Thursday Hair 101: How To Put Your Hair In A Claw Clip

At some point you probably found yourself aimlessly scrolling on your Instagram feed, until you bumped into it: the infamous claw clip hairstyle.

What is it? Why is it back? Is it cool, is it trendy? Well, welcome to my queendom. If you’ve ever wondered how to put your hair in a claw clip and relative questions, look no further than this blog. This is Thursday Hair 101, and today we’ll talk about this infamous Y2K look and how to make the most out of your recently bought claw clip.

1. First Of All, What Is A Claw Clip?

Simply put, a claw clip is a hair clip that vaguely looks like the giant version of a butterfly clip. It’s also known as the jaw clip, and if you own one you’ll have no difficulty in seeing why. In the 90s and early 00s, every household had at least two or three of these hair accessories hanging around on a trinkets tray or in a bathroom drawer.

With the recent revival of the 90s and Y2K fashion, the return of this once-forgotten colorful accessory was inevitable.

2. Wondering How To Put Your Hair In A Claw Clip?

Truth is, there’s different hairstyles you can try with this accessory - and this is why it’s so popular! Claw clips are cheap and cute and they make an amazing summer accessory as much as they are useful at home to keep your hair away from your face.

Keep in mind that the ideal hair length for you to try this hairstyle out is medium to long; if you have short hair and would like to play around with hair clips, I suggest you try butterfly clips instead. If you’d like to know how to use claw clips, check out these cute hairstyles and the easy steps to follow in order to recreate them at home.

3. Claw Clip Hairstyle Idea #1: The Half-Up, Half-Down

The claw clip half-up, half-down is a timeless classic. Follow these simple steps to achieve it in only a few seconds!

• Pull your frontal strands to the back
• Secure them with the clip

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! For a trendy and modern take on this hairstyle, make sure your middle part is defined (use a rat-tail comb for your styling). You could also gel down your hair to make sure there’s no flyaways. This hairstyle works perfectly with both straight, wavy and curly hair!

4. Claw Clip Hairstyle Idea #2: The Claw Clip Twist

The claw clip twist is a peppy take on the previous hairstyle. When pulling your hair for the half-up to the back, make sure you don’t pull them too tightly: you’ll see why.

• Pull your hair to the back and secure them with a hair tie
• Twist the little half-up, half-down ponytail upside down
• Pull your ends toward the front of your head
• Add a medium-sized claw clip, or a butterfly clip (depending on your hair thickness and length)
• Flip your ends back and voila! Your half-up, half-down has now been elevated!

5. Claw Clip Hairstyle Idea #3: The Claw Clip Half-Up Knot

The half-up knot, a great way to spice-up the top knot whilst still showing off your length. Wondering how to put hair up with a claw clip to achieve this style? Follow these simple steps:

• Grab a section of your hair for a half-up, half-down hairstyle
• Pull it in the back
• Twist it together to obtain one thick “rope of hair”
• Twist the rope in a knot
• Secure the hair underneath the knot with a claw clip

6. Claw Clip Hairstyle Idea #4: The Low Messy Bun

The low messy bun with a claw clip. Genius! This hairstyle is literally just a low messy bun topped by a hair clip that keeps the rest of your hair in place.

• Pull your hair in a bun
• Pull out a few strands from the bun to make it fashionably messy
• Secure your claw clip above your bun

7. Claw Clip Hairstyle Idea #5: The Figure 8 Claw Clip Updo

This is what I like to call the “figure 8 claw clip hairstyle”, or "figure 8 claw clip updo". Like for the half-up know, here’s how to put your hair in a claw clip to achieve this style:

• Grab a section of your hair for a half-up, half-down hairstyle
• Pull it in the back
• Twist it together to obtain one thick “rope of hair”
• Twist the rope in a figure 8
• Secure the hair with a hair clip in the middle
• Top it off with a hair clip worn at the centre of this hairstyle

8. Are Claw Clips Damaging To Hair?

The short answer is: no. Obviously the rules that apply are always the same: choose high-quality products, keep your hair clips clean, and go easy with the mechanical stress on your hair when styling.

9. Can You Wear A Claw Clip With Hair Extensions?

If you’re wearing permanent or semi-permanent hair extensions, claw clips aren’t exactly recommended. Getting it too close to the attachment beads could result in your hair extensions falling out, or - such as with tape-in hair extensions - they could damage the adhesive strip. As long as the clips don’t come in contact, claw clips are safe to use with clip-in hair extensions.

10. Conclusion:

Claw clips are a blast from the past, but nowadays the hairstyles that you can create with a claw clip and a few other accessories (such as hair ties and butterfly clips) are modern and fresh. If you’d like to combine your claw clip hairstyles with other ongoing trends, feel free to experiment! From the zig-zag side part to the slicked back ponytail, the choices are countless.