We tried the Ruka Hair ponytail extensions for afro hair

The net in these drawstring ponytails is about the size of a child’s fist, so, if you have thick, long hair, you’re likely going to have to tuck your natural hair into a bun before applying the drawstring. We were pleasantly surprised to feel how soft the texture of this synthetic hair was. At first touch and when we ran our fingers through the hair, it did not shed. And the blow-dried texture matched our natural stretched-out hair.

The drawstring is very well designed – we were able to tightly secure it to a comfortable level, and when we fervently flipped our hair to test for security, it did not shift position. However, the length of this hair (22in) meant it is more prone to get tangled but only ever so slightly – when we took off the ponytail, it was easy to untangle with our fingers alone, with only minor shedding.

After this, we applied jojoba oil to add extra shine to the ponytail and, although, by the end of the day, it had evaporated a little, there was still some shine left.

When washing/rinsing the hair (with water alone), we were impressed with how much it felt like human hair – it didn’t feel stiff or hard. We did notice the hair was a little easier to shed when wet, which is understandable, as it is in a more delicate state, but this was only minor.

We then applied heat protection spray on the hair before blow drying it. Once again, it acted like human hair and absorbed the heat well, reverting back to the soft blow-dried state in which it arrived.

This ponytail mimics the texture of straightened hair. As our natural hair was not straightened when applying the ponytail, we did find it tricky. This is because the wrap-around Velcro strap left little space to accommodate our thick hair. However, if our hair had been straightened, it would likely be easier to push through the Velcro wrap, and our hair would have matched more with the texture of the ponytail.

When applying oil to the ponytail, the oil evaporated a little by the end of the day, but there was still some moisture left.

This ponytail washed well and took up the heat of a hair dryer well, without leaving the hair feeling stiff. Although most of the silky feel of the ponytail remained after blow drying, it wasn’t as straight as when it arrived in its packaging and therefore would need straightening to revert back to that exact silky look.

The press’d ponytail uses human hair, and was very soft to the touch. When we applied jojoba oil to the hair, the moisture stayed on pretty well throughout the day without feeling overly greasy. A few days after this, we washed the hair, applied heat protection spray and blowdried out this ponytail. The texture still felt smooth afterwards, and, when applied with the drawstring ponytail, it felt secure.

There was hardly any shedding, before and after washing, either, even after running our fingers through the ponytail.

This ponytail took longer to dry than the Synths 1 ponytails but it did hold in moisture from the hair oil for a longer period of time.