Synthetic braiding hair allows you to create longer hairstyles that blend in with your regular hair. Although it's less expensive than human-hair hairpieces, you can't blow it dry. Because braiding hair comes in different thicknesses, you may need to use more than one strand to create a full-looking ponytail. Once you master the technique, however, you'll be able to create a variety of ponytail styles.

Brush through your hair and pull it back into a ponytail using a hair elastic. Style your natural hair the way you want it to look when the synthetic braiding hair will be attached. For example, if you want your natural hair to be loose and wispy, tie your hair back loosely and pull some strands out to frame your face. If you want it to be sleek and tight, pull the ponytail as tight as you can before and after putting on the elastic.

Divide your ponytail in half. Take one half of the hair and wrap it around the base of your ponytail counterclockwise. Secure the wrapped-around hair with bobby pins. Next, take the remaining half of the ponytail and wrap it around the bun you just began, except this time wrap the hair clockwise, securing the hair with bobby pins as you go. The goal of this step is to make a nice, flat bun to clip the hairpiece onto, and wrapping the hair in both directions helps it to lie flatter against your head.

Cover your bun with the hairnet. Pull the hairnet tightly to one side of the bun so the hairnet stretches tight. Wrap the rest of the hairnet around the bun, and secure it with a bobby pin.

Clip the synthetic braiding hair to the top of the bun, and let it fall down over the bun to hide it. The bun gives the ponytail fullness and provides a secure anchor for the hairpiece. If the synthetic braiding hair doesn't fully cover the bun, add one or two more hairpieces until the ponytail is as full as you like it.

Style the ponytail. You can take a small piece of the synthetic hair and wrap it around the base of the ponytail to hide the transition between the bun and the hairpiece. Another variation of this technique is to braid a small portion of the ponytail and wrap the braid around the base of the ponytail. When you've finished styling, spray your hair with hairspray to keep it in place.