Fine, thin hair: Stick, Flexi, Ficcare...?

[FineMiracle]

I have very fine, thin hair, and I'm trying to figure out what kind of hair holder to purchase. It has to be very gentle, but also hold well because the slipperiness. :p Stick, 3 prong fork, flexi, ficcare, or a different type? Which one do you have and what works for you? :confused:

[Astroflammante]

I mostly use hair sticks and spin pins. Neither of these seem to do any damage to my hair, and will hold all day without slipping. (Usually. Every now and then a hair stick slips out, usually when I'm on duty at the reference desk and therefore very publicly visible... But that doesn't happen enough for it to be a big problem.) My hair needed two things before the hair sticks started working, though: Length past waist, and no silicone conditioner.

[Anje]

My hair's medium thickness, but still mostly fine and slippery. 3-4 prong forks are good, so long as they're not wider than your bun. Ones with thicker tines (generally wood ones) will take up space in your bun, so you may have to adjust how tightly you bun. On the other hand, that also means they can add a little more bulk to that bun.

Ficcares are great, but you need to make sure you get one that's small enough. It should NOT be able to close fully over your hair -- when it does, it tends to rotate and pull uncomfortably. It took me growing out quite a bit of taper at hip or tailbone before I was really comfortably able to wear a large one. My hair thickened a bit since then too, but if I were able to give past-me advice, it would be to get mediums instead. Depending on your length and thickness, you may even want a small. It's not hard to get a smaller one to hold a center-held bun when your hair gets longer and bulkier.

I've also been a fan of sticks (often singly), but they have a bit more learning curve than forks. 5" worked well for me for a long time, and is small enough that it won't give you an antenna-head effect. Mess with colored pencils or similar first, so you can get a feel for them and work out a length you like, before buying.

[Arctic]

If you want to wear twists, like french twist, and want to buy a Ficcare, unless your hair is super duper long, I would take small size (although ask from the more experienced Ficcare folks before buying to double check). I have thinner side of medium thickness APL hair (not fine mostly) and I was adviced to buy a medium. Turns out the medium is too large for my twists, although usable for buns, but it was twists in particular that I had wanted to wear it with so I was disappointed about it (as I don't plan to grow very long so I don't need room to grow for the future - I wanted to wear it NOW). Also Ficcares that are metal only (no enamle, no plastic covering) are lighter so might be better for you.

Flexis are nice because they come in so many sizes, there ought to be something that would fit you for the type of hairstyle you would like to wear them with.

Spin pins are awesome, they come in 2 sizes (although if you live in a country where the brand name is not being sold, there might only be the larger versions available, this is true to Finland where I live).

Sticks and forks come in many sizes (both length and thickness) and materials/finishes (some more slippery than others), and there should be something that works for you.

[samanthaa]

I like forks the best for holding my fine, thin hair. My favorite are the three-prong 60th streets because of their tiny tines that don't snap my fine hair (I had a two-prong from OTHM that I had to get rid of because the tines were a bit too thick).

Forks hold sturdier than a single stick, and doesn't pull the way a Ficcare does for me (and I use a small Ficcare). I like the hold of flexi-8s, but unfortunately the aesthetic no longer appeals to me. I used them consistency for a while when I first joined LHC.

[pailin]

I don't have thin hair, but fine and can be pretty slippery. I like sticks for being the most consistently comfortable and good for wet as well as dry hair- I find it difficult to get an acrylic fork into my hair when wet. I haven't tried a 60th Street fork (they look like slimmer prongs than what I have). But when my hair is feeling more slippery a fork is definitely easier and more secure than a stick. For a first hairtoy, a 3-prong fork is probably a great choice.
Ficcare seems like it should be easy, because it's just a clip, and they're VERY secure, but I found them to have a steeper learning curve. I just had more trouble getting my bun comfortable with no pulling. In the beginning, even if it seemed comfortable I'd end up with a headache and a sore spot on my head within a few hours. It wasn't until this past winter that I began to be able to wear them comfortably all day. But some people don't have any trouble with this.
Also if I'm not extremely careful removing Ficcare, the hinge will sometimes eat my hair.
I have spin pins, but can't be bothered to use them for buns. But I do like them for milkmaid braids.
If your hair is long enough, braided buns will hold more securely (I like them for exercise) and of course then if it does fall down on a slippery hair day, it's still braided at least.

[Cg]

My hair is thin, fine, and suuuuuuuuper slick. Multiprong curved forks work best for me. Slick straight hair needs longer prongs than curly, and forks cannot be obviously top-heavy.

Almost all kinds of pins, especially spin pins, need lots and lots and lots, too many to be worth the bother.

[Anje]

If you want to wear twists, like french twist, and want to buy a Ficcare, unless your hair is super duper long, I would take small size (although ask from the more experienced Ficcare folks before buying to double check). I have thinner side of medium thickness APL hair (not fine mostly) and I was adviced to buy a medium. Turns out the medium is too large for my twists, although usable for buns, but it was twists in particular that I had wanted to wear it with so I was disappointed about it (as I don't plan to grow very long so I don't need room to grow for the future - I wanted to wear it NOW). Also Ficcares that are metal only (no enamle, no plastic covering) are lighter so might be better for you.

Good point. I needed a size smaller for twists than for buns. Though I don't tend to like the look of twists on me, so didn't do them often anyway.

[lapushka]

I have very fine, thin hair, and I'm trying to figure out what kind of hair holder to purchase. It has to be very gentle, but also hold well because the slipperiness. :p Stick, 3 prong fork, flexi, ficcare, or a different type? Which one do you have and what works for you? :confused:

What's your current hair length. It all depends on whether or not you can do buns or many styles yet.

[lunasea]

My very fine, thin hair is waist length with lots of taper. I can wear either a small or medium ficcare. Thing is, I usually wear a mini max under the bun for added support. This is a small with a mini for support. I find that this arrangement stops pulling with the mediums too.

http://i.imgur.com/B1YBcYO.jpg