Help me not hate bobby pins!

[ErinM]

I love some of the styles that you can do with smaller pieces of hair, twisting or braiding or whatnot, but I cringe whenever I see or hear mention of bobby pins. Bobby pins and I are NOT friends! I have really thick hair, and within minutes, bobby pins seem to stretch out or back out or just plain fall out. I'm sure there's a trick to them, right? I always try to use smaller sections, since my hair is thick, so they're not trying to hold to much, but I always seem to end up frustrated and giving up and swearing off bobby pins once again. I have Good Hair Days pins, too, but only use those as a secure to buns and such, not smaller pieces of hair. What's the secret to bobbies?!

[Sarahmoon]

Have you tried a larger type of bobby pins? They come in different sizes and maybe the ones you used were too small.

[julliams]

Go to your local beauty supply and ask for the bobby pins that hairdressers use to do updos for weddings etc. There is no comparison to the supermarket ones. Mine came in a little box of hundreds so I will never need to buy another bobby pin again. They stay quite well in my thick hair too. Torrin Paige suggests crossing the bobby pins to get them to hold (using two and making a cross) which I find works well particularly if you can hide them somehow. Hope these suggestions work for you.

[spidermom]

Bobby pins tend to pull hairs out. I think you're right to hate them.

[TammySue]

I have some awesome bobby pins (large ones) with thick coated white tips that I bought at Sally Beauty Supply. They came in a little tin container.

[Gumball]

I agree that maybe the bobby pins you've used aren't strong enough for either the weight of your hair or supporting the particular style you wanted to do. There are a lot of different pins out there, and some are made of stronger material that won't bend and bow, weakening how much they hold. Many have had great success with Good Days Hair Pins, that I believe you can get at Sally's among other places. Those are larger and seem to work well for thicker hair (although I haven't used them in a long time, nor is my hair really thick).

I use bobby pins in one of the few styles I regularly wear, and they've never given me any grief. Okay that's not true, but after getting used to how to use them on myself they haven't! If they happen to pull a hair or two it's as easy as adjusting it so that doesn't happen anymore. After that I'm usually good to go for the entire day. Come to think of it, that's what I'll be doing today. They're handy for distributing weight in a style. Lots of little anchor points are there.

Here's to some luck in your potential future pin endeavor! Wow that was quite a well wish to type out. I'll cross my pins for you! ;)

ETA: Like others have also said, crossing pins does add a lot of stability and hold. If your hair is simply slipping out of where you pinned it in, then maybe for the really small sections you're pinning up you can also use something to help add in some traction (like a very small bit of aloe gel). Then there is a little less chance of the piece slipping right out. Really it's all about experimentation to see what can work for your head.

[Henrietta]

Ok. Since my English isn't perfect it will be hard to explain it, but I will try. Oh, and I made this funny picture for you, hope it will help. Let's say you want to do a cinnamon bun with bobby pins.
1. Put one "leg" of the pin in the bun and the second one in the hair next to it, but not in a bun. The pin has to stay vertically on your head, it can't lay.
2 and 3.Place the pin flat on your head WITHOUT TAKING THE LEGS OUT. The legs will move, of course, but the first one HAS TO stay in the bun and the second one HAS TO stay somewhere next to it. You may move the top of the hair pin half-roundly or flat, there's no rule, you will see what works best. It also helps a lot when you hold the legs of the pins with your fingers of another hand so they don't move too much.
4. Push the hairpin in.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=a02e08bed9&view=att&th=128ad175a5b3756d&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_g9d6angq0&zw

The most important thing is to place "legs" when the pin is vertically. It won't move then, even if you are running. When you are putting the pins into a bun horizontally at once and both legs into a bun they will slide out. It must be done vertically at the beginning and one leg into a bun, another into the hair next to it. :):)

[ErinM]

Thanks, everyone! I took all your advice and decided to try a bobby pin style using the pins I had. I did BritishBraider's Medusa bun, and 25 bobby pins later, it worked out fine! I think crossing them really does help, and knowing that 2 or 3 may be needed for one section (and that it's okay!) made it stay all day.

I may still look for the bigger, stylist-used pins next time I'm at Sally's though. :)

[CrisDee]

Bobby pins tend to pull hairs out. I think you're right to hate them.

SO glad to hear someone say this! I've always had a problem with the edge plastic-y stuff that the ball on the end is made of, catching on my hair and ripping it out. Thought it was just me...:(

[lora410]

Invest in the new spin pins at walmart or hair scroos. I could never get a bobby pin to work for me, they just slip back out. With these I have no issues and the hold like a rock while not being visible.

[tyrant1100]

SO glad to hear someone say this! I've always had a problem with the edge plastic-y stuff that the ball on the end is made of, catching on my hair and ripping it out. Thought it was just me...:(


Same here. Brand new ones, too, before the seal around the plastic ball thingy even has time to wear out slightly with multiple use and get jagged.

Although I have been able to modify bobby pins slightly by dipping the ends into melted wax, putting a smooth seal around the jagged ends and minimizing the ripping. It sounds weird, but it works for me. I've heard using nail polish top coat also helps.

[Aurielle]

Go to your local beauty supply and ask for the bobby pins that hairdressers use to do updos for weddings etc. There is no comparison to the supermarket ones. Mine came in a little box of hundreds so I will never need to buy another bobby pin again. They stay quite well in my thick hair too. Torrin Paige suggests crossing the bobby pins to get them to hold (using two and making a cross) which I find works well particularly if you can hide them somehow. Hope these suggestions work for you.

I use some pins I got at a local supermarket that are bigger and hold better than bobbie pins. I use less of them and they stay longer. I think they are actually roller pins, but I don't remember exactly what they were supposed to be used for. I just know that they were at the grocery store next to the bobbie pins and are much thicker/better. :D

[Deborah]

Oh, no, go ahead and HATE them. They are useless and pull out hairs.

[Never-nevermore]

I hate them too, and I tend to avoid hairstyles that rely on them. I've tried various sizes, so right now I'll just go ahead and blame my lack of skill. I have a very hard time getting my bobby pins to both hold and stay out of sight. It's usually one or the other.

Or, I'll use them and they get lost in my hair. I'll forget about one or two of them, and they'll turn up days later.

[Alvrodul]

I do occasionally use bobby pins to keep small pieces of hair tucked away and out of sight. But never to actually keep an updo in place. For that I definitely prefer Amish pins. They are a lifesaver - I don't know what I would do without them!

[kittengirl]

I also hate them and never use them. I bought a pack of 12 Amish pins, and they are the best thing ever.

[jeanniet]

I don't trust bobby pins. I think they're quite damaging for many people. I use crinkled Amish pins, which work very well and are very smooth.

[Madora]

Bobby pins are only meant to hold tiny bits of hair. They are not meant to support anything even remotely heavy.

Crimped hairpins are what you need. They come in various sizes and you can find them at Sally's Beauty Supply. They are easy to use and hold like a rock.

Good Days plastic hairpins are good also.

[piffyanne]

Ok. Since my English isn't perfect it will be hard to explain it, but I will try. Oh, and I made this funny picture for you, hope it will help. Let's say you want to do a cinnamon bun with bobby pins.
1. Put one "leg" of the pin in the bun and the second one in the hair next to it, but not in a bun. The pin has to stay vertically on your head, it can't lay.
2 and 3.Place the pin flat on your head WITHOUT TAKING THE LEGS OUT. The legs will move, of course, but the first one HAS TO stay in the bun and the second one HAS TO stay somewhere next to it. You may move the top of the hair pin half-roundly or flat, there's no rule, you will see what works best. It also helps a lot when you hold the legs of the pins with your fingers of another hand so they don't move too much.
4. Push the hairpin in.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=a02e08bed9&view=att&th=128ad175a5b3756d&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_g9d6angq0&zw

The most important thing is to place "legs" when the pin is vertically. It won't move then, even if you are running. When you are putting the pins into a bun horizontally at once and both legs into a bun they will slide out. It must be done vertically at the beginning and one leg into a bun, another into the hair next to it. :):)
This is really helpful! Thanks!:D

Bobbypins were invented to help women keep flyaways at bay in the 1920's, not to support large quantities of hair.

As a taming/containing aid, they work well.

That said, 6 bobbypins is enough to comfortably hold up an ovalbun for me (1 bobbypin for each braid wrap, 1 per braid, if you understand what I mean.), but the added support of the two elastics at the bases of the braids is probably what's doing the work at that point.:cool:

The other trick I've learned is that if you hold the legs OPEN when you're inserting, you're holding too much hair with them. Let the little jaws select their own hairs, rather than forcing them. When you force it to take more than it wants, the pins won't stay in. :twocents: