A couple of months ago, I put something on Instagram about a pearl hair barrette from Etsy and how happy it made me.

OH THE RESPONSES.

I never knew a hair accessory could be so polarizing. People either loved it, or thought that I was completely fracking insane. SO many OPINIONS. That’s cool. We can’t all like the same things at the same time, it would be so dull. So if you hate them, then I completely understand, just skip on to the next post, it’ll be a thoughtlette about something I’m reading or watching or thinking or putting on my face, I can’t remember.

Anyway! Back to the point. Right now I am very into hair accessories, for the first time since the 90s. Back then, I liked to sew tiny paper flowers onto Japanese bobby pins and create elaborate chignons. (Oh yes. Yes I did.) I also cut and glued flipflops together to make platforms like the Spice Girls. I made my own Chanel Vamp nail polish out of black and red nail polish that I purchased with my pocket money at a little Filipino shopping center called World Wide Plaza in Hong Kong, before having a tuna mayo sandwich and an Orangina at Delifrance. AH. MEMORIES.

So, this is the hair pearl barrette from Etsy. Warning: if you don’t have a lot of hair (I’m shedding like an old mutt, damn babies), it slides out pretty quickly, so you need to secure it with bobby pins.

And then we have this magnificent thing. I have worn it a gazillion times already. It’s DesignB from ASOS, has wonderful sturdy sticking power even if your hair has the emotional and physical strength of a spider’s web. It’s low in stock. If it’s sold out by the time you read this, just keep an eye on ASOS because I bet it comes back, the best things always do. In the meantime, I found you this perfect and almost identical Etsy alternative, below.

(By the way, those are not my nails.)

I’ve also been wearing my hair in a bun, tied with a scrunchie with a long thick black ribbon attached. Mine was from Urban Outfitters and sold out, alas, but I found this alternative for you. I would untie the bow right away and just leave the ribbons dangling down, like a ballet dancer on a walk of shame.

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