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Trends move quickly in the festival hair world — braids! hair tapestries! hair tattoos! — and now hair gems are bubbling back up. This little hair sticker trend seems to come back around every 15 years or so, in case you remember them from using a plastic Conair device to rhinestone your hair. Now Cosmo UK has highlighted the updated 2016 version of hair gems, which somehow looks more Rodarte or Chanel than Claire's.
Here's how to get the look — either via legit hair gem brand or DIY — along with a firsthand Racked primer on how to safely remove bits of sticky plastic from your hair.
Charmsies
Celebrity hair stylist Kiara Bailey’s brand Charmsies is all over this trend, with $10 packs of tiny star stickers in gold, silver, rose gold, hot pink, and more colors. There are also pyramid studs, hearts, and iridescent rhinestone shapes.
Putting Charmsies in your hair involves running a flat iron over the charms to activate the adhesive. To remove, the brand recommends brushing them out or removing with conditioner in the shower.
Scunci Hair Gems
Hair tie brand Scünci is going all in on the festival hair trend. In addition to hair tattoos, the brand sells adhesive hair gems, priced at just $3.48 at Target. Choose from metallic stars or pearls in 40-count packages.
In Your Dreams
This UK-based e-commerce shop specializes in "face gems" and chunky glitter to affix to your growing-out roots (another crazy hair trend). The brand's $9.38 packs of star-shaped face gems are also meant for your hair, as are these colorful rhinestone gems.
Craft Store DIY
Celeb hairstylist and The Beauty Department co-founder Kristin Ess posted this amazing updo she created for Ashley Tisdale, along with the caption, "These are individually applied confetti stars!"
No mention on how she applied them, but this empowered us to head to Michael's and see what we could DIY. Racked's intrepid beauty writer Cheryl Wischhover made a craft store run and here's her firsthand report:
I ran to my local Michael's and picked up a packet of Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones, which cost $2.99 for a pack or 84 adhesive stars in three different sizes. I stuck two to my hair and squeezed them really well to make sure they were secure, then let them sit for a few minutes. Sparkly! They really perked up my eight-year-old Nike sweatpants.As an experiment, I tried to pull one off without using anything. It came off pretty easily, but I didn't like the dry, tearing sound it made. For the second one, I soaked a Q-tip in Bumble and bumble's Hairdresser's Invisible Oiland rubbed it underneath the section of hair. It slid right off, which makes me think that you'll have to be careful how much product you use on your hair before you try to stick something to it. Go easy on oils and serums before sticking.
Another option could be these tiny adhesive jewels from Oriental Trading Company, which will set you back just $2.25 for 50 gems. Or, for a really budget take, this lovely photo makes us think of those star stickers you got in elementary school for completing your homework on time.
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