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How hair replacement products helped me beat thinning hair

A tour through one woman’s favorite Toni Brattin synthetic hair range

Author: Charlotte Kuchinsky June 20 2007

Let’s face it, we all have bad hair days - in fact, I have more bad ones than I do good ones. With my baby fine, strawberry blond, aging hair, it’s a challenge to style it. I wash and condition. I color and perm. I spritz, mousse, gel, and cream. I tease and I spray. I literally do anything and everything that I can think of to make my hair look good. Most of the time, it just doesn’t work.

Luckily, a few years back, I discovered Toni Brattin’s hair pieces and other hair replacement products on Home Shopping Network and I haven’t had to suffer a bad hair day since.

The background is that some years ago I had a cancer scare that required medical treatment. The inevitable, of course, was hair loss. At the time, my husband and I were young marrieds; he was stationed overseas and I was working two jobs and looking after two small children, so the last thing I could afford was a wig. I resorted to a lot of scarves, hats, and turbans to cover up the damage, but I hated it.

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There were no hair replacement products like the Toni Brattin range available then, but these days I consider her a savior.

Toni makes a variety of hair pieces from simple little clip-ons to add height or volume, to cute little ponytails, sophisticated chignons, and sexy long hair extensions. Her products come in 14 colors: Black, dark brown, medium brown, light brown, brown blonde, dark blonde, medium blonde, light blonde, platinum blonde, red blonde, light red, dark red, light gray, and salt and pepper. Each “color”, however, actually contains between 12 and 16 shades of hair that fall within that color range, which makes these hair pieces easy to blend.

Toni’s clip-ons come on a long alligator clip for ease of application. Her pony tails, which come in a variety of types like sleak, curly, layered, and wavy, come on a strong double clip that holds tightly onto hair, even thin hair. Her “can do combs” work like traditional hair combs, sliding in easily and holding firm until you are ready to remove them.

The hair extensions, which also come in a variety of lengths and styles, come on toupee clips that bend to open and insert and then snap to close, holding the extension tightly in place. Toni also does twists that come on a standard circle elastic piece. They can be worn many different ways. Finally, she also makes a handful of wigs.

Although Toni’s hair is synthetic, it isn’t your typical “mall hair.” It is definitely high quality. Curls are put in with “memory” so that you can wash the pieces without fear of losing the style. Once the piece is dry, all you have to do is shake and it will automatically fall back into its style, ready for you to insert and go.

I have a lot of Toni’s products. My favorites are her “twists”, and I wear them all the time; sometimes piling two or three together to make my hair look thick and luxurious. I also love her pony tails because they can be worn two ways. Put them on one way and you’ll get a shorter, more classic style. Flip them over the other way, and you get mounds of beautiful volume for Va Va Voom!

Although I can’t wear Toni’s extensions because long hair isn’t suited to a woman my age, I bought my daughter some for her birthday. They blend in perfectly and give her sexy hair worthy of any movie star. Angelina Jolie, eat your heart out!

Toni’s hair products are reasonably priced, ranging in price from about $15 to under $100 for her full wigs. I checked into some comparable hair extensions offered by Jessica Simpson. They are double and triple the price of Toni’s pieces and didn’t have as many positive customer reviews.

This is a product I can wholeheartedly recommend. Besides, if you don’t like them, HSN has that unconditional 30-day money back guarantee. So what have you got to lose?

My Verdict

• Pros: Inexpensive, beautiful hair pieces that are easy to apply and hold their style
• Cons: It is synthetic hair, so it can’t be restyled
• Overall: I love Toni’s products and will continue to buy new ones as they come out
• Rating: 9/10