Are bobby pins safe?

[BellCat]

I'm trying to find the perfect updo to protect the ends of my hair. Does anyone use bobby pins to secure their buns? Do they cause any damage? I've been looking for spin pins etc but not sure if I would be able to use them :S I'm really bad at styling my hair!! Could anyone also recommend a good hair fork for thin hair that is not too expensive?

Thanks!

[chen bao jun]

I think bobby pins are safe if you manage to take them out correctly. The problem is more that they don't hold everyone's hair up well. My hair, for instance, just spits them right back out, often in a twisted and deformed condition. They have also been known to get lost in there for like, weeks.
Spin pins are not difficult to use--in fact they are incredibly simple and hold up both thick crazy hair such as mine, and thin slippery hair. You might give them a try. Some people also like Amish hairpins. I do.
I don't know anything about good hair forks or sticks. If I don't use pins, then I use a claw clip or a Ficcare. (I am still deciding how much I like ficcares. I bought four of them in a buying frenzy a while back when I was a lurker here but three of the four give me headaches and the fourth doesn't do anything that my goody clip can't--although it's way prettier, of course. I think I may have the wrong sizes, though. Owing to years of nothing holding all my hair, I bought large, which I think is too large first, then medium, which I think is still too large in the maximas clip, and then a medium ficarissimo, which is the only one I can actually use). But anyway, back to your question, I haven't bought hair sticks as yet because when I'm in the mood for that, I find a chopstick does as well, or this thing that I bought in Joann Fabrics that was supposed to be a sweater pin for $12.99. I'm not anxious to run out and buy hair forks because I don't want to repeat the Ficcare money spending for nothing episode. I spent like over $200 in two weeks for those ficcares that I cannot use--I understand that they have resale value on the boards here but that seems like a lot of trouble.
If your bobby pins are holding up your hair and not ripping it out, I'd stay with those, and I also would try spin pins.

[PrincessIdril]

I use them quite a lot. and I've never noticed any damage from using them. Just be careful when you remove them and don't let them catch your hair, avoid that and you should be ok. Also throw them away if their coating starts to come off (you can see metal), that makes them more likely to catch.

I was quite happy to discover that spin pins are actually very easy to use. They are more comfortable then bobby pins too.
But it's your hair, and if you are happy using pins then stick with that. There's no point spending lots of money on toys you aren't sure about

[CrowningGlory]

A friend sent me spin pins and I couldn't believe how easy they were to use. My bun stayed in place while doing gardening - which is probably one of the biggest tests I can subject a bun to.

Having said that, I still prefer hair sticks for securing buns and for being the most comfortable hair toy for my hair. My favourite sticks are bone as they seem to glide in the easiest, and hold secure. I also love my metal hair fork but am not so fussed on the wooden or bone ones (although the bone is possibly too short). I have two Ficcares but they give me a headache after a few hours.

Try a pencil or chopstick to see how you like a hair stick before investing money in hair accessories. I'm sorry that I can't think of a substitute for a fork, unless you bend a knitting needle in half or something similar.

[Madora]

Bobby pins are meant to hold up tiny strands of hair. They are not meant to hold up buns. If you're trying updos, then crimped hairpins are better at holding up heavier strands of hair. Amish hairpins work well also, as well as Good Days plastic hairpins.

Bobby pins can be a Godsend to confine little whispies. It is how you take them out that makes all the difference. Just don't pull them out! Open the bobby pin and release the hair. Bobby pins should never be used in a criss cross manner ("X") as this puts too much pressure on one point on the scalp.

[RavenBaby]

I Hope not because I use them every day lol but no I have used them since early 2011 almost every day and I see no damage that I can confirm. Just be very careful removing them.

[Libbylou]

I can vouch for the spin pins. I have fine slippery hair. If you live near a mall that has a store call "Icing" they have some hair sticks for $5-$10. I got a pair just to see if they would work. They do work except on just washed and dried hair. Then again my hair is super slippery.

[Gumball]

I use bobby pins when I want to hold up some form of updo, or when I do some styling on another person. For a braided cinnabun I generally need about six. They haven't caused me any problems, and get spit out (on me anyway) less frequently than U shaped crimped hairpins, but I could very well not be using them right on those buns. :shrug:

[torrilin]

Pretty much no one is born good at styling hair. It takes practice. Most of my friends think of me as really good at styling hair, but it can easily take me 20 tries to learn a new style, and longer to get it looking nice.

Spin pins are one of the easiest to manage hair toys out there. They're also very flexible about thickness, so there are LHC members with very thin hair who use them and with very thick. I know they look weird and like they should get tangled, but they don't. They work a lot like a screw.

If you're comfortable with claw clips, the packets of mini-claw clips are very handy for buns. There are roughly 1/2" and 1" clips that are small enough to work well around the edges of a bun. I usually would use 2-3. Some ladies with thicker hair might use a lot more. I don't find much use for the larger claw clips. My hair is too slippery, and the teeth just aren't long enough to anchor my hair securely.

A common thing you'll see in styling advice is that people with fine and thin hair should use smaller hair toys, and people with thick hair should use larger ones. I find that for most hair toys, this is a total lie. It is possible for a hair toy to be too big, but it's fairly unusual. About the only thing I can think of that's ordinarily sold in a too large size is Goody's Modern Updo pin, which is really a cheap 2 prong metal hair fork. It's a pretty hefty size fork given that it's marketed towards women with BSL or shorter hair. It works well on my hair at past waist, and I'm showing no signs of outgrowing it in a hurry. A number of other makers sell similar 2 prong metal forks in smaller sizes, or in sets so you can use more than one in a hairstyle. Wooden forks are also often sold in a fairly large size. Prongs in the 4-5" range are plenty long for use in past waist length hair, but it's common to see forks sold with 6 or 7" prongs. I find that the line between a metal hair fork and the U shaped pins Madora mentions upthread is pretty hazy, tho in general it's handier to use a hair toy made of heavier wire and with at least 3" long prongs. A lot of stuff sold as hair pins will be shorter or of finer gauge wire.

If you must use a bobby pin style of pin, I find roller pins work better on my fine, straight and slippery hair. Bobby pins just get spit out unless they're holding very tiny amounts of hair. Roller pins are more forgiving. But it's not my preferred strategy... given the choice I'd rather use almost anything else.

[jasper]

They are safe unless you try sticking them into electrical outlets. :cheese:

I might use bobby pins to secure an accent braid, but for holding a bun, I need something else. Hair sticks are what I used when I was learning to bun my hair, inexpensive plastic ones. I lucked out because the first ones I bought were thick enough and had some flexibility. I bought some other plastic sticks later that were too thin and rigid, so they snapped. I don't know of inexpensive forks to recommend, but I would just say you need I watch out for the same kind of thing, because I also snapped a thinner wooden fork when I was learning.

[RedheadMistress]

- I use bobby pins a lot, when I have them, I buy them in the 100s and lose them so quickly !

I think with bobby pins it depends on their make, what they feel like .
Some bobby pins definitely damage my hair and feel awful and uncomfortable and I feel ripping .
My favourite are the basic black small ones where the ends of the metal is covered in plastic, the ones without the plastic nubs are always so painful to put in And wear in my hair !

[jacqueline101]

Bobby pins are safe to use its how you take them out and the rubber tip has to be on them. The tip also protects the hair.

[Dorothy]

My experience is that bobby pins are unsafe. I'm willing to concede that this is operator error. The tips are aways coming off, I can't open them when they're in my hair (possibly because my fingernails are so weak? I can't use them for anything) so I can't remove them safely, they always catch, and they don't hold anything. I use sticks and forks, some amish pins, and spin pins. Just remember RE spin pins: make your bun, screw them in, and screw them out when you're done. I wish they attached bobby pin ends with whatever they attach spin pin ends with.

I realize others can use bobby pins with impunity, but just wanted to share my own experience - unsafe at any speed.

[jlb]

bobby pins work well for me. When my hair was at bsl I couldn't make a bun of any kind. Till I was in a drugstore one day & picked up a package of bobby pins. Somehow they worked & I conquered the basic cinamon bun. Fom there I went to the Goody "simple styles modern updo" which is basically a big upin. I found them at a local dollar store for $5.00 so I wouldn't be out much if I didn't like it. I've finally moved on to hairsticks but I still love those goddy upins. They're durable enough to bang around in your bag since they're made of metal but hold my hair really securely as well. You might want to try one before you start spending $$ on hairforks. Of course I only have a couple of hairforks & we do not get along well so i'm kind of biased. Here's a link to the goody site, hope this is all right to include & that you find what works best for you. Good luck!

http://www.goody.com/Products/Hair%20Accessories/Simple%20Styles%20Modern%20Updo

[MaryMarx]

My problem with bobby pins (sorry if someone already mentioned this) is that the little plastic tip flips up, that can be hard to notice because it's tiny so when you take it out it catches hairs and rips them out.
But I think that's because I use cheap H&M-ones.

[JadeTigress]

Another vote for the spin pins. My hair is fine and slippery and none of my usual updos with my usual toys are working right now because my layers are at an odd length and it makes all my hair fall right out. Spin pins have been my salvation. Best purchase I've made recently.

[Vrindi]

Spin pins! I have lots of fine, escape artist hair. Spin pins alone will hold my hair comfortably through both dance and running. Easy to use. I thought they were too expensive and finally found some on sale. Worth it.

[dollyfish]

Another shining review for spin pins here :)

I'm awfully inept at self-styling... and personally I think spin pins are WAY easier to use than bobby pins. Though bobby pins are safe for hair, as long as you remove them carefully!

[BellCat]

Thanks everyone for all your advice and help! I randomly found spin pins in a local shop and decided to try them! You're all right, they're quite amazing and easy to use :D!

[RileyJane]

i used to use bobby pins to help get the little extra strands of my updo out of my face... except no matter how careful i was, i could never pull them out the proper way without causing a rats tail of a mess in my hair, trying to open the bobby pin and slide it out ( guess im not as swift as i think) since about a month ago, ive switched to little hair clips, the tinest my walmart sells (they can rest on a penny) and they have proved very well at pulling my bangs back and holding them secure ( dont have to worry about slipping bobby pins) and when im done, they come right out without snagging on my hair. personally i think they are wayyy better than any bobby pins, and even though i thought they were quite noticeable compared to bobby pins in my hair, no one really sees them :)

[jojo]

The only time ive used bobby pins is when my fringe was too short to go behind my ears. I never use bobby pins at all as they snag my fine hair, im not 100% sure they are meant for securing buns, i use Amish pins for this (I highly reccomend) forks or hair sticks are much better!

[IndigoOptimist]

I use bobbi pins, and although I have taken then out without care sometimes are heard a nasty *snap!*, I don't generally have a problem with them. I use them to secure some of my buns, but my hair is thin, fine and only APL ;)

[Amber_Maiden]

Goody makes some with specially protected ends... I find most bobby pins to be rather safe though.

[catamonica]

I wear a braided bun four days a week. I use bobby pins. They don't hurt my hair at all. They keep my bun secure.

[Dovetail]

I use bobby pins sometimes. I wedge them apart with my nail before taking them out so I don't pull my hair out but If I just slide them out they rip my hair pretty badly. I also think the higher quality ones with the rubber on the ends help a lot too.