Hairpieces in South Africa: types, brands, prices, where to buy

The main types of hairpiece, and what they start at

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Brands, colours and more hairpieces

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Hairpieces in South Africa, explained

What a hairpiece means in South Africa

Ask for a hairpiece in a South African hair shop and you are usually asking for a pack of synthetic hair for braids, twists, locs or crochet. You are not asking for a wig or a topper. Takealot lists Darling One Million braiding hair as "5 Hairpieces" in the box, sells a Londie London Hairpiece in a 100 inch length for long braids and twists, and its box list for a Darling Marley Kinky value pack reads "1 x Hair Pieces". That is the meaning we use on this page.

A topper or a clip-in piece for thinning hair is a different product, and it is not covered here. Wigs, ponytail extensions and weaves have their own pages. This page covers the kinds of hairpiece we have a page for: French and Italian curls, locs and soft dreads, twists, afro and kinky hair, pondo puffs and curly crochet hair.

The main types

Hairpiece hairstyles in South Africa mostly come down to the kinds of hair below. Each type has its own page with packs per head, lengths and prices.

• French and Italian curls: pre-curled braiding hair for boho and goddess braids. Italian curl is also the name of a human hair wig texture.
• Locs: ready-made crochet locs such as butterfly, faux, goddess and river locs.
• Soft dreads: soft dreaded crochet pieces, sold under names like Durban Dread and Eco Dread.
• Twists: hair for passion, spring, kinky, marley and soft twists, some sold pre-fluffed.
• Afro and kinky: tightly coiled bulk and crochet hair for kinky twists and afro styles.
• Pondo: drawstring puffs and ponytails with a kinky texture, sold one or two pieces at a time.
• Curly crochet: boho, deep wave and named curl styles on pre-looped or bulk hair.

What a head costs, not just a pack

Pack prices look small until you multiply. On 6 Oct 2026 Cosmetic Connection listed X-Pression Soft Twist 70 inch at R80.90 a pack and says a head needs 4 packs, so R323.60 of hair. Le Secret Disco Curl 24 inch was R78.90 and needs 3 packs, so R236.70. Soft dreads cost less: Be Beautiful Hair's Afri Dreads were R39 and its Marley Dreads R60.

Those are hair costs only. A braider's fee comes on top and varies by salon, so ask for the price before you book. Prices move often, so open the store link in the table for today's price.

Brands you will see

Darling, Londie London, One Million, X-Pression, Magic and Freedom are the brands we have pages for. Shops also sell ranges under their own names. Be Beautiful Hair, for example, sells its own Mzansi Curls, Lushy Curls, Dancing Curls and Afro Kinky Long on its site, and Universal Dealers stocks hairpieces from several brands. A brand name tells you less than the pack does, so check the length, the packs per head and the colour code.

Where to buy

Takealot has a wide spread of brands and sellers. Universal Dealers, at 14 Strand Street, Central, Gqeberha, delivers across South Africa and offers in-store pickup. Be Beautiful Hair and Cosmetic Connection sell online, and Clicks lists Ruby Love Hair French curls and kinky bulk. PEP lists Darling braiding hair on its website, but every PEP braiding hair and hairpiece listing in our 6 Oct 2026 scrape showed out of stock, so phone your branch before you travel.

We do not have a verified list of hairpiece shops by suburb yet. If you want a shop near you, check the store's own site or phone first, and buy every pack for one head in one go so the batch matches.

Colour codes in a minute

Codes run from dark to light. 1 is jet black, 1B is natural or off black, 2 is dark brown, 4 is medium brown, 27 is honey blonde, 30 is auburn with warm copper tones, 33 is a darker auburn and 613 is the lightest common blonde. A slash blends two shades, so 4/27 is medium brown mixed with honey blonde. A T before the code, as in T1B/30, means tipped: dark at the roots and a lighter colour at the tips.

The same number can vary between production batches and between brands, so match the pack photo to your own hair in daylight and keep all your packs in one batch. The colour chart on this site puts brands side by side.

Words on the pack

Hot water set, or hot water settable, means you can seal the ends or set curls with hot water. A Darling One Million listing says its hair can seal braid ends or be set with hot water to create curls and waves, and the Londie London hairpiece listing says hot water can create or refresh curls. Only do it if the pack says the hair is hot water friendly.

Pre-stretched hair is already tapered, and a Sapphire listing describes its twist hair as pre-separated and pre-fluffed for easy installation. Pre-looped pieces are made for crochet, where extension pieces are looped through a braided base with a hook. Bulk means loose hair you braid, twist or wrap yourself.

Pondo, ponytail and braided pieces

Ready-made pieces are a different shelf from loose packs. The afro pondo is the South African one: a synthetic drawstring ponytail with a kinky or afro curl texture that adds volume, as one South African retailer describes it. Universal Dealers files its afro phondo pieces under Hair Piece, and one Takealot listing for Magic twin puff buns gives 28 g for each pondo. Our afro and kinky page covers them, and ponytail extensions have their own page.

Tension and your scalp

Tight styles pull on the scalp. The British Association of Dermatologists lists tight braids, such as cornrows and dreadlocks, and attached weaves or hair extensions among the hairstyles often associated with traction alopecia, which is hair loss from constant pulling, and says stopping tight hairstyles is the most important step. Ask your braider for a looser install, and take the style out early if your scalp feels sore.

Hairpieces: questions