Hairstylists, colourists, and salon apprentices who need inexpensive clips to divide hair into sections while cutting, colouring, foiling, or perming; also home users doing their own colour touch-ups or updos who want a basic clip to keep sections separated while they work.

The point of a clip like this isn't holding power for its own sake, it's staying out of the way of whatever section a stylist is actively working on. A colour or cutting service often needs several clips going at once, and a small, inexpensive, all-plastic clip lets a stylist do that without worrying about scratching a scalp, transferring heat, or a metal clip slipping and marking the hair. Buying individually also lets a salon top up a clip caddy without committing to a boxed set.

Hold the clip near the hinge and squeeze the two arms together to open the toothed jaw. Slide the open jaw around the section of hair to be secured, then release your grip so the spring closes the teeth over the hair. To remove, squeeze the hinge again to reopen the jaw and slide the clip free rather than pulling it off the hair, which can rip out strands or crack the plastic.

Pro: cheap enough to buy and treat as replaceable if lost or a tooth breaks; being all-plastic, it won't conduct heat from a dryer or leave metal dents in hair the way clamp or coil clips can. Pro: sold individually, so a salon can restock exactly the quantity needed rather than buying a fixed multi-pack. Con: the plastic hinge and teeth can crack under repeated forceful clamping, especially on thick or coarse sections. Con: colour ships as random assorted, so you can't request a specific colour for a matching set. Con: not built to hold very thick or heavy sections the way a larger clamp or butterfly clip can.