Elastic Hair Bands

As you may know, elastic hair bands are the best way to secure ponytails and braids. There are several types of them. The type you use may help keep your style in place but you need to be sure, it does not cause unnecessary damage to the hair.

The trending type of elastic hair bands are decorative. They may have fake flowers, bows, or snoods.

These bands usually are the no damage type, but the extras of the style may get caught in the hair. They do make a nice change from the simple band. You can use a plain one to hold your ponytail and put the decorative one, only for decoration.

There are very simple forms of bands, which may be okay for use on braids, if you simply want a plain elastic hair band to hold a ponytail, look for the variety that says “no damage.” These are usually simple rings of elastic covered in fabric. These types of elastic hair bands tend not to get caught in the hair and are far easier to remove. Additionally, they have excellent hold, and will keep your hair safely in its style.

Elastic hair bands that are joined by a small metal bar  have issues; they are very likely to get tangled in your hair, and you will have difficulty removing them. They may work well at the end of a braid because there is little hair to tangle. Securing a long ponytail with one is a nightmare, as removal may rip the hair.

I'll give yoy a tip: If your hair becomes entangled in this sort of band,please, don’t pull on the band. Instead, give up the band for lost and cut the band off with scissors. You may need to make several cuts to completely disentangle the hair, but it certainly beats pulling your hair out by the roots. 

As well as no damage elastic hair bands, those made of nylon tend to be relatively hair friendly too.   They tend not to form as good of a hold as the elastic variety, however.

Elastic hair bands that are joined with two plastic balls, make them perfect for looping over several times to secure small amounts of hair. You often find these types available for little girls and they are not effective for holding a lot of hair, though they work well for braids.