Shopping In The Dark : Hair Accessories Special

Welcome to installment six of Shopping In The Dark. This week it’s all about hair forks, pins and combs. I hope that you enjoy my selection!

Click on the pictures to be taken straight to the product you want to check out further. Please support these small businesses and help them to flourish in the dark!

Feel free to get in touch at katiemariemetcalfe@hotmail.co.uk or in the comment box below if you know of an Etsy shop that needs a mention or if you would like a product reviewed.

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I had the same hairstyle for well over a decade – long and down – and it’s only been in the last six months or so that I’ve actually realised that I really enjoy experimenting with the style of my hair. My only problem is that I have a lot of hair, even after having much of it cut off it’s still difficult to do the things I want to do with it…i.e. put it up, unless I have the right tools. So, I’ve been hunting on Etsy, and one of the first store to jump to my attention was Wood Art Ukraine and their exquisite handcrafted hair sticks and combs. They look like they could hold up my hair for days.

Owner and creator Oleksandr comes from a family of carpenters, and is following in his father’s footsteps with Wood Art Ukraine. As well as providing hair accessories, Oleksandr crafts toys, kitchen tools and wooden jewellery sets.

It was his spectacular Dire Wolf Hair Fork that first caught my attention. As an avid follower of Game Of Thrones, the fork went straight onto my wishlist.

Bellow you’ll find my four favourite products from Wood Art Ukraine. Which is your favourite piece?

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I feel guilty for neglecting my hair, for not letting it be decorated with beautiful accessories. As I made my way through The Ancient Muse store, my heart physically ached. I kept touching my hair, imagining what it would be like to have one of the wooden hair pieces decorating it.

Owner, maker, designer Isil Akalan is the woman at the helm. A lover of history and unknown lands, Isil has lived and travel in Europe and is now settled in Turkey. Her About page on Etsy makes for a deeply inspiring read. You can view an extract here: Every moment in our lives is a story, a magical moment and what we wear is a part of it. They become the details, the details of the beautiful, magical stories.

Isil likes to use wood that has been sourced locally for her creations, woods such as cherry wood and pear wood. She believes that choosing which wood to use is the most important part of the process.

It was her Winter Deer Hair Fork which initially enchanted me, but as I made my way through her store, I found myself falling in love over and over again.

Bellow you’ll find my four favourite products from The Ancient Muse…and I have to say it was almost impossible to select just four.

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To find some of the best stores on Etsy, you need to search long and hard…but the time it takes is well worth it. Uncovering Mariya Arts was a very welcome surprise. Her store is fully stocked with an incredibly wide selection of hand crafted hair accessories of all different designs.

Self-taught wood carver Mariya has always had a passion for arts and crafting and wanted to create pieces that would make the world a more beautiful place. If you have a few moments to spare, I’d highly recommend investigating her Instagram account.

One of the first pieces to take a piece of my heart was this stunning Antler Hair Fork, crafted from a naturally shed roe deer antler. The Black Hair Chopsticks also attracted my attention. They’re exactly what I’ve been looking for to hold up my (heavy) hair.

Choosing just four products from this extraordinary shop was so difficult…but it needed to be done. So here they are! Which one would you like to see in your hair?

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The final Etsy store that I’ll be featuring this week is Free In Tree, a store offering beautiful handcrafted wooden hair pieces inspired by nature. Nature plays a truly valuable role in my life, and the idea of having a piece from Free In Tree in my hair fills me  up with joy. You can tell, just by looking at the painstakingly crafted creatures, that there’s mountains of passion, love and attention behind this project.

Anastasiya Khramtsova and Semen Belugin are the the creatives behind this inspiring and ambitious venture. This ambitious partnership are inspired by nature and the wood they use to make their one of a kind pieces.  From what I have had the chance to see, they put their all into Free In Tree. Their gorgeous Instagram page is well worth setting time aside for.

The Polar Bear Hair Fork was the first piece that I encountered from Free In Tree, and when I did encounter it, my heart skipped a beat. I’m devoted to the Arctic and its animals, so felt a strong connection to the intricately crafted king of the North.

I hope you enjoy my final four favourites. Please feel free to share your thoughts on what I’ve featured, and don’t forget to support little independent businesses like Free In Tree, Mariya Arts, The Ancient Muse and Wood Art Ukraine!