Want to put your hair in a ponytail on a moment’s notice? Then you probably wear a hair elastic on your wrist day after day (like about half the women at our office). It’s practical but not very sophisticated, and it leaves dents on your wrist.

bittersweet by Maria Shireen® makes sleek hair tie bracelets out of stainless steel. Slip the bracelet on, then the elastic over to rest in the groove. The metallic designs look at home from the office to running errands to a night out.

The story behind the bittersweet is super sweet. Shireen Maria Thor and her husband, Arni, are both engineers. One Christmas, Arni created a metal bracelet holder for Shireen’s elastics. He engraved her name in Persian (her mom’s native language). But because Persian reads right to left, it said Maria Shireen—which translates to bittersweet.

Shireen happily donned her bracelet out and about, and women kept asking where she got it. The couple knew they were on to something, and the two engineers became entrepreneurs.

Each bittersweet bracelet holds one thicker elastic or a few smaller ones. Now you can be prepared to pull your hair (or your kids’ hair) back while looking put together.