Anne asks about a hair pin that she is having trouble finding. She writes,
I use a hairstick most of the time (or in emergencies, a pencil, crochet hook or chopstick) – it’s easy with my fairly coarse, thick hair and I am sure that I have fewer split ends and breakages than when I wore it in a ponytail almost every day. Hair-elastics are not kind to hair.
Last week, though I was introduced to my favourite hair-do-thingy ever. It was given to me by a friend from her collection of vintage and antique jewellery and hair accessories. It’s a two legged comb, roughly the shape of a woodworker’s staple, about 5 inches long, the ‘legs’ are very smooth and narrow to a point. In side profile it curves slightly to sit against the back of the head. I’ve never seen a modern version of anything like it. She had some similar ones in tortoiseshell, but i think this one is bakelite or something like that.
Used like a hairstick, it is just a little more secure, doesn’t need the hair to be twisted as tightly and is basically invisible in the finished ‘do.’ I’ve worn it every day for 2 weeks now.
Any suggestions about where I might get something similar – for the day when I lose or break this one – would be gratefully received.
Oh, can’t you just tell Anne is a minister, with all that “gratefully received” business? That girl gives a mean morning offering, you can just bet!
Anne my dove, I don’t know if any of these little fork jobbies are what you’re looking for but I bet you can find just what you need from these folks who are ALSO in the U.K.!
Let me know if this is what you were looking for. We here at Beauty Tips will go to the ends of the earth to find what you need for your utmost beautiness.
Thank you PB – what a lovely start to my day! Those ‘hair forks’ are just the thing, except that mine has no decorative piece at the top. I’ll get on the trail right away.
(Small confession – before I sat down to type this, I found myself checking that I was appropriately dressed. Apparently, in my head, reading BTforM is a private activity so it’s OK to just be in my pajamas, but commenting on BTforM is a public thing that requires full PB-worthiness!!)
Thank you again!
Anne
There are woodworkers on etsy who make wooden forks. Different woods are used and some add decorations. These can have two, three or four tines.
There is a giant list of suppliers of hair toys on the long hair community:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=13927
This is something different, but a wooden hairclip I use almost every day that I love, got at Ten Thousand Villages (so for a good cause):
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/island-leaf-clip
I have made several of these for myself out of aluminum knitting needles (pointed at both ends) that I found at a thrift store. They slide right into a French twist and vanish. The hard part was putting the bend in exactly the right place, and making it symmetrical. After a couple of imperfect but still-useful practice runs, I hit on the trick of shaping the U around the neck of a wine bottle.
The other thing I must recommend is the hairpins made by a company called “Bunhead”. You can find them in any dance story (anytime I see a locally owned dance store I immediately run in and buy more), and they hold long hair like nothing else. I refer to them jokingly as my “giant staples”