Review (4/5): Great, huge clip for the value.
Indeed huge and clippy! I have a ton of hair—like waist-length, super thick coarse Asian hair (versus slippery shiny Asian hair)—and this holds everything. To maximize the clipping action I like to turn it after clipping so the spine faces to the side, not down the center—that way the teeth themselves get more gripping action. Turned to the side, it’s excellent for a casual French twist. Or just make a low poneytail and clip it up the center of your head, for the classic floppy piecey look.
My one gripe is that the spine isn’t as pretty as it could be. (And if you plan to wear it clipped down the middle, the spine is what people mostly see if they look at the back of your head.) The tortoise looks quite lovely—deep and dimensional—from the side. Not quite as gorgeous as my JCrew claw clips, but pretty good. But from the spine, you look through the “back” of the plastic piece so the tortoise colors are less defined and the finish is a bit less glossy. Also, I wish the metal was were a nice gold finish, like Jcrew’s. But for the price it’s pretty great still.