I’ve been quiet lately. Or more accurately, my blog has been quiet. But that does not mean I have stopped hauling new cosmetics or haven’t been making better friends with ones I already know. So, what have I been obsessed with lately? Well, it’s something unusual for me…. accessories!
It’s a drizzly November day. This is the type of weather that begs for a nice classy clip. Actually, this is when my hair does the begging, not the weather. “Put me up and out of sight!” Because, my hair will always plague me. I’ve accepted that, finally, in my mid(or closer to upper…)-30’s. On any given day my hair is loosely curly except for the top layer, which is, in a word: frizz. If I curl the top layer my hair looks ok. But I still feel like it’s “messy” and not professional enough for my day job.
In the past I’d had a few upscale and “adult” looking hair accessories. But I’d taken to using plain old hair elastics the last few years.
Something prompted me to try a France Luxe accessory earlier this year. I knew France Luxe was the best quality available from past experience. Seriously ladies. It has a lifetime guarantee. Deciding where to look was a no-brainer (Franceluxe.com. – definitely check out the “Wednesday Wow”. And no, I’m not a France Luxe affiliate, but a girl can dream.) But selecting from France Luxe’s huge variety of items was not easy. I wish I had had a cheat sheet for what sizes and shapes of clips and barrettes and headbands would work for me. So, I’m making one!
Since I had been putting my hair up so often I looked for a professional pony tail holder.
Spoiler alert: I have gone a bit cuckoo since my first purchase and now have a collection of colors and types of accessories. I’m going to give you some information on these that I had wanted and couldn’t find, before purchasing.
I began my exploration with ponytail barrettes.
Ponytail Barrettes:
Shown above:
- France Luxe Cutout Ponytail Barrette
- France Luxe Cutout Ponytail Barrette
- French Amie Ponytail Barrette
Elastic Ponytails:
For a more traditional ponytail, there is an abundance of elastics from which to choose. From the basic “tube pony” to adorned elastics, to adult versions of the two loop bauble ponies.
While I love the way these look on other people, I don’t like them in my hair. I guess it’s a straight-hair bias. (Stupid media, making everyone think straight hair ponytails are classy, while curly ones are girlish.) In conclusion, I don’t use these beautiful ponytails often.
Shown below:
Barrettes:
Tige Boule
If you know what a tige boule barrette is already then you’re way ahead of where I was.
Tige boule barrettes, as opposed to automatic barrettes, lock with a ball mechanism. In general they are not as strong as automatic barrettes. However, they have less tendency to pull or snap hairs than the automatic type. If I had a daughter, she’d have a drawer full of France Luxe tige boule barrettes.
These are GREAT for my hair. Great for a half-up or side-part type hair-do. These don’t pull my hair, and they tend to be light-weight. I forget I am wearing them. I absolutely recommend tige boule barrettes, whether the metal ball type or the plastic. However, the plastic ones are rare and if you can find some you like, GET THEM! Talk about light-weight and flexible! And France Luxe makes some very work-appropriate shapes and colors in the plastic variety.
My personal favorites are the plastic tige boules. These are super lightweight and comfortable. Also reasonably priced.
Automatic Barrettes
If it’s not tige boule, then it’s an automatic barrette (or I guess there are other categories, like slide barrettes. But let me be dramatic, please). This is the kind most of us have, with a metal backing that clips into place, and tends to be strong. These are good for many different uses. But I’ve decided to stay away from them after trying so many and finding they pull my hair…
Long and Skinny
Long and skinny seems to be a France Luxe specialty. They are beautiful and I desperately want to use them. But every time I try, I end up with an uncomfortable, awkward hairdo. They are too straight and long for me.
Other automatic barrette “types”: Rectangular; Volume
I will tell you more about these, and show you photos, in an upcoming post.
So, this is part 1 of my France Luxe post, I guess. I don’t want to discourage myself from posting, and writing a long post can be discouraging!
THERE WILL BE MORE! (I promise)
-JGG