Bobby Pin Breakdown: The Uses

The bobby pin might be one of the most interesting and simplistic hairstyling tools. It’s just one piece of metal that can work wonders on your hair. It’s also the one item that has made us start second guessing our original knowledge of how to use it. First, there was the bobby pin trick that turned our whole world upside down. Now, I’m going to share what each type of pin is for. Because while you’ve probably used your fair share of regular bobby pins, it’s the littlest to huge hair pins that when used properly will hold your style longer and allow for more variations in looks.

Hair Pins - The widest of all bobby pins, a hair pin looks like a giant wavy U. The pin is ideal for up-dos such as chignons, buns and twists. The open shape also can be used to hold together looser styles. A day out with a soft up-do calls for using a hair pin to create a comfortable messy bun.

Jumbo Pins - The longest pin in the bunch, jumbo pins are for thick, long hair that needs a little help staying in place. You can usually get away with just throwing one of these into a bun for long-lasting wear. The ridge-free design may have you think it won’t stay put, but once in place it will hold the tightest of styles–even on thick locks.

Regular Pins - These are the bobby pins we all know and love. For normal to thick hair, a bobby pin can be used to secure your look or purely for decoration. Use these mostly to hold pieces of hair, like bangs, braids and strays from a bun, in place. If you change your hair throughout the day, from down to up-do, then I suggest always keeping a few of these in your bag. You can always find a reason to use a regular bobby pin.

Mini Pins - Mini pins are intended for fine or thin hair, or on short hair where the presence of a larger pin would throw off your look. While other pins secure larger pieces of hair, mini pins are for the details. Think ringlet curls pinned up, 50s inspired hairstyles and more. You can also get mini pins with a little rubber padding on the inside to ensure they won’t slip out of fine hair.

Which pins do you use most often and what hairstyles are you creating with each?

<3 Mish

Photo: Fashionising