Product Review: Hair Flairs Pro Hair Tinsel

Hair Flairs Pro Hair Tinsel is a product that is pretty much what the name implies.  Remember the tinsel on Christmas Trees?  Well Hair Flairs take that to a whole new level.  They are very thin strands of tinsel that are tied to a couple of your own hairs.  They come in a variety of colors and they hold up well to washing, blow drying, and the use of heat appliances.

There are other brands, I think one such brand is Hair Bling, and there are other brands on the market for purchase or available to be tied into your hair at many hair salons.

There are some lower quality product out there so you may have to shop around to find what you like.  There are many YouTube videos available that show you exactly how to tie them to your hair.  But you'll need a buddy for this, it might be really hard to do it by yourself.  You certainly do NOT need to buy them at your salon and have them put in by your hairdresser at some ungodly price.  Some of the videos were suggesting that salons charge about $5 or more per flair.  Since a single strand is long and you tie it in a knot, this appears as two strands...so there's $10 for basically a single strand.

From Hair Flairs, I purchased two packages of hair flairs.  There are 100 strand per package (or 200 if you are using the theory that one is two), and each package costs only $10 and the shipping is free.  And these are the original invention and are of a high quality.  If you tie them to about three hairs (find three hairs close together), they can last many weeks.  They last until the hairs they are tied to fall out (or you could cut or pull them out if you only want to wear them for a special event).

Mine lasted a few months.  I do notice that I have to be careful when combing or brushing my hair because the combs/brushes will snag on the knot and may pull them out prematurely.  But if you're careful, they can last a surprisingly long time.

You can choose contrasting colors such as bright red or pink or blue etc.  Or you can do what I did and choose a color or two that sort of match your own hair color to give subtle flash of light from time to time.  I love them.  I'm 50.  Maybe I shouldn't love them, but I do.  My hair is sort of basic ash or dark blonde with natural variations of lighter blonde and red in it.  So I bought the Champagne and the Copper Hair Flairs.

My girlfriend tied them in for me.  That's sort of a fun bonding experience.  There really is no need to pay someone to do it for you.  Make a play date.  Laugh, experiment.  You can put in just one for a very subtle look or put in as many as you want.  You can put them just on the outer layer or you can tuck some underneath to catch light if your hair is up in a ponytail.

The other product I'm dying to try (my mom will have a heart attack) is hair feathers.  They are the same principle only feathers are crimped to a small clump of hair with a crimp bead.  These can be very expensive (or at least they are to me at around $40 a bunch), so one of my girlfriends and I are going to make a trek out of town one of these days to a high end sporting good store where they sell feathers for fly tying.  Then we are going to make our own.  I've talked to people who have these in their hair and they say that they wash, dry and even curl with the rest of the hair just fine.

As I age, I have the option of dying my hair as it grays, leaving it as it is, or getting a little funky.  That seems to be my bent.  Not even my hubby will love the feather things but it's my head after all.  Who will notice a little gray if there are sparkles and feathers to look at instead?

I did some shopping around, and for my money, the Hair Flair Pro Tinsel is a really good buy for $10 for 100 strands and free shipping.  They have a good variety of colors, you can tie them in with a friend with online instructions and they hold up to wear and tear.  What do you think?  Should, as my mom would contend, there be a cut-off age where certain things are not done or worn by older women?  What is that age and what sorts of "rules" should there be?

I'm of the mind that if one is comfortable with whatever fashion they sport, that's their business.  No rules.  What somebody else does to express themselves is not my business, and it's not important if I like it.  People need to be comfortable in their own skin.  Just cuz I don't like something doesn't mean somebody died and made me fashion boss.