What We Love Now: By Lilla Word Bracelets
We've carried By Lilla's hair tie bracelets for about a year now. What's so special about them? Well, honestly — nothing and everything. I mean, at first glance, it's a hair tie. Like the dozens that you probably have in the change cup in your car and your nightstand and your jeans pocket and all the other places we squirrel them away.

Their motto of "Rebel Against the Black Elastic," really speaks to me, though. I've bought the 20-pack black Goody elastics my whole life. It feels rather freeing (OK, maybe not quite "rebellious") to add a little more panache to my hair. And while those colorful bits of stretchy, knotted rayon were great for awhile, I have two problems with them: 1) they tended to start out too tight and then they stretched out to be too loose over time, and 2) I got a little miffed at paying $5 for a 3-pack of something I know cost all of 39¢ to make.

By Lilla has created something prettier and easier to use. Look, if you have long hair, you almost certainly walk around with a hair tie around your wrist. I know I do! But these I literally stack up as bracelets and never even bother to put in my hair! They look great, and they're truly more functional than others. At least for me, they're in the Goldilocks sweet spot of stretchiness. Oh, and I know for a fact they're handmade by nice people in Miami; I've met Ivett at trade shows, and when she gave me my first sample, she said "I probably made that one myself!"

The addition of word packs only makes them cooler. The "Breathe" set is my perfect color/motivation combo. And I ❤️so hard that my daughter chose "Boss Lady" as her inspiration. So, yeah, they're hair ties, but they're so much better than just hair ties.