Clip It In! A Simple, Easy And Amazing Hair Accessory!

All Images Have Been Seen In Previous Outfit Posts

When it comes to my look the hardest thing for me to get right is my hair! I wish my hair was easier to style and to work with but in truth it has always been and continues to be a nightmare! I'll give you the short description of my hair traumas... All of my childhood I had dreadlocks, being that both my parents have them and my hair is so troublesome my mother decided to lock my hair when I was small because every time she tried to style it I would scream the entire house down! I know this sounds like most kids but seriously my hair is different to many people's. The texture of my hair is seriously coarse and tight curls, if you've ever felt a stiff afro in your lifetime you will know what I mean. Despite being of mixed ethnic background I most definitely have 100% afro Caribbean hair which almost none of the other members of my family have! My mother is of Irish and Trinidad decent and my father is Jamaican with Asian mix. My older brother has much softer hair than I do, as do my parents and extended family. When I reached about 13/14 years old I decided that I wanted to cut off my locks. I personally wanted to be able to play around and style my hair in more ways than my locks would allow, and so I started the process of slowly growing out my hair without twisting my re-growth back into my locks. Once I reached a length that I thought was suitable I chopped off the excess of my hair. 

A Clip-in/Draw String Ponytail

Now all mixed race/afro Caribbean girls will know that the level of maintenance required for hair our style is pretty high! I keep my hair straight and have used several methods to do so. I used to straighten my hair using sensitive no-lye relaxers. For those of you who aren't aware of what a hair relaxer is, it's a chemically produced paste that you spread into your hair, combing it through until eventually your hair starts to burn straight. I have a seriously sensitive scalp and so for me this is a really painful procedure which burns the scalp. Hair stylists recommend that you leave you hair dirty before doing this, they then base your scalp with a hair grease, similar texture to a petroleum jelly and this is to protect it from the relaxer. Even when doing this it can seriously burn. You leave the paste in your hair for the recommended time required for your hair type and then you wash it out. Washing out the relaxer is a timely process as you need to use a neutralising shampoo which deactivates the relaxer and stops it from burning the hair straight. Usually 8-10 washes are required. Oil and steam treatments are required to protect and seal the hair and then you are set to style it.

I have recently been hot combing my hair, this produces near-similar results without the use of chemicals. A metal comb is placed in a stove or heated on an oven and then you comb it through the hair, using a serum or heat protective grease and it burns your hair straight in the same way a GHD or electrical straightener would. The only difference between this and relaxing the hair is that it's a semi-permanent solution whereas relaxing only requires you to work on your roots when they grow out. 

After all this burning of the hair it can be seriously tough for me to style my hair. It's seriously layered only coming down to my shoulders and so scraping it back into a ponytail is fine but I tend to get a lot of stray ends lol. I often get extensions woven into my hair to add body and length but a more popular item I use is a clip in ponytail. This is my go-to hair accessory and one I use all the time. All you have to do is put your hair in a tight bun, grip the teeth into the hair right at the base and then pull the draw string to secure it in place. It takes literally 3 minutes to do and the end result is great. 

Clip-ins retail between £7-50 and they come in a variety of lengths and textures. I tend to go for straight with some slight curls or waves in colour 1B to match the tone of my natural hair. The funny thing is loads of people think it's my natural hair, which I guess is a cool thing lol. Anyway here are some pictures of me sporting a clip-in. As you can see there are many ways it can be worn. I have braided my natural hair, rolled it into a quiff or just kept it simple.

If you want a quick fix for your hair that can add that little bit of glam without the hours of styling and mountains or spray try one out for yourself! I wear mine with hats, hair scarves and on their own. They can be adapted to suit all styles from casual to super glam! Such a simple and easy item to use, one that is ALWAYS in my accessory drawer! 

Remember whatever you wear, feel fabulous in it and wear it with a smile!