Are Hair Elastics A Thing Of The Past?

We're all for boundary-pushing beauty, but sometimes the creative people we work with push boundaries we didn't even realize were there. Case in point: We've done three photo shoots in a row with hairstylists who prefer not to use hair elastics. Rather than tying hair off at the ends with those stretchy circles we've all grown up using, our most recent stylists opted out, choosing instead to employ a variety of tricks to get the hairdos to hold themselves together.

If we didn't see it with our own two eyes, we wouldn't have believed it was doable. But, trust, it's totally possible to eliminate hair elastics from many 'dos. It's particularly fun to do this with braids. Once you get to the end of the plait, stick a comb where the elastic would go and pull it upward, teasing your hair together. Do this a few times, and then spray it with a strong-hold hairspray. That braid is not budging.

The benefit of doing this? It just looks really cool. As hairstylist Austin Call described on the set our flat-iron DIY, "It's the perfect way to keep things modern." Sometimes you just need to adjust one small detail of a look to completely update its vibe. We found that to be true when we switched from regular hairbands to clear elastics, and this takes things one step further.

Or, to put a more metaphorical spin on this look, we love what hairstylist Amy Farid said on the set of the spring braid DIY: "Hair elastics interrupt the spirit and the energy of the braid." We would never want to interrupt the spirit of a braid — and we probably never will again.

What do you all think about ditching elastics?