Carolyn J. Braden • 2 Minute Read
How To Add Hair Tinsel To Your Hair At Home
After a conversation with a cashier at a grocery store (she strangely looked like me and she saw our resemblance too, so we of course had a conversation about it!), it led me to hair tinsel, which is also referred to as fairy hair. You just never know where inspiration will come from!
After talking to her, I started seeing sparkles in people’s hair all around me. I especially noticed it gleaming off a woman riding a motorcycle. As she drove past, the sun hit the tinsel, making her hair look like sparkling flames flying in the wind. I liked that.
Hair tinsel is a no commitment way to jazz up your hair!
After this beautiful inspiration, I did some research. You can get hair tinsel and hair feathers put in at many salons for around $10-$20 as an add-on service, but with I figured I could do it myself. Without watching any tutorials, I ordered a kit and just tried it myself and after a few attempts, I got it and it was very simple. Read on to learn how to add (and remove) hair tinsel to your own hair at home.
You’ll need a few tools to add tinsel to your hair
Hair tinsel is a popular and stylish trend that can add a touch of sparkle and glamour to any hairstyle. I noticed it hitting the market years ago, but never was interested in it until I saw it glitter in the sun. After receiving my hair tinsel kit, I could see this thin and lightweight accessory is made from metallic fibers and is available in a wide range of colors. The variety of colors gives you the freedom to match it perfectly with your hair or create a striking contrast.
Hair feathers can be added the same as hair feathers
Applying hair tinsel is relatively simple and can be done at home, making it a fun DIY project for those looking to experiment with their style. Whether you want to enhance a special occasion look or simply elevate your everyday hairstyle, hair tinsel is a versatile and affordable option that allows you to effortlessly achieve an eye-catching and shimmering effect.
You can mix hair tinsel and hair feathers
The hair tinsel kit tools remind me of a crocheting or latch hook kit. Hair tinsel is basically pulled into your hair via a crochet hook and looping tool combination and then clamped on with a microbead (also called micro rings) and a pair of pliers. For this hair tinsel tutorial, I ordered a hair tinsel kit on Amazon that came with the tinsel, tools and some faux hair feathers.
Hair tinsel is basically colorful hair extensions
I created a visual one-minute video tutorial that shows my hair tinsel application process, and I recommend watching it if you are a visual learner like myself. See it below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden.
I’ll do my best to explain my hair tinsel process here:
I first parted my hair along the side of my head and used the crochet-like hook to grab a small section of clean and dry hair. You have to pull out a small enough section in order to fit the hair through the microbead.
Then I placed a microbead onto the loop tool (also called a pulling hook) and slid it down towards the bottom.
Then I pulled my hair through the loop and slid the bead upwards on the tool until my hair met it and slid through the microbead.
Next, I twisted the end of two strands of hair tinsel (you could do just one, but I was wanting to see if two would fit, and they did) to form a point.
I slid the pointed end of the hair tinsel through the microbead that contained my hair (like threading a needle) so some of the hair tinsel poked through the top of the microbead. I made sure the bead and tinsel was along my hairline at about a half inch or so away from my scalp.
I used the included pliers to clamp the microbead containing the hair tinsel onto my hair. This is a similar process to getting hair extensions, because it’s basically the same thing, just with tinsel instead of more hair pieces.
I then cut the hair tinsel to match my hair length. Be careful when doing this, as you can accidentally cut your hair too!
My hair feathers are merely printed faux hair
I repeated the same process to add the faux hair feather and actually found it to be easier, as the end of the “feather” looked like the end of shoelace, so it was a bit easier to deal with. You can add as much hair tinsel and feathers to your hair as you want, but keep in mind, you will have to remove them at some point.
The hair tinsel kit I bought said they are washable and heat resistant, so you could leave them in for as long as you’d like, however, I like to change my hair often and I removed them after a couple of days.
I matched my hair feathers to my sprinkle sunglasses
See how I made my glitter and sprinkle sunglasses in my YouTube tutorial below!
They are extremely lightweight, even more so than most types of hair extensions, so you won’t even notice that they are in UNLESS you accidentally catch a brush in them. That can hurt! To remove the hair tinsel and hair feathers, I simply used the pliers to bend the microbead in the opposite direction to pop it open and slide the tinsel out and removed the microbead from my hair.
Hair tinsel is glittery and fun!
You can also use only the crochet hook to add the tinsel and bead, but this is the process that worked best when adding hair tinsel to my own hair. Experiment and see what works for you and have fun playing with your sparkling hair. Try color combinations of red and green for the holidays to amp up your holiday hairstyles too!
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Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.