Originally Posted by
pastina
Right off the bat, Etsy is your friend. That's where most of these are found, notable exceptions being flexi-8s (lillarose) and ficcare (the fancy metal clips). There's also the swap board, where members here destash things they can't (or don't) use. You can get really good deals there if you keep a watchful eye!
So. Where do you start. ....Ok, prepare for a crash course!
There are toys in wood, toys in metal, toys in antler and horn, and toys in acrylic... You can find sticks, forks, and barrette type things in any of these materials. What material you want will depend on your hair, your aesthetic, and how important the toy being waterproof is to you. Personally, I'm an acrylic kind of girl because it comes in a million colors, it's sturdy, and it's waterproof (it rains constantly where I live!). Antler and horn also are waterproof (correct me if I'm wrong) and they also seem to be very sturdy, but they have a rather rustic look (IMO). There are some spectacular carved antler pieces available on Etsy! There are also a ton of amazingly carved wooden toys, and to be completely honest, I was shocked at the variety of timbers available across all the different makers out there. ...Then there's dymondwood (and webb wood), which is waterproof, extra-strong wood which comes in a variety of colors, since it's dyed and impregnated with resin. And then metal. Oh my.
What TYPE of toy (stick/pair of sticks/fork/clip/slide) depends on a) what you like and b) how long and thick your hair is. If it's on the shorter side, you'll probably do better with forks, the more prongs the better. If it's longer, you can probably manage a single stick. A good test is to put a bun up with a pencil... if it holds, you know you can manage a single stick! If you've got a ton of hair, you might want to look for something sturdy enough to hold it all without bending or snapping. If your hair is on the thinner side, you might want to keep the toy's weight in mind-- if it's too heavy, it might end up hurting your scalp. Also, if you have houdini hair like I do, a slide will just fall out of your hair immediately, lol.
Sizing is important! The pencil trick is also a good way to see how LONG you need your fork or stick to be. If you can get a pencil to hold your bun, check it out in a mirror! Measure how much of the pencil is actually needed to hold up your bun, and that's a good estimation of your needs in terms of functional length. If you feel like you have "propellor head", you'll want a toy that's shorter than your pencil in total length. For example, you find a topped stick you like... you'd need the functional length to be at least what you measured, but you'd want the total length to be less than what gives you propellor head. Make sense?
I've personally noticed that I need less functional length for metal toys (because I like less to show) and I also require less functional length for forks than for sticks. That might just be me, though, I hope some others will chime in on that. Hair thickness comes into play with slides and barrettes as well, so that's another good measurement to keep in mind.
Then, there's a consideration for how fancy you want these toys to be! There are shops that sell things that are more focused on being functional and some shops that are more focused on being decorative. Which shop you search for will depend on allll of the above criteria.
Instead of attempting to make a giant flow chart of doom, what kind of thing are you looking for? Can we steer you in a specific direction? (Can you tell I like this topic? lol!)
Re: Different Types of Hair Toys
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