This hair clip works very well for my half-up half-down style (I have thick hair). Itself is very light, and the clip is tight, so it holds nicely for a whole day. Now it's my go-to hair clip everyday. The ornamental piece is soldered to the clip so its not something that'll get damaged quickly.

A small complaint is, I cannot wear it when I want to wear beanie hat--it will entangle with beanie pretty badly.

I'm a woman with chronic alopecia (hair loss), and have watched what used to be my head of thick, thick wavy hair (that I clearly didn't appreciate while I had it! auuuugh!) dramatically reduce itself to a handful of feeble, lifeless strands that droop from my scalp with palpable anxiety, wondering if soon they too will be brutally and prematurely forced out of their follicles to join their peers in the shower drain. Besides the emotional fallout (GET IT? FALLOUT?) from this unfortunate health condition, there are many stylistic repercussions -- one being Ponytail Holders Will Not Stay In, and another being All Barrettes Are Too Damn Big. I'd always been a fan of hair accessories, but a few months ago I realized that I didn't have any that stayed put anymore, as I didn't have enough hair to support them.
(Sidebar: You may be thinking, "Awkward Moment! If your hair is falling out, wouldn't it be wiser to not put any doodads in it, since that'll increase the loss? Shouldn't you not tug at it or stress it at all?" That is an excellent theory, Review Reader, that I myself would have thought, except that years of living with this has shown me that it barely matters. My hair thins if I touch it; it thins if I don't touch it; it thins if I use the world's most low-impact scrunchie woven from the wings of baby dragonflies; it thins if I pound it with a sledgehammer. I mean, in truth, I DO do all kinds of things to treat it well and be very very gentle, but putting a barrette in doesn't seem to make a measurable difference either way. But thank you, imaginary Review Reader!)

Anyhoo.

A few months ago, in a burst of hair frustration, I decided I'd see if Amazon offered up any barrettes that seemed small and light enough to work on my head, and after a long string of "No. Nope. No. Not that one. Dang. No," I saw this pair, and felt iffy about the bigger barrette, but hopeful about the smaller one. Aesthetically they're a couple notches more frou-frou than I'd typically go for (especially because feeble hair strands could get caught in all that curly metal), but I felt like I could probably deal with it.
The results?
BOTH barrettes work for me! I KNOW! There was much rejoicing in the bathroom region of my basement studio apartment, my friends. These barrettes are kind of quirky -- they're metal, but they look and feel like plastic -- like they're cheap plastic pretending to be metal - but no, they really are metal, I guess. And the clips are a tiny bit fussier than some I've used. But the two sizes are both GREAT for those of us not blessed with cascades of hair; the larger barrette isn't HUGE, and isn't overly curved, and seems to grip pretty well, and the little barrette is PERFECT for half-up, half-down styles. I mean, so perfect. I've never found a clip so exactly the right size and strength to hold exactly half of my remaining hair -- which lets me bring back some of the stuff I used to do in the good ol' days, like the front pulled to the side, or the front clipped up at the crown, or a partial messy bun. I'm honestly so glad I took a chance on these Retro Vintage barrettes, and I know it's dorky to be so excited about two hair clips, but when you're dealing with embarrassing and potentially isolating abberations of physical appearance, it's often the little things that can make a difference. Thanks, little things! :)

These are actually much nicer than I expected. They have heavy duty springs, which are great. And are made very well. They are really pretty in my hair & together, they hold a lot of hair. The only thing to note is that because they are made of metal and not cheap plastic they do weigh a bit more than the plastic kind but worth it in my opinion.

I was very disappointed, the larger hair barrette is missing the tension piece from inside, so it isn't wearable, for me, anyway. The little one is as described, but I paid for both and had intended to use them for work. So I paid quite a bit for one tiny barrette and could not even go back and verify in the images because when I click on it, it now shows a totally different barrette and the images of what I bought are gone. Update: Seller contacted me quickly and rectified my issue. I would gladly buy from this seller again!

I was so surprised when I received the barrettes. I was buying them for my granddaughter and they were so pretty I kept them for myself. The craftsmanship is superb and the vintage look was something that an older woman could wear. I would recommend this for blondes and redheads. They really show up beautifully. I've received quite a few compliments. I have long red hair and the barrettes are perfect.