The anti-scrunchie isn’t cozy or soft. It’s not adorable or cute. It’s metal, unyielding, solid, wildly expensive, and French. If you’re someone who has looked at a fancy scrunchie over the past few months and thought, “Nope, not even if Balenciaga makes them,” meet les bagues de cheveux. They’re not hair ties — they’re hair rings, designed in collaboration with Paris’s most famous hairstylist, David Mallett (his clients include Natalie Portman and Lea Seydoux) and Genevan jewelry designer Suzanne Syz.
Despite the product’s very fancy pedigree, it’s not too complicated to operate. There’s a piece of elastic attached to a gently rounded “bangle,” which has an easy spring-style clasp that opens to encircle your ponytail. The combo of the bangle and the elastic makes the ring very secure, so it won’t slide out of your hair. It comes in three different golds — white gold, rose gold, and yellow gold.
With a product this specialized, of course, there are a few caveats. You need to be careful when removing les bagues de cheveux because it’s definitely a hair snatcher. The first few times I tried it, strands of hair got snared in the spring (they all seemed to be loose hair, fortunately). This is easily solvable, though: Just take more care to remove it.
There’s also the issue of cost. At $630, it’s surely the most opulent piece of elastic your hair will ever encounter. But perhaps that’s the price for owning something that is in every way the opposite of a scrunchie.