When I was standing in the ponytail aisle in the beauty supply store I had no idea that this experience would be so groundbreaking. For me at least. Prior to this week, my idea of a phony-pony was an impossibly neat, lattice bun or an impossibly thick ponytail with a severe bump at the ends. Oh, and neither of which ever matched the hair color or texture of the head of hair they were attached to.
But then I saw a few Instagram videos of natural girls wearing beautiful puffs, perfect puffs, only to find out that they were fake! When I found out girls on instagram were wearing faux puff, drawstring ponytails I immediately said: “I want in!”.
Originally I planned to create my own drawstring ponytail with a pack of Jamaican bounce crochet hair and a net cap, but then I stumbled upon the pre-made puffs and decided to save myself the trouble. I picked out two but today we will only be focusing on Jumbo Effy aka #PuffGoals.
The texture of the hair is light and airy. It looks like dense curls but the synthetic hair keeps this style light. Even though the hair is synthetic, it is soft to the touch unlike some of the crochet hair we used for styles like this. I love that there is some natural frizz to this puff. The curls don’t look too neat which really sells the natural appearance. It looks like an old twist out or Bantu knot out that has been pulled into a puff after a few days of wear.
When I took it out of the pack I felt that it might be kind of big but I had no idea until I actually put it on my head. O. M.G. It is huge! My actual puff is not small, so I was happy that I didn’t have to go down in size while protecting my hair. I’m sure you could pick it out to make it even larger but you seriously don’t have to. If it is too big for your taste, you could even clip it down to your liking.
It definitely needs some shaping before you walk out the door. In my experience, it always looks great head on but the side view can look a bit wild if you don’t clip and pin certain parts. I also pinned the hair at the top. For some reason, the hair wanted to fall down on the sides making the top of the puff flat. bobby pins and slight teasing solved the problem.
The application was easy. The inside of the puff has two combs which keep it very secure when they are inserted in the base of your real ponytail. When the drawstring is pulled tightly and the clamp is closed the ponytail is very secure. I tested it against the Chicago winds and thankfully I wasn’t embarrassed.
I’m sure with proper care you could wear it for 7 days in a row before any knots appear. At that point, I’m sure you could clip the ends and keep wearing it.
Tell me what you think! Stay tuned to see the second faux puff I got that night!
