Charitable Accessories: BANDED Headbands

If you’ve read B&B for longer than a few months, you may have picked up on my extreme appetite for charitable, do-gooder brands. I am weak in the knees for environmental consciousness in the fashion industry, and I brake for social activists. Over the last five years, I have seen the rise of the soapbox generation of commerce – brands who are smart enough to build a booming business that also benefits people in need.

I have the kind of hair that begs for headbands. It’s mildly frizzy, but exceptionally curly, and has no real sense of direction (much like myself). There are so many photos of my face, surrounded by a mushroom cloud of wisps – or whatever your mom called them to make you feel better about never having smooth hair.

When I discovered BANDED, or BANDED2GETHER, I was really into their designs but, as with every elastic-back headband company, I was wary. I’ve had too many elastic headbands wind up around my ponytail or worse, on the ground moments after I toil over its perfect placement. I’ve been burned. Bad.

The designs were enough to interest me, but it was Banded’s socially-conscious mission that hooked me and convinced me to risk my heart on another elastic headband.

Top to bottom: 1″ Blood Orange Cosmos, Skinny Rose Weave, Luxe Black Chic (not yet available)

For each headband sold, Banded gives three meals to Uganda’s children in need through their partnership with Amazima Ministries.

1 band = 3 meals.

That is a pretty sweet deal, and they work in such close proximity with Amazima Ministries that I feel like they’re really invested in this cause – it’s not just a sad marketing ploy to gain customers.

So not only does BANDED provide an amazing humanitarian service to people in need, but I feel comfortable saying they’ve also perfected the no-slip headband. 

The underside of each headband is lined in velvet (yum?!), and oddly enough, that’s what makes these gorgeous headbands so thoroughly no-slip.

My experience proved their claim: it did not move around on my head, and I wore these for hours at a time. I wore them with ponytails, top knots, and with my hair down, just to make sure I covered all my bases. Needless to say I am impressed!

BANDED headbands come in three sizes: skinny, wide and 1 inch. Each style has dozens of designs to choose from. BANDED also has a luxury line, Luxe, which include the black, beaded headband I got to wear, as well as some other more intricate and flashy designs. I would recommend looking through their catalogue!

As for the price – it’s more than fair. Ridiculous, really, considering that each headband you buy, again, contributes 3 meals to children in Uganda.

BANDED prices start at $9.98 per headband.

The Luxe line is a little more expensive, around $20, obviously due to the finer materials involved, and the wide headbands are $12.98… But that’s it. Those are the price variations. $9.98, $12.98, a few for $19.98 and a few for $24.98.

BANDED isn’t a one-trick pony, of course. In addition to their brilliant fabric headbands, they also offer a wide array of fabric hair ties (you know the ones), five for $6.98. If you’re looking for a special pattern or color, they also do custom orders!