Piece Kit by Toni Brattin holds a twist wrap, a pouf and a ponytail clip: three looks from one color choice.

what is an updo wig?

An updo wig is a ready-made updo: a bun, a chignon, a twist or a cluster of curls, already styled, that clips onto your own hair. It’s what our customers call them, and you’ll also see them sold as clip-in updo hair pieces. It covers only the spot where the updo sits, so the hair around it is yours and the updo is done for you. Ours come pre-styled, as sleek chignons, curly buns and twists, in synthetic and heat-friendly fiber, and some come with matching bangs.

Most clip over a small bun or twist of your own hair with a claw clip, which anchors the piece for the evening. A few use combs and a drawstring, or an elastic that wraps around your bun. That small anchor of your own hair is all an updo wig needs, so you need enough length to gather some at the back. If you’re not sure you have it, the clip test will tell you.

A chignon is a bun at the nape, sleek or loose; a curly bun adds texture and a little drama. The Modern Chignon by Hairdo is a loose, softly waved chignon; the Pin Up by Tony of Beverly is a low bun of soft curls. Some updo wigs are styled loosely enough to wear more than one way, as a ponytail, a messy bun or a tucked chignon.

This is the piece for an occasion. Updo wigs for a wedding, a gala or a night out give you a ready-styled updo you can put on at home. Our guide to wedding hair pieces has ideas for the day.

headband wigs

A headband wig is a full wig attached to a soft, stretchy headband. You slide it on like any headband. Wear the band at your hairline for full coverage, or set it further back and let your own hair show in front, the way a half wig does. A scarf or a colorful headband tied over the black band changes the look.

Our own Cardani headband wigs are the ones our customers buy most: Hannah, a bob; Brandi, shoulder-length beach waves; Camille, long layers in heat-friendly fiber; and Emma, a long bob in heat-friendly fiber.

half wigs and falls

A half wig, also called a fall or a 3/4 wig, is a partial cap with hair attached. It sits from the crown to the nape, held with combs and a stretch cap, while a strip of your own hair stays out in front and blends over the edge. You get a full head of hair that starts at your real hairline.

Because your own hair shows at the front, match the texture as closely as the color. The Headband Fall Wavy by Toni Brattin is 18 inches of heat-friendly waves on a black satin headband, so the band covers the join for you. It is the fall our customers buy most. On a fall without one, a headband or scarf across the join is an easy finish. Our blog post what is a half wig? goes further.

clip-in hair extensions

Clip-in hair extensions are wefts, strips of hair sewn to a narrow band with small clips along it. You section your hair, clip the wefts in rows from the nape upward, and let your top layer fall over them. Sets cover a full head; a single piece adds thickness where you want it. The 20″ 10 Piece Human Hair Extension Kit by Hairdo gives you ten wefts, 3 to 8 inches wide, to lay in rows. A one-piece extension, like the 23″ Wavy Hair Extensions by Hairdo, puts 23 inches of heat-friendly waves on a single 11-inch-wide base, so there is one piece to clip in instead of rows. A halo-style piece, like the 20″ Invisible Hair Extensions by Hairdo, goes on in one piece under your top layer and holds with an invisible stretch band instead of clips. This kind of halo blends beneath your own hair; a halo for hats is different, giving you hair at the sides and back under headwear.

Our guide to putting in hair extensions walks through it step by step.

how they hold on

Some pieces give you two. The Foxy Clip On Pony by Jon Renau, 20 inches of curls, has a claw comb and an optional drawstring base, so you can use either. So does the Classy Clip On Pony by Jon Renau, 5 inches of ringlets you can wear as a curly ponytail or, on the drawstring base, as a bun. The 12″ Simply Straight Pony by Hairdo is the wrap kind: 12 inches of straight, heat-friendly hair with a strip that wraps the base and closes with hook-and-loop.

The Rampage and Crush Clip On Ponies by Jon Renau have both too.

what you can do with one

• Add length you haven’t grown. A shoulder-length cut can wear a ponytail that swings well past the shoulders.
• Change the texture for a night. Straight hair can wear a curly ponytail and the reverse, because only the piece shows below the elastic.
• Give a fine ponytail more body. The piece surrounds your own, so the finished ponytail is as full as the piece.
• Wear bangs and a ponytail together. Some ponytails come as a set with a matching fringe, so the whole look changes with two pieces.

choosing a fringe

Shape. Blunt and full, soft and wispy, or long and side-swept, which you can push aside on days you want your forehead back. The Clip In Bangs by Hairdo are the straight, full kind, with a 5-inch fringe; the Modern Fringe Clip In Bangs by Hairdo is lighter and more piecey.

Sides. A fringe with longer side pieces blends into your own hair at the temples. The Wispy Bang by Toni Brattin is built this way, with a light, piecey front.

Fiber. Heat-friendly synthetic can be curved or straightened with low heat. Human hair, like the Human Hair Bangs by Raquel Welch on a monofilament base, styles like your own.

A stylist can thin or shorten any fringe to suit your face. It never grows, so the trim lasts.

If your hair is thinning at the top as well, the Big Bangs Topper by Envy is part bang, part topper: wispy bangs on a 7.5 by 7 inch base that also covers the top and crown. It blends best with hair at chin length or shorter.

hair headbands

A hair headband is a braid on a band. It sits across the top of your head where any headband would, your own hair falls behind it, and you get a braided crown without doing any braiding. Our own Headband Braid by Cardani goes on like any headband, with your hair down or pulled back. Our Ponytail Headband puts a ponytail on a soft, stretchy band instead, made to wear under a baseball cap.

bangs to wear with a hat or scarf

Clip-in bangs need hair to clip into. Under a hat or scarf on a bare or nearly bare head, the bangs attach to the headwear instead. Our bangs for hats come in three kinds: the Ultimate Fringe, which our co-founder Carol Galland designed; human hair bangs; and the heat-friendly Perfect Style Fringe, which you can restyle with low heat. We designed the Instant Hair Headband to hold any of the three, so the same bangs move from one hat to the next. Press them in at the front for a fringe, at the back for length at the nape, or both.

Bangs take care of the front. For hair at the sides and back, under the brim, a halo from our hats with hair collection sits inside the hat and leaves the front to the bangs. For a ponytail under a baseball cap, our Ponytail Headband puts one on a soft, stretchy band that sits beneath the cap. Our hats with hair guide covers halos and caps with hair in full.

read our guide to hair halos and caps with hair → | shop hair halos → | shop caps with hair →

finding the right one

Toppers come in synthetic and human hair, with bases from a small piece for the part to a large one for the whole top of the head. Some brands call the small ones wiglets, and what is a wiglet? explains the name. Our hair topper buying guide covers base size and measuring, and wigs vs. hair toppers helps if you are deciding between the two. To choose, match the base to the area that needs coverage, make sure the clips reach fuller hair around it, and pick a length and texture that blend with your haircut. Our best sellers run from short to long: the New Addition by Rene of Paris, the Pouf Positive by Envy, our own Short Integrated Topper by Cardani, the Essentially You by Jon Renau and the EasiPart HD 12″ by Jon Renau.

when there isn’t enough hair to clip into

Clips need hair to hold. If your hair is very short, growing back after chemotherapy, or fine right where a clip would sit, a clip may slide there. Moving it to fuller hair nearby often helps, and for a topper, a larger base can put the clips past the thinning area, onto hair that can hold them.

Until there is, hats with hair work at every stage, including while your hair grows back (our hats with hair guide explains how they work), and a wig gives you a full head of hair whenever you want one. All of these are good answers, and so is waiting.

color

Match the piece to the hair it will sit beside. Bangs sit at your hairline, so match the front, gray and all. A ponytail or bun sits against the ends of your own ponytail, and ends are often lighter than roots. Rooted shades, darker at the base and lighter through the length, blend easily because real hair is rarely one color. If you fall between two shades, a blend with a little of each will usually sit better than either solid color.

Hair piece colors use the same codes as wigs. Our guide to decoding wig colors explains the letters and numbers, and how to choose a wig color applies to pieces too. Color matching is free: send us a cutting of your hair and we will match it. Still unsure? Call us at 1-800-264-4287 and our team can help you choose.

fiber

Our guide to human hair vs. synthetic goes into the differences in depth.

shine

A brand-new synthetic piece is at its shiniest the day it arrives. A few washes and ordinary wear soften the shine, and a light dusting of a dry shampoo made for synthetic hair, used as its label directs, tones it down in the meantime.

putting it on