Most Novembers, I scour the best Black Friday beauty deals in search of a skin-enhancing LED mask or a salon-quality hair dryer. This year, my ambitions were simpler: All I want is a hair pin to achieve a French twist like Taylor Swift's at a recent Chiefs game, or the hundreds of hair-fluencers flooding my TikTok FYP. And this year, it looks like the Discount Powers That Be have delivered.
After sifting through hundreds of deals, I found a few eternally chic French hair pins—each that are less than $20 at checkout. I don't feel like I'm exaggerating when I say these simple, elegant accessories are the key to even more excellent hair.
@oliviadaytonn ♬ original sound - olivia dayton
On TikTok, French twists are the heir-apparent to the claw clips that ruled all of 2022 and 2023. Like those accessories, they're a ticket to a ten-second-or-less up-do—but hair pins have an even more upscale bent. They have a curved, elegant shape laying out on a vanity; once they're secured into a chignon, they're practically invisible. And after hours in a virtually immovable style, they don't crease or indent hair the same way an elastic hair tie does.
I've been hypnotized watching creators twist and fasten short, medium, and long hair into quintessentially chic arrangements all fall—and each time, I've been surprised that such an old-money look could be so easy and affordable. Right now, it's particularly accessible. In Madewell's Black Friday sale, tortoiseshell and acetate hair pins are up to 50 percent off with code MADEBETTER at checkout. (Yes, even the ones that were previously marked down.) Meanwhile, at Anthropologie, gold and pearl-embellished versions are 30 percent off at checkout, no code required. I've also caught Black Friday hair deals at Amazon and the It-girl brand Machete, where packs of hair pins in every color, texture, and shape imaginable are between $8 and $17 on sale.
@dianaaaavel chic hair gives me endorphins
♬ Brite Lites demo - Fan Acc
@yolandaadiazz ♬ This Will Be - audios4you
For a take that telegraphs a walk around the Marais, I suggest a hair pin that's curved, solid gold (like Anthropologie's) or one with a curling gold loop at the center (like Madewell's). The latter retailer also has a few zany takes made from wavy, multicolor acrylic. After I shop one of each for myself, I might just hit "Order" on a few tortoiseshell versions for family stocking stuffers as well. I know the beauty lovers in my life are seeing as many French twist tutorials online as I am—and they'd be just as excited to level up their daily hair game, too.
@elisehoogerdijk ♬ som original - ∞︎︎ ☼ ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ ♡
@kristinarodulfo ♬ La Vie en rose - Edith Piaf
