a hair appliance has a hair winding portion extending axially from the end of a handle covered by a flexible sleeve member adapted to be depressed in order to activate a movable part of the hair appliance . the hair appliance is of relatively uniform cross - section along its length and in the case of a curling iron provided with a hair retaining clip biased adjacent the barrel of the curling iron , the clip is provided with a longitudinal extension aligned with the body of the clip , with the extension overlying a recess in the handle and under the flexible sleeve member . the clip is opened by squeezing or depressing the flexible sleeve member to move the extension into the recess . in the case of a curling brush having a rotatable barrel , a similar construction results in the barrel locking mechanism being situated under the flexible sleeve member so that depression of the latter operates the locking mechanism . in the case of heatable appliances , an annularly visible indicating means is provided at the distal end thereof to indicate the power condition of the appliance .