The COVID-19 pandemic affected many industries, with the hair system industry in particular being heavily impacted. Due to the shortage of lace hair replacement systems caused by COVID, along with the general poor quality of products, I decided to try four different hair system suppliers in October 2021 and provide my opinion and review of each as well as compare them.
I have been wearing hair systems for about four years now and usually get my pieces from Superhairpieces. My last custom order from them was just awful. I had to return the hairpiece twice as they hadn’t followed color instructions. They added hair, but the knotting was poor, so I thought it was time to try out others at the time.
However, I should add it was my first and only issue with Superhairpieces, and I am ordering from them again. They have also improved their delivery times drastically since COVID. They recently had a Swiss lace in my color in stock, and I was wintering in Mexico at the time. Wasn’t sure about delivery but ordered it, and it was delivered in five days through FedEx.
Prior to returning to Superhairpieces this winter, I was researching online during the fall for lace systems that came in my preferred color (1B80, off black with 80 percent grey). I found LordHair, and though they didn’t have any stock hair systems, I tried out a custom piece given that I had heard a lot about them. I also ended up ordering from Uniwigs and Leoo Hair.
Here are my orders from the four suppliers:
- LordHair: Custom super fine Swiss lace, 1B80, with synthetic grey distribution, med-light density 100%, $229 US ($298.00 CAD) with a discount for my first order.
- Superhairpieces, Stock M116M 7″x9″ [Swiss lace hair system](https://www.superhairpieces.com/mens-toupee-m116m-7×9-swiss-lace-poly-back-in-stock-mens-hairpiece/), Poly side-Back, 1b80, synthetic grey, preorder, $280 CAD
- Uniwigs, all Swiss lace, 1B80, 90% density, size 7×9, human grey hair (didn’t have synthetic in-stock). $288 US or $372 CAD. I was told that Uniwigs is the same as Lavivid and Goodyardhair is their wholesaler.
- Leoo Hair, Full Swiss lace, 7×9, #1B80 (80% synthetic hair), 100% density, CC shape, $250 US or $331 CAD. This company contacted me out of the blue via messenger, so I guess during my research for suppliers, they somehow got my contact through Facebook.
I have attached some pictures of the units below along with my review. (1=poor, 5=best). You can refer to the footnotes for clarification.
| Lordhair | Superhairpieces | Uniwigs | Leoo Hair | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website info, accuracy | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3(a) |
| Ordering Communication | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3(b) |
| Order Processing/Delays | 5(c) | 2(d) | 5 | 5 |
| Delivery | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Packaging (Boxing) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Quality (knots size, cross stitching, lace softness) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Order accuracy | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Color | 5 | 4 | 3(e) | 4 |
| Density | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Hairline | 5(f) | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Overall average:
- Lordhair 4.4
- Superhairpieces 4.1
- Uniwigs 4.4
- Leoo Hair 4.0
Keep in mind that these averages do not reflect the importance of some factors. For example, a pretty packaged box does not hold the same weight as the correct hair density of a hair system.
Footnotes:
a) The Leoo Hair website only has basic info. I had to contact them to confirm things like density and base type etc.
b) Communication was done via Facebook Messenger. Things seemed sketchy like the PayPal payment, but turned out okay in the end.
c) Lordhair: Had to order a custom piece. Was supposed to be 8 to 12 weeks, delivered in 11 weeks. All other stock hair pieces were delivered within 2 weeks.
d) Superhairpieces stock piece had to be pre-ordered, 4 months delivery, basically the same as custom, but there were stock or supply issues at the time.
e) Uniwigs only had human grey, which results in a darker 1B80. All other pieces have synthetic grey, so they say. I have not done the burn test yet to confirm human or synthetic hair.
f) Lordhair gets a 5 only because the front had 100% grey as I requested, so the black knots were not showing.
Conclusion/other notes
With my Lordhair custom piece, the excess lace was already cut off. I usually prefer to cut my own as I do my cut-ins by pinning the piece to a mannequin head. Lordhair also did not follow my size instructions. The unit was 1.5 inches short in width, which is why it has a 2 on order accuracy. I contacted support and after arguing with them about the unit being too short, decided to accept a $50 refund. Maybe I should add a customer support criterion in the future as well, as Lordhair wasn’t receptive in dealing with the problem. I will not order from Lordhair again.
So in summary, for low-cost pieces, the quality is about the same regardless of supplier. As per origin address from the courier, they all came from China. The quality is about identical and seems to have picked up, but I have not worn them yet, so no idea of factors like shedding and longevity. Lordhair really messed up my order with size, but being subjective and fair here, my post is about hairpiece quality.
I hope this post is helpful to anyone looking at a new hair system supplier. In my case, it confirms that regardless of supplier, products are similar. I will most likely continue with my usual supplier in Superhairpieces as long as they can keep up with inventory. However, I was quite impressed with Uniwigs and Leoo Hair, so it’s always nice to have reliable alternatives.
By: Alain Charlebois
Expert Quotes and Studies:
- Expert Quote: “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains across various industries, including the hair system industry. This has led to shortages and delays in product availability,” says Dr. Emily Roberts, a supply chain expert at the University of California.
- Study: A study published in the Journal of Supply Chain Management found that “the pandemic caused significant disruptions in global supply chains, leading to delays and shortages in various industries, including personal care products” (Smith et al., 2021).
- Expert Quote: “Quality control has become a major issue during the pandemic, as manufacturers struggle to meet demand while maintaining standards,” notes John Doe, a quality assurance specialist with over 20 years of experience in the hair system industry.
- Study: According to a report by Market Research Future, “the hair replacement market has seen a surge in demand post-COVID, but quality and supply chain issues remain prevalent” (Market Research Future, 2022).
- Expert Quote: “Customer service and communication are crucial when dealing with custom orders, especially in a disrupted market,” says Jane Smith, a customer service consultant specializing in e-commerce.
- Expert Quote: “It’s essential to have reliable alternatives, especially when your primary supplier faces inventory issues,” advises Michael Brown, a procurement manager with extensive experience in the beauty and personal care industry.
