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The hair tie is probably the most overlooked item in your daily beauty routine. You put your hair up dozens of times a week without thinking about it — and then wonder why your hair has a persistent crease at the same spot, why there are short broken hairs around your hairline, why your ends feel increasingly rough and split despite conditioning treatments.
The answer, more often than people realise, is the hair tie itself.
Here is a straightforward comparison between the three most common options — regular elastic, fabric scrunchie and mulberry silk — and what actually happens to your hair when it interacts with each one.
A standard elastic hair tie works by gripping the hair tightly enough to hold a ponytail in place. The grip comes from friction between the elastic surface and the hair shaft — and friction, repeated dozens of times a day and hundreds of times a week, is what damages hair.
When a regular elastic is wrapped around hair, it does several things simultaneously. It compresses the hair shaft at the point of contact, creating a physical crease. It creates friction against the hair cuticle — the outer protective layer of the hair shaft, which consists of overlapping scales like roof tiles — roughing those scales up and lifting them away from the shaft. And when removed, it often catches and pulls on individual hairs, creating breakage at precisely the point where compression has already weakened the shaft.
For hair that is already dry, colour-treated, chemically processed or fine, this daily friction is cumulative and significant. Studies comparing hair tie types have found that sleeping with a standard elastic hair tie in place can cause up to five times more breakage than leaving hair loose — but leaving hair loose is not always practical, particularly overnight.
The fabric scrunchie was designed specifically to reduce the problems of the standard elastic. By wrapping the elastic in a soft fabric casing — typically cotton, polyester or satin — the scrunchie creates a broader, softer contact point that distributes tension more evenly across the hair shaft and reduces the severity of the crease.
This is genuinely better than a standard elastic. Scrunchies cause less breakage and less creasing, particularly when used to hold a loose ponytail or bun overnight. The wider casing also means the elastic core does not need to grip as tightly to achieve the same hold, which reduces the mechanical stress at the point of contact.
The limitation of fabric scrunchies is the fabric itself. Cotton and polyester both create friction against the hair cuticle, even if less aggressively than bare elastic. Cotton in particular can absorb the hair's natural moisture and any products applied to the hair, contributing to dryness over time. If you wear your hair up for most of the day or sleep with it tied, this matters.
Mulberry silk has a surface friction coefficient that is significantly lower than any cotton or synthetic fabric. In practical terms: when your hair slides against silk, the cuticle scales are not caught or lifted. The hair moves across the silk surface the way a hand moves across glass — without resistance, without roughing, without the micro-tearing that creates split ends and breakage over time.
Silk also does not absorb moisture from the hair the way cotton does. It allows the hair's natural oils and any applied products to stay where they are, rather than wicking them away into the fabric. For anyone dealing with dry ends, colour fading or a loss of shine, this is a meaningful difference.
Trichologists and hairstylists consistently recommend silk or silk-covered hair ties as the safest everyday option, particularly for colour-treated hair, fine hair, curly and coily hair types, and hair that has been chemically processed. The recommendation is not aesthetic — it is mechanical. Silk simply causes less damage per interaction than any alternative.
The overnight question deserves its own answer, because sleeping with your hair tied introduces dynamics that do not apply during the day. When you sleep, your hair moves against your pillow repeatedly — and if your pillow is cotton, as most are, that movement creates friction across the entire length of your hair. Adding a standard elastic at a point of compression multiplies this. You wake up with a crease, with halo breakage around the hairline, and with hair that is duller and rougher than it went in.
The best overnight approach is a loose braid or a soft, low bun secured with a silk hair tie. This keeps the hair gathered and reduces the surface area exposed to pillow friction while allowing blood flow to the scalp and minimising tension at any single point. If you also sleep on a silk pillowcase, you have effectively reduced the friction your hair experiences overnight to almost nothing.
For most women, making this single change — switching to a silk hair tie for overnight use — produces visible results within two to four weeks. Less halo breakage, less frizz in the morning, a more consistent crease-free result when hair is released.
The Charlotte Silk Hair Tie in peacock blue is made from 100% mulberry silk over a soft elastic core. It holds without pulling, releases without snagging, and does not leave the crease at the ponytail point that every other hair tie does. It is the kind of detail that feels small until you notice what it changes.
Free shipping on all orders over $200 Australia-wide. Browse the full Sleep and Silk collection at Calliope Studio.
Free shipping on orders over $200 Australia-wide. Returns accepted — $10 return postage paid by the customer. Beautifully gift wrapped.
