Octopus Clips

Q: I have fallen in love with octopus clips because they keep my long hair out of the way and look very professional. At the same time, I have been trying to find ones that are a little more interesting and I can't seem to find any. They all seem to be black or brown and, though that is very professional, it gets a little boring after awhile.

If you have ideas where to find decorated or colored octopus clips (or the same thing with a different name) I would truly appreciate it. I am incredibly frustrated by how difficult they are to find! Also, are there similar products that make it easy to keep long hair out of your way? Mine is about shoulder length and, though I love it, it makes me crazy sometimes.

A: There are countless names for the various shapes and styles of hair clips: Claw Clips, Spring Combs, Banana Clips, Spider Clips, Yoga Clip, Butterfly Clip, Squig Claw, Goldfish Claw, Comb Claw, Medieval Claw, etc.

I’ve seen them fashioned mostly of plastic, but with faux finishes to resemble tortoise shell, mother of pearl, ivory and jade. You can even find some of the more expensive models that are actually carved of wood and other semi-precious stone.

Commonly, these items are made of finishes that are meant to allow them to blend in with the hair or to at least be subdued in color. This creates a professional appearance. You can even find lighter-colored and clear clips that are meant for very light hair colors. However, you can still often find other styles that are meant to adorn and stand out instead of blending in. There are metallic versions with gold and silver finishes and gems and beadwork for sparkle.

My recommendation is to keep an eye out the next time you are in your local beauty supply shop or the hair care department in your local department store for pretty and unusual hair accessories. Or if you prefer to shop online, you can do what I did to narrow your search. Simply type in the keywords “Hair”, “Accessories”, “Clip”, and “Claw” and you should get countless sites listing literally hundreds if not thousands of different hair clip/claw styles.

As for other alternatives, you can always look for hair tools such as “Hairdini”, “Twistii” and “Topsy-Tail”. These offer easy tools for creating casual and elegant up-styles with longer hair lengths that are easy to create and maintain.

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See also:

Hair jewelry

How to style hair up

Famous hair accessories