Well, I received my gift a couple of years ago, and it included this gorgeous LOTR-themed hairstick handmade by my very talented and lovely gifter, Nightshade (from Nightblooming in Etsy):
It's delightfully nerdy, really, really beautifully made, and it holds my hair great (curvy sticks a a huge yes when it comes to straight slippery fine hair such as mine).
Action shots!
This is my pre-wash dry-shampooed texturized hair in a cinnamon bun. It held like a rock all day (I wore my hair in a ponytail with an elastic, but usually I also need a handful of pins or a couple of little claw clips to fully secure my buns with other sticks).
And this is my post-wash slippery hair in a flipped-up bun (one of my favourite updos), and the stick still holds wonderfully! I only needed a couple of little claw clips to fully secure the bun, just to be safe, because it was holding pretty well on its own.