• Headbands keeps the hair away from the forehead.beautydays image by Susanne G??ttler from Fotolia.com
  
  A headband is a hair accessory worn around the head to keep the hair away from the forehead and the eyes. Men, women and children of all ages can wear headbands. There are several types of headbands that you can wear. Generally, though, a you can classify a headband as either a functional or a fashion item.
  
  

Sweatbands

• The most popular functional headband is the sweatband. The person wears it around the forehead to prevent the sweat from going down his face and reaching the eyes. It is popular among athletes and people doing sports. Sweatbands typically consist of terrycloth, a fabric with high absorbent properties. However, sweatbands designed for the cold weather, usually consist of heavier materials, such as polyester, neofleece or microfleece.
  
  

Plastic

• Plastic headbands are the most widespread fashion headbands. They are popular mostly with adolescents, though many adults also wear them. Their shape can vary from straight to wavy to round (a round headband has a shape of a circle with about 10 percent cut out to make it elastic). The style of plastic headbands can vary from matte finish to brightly colored. These plastic headbands are typically very affordable.
  
  

Fabric

• Another type of fashion headband is fabric headbands. Two types of fabric headbands exist: plastic headbands covered in fabric and broad elastic headbands covered in fabric. The second type is more comfortable to wear as it better fits the head due to its higher elasticity. Both plastic and elastic fabric headbands come in a wide range of colors and widths. Wide headbands, though popular mostly in the 1970s and early 1980s, take more hair away from the forehead and so appear to be more practical. On the other hand, narrow fabric headbands look more stylish.
  
  

Toothed

• Toothed headbands consist of either metallic or plastic wire, with the prongs of the wire protruding on one side to hold the hair like a comb. Toothed headbands not only secure the hair tightly in place but also create a pleasant look of the hair that results from the prongs holding the hair together in a wave-like pattern.