I Tried the Layered Claw-Clip Ponytail Hack: See Photos

I know what you’re thinking: “Is there really a claw-clip hack floating around on the internet that I haven’t seen yet?” Truth be told, when I first saw a video portraying yet another claw-clip hack on my Instagram page, I thought the same thing. TikTok brought us the “flip and claw-clip” ponytail hack, the half-up, half-down bun claw-clip, and the double-bun claw clip hack . . . Are there actually more claw-clip hacks to be discovered? Apparently, the answer is yes, and if I’m being honest, this one is my favorite.

We’re dubbing it the layered claw-clip hack because it gives your hair a waterfall-esque look that even Ariana Grande would be jealous of. In the video I saw on Instagram, influencer Kerina Wang pulls her long hair into what looks like two pigtails, but it turns into the cutest layered ponytail hairstyle I’ve ever seen. It looked complicated at first, but after watching the video a few times, I was ready to give it a go.

Typically, when I wear claw clips, I do a faux french twist because I find it’s the most secure option for my long hair. Even though my hair is thin, I find that it comes undone otherwise. I was a little worried that this trending style wouldn’t work for me because Wang’s hair looks a lot longer and thicker than mine, but I was interested to see if it would be a fit.

To try it out, all I needed was a claw clip. Recently, I’ve been really into my Goody Classic Claw Clip ($14, for a pack of 3) because it matches my hair perfectly and has great hold. I also love that it has a classic claw-clip silhouette, which I feel is a bit harder to find these days.

I started by brushing through my hair to make sure there were no knots or tangles, and then I added in a bit of the Bread Beauty Supply Everyday Gloss Hair Oil ($18). My hair is frizzy and fine, but I wanted to make sure everything looked sleek and healthy. This has been my new go-to hair oil lately because it adds a pretty sheen to my hair without weighing it down.

From there, I divided my hair down the middle and pulled each side into a makeshift pigtail with my hands. (Pro tip: if you’re aiming to get a straight line in the back like Wang did, trust me, it doesn’t matter. Once you get everything pulled back, you won’t even see where the hair was divided.) Next, I crossed the left pigtail over the right pigtail so they were on opposite sides, and then crossed them over again so the left pigtail was sitting on top of the right. If it sounds a little hard to follow, don’t worry — I was able to nail it after watching the video only a couple of times. To finish it off, I took my claw-clip and placed it in the center of both of my pigtails, clipping the two of them in the middle of my head.

The end result looked even cuter than I could have imagined, and it looked great from the front, back, and side, which is something I typically find to be rare with a lot of these hair hacks. Plus, the style lasted me all day long — I didn’t need to re-adjust my claw-clip once (although, to be fair, I was stationed at my computer for most of the day). It looked chic, stylish, and it’s something I can see myself doing often.

One thing I do want to mention is that I think this hack would work best for those with medium-to-long hair. Although I think you could pull it off with short hair, it would create more of a spiky look, which honestly could be a vibe. If you’ve been looking for a fun, easy, new hair hack to try out, you won’t be disappointed with this one. It only takes 30 seconds to complete, and the results are worth it.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for POPSUGAR. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for POPSUGAR’s TikTok and Instagram accounts.