Money Pieces and Face-Framing Highlights: Wholesale Sourcing

A money piece is a brighter strip of colour at the front hairline that frames the face, and buying it wholesale means getting three things right: the format, the shade pair, and where the light colour sits on the piece. This guide covers each, with the exact details to put on a purchase order so the pieces that arrive match the look your clients are asking for.

It is a sourcing guide. For blending extensions into a client's existing balayage at the chair, see our colourist's balayage matching guide.

The formats a money piece comes in

The same look can be bought in several formats. Which one you stock depends on whether your customer fits it herself or a stylist installs it.

Browse the ranges: money piece highlight bundlespiano colour extensionsP4/27 highlight extensions and skunk stripe bundles.

Choosing the shade pairs

A money piece works when the highlight is lighter than the base by enough to show, but not so much that it looks stuck on. In practice, most face-framing orders fall into a few combinations:

• Dark base, honey highlight. 1B or 2 with 27 (honey blonde). A warm, soft frame that suits dark-haired clients who do not want a strong contrast.
• Medium brown base, golden highlight. 4 with 27. The classic P4/27 combination; warm and easy to blend.
• Brown base, bright blonde. 4 or 6 with 613. A high-contrast frame popular with clients who already wear blonde.
• Ash tones. Light brown with ash blonde 60 for clients whose own colour is cool. Ash shades take more toning at the factory.
• Fashion contrasts. 1B with burgundy 99J, ginger 350 or pink for event and fashion buyers.

Stock depth should follow your clients' base colours. A range built around 1B, 2 and 4 bases covers dark-haired customers; add 6 and 8 bases if your clients are lighter. See the coloured hair range for available shades.

How highlight hair is made, and what that means for quality

Natural donor hair is dark. Every blonde, honey or ash section in a money piece has been lightened with bleach and then toned to the target shade. That has three consequences a buyer should know:

1. The light sections are more porous than the dark sections. They dry out faster and need more conditioning. Tell clients to use a sulphate-free shampoo and conditioner on the light sections.
2. Two-tone hair is more work, because the light and dark sections are processed separately and then combined, or the light section is lightened in place. That is why highlight hair costs more than single-shade hair; see colour surcharges explained.
3. Toners shift over time. Ash and cool tones fade towards warm with washing and sun. A purple or blue toning shampoo used occasionally keeps them cool.

Lightened hair still lasts with proper care. Every grade of Suvita hair lasts 3–5 years with proper care, and for lightened hair "proper care" means more moisture and less heat.

What to put on the purchase order

Colour orders go wrong when the order describes a look rather than a specification. Give the supplier these details in writing, and ask for daylight photos of your batch before dispatch:

For a first order, take a spread of combinations in small quantities rather than a deep stock of one. There is no minimum order, and a sample kit lets you check the colour against a colour ring in your own light before committing.

Stocking and selling face-framing pieces

Money pieces are small, light and often a second purchase for a customer who already owns extensions. A few points from the export side:

• Sell them with the main set. Customers buying clip-ins in a base shade are the obvious buyers of a matching money piece.
• Show the pair on a head. A photo of a strip in a hand does not sell the look. Photograph it worn, in daylight.
• Give a colour-matching service. A customer who sends a daylight photo of her hair, matched to your colour ring, returns fewer pieces.
• Keep a returns rule for colour. Colour is personal, and a piece that has been worn or cut cannot be resold. State on your product page whether unworn colour pieces can be exchanged, and ask customers to check the shade in daylight before fitting.
• Reorder by pair, not by bundle. Track which base and highlight combinations sell through, and reorder those pairs; drop combinations that sit unsold after a season.
• Private label. Pairs in a branded card pack sell well as add-ons. Suvita offers private-label packaging, tags and care cards from 50 pieces; standard orders ship in plain unbranded polybags.

Dispatch is prepared in 2–3 working days after payment and ships DHL or FedEx door to door; transit depends on your country. Payment is 100% in advance. For clip-in stock in volume, see clip-in extensions wholesale.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a money piece extension?

A money piece is a lighter strip of colour at the front of the hair, either side of the parting, that brightens and frames the face. As an extension it comes as a pair of narrow clip-ins, a few tape-in pieces at the hairline, or a bundle with a lighter front section. It lets a client try the look without lightening her own hair.

Which shade combinations should I stock first?

Build around your clients' base colours. For dark-haired clients, 1B or 2 with 27 honey blonde, and 4 with 27, cover the soft warm look. 4 or 6 with 613 gives a high-contrast blonde frame. Add ash and fashion shades in small numbers. A wide spread in small quantities is safer than deep stock of one pair.

Is highlighted hair lower quality than natural-colour hair?

It starts as the same hair, but the light sections have been lightened and toned, so they are more porous and need more moisture. With sulphate-free shampoo, conditioner and moderate heat it lasts well. Suvita hair of every grade lasts 3–5 years with proper care; for lightened sections, proper care means more conditioning and less heat.

What does P4/27 mean?

P stands for piano, a mix of two shades streaked through the hair. P4/27 is medium brown (4) mixed with honey blonde (27). P4/613 is medium brown with bright blonde. The first number is the base and the second is the highlight. Ask the supplier for the approximate ratio of each shade in writing.

How do I avoid colour mismatches on a highlight order?

Order by shade code, not by photo, and state the base shade, highlight shade, placement and width of the light section. Ask for daylight photos of your actual batch before dispatch. For a new combination, test with a sample kit or a few pieces first and compare them with a colour ring in your own light.