A hair pin comparison...

**Cinnamon Hair** · March 16th, 2010, 04:17 PM

I took pics of all the hairpins I have together for a comparison photo.

1. large Good Hair Days plastic pin
2. medium Good Hair Days plastic pin
3. Good Hair Days Magic Grip pin
4. gold Hair Scroo
5. regular hair pin
6. non crimped bobby pin (laying on its side)
7. Quattro Starlite stick
8. Amish pin
9. 3" Bunheads pin
10. 2" Bunheads pin

**ravenreed** · March 16th, 2010, 04:33 PM

Here are all the pins I have, lined up for comparison:

Left to right-- HairScroo, Magic Grip, BunHead 3", Amish pin 3", thin Wavelength, thick wavelength, and a standard bobby pin.

**MandyBeth** · March 16th, 2010, 05:07 PM

Ok, so why are there different types of HairScroos? I like the type CinnamonHair has (I think), they look like they'd be more agreeable with my hair. I've got the type like Ravenreed has, and I like them but maybe not so much.

**Tresses** · March 16th, 2010, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Hair

I took pics of all the hairpins I have together for a comparison photo.

1. large Good Hair Days plastic pin
2. medium Good Hair Days plastic pin
3. Good Hair Days Magic Grip pin
4. gold Hair Scroo
5. regular hair pin
6. regular bobby pin (laying on its side)
7. Quattro Starlite stick
8. Amish pin
9. 3" Bunheads pin
10. 2" Bunheads pin

Ahhhhh, I have a pair of large GHD pins that I picked up at an LHC meet years ago. I didn't know what they were, and still need to figure out how to use them. (I tried only a couple of times, and they've sat since then.) They're curved in such a way that I don't know how to insert them.

I also have something similar to the medium GHD pins, but they were made in France, and a little more narrow. I ordered them online years ago, but I don't remember from where.

#6 isn't a regular bobby pin, though. I have what you have in different sizes (from Scunci, I think?) and hate them. They're impossible to open! A regular bobby pin looks like the one in ravenreed's photo.

**Cinnamon Hair** · March 16th, 2010, 08:18 PM

I found the large and medium GHD pins on either Ulta or Sephora's website. I remember buying them at the same time I first tried the magic grip pins, and that was years ago. The larges are pretty much impossible for me to use too. They take a lot of effort to wiggle them into updos.

Thanks for pointing out I had the wrong label on the bobby pins. That is fixed now

**Honestwitness** · March 16th, 2010, 08:55 PM

I've just started being able to wear my almost-BSL hair in buns most days. I like roller pins best. I got them at Sally's in silver color with white tips, to blend in to my gray hair. I bend them a little, so they match the curvature of my head. I can use two of them crossed to hold a cinnamon bun securely and comfortably all day long.

Good Days Magic Grip pins are too tight and hard to remove, causing damage to my fine hair.

I've never tried a bent knitting needle, or Amish pins, or bunheads. I do use regular bobby pins once in a while, but they sometimes snag while I'm removing them. The roller pins never do that.

**Roseate** · March 16th, 2010, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by ravenreed

Are those like big bobby pins? I understand those work for a lot of people. I am a little afraid of bobbies for anything other than decoration. I have trouble opening them up wide enough to get them to slide in nicely. I have no fingernails to speak of and I don't want to use my teeth.

They are pretty much like giant bobby pins, yes. But they're so much bigger, they also have a bigger gap, and I've never had any problems getting them in. The ones I have also have a much smoother coating than regular bobby pins, which helps too.

Regular bobby pins are bangs-only for me; they don't really hold up anything.

(I love this thread BTW, great idea! I am being seriously hairpin-enabled here.)

**Igor** · March 16th, 2010, 11:15 PM

Awesome lists and rewiews!

**Stevy** · March 17th, 2010, 12:54 PM

I found this really useful. Thank you!

**UncommonTart** · March 17th, 2010, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by ravenreed

Magic Grip Pins:

http://www.goodhairdays.com/plastic-...ignon-pins.htm

Plus - Fairly easy to find in the U.S. They go in and don't slip out. They come in several colors.

Minus - It is hard for me to get my hair out later without warping the pins. They are plastic so they stay warped. They are really thick so if I use too many on a small bun, they will stack on each other and pull hair. The buns I make with them are not as tight as other pins, so there is a bit of wobble. This may be a plus or minus.

If you wrap an elastic around the warped ones to hold the prongs back together and you leave them that way overnight, by morning they'll be "un warped" again. This may be more trouble than it's worth if you don't like them anyhow, but if like me, you like them but can't use them once they've all stretched out, it's a great fix.

Personally, I like Amish pins for holding an updo by themselves, the Sally's type pins for "helping" when I have a hairtoy that won't work on it's own or could use a little extra stability, and the Magic Grip pins for styles that look best when they're a little looser, like the Gibson Bun. Anything else I try to use in a loose bun slips right out of my hair, but the Magic Grip ones work beautifully for me.