Budclicks and Emotibles: Personalise your earphones

Walk down any busy street and one of the things you’ll to notice is the sheer amount of people ignoring social interaction in favour of listening to music on their ipod or other MP3 player. Apple’s classic white earphones  have become normal, and brightly coloured gumy earphones are not far behind in the recognisable stakes.

So how do you stand out amongst the crowd and get yourself seen? How about a pair of Budclicks? Or show the world how you’re feeling with a pair of Emotibles.

Budclicks click on to ‘just about any earphone with a stem’ according to the website. They’re simply a small bit of plastic or iron that clips on to your earphone, and depending on the style could be mistaken for oversized earrings.

Boring lecture? Well, I wouldn’t dream of suggesting listening to music, but we’ve all been tempted to try it haven’t we? If you must do it, at least these will help you look less conspicuous. (But if you’re caught, don’t tell them Ruth told you to do it ok?)

They’re available in single packs or packs of three, so you don’t have to have matching sides. You could even swap and change between your friends, so when you get bored just trade that grenade for a pink flower and you’ve reinvented your whole look.

Prefer to be a bit more Facebook and broadcast your mindset to the world without even speaking? Grab yourself a few pairs of Emotibles then. It’s like smileys for your ears!

Befuddled, smitten, neurotic or stressed- now you can shout about it silently and still listen to totally inappropriate music as you do. Better than being loved up and having to listen to Sonny and Cher to express the fact.

Emotibles are designed for ipods, but the makers say they do clip on to other earphone makes.

You can also get badges, stickers, chat icons and wallpapers from the same range, so you’re friends have no excuse for being insensitive to your feelings. Or you can confuse the hell out of them by being cranky according to your ears and pacified according to your laptop.

Budclicks are available here although the American site has all the pictures and a larger range.

Emotibles can be found here