Hair Replacement, Hair Systems, Hairpieces, Wigs, Toupees
Nowadays people use the terms hair replacement, hair systems, hairpieces and toupees interchangeably to refer to the same non surgical hair restoration procedure where human or synthetic hair is added to a thin base or foundation which in turn is attached to the scalp by a variety of methods. If you would like to get real technical, there are indeed subtle differences among all these terms. Wigs, for example, are usually larger in size. Wigs cover the entire scalp and they usually have elastic band on the perimeter so that the entire unit can fit nicely on a customer's head. Hairpiece and toupees are similar to wigs except that they are smaller in size and they are only attached to the thinning or bald areas and not the entire scalp. Hair systems and hair replacement are almost identical to hairpieces and toupees except that technically speaking, hair systems and hair replacement are usually for extended wear over at least 3 - 4 days while toupees and hairpieces are mostly for daily wear. To confuse you even more, some companies in the U.K or Europe may actually refer to hair replacement as what is commonly known as surgical hair transplants in the U.S.