Latest / The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast / Which Hair Tie Is Actually Best for Your Hair? | The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast Ep. 14

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Which Hair Tie Is Actually Best for Your Hair? | The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast Ep. 14 · The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast

• 0:00
  [Intro music]
• 0:21
  Jess: Welcome back to The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast. I'm Jess with Delena Markland. Delena, today's question comes straight from search: which hair tie is actually best for your hair? People genuinely worry their hair ties are wrecking their hair.
• 0:35
  Delena: And sometimes they're right, which is why the ties I sell in my shop are the same ones I hand clients at my station: silk and satin scrunchies, and the upcycled sari silk hair ties. But let me answer the fear first. Hair ties are not bad for your hair. The wrong tie, worn too tight, in the same spot, every day, that's what's bad for your hair.
• 0:58
  Jess: Okay, let's rank the lineup. What's the worst offender?
• 1:02
  Delena: The old rubber elastic with the metal crimp. The metal piece snags and cuts hair every single time you pull it out. Twenty-five years of looking at breakage patterns, and mid-shaft breakage at exactly ponytail height almost always traces back to tight rubber elastics. Second worst is any tie pulled skin-tight day after day, because constant tension at the same follicles is how you get thinning around the hairline. That's called traction, and it's preventable.
• 1:30
  Jess: So what does a good tie look like?
• 1:33
  Delena: Three things. A smooth surface so it doesn't grip and tear individual strands. Some give, so it holds the ponytail instead of strangling it. And no metal. That's why silk and satin scrunchies are what I reach for. The fabric barrel spreads the tension over a wider band of hair, and the silk surface lets strands slide instead of snag. If you sleep with your hair up, that should only ever be a loose silk scrunchie. Never sleep in a tight elastic.
• 1:59
  Jess: Does hair type change the answer?
• 2:01
  Delena: Completely. Fine or damaged hair wants the lightest grip that will hold, so a silk satin scrunchie or our vintage silk scrunchie, which is handmade from upcycled silk. Thick, heavy hair needs more anchor, so a jumbo scrunchie or a wider tie. For workouts you want a soft ribbed fabric elastic, no metal, that holds through movement, and then you take it out when you're done rather than living in it. And the upcycled sari silk hair ties are my everyday answer for almost everyone: soft knot band, gentle hold, and every one is a little different because they're made from reclaimed sari silk.
• 2:39
  Jess: Any rules for wearing them, whatever you pick?
• 2:42
  Delena: Rotate the position. High pony today, low or braid tomorrow, so the tension never lives at one spot. Looser than you think, because a ponytail should never pull at your scalp. And take it down at night, or switch to the loose silk scrunchie. Do those three things and you can wear your hair up every day without paying for it.
• 3:04
  Jess: And the classic question: do silk scrunchies actually prevent creases?
• 3:09
  Delena: They do. The crease comes from a hard elastic pressing a dent into the hair shaft, and silk over a soft barrel just doesn't press that way. It's the difference between folding a shirt and steaming it.
• 3:21
  Jess: Where can people get the ones you use?
• 3:24
  Delena: All at thepixiegarden.com, the sari silk ties, the vintage silk scrunchies, and the silk satin sets, every one of them something I've vetted at my own station.
• 3:34
  Jess: Links are on this episode's page. See you Thursday.
• 3:37
  [Outro music]