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joyfulheart18
April 12th, 2011, 06:49 PM
When making a bun, for example the bun where you twist the hair (as if making a rope braid) then wrap it into a circle on the back of your head, how do you secure this? I only have bobby pins and hair elastics, and the bun flops down instead of stays on the back of my head.

LornaDoone
April 12th, 2011, 06:52 PM
Try pinning as you go. Instead of wrapping the whole bun and then pinning, wrap a half 'turn', pin, then wrap some more, pin, etc.
You may have trouble using bobby pins to do this. I would suggest some u-shaped pins.

HintOfMint
April 12th, 2011, 06:53 PM
I swear by Goody spin pins. They hold like nothing else.

AnqeIicDemise
April 12th, 2011, 07:55 PM
Don't open the bobby pin when you put it in and insert them the way you do the U pins. Start toward the edge of the hair, bobby pin facing out, then weave in and along the scalp.

That's what I'm having to do until I have money again. One more month and I can splurge.. one more month.. -.-

Lostsoule77
April 12th, 2011, 08:02 PM
I just tie my hair and 50% of the time it will just stay. I just make a complete turn and then pull the hair through as if tying a knot. When my hair was shorter I would just pull my additional little tail through again and done. Now my tail is longer so I wrap the tail 1 turn more, pull through, and done. On LHC this is called a knot bun, though I'm not sure if it is done exactly as I do it.

You can check this thread to get the general Idea. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=62565

jasper
April 12th, 2011, 08:08 PM
Try a hair stick. I know you only have bobby pins, but a pencil, paintbrush or smooth chopstick would be worth trying. I never knew how to do a bun before I learned to use hair sticks.

Also I sometimes secure that kind of bun with a couple of mini jaw clips. My hair spits bobby pins out.

julliams
April 12th, 2011, 08:18 PM
This is my typical bun and I always secure it with a hair elastic (without the metal bit), or a flexi-8 or those goody spin pins. Each one gives a slightly different look with the hair elastic being a little more casual. Each way holds forever for me until I take it down.

RocketDog
April 12th, 2011, 08:19 PM
Spin pins and lots of practice! If I've got a few extra minutes I braid my hair before putting it up into a cinnabun-style updo, since it lays flatter and doesn't come undone like the twisted kind want to do lately. Stupid awkward almost-waist phase, ptooie!

CaityBear
April 12th, 2011, 08:55 PM
Hair pin...AKA a small knitting needle bent in half. It's my bun securing pin. lol Spin Pins also work but I usually use my hair pin.

Copasetic
April 12th, 2011, 09:12 PM
Once you get the hang of them, hair sticks can hold a bun really well.

estelwen
April 12th, 2011, 11:27 PM
Amish hair pins changed my buns forever, for good. I have thick hair and would use twenty or thirty bobby pins only to find it all slipping at the worst moments, like the middle of a performance. A Mennonite friend introduced me to Amish hair pins. They're cheap and last forever if you don't lose them. Believe it or not, three to four pins will hold my bun all day long. I put them at equidistant increments.

ashke50
April 21st, 2011, 06:09 AM
I swear by Goody spin pins. They hold like nothing else.
Totally agree! I twist my hair into a cinnabun, twist the spin pins in, and let go. It holds all day.

halo_tightens
April 21st, 2011, 06:28 AM
It sounds like great minds think alike... I too swear by Spin Pins and Amish pins. My hair is thick and heavy, and they do a wonderful job.

elbow chic
April 21st, 2011, 07:30 AM
I really, really can't get a bun to stay up using just bobby pins. They are just not equal to that task, not even twenty of them.

Get some spin pins or cheap hairsticks.

If you can't, I'd use two or three elastics. One to secure the ponytail and then another one or two to around the base of the bun once it's wrapped. For me, that is pretty secure, too, but it pulls more than is ideal and looks a little too casual for my hair-tastes.

Bobby pins are really only good for holding down tiny sections of hair, like bangs or a loose strand of nape-hair.

Madora
April 21st, 2011, 07:37 AM
Bobby pins are meant for securing small amounts of hair.

A bun requires hairpins (2" to 3-1/2") depending on the thickness of your hair.

It's HOW you use those hairpins that makes the difference in whether your bun is secure or not.

You don't just stick in the pin and expect it to stay in place. In time it will wiggle out.

Take the pin and push it through a little bit of the outter edge of the bun. Weave the hairpin in an up and down motion towards the center of the bun.

Anchor the bun by securing the hairpins in the 4 directions..north/south/east/west. You'll probably need more pins to fully secure the bun (depending on thickness).

Be sure there is a tiny bit of "give" with the pin. You don't want the pins scraping against your scalp.

Firefox7275
April 21st, 2011, 08:26 AM
You can buy cheaper Chinese copies of spin pins on eBay. Apparently they are slightly shorter and need a dab of nail polish on the ends to protect your hair. Once you have either these or U-shaped pins there are some helpful hot-to videos on YouTube.

Odie
April 21st, 2011, 09:28 AM
The Amish hair pins I just googled look a heck of a lot like the U-pins I've used to secure drip irrigation hoses in my garden before. Maybe I should pick up a pack of those from the hardware store?!

CarpeDM
April 21st, 2011, 10:06 AM
Amish hair pins changed my buns forever, for good. I have thick hair and would use twenty or thirty bobby pins only to find it all slipping at the worst moments, like the middle of a performance. A Mennonite friend introduced me to Amish hair pins. They're cheap and last forever if you don't lose them. Believe it or not, three to four pins will hold my bun all day long. I put them at equidistant increments.

Yes I love amish pins they work so well!

firefly42
April 21st, 2011, 10:17 AM
Try a hair stick. I know you only have bobby pins, but a pencil, paintbrush or smooth chopstick would be worth trying. I never knew how to do a bun before I learned to use hair sticks.

Also I sometimes secure that kind of bun with a couple of mini jaw clips. My hair spits bobby pins out.

Crochet hooks and double pointed knitting needles work really well too!

Sheltie_Momma
April 21st, 2011, 10:48 AM
You can build in some hidden extra support too. It's hard for me to explain this in words but I'll try - Section off some hair at the nape of your neck, tie or clip it out of the way. Now take the remaining hair and put it into a pony tail, just quickly, it will get taken down again in a minute, just put it up at about the same spot where you will want your bun. Now take a Goody metal flat barette and put it in under the pony tail - get as much hair in there as you can. Now take that bottom section that you set aside and pull it up over the barette to completely cover it. Hold that with one hand and pull out the pony tail with the other. Then put your hair up however you normally would. The barrette provides some structure and prevents the back of the bun from sagging. I find I get less head aches when I do this and the bun doesn't slip down my neck during the day.

Paranda Belle
April 21st, 2011, 11:45 AM
I find the jaw clamps work well. I use four on the first "circle" of my cinnabun and then anchor the next circle in the openings of the clamps and tuck the rest of the hair under

Anje
April 21st, 2011, 11:59 AM
I prefer sticks or Amish pins, too. (U-shaped pins in general are good, but something stiff like an amish pin seems to hold much better.) You insert all those U-shaped pins in such a way that they're flat against your head, if that makes sense.

I also prefer other styles of bun, rather than your standard twist-and-spiral cinnamon bun. Stuff like the Lazy wrap bun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=72) (I twist mine often) hold much better for me.

TheBluffs
April 22nd, 2011, 10:14 PM
Claw clips are my bestfriend when it comes to cinnabuns, and twisty buns of that sort. I do not like bobby pins, as they pull, and pinch my hair. Soon, I will try hairsticks tough.

Jomo
April 23rd, 2011, 03:15 AM
I have bad luck with hair sticks pulling my hair as I work them through, and then not being all that sturdy - I use a claw clip as a sort of 'bow' on the top of my bun. I wrap my hair around, tucking each layer under as normal, then open the claw clip and run it down through my scalp hair and clip it over the bun. Is completely stable for me, more so than a ponytail or anything else I've tried.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/jackthepumpkinhead/IMG_3311.jpg

Phexlyn
April 23rd, 2011, 04:32 AM
I mostly use hair pins and/or spin pins. You will need to pin as you wrap the hair around so the different coils don't fall out of the style.

psychobilly5
April 23rd, 2011, 06:39 AM
I just purchased (yesterday) a set of double pointed knitting needles to make into hair accessories! I'm assuming once it's bent into a u-shape...you stick it into the bun one direction and then "fold" it into the opposite direction to secure it? Is that right or will that hurt your hair?

jojo
April 23rd, 2011, 08:20 AM
Well this is an old photo of when I henna glossed but I loved using a scrunchie to secure a bun, stayed in all day!
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l283/joanna_eglin/CIMG1881.jpg

bunzfan
April 23rd, 2011, 10:36 AM
I second hair sticks/forks they never worked for me until i got the knack of getting some scalp hair to when i weave then through the bun, i don't need any extra pins even with my layered hair.

terpentyna
April 23rd, 2011, 02:43 PM
Using amish pins or jaw clamps as you build the bun is my way of doing it.

So, question about the hairsticks (as this would be much quicker): How do you do it? Just "out then in" as you would with am amish pin, starting on the outermost coil?

Anje
April 23rd, 2011, 03:04 PM
With hairsticks, "out then in" is a pretty good method. Because of the additional length, it often turns into "out, then in, then out." Some people "sew" the stick through a few times.

I don't tend to have as much luck with a hairstick and a cinnamon bun with multiple coils these days. My hair makes a couple wraps around, as it's on the thin side, and getting a stick to hold all these in place can be tricky. An easy variation is to make the first full circle or so, put the stick through it to pin it against your head, then do all the subsequent wraps behind the stick (between it and your head). That stays pretty well.

terpentyna
April 23rd, 2011, 04:18 PM
With hairsticks, "out then in" is a pretty good method. Because of the additional length, it often turns into "out, then in, then out." Some people "sew" the stick through a few times.

I don't tend to have as much luck with a hairstick and a cinnamon bun with multiple coils these days. My hair makes a couple wraps around, as it's on the thin side, and getting a stick to hold all these in place can be tricky. An easy variation is to make the first full circle or so, put the stick through it to pin it against your head, then do all the subsequent wraps behind the stick (between it and your head). That stays pretty well.

Thank you very much, those are good points. :flower:

tinti
April 23rd, 2011, 04:32 PM
I allways grab a piece of hair with the wavy side of the bobby pin, then I kinda flip it around so that the straight side of the bobby pin is "facing" the scalp, picking up some scalp hair with the pin as I tuck it into place. I do this as many times as I need. Pinning as you go is a brilliant suggestion, especially if you have thick hair. I also like to use a tie as a base because my buns love to boogie on my head :p

RetroKitten
April 23rd, 2011, 08:40 PM
This video shows different techniques to pin a bun, I have found it to be very helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6XCWKQFfrk

long&blonde
April 23rd, 2011, 10:10 PM
Recently have had great luck with large metal clip,believe its a Ficcare, opened and then jabbed down into the bun,catching underside of scalp hair. Very secure,and I like the change from hairstick,my only other bun tool. I have zero luck with bobby pins. Can't get them in,& if someone's put them in for me,can't get them out. So I've looked at spin pins;but after bobby pin horrors tangled in my hair;spin pins scare me!