Acetate claw clips, in three honest sizes

The three clips and their prices

Each size is cut from the same sheet acetate and comes in the same four colours, so a matched pair in two sizes is easy. The jaw measurement is taken straight across the closed clip, tooth tip to tooth tip, which is the number that actually decides how much hair it holds.

Acetate or plastic: what the difference means in your hand

Most cheap claw clips are injection-moulded: liquid plastic is pushed into a mould and the clip pops out finished, often with a thin seam running along every edge. That seam is what catches strands. Our clips are cellulose acetate, a material made from plant cellulose that arrives as a solid sheet. The shapes are cut from the sheet and then tumbled and polished, so the edges are rounded and the colour runs all the way through instead of sitting on the surface.

Acetate is a plastic in the broad sense, and we will not pretend otherwise. What it gives you is weight, a little flex and a warm, glassy finish. A dropped acetate clip tends to bounce rather than shatter, and a scratch can be buffed back with a soft cloth because there is no painted layer to wear through.

Hinge and spring

A claw clip is two jaws joined by a pin, with a coiled steel spring pushing them closed. On our clips the pin passes through both jaws and is riveted on each side, so it cannot work loose and drift out. The spring is wound tight enough to keep the jaw shut on a thick twist but not so tight that opening it with one hand takes a fight.

The teeth are worth a look too. They are rounded at the tips and slightly staggered, so they interlock when the clip closes. That interlock is what stops a clip sliding down the back of your head through the afternoon.

Which size for which hair

Small, 5 cm. For hair at about chin to shoulder length, half-up styles, fringes pinned back, or fine hair at any length when you want something light. It also works as the second clip in a two-clip style.

Medium, 8 cm. The everyday size. It holds a twist of shoulder-length to mid-back hair of average thickness, and a long twist of fine hair. If you are unsure, this is the one most people keep reaching for.

Large, 11 cm. For long, thick or heavily layered hair, or for curly hair you want to gather loosely without crushing. Closed around a slim twist it can slip, so choose it only when there is genuinely a lot of hair to hold.

Colours

Four colours, the same across all three sizes: tortoiseshell (warm brown and amber), blush (a milky pink), sage (a soft grey-green) and ink (a near-black with a faint plum cast). Because acetate is coloured right through, the tortoiseshell pattern varies a little from clip to clip; no two are identical, and photographs can only ever show one of them.

Write your colour in the notes box at checkout. If a colour has run out in your size we say so in our reply before anything is charged, and you can switch or drop it.

Keeping a claw clip working

Open the clip fully before you take it out of your hair rather than dragging it free; pulling it out closed is what bends a spring over time. Keep it in its pouch in a handbag so the teeth are not knocked by keys. To clean it, wipe with a damp cloth and dry it. Avoid leaving it on a hot car dashboard: acetate softens with strong heat and the jaw can warp out of line.