What You Need to Know About Hair Toppers for Thinning Hair

StanleyLast Updated: May 27, 2023

In today’s post, I’ll be discussing comprehensively on everything you need to know about hair Toppers for thinning hair.

I hope you find the information here valuable, without further ado, let’s get started.

If you’ve been experiencing partial hair thinning, you have a load of options to restore the full glory of your hair. Hairstylists commonly recommend hair toppers to people with earlier stages of hair loss, and if you’re considering that, you should know how it works to help correct thinning hair.

Hair toppers are excellent for replenishing your lost hair, at least temporarily. However, that doesn’t make them flawless or perfect for every scenario. There are cases where a full wig is preferred over hair toppers, mostly when the hair loss is a bit more than “slight.”

In this article, I’ll take you through a deep dive into hair toppers and how you can utilize them to correct thinning hair. Also, you’ll get a comparison between them and wigs to help you determine the better option and what you should be using for your hair.

Hair Toppers

Do Hair Toppers Work?

Before answering the question of the efficacy of hair toppers, it’s crucial to learn how hair toppers work to add volume to your hair. As hinted in the introduction, ladies only buy hair toppers when they’re looking to add volume to their hair, not when they have severe hair loss.

The hair topper usually attaches to the user’s hair with clips that attaches directly to the hair scalp using an adhesive. In most cases, the topper is the same material as the original hair to make everything look natural together.

Hair toppers are ineffective against complete hair loss because it needs to attach themselves and blend with existing hair. Since that is unavailable in that scenario, you may have to stick with alternative ways to attach artificial hair.

Back to the primary question for this section,

Hair toppers do work if you use them as intended. Hair toppers are not intended to replace your natural hair completely; they only exist to help you complement your existing hair to make them appear more voluminous than they are.

For ladies with gradual hair loss or thinning hair, installing hair toppers is an even more practical option. They’re one of the most effective ways to conceal the thinning parts of your hair, giving the impression of perfect bouncy tresses.

How Long Does a Hair Toppers Last?

Before investing hundreds of dollars on a hair topper, you naturally want to know how long it will last before you’ll have to replace it. However, there are so many factors that come into play when talking about hair toppers that it becomes really difficult to answer the question directly.

Firstly, there are two major types of hair toppers; synthetic and natural. Synthetics are made from fiber and are usually cheaper than those made from natural human hair, while natural hair toppers are those that are directly from the hair of someone else.

Also, you can either attach hair toppers temporarily or semi-permanently. If you attached it semi-permanently and wear it every day, you should expect it to have a shorter lifespan than a hair topper that the user only wears occasionally.

Generally, you should expect a hair topper that you wear every day to last for about four months with synthetic materials and up to one year for natural hair toppers. However, this expectation is assuming that you care for your hair topper as recommended in the first place.

If you only wear the hair topper occasionally, however, you can expect it to last for years, depending on how often you use it.

Natural human hair toppers can last for 16 to 24 months with occasional usage and maintenance, while synthetic toppers are a tad less durable, lasting 12 to 14 months.

Before we move on, here are some helpful posts you might be interested to read or bookmarking for later.

Which Is Better: Hair Topper or Wig?

When people get a recommendation to use hair toppers, they instantly draw a comparison with wigs, wondering why they shouldn’t simply go with the latter instead.

In this section, we’ll take a quick look at both methods of replenishing lost hair and see why wigs may be worse off than hair toppers.

Before proceeding, it’s important to confirm that the best way to enhance the volume of your hair depends primarily on how much hair you’re trying to replenish.

If you have advanced alopecia with little or no hair, you’ll be better off with a wig. However, a hair topper is better and less expensive when you’re only trying to make your hair fuller and not necessarily replenishing too much hair.

Also, if you’re trying to wear something that changes the overall look of your hair, a wig is the better choice. You can always wear a wig that’s not the color of your natural hair while a hair topper must match your hair, or it will simply look odd and out of place.

The price is another factor to consider when choosing between a wig and a hair topper. The former is significantly more expensive than the latter since it requires much more material to produce. However, hair toppers require an expert for installation, a process that may be a turnoff for some.

Summarily, there’s no good or bad when it comes to wigs and hair toppers; it only depends on what look you’re going for. Before choosing either of the two, consider the factors discussed in this section to help you arrive at one that’s best for your hair and economical at the same time.

How Long Do Synthetic Hair Toppers Last?

At this point, you should already be aware that there are two types of hair toppers when categorizing them by the production material: synthetic and human. Also, it’s crucial to note that the former is slightly less durable than the latter since human hair toppers are produced with real hair.

As expected, the less durable option is also cheaper. Depending on who you ask, you can get it for as low as $60, with other options becoming more expensive with the appropriate increase in quality. However, it’s crucial to determine if the money you save on a synthetic topper is worthwhile for durability over the long run.

As mentioned above, the average synthetic hair topper will last for up to four months with frequent usage. However, with regular maintenance and infrequent wearing, you can extend the lifespan of your hair topper to around a year.

To make your hair toppers last longer, you may want to buy multiple ones at once to rotate them weekly or monthly. That way, they’ll last twice as long as their supposed lifespans. Using an umbrella or wearing a rain hat during unfavorable conditions will help protect your topper and make it last longer.

Hair Toppers for Thinning Hair Before and After — Credit @silkorlace

How Much it Costs to Buy and Install Hair Toppers

When it comes to hair toppers, you usually only have to pay for the purchase; you can do the installation after watching a few videos on YouTube. If you’re using a temporary one, for example, you can’t possibly go to your hairstylist every morning to help you fix it properly, can you?

Thankfully, the installation process for a hair topper is quicker than most other kinds of hair extensions. You only have to clip it to your scalp while ensuring that it blends naturally with your hair without looking out of place.

With the cost of installation out of the way, adding volume to your hair using a hair topper only goes for the cost of the material, which also depends on many factors. Human hair toppers are usually more expensive than synthetic ones since they look better.

You can get human hair toppers for as low as $100, with the most expensive ones costing upwards of $600. However, the synthetic ones are a little less expensive, with usable ones starting from $50 and costing up to $400.

What is the Difference Between a Wiglet and a Topper?

Wigs, wiglets, hair toppers, hair extensions; there are so many terms that people use to refer to items you can use to make your thinning hair look voluminous. Since wiglets sound more like wigs than toppers, people tend to link similar-sounding words together.

However, there is no difference between a wig and a wiglet since the latter is also hair-like material for increasing your hair’s volume.

The term wiglet is commonly used when you’re adding extra hair for a specific hairstyle while most people refer to it as a hair topper when it’s to replenish thinning or lost hair.

You should also be aware that there’s a clear difference between a wiglet and a wig. Wigs tend to be more expensive since they cover your hair in its entirety, while wiglets only work to make your hair voluminous enough for styling, causing them to be relatively cheaper.

Conclusion

Dealing with thinning hair can be very difficult since it may be irreversible, depending on the cause. If your efforts to replenish your hair aren’t working, you should try alternatives like using hair toppers and wigs.

A wiglet or hair topper is usually a better option than a full-blown wig for minimal hair loss. This article explains everything you need to know before fixing either on your hair to combat thinning hair.

I hope you enjoy and find this post on hair toppers for thinning hair helpful?

Before you go, here are some other posts you might find helpful as well.

And that’s it for now, if you got questions or feedback, do not hesitate to let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

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