Review (5/5): The only thing that holds my hair up properly
I have long, very thick hair. My hair breaks heavy-duty ponytail holders regularly. My hair laughs at barrettes and clips. Every time I've had a professional updo for a formal event, the stylist has used multiple dozens of bobby pins to hold my hair in place. And I have never been able to do an updo myself and get it to stay in place, no matter how many bobby pins I use. My hair just spits them out, and the updo falls down. I'd even tried those Magic Grip curved plastic hairpins -- people claimed those held up long hair -- and if anything, they worked worse than regular bobby pins in my hair. (And yes, I used them right, first aiming them out of the bun and then twisting them around to tuck them into the bun.)
So I was skeptical when a friend recommended Spin Pins. I figured they would be another disappointment. But they are BRILLIANT.
It takes four Spin Pins to hold my hair in a bun (the package instructions say to use two, but they're written for people with normal amounts of hair). I literally just screw them into the bun so that they catch some of the hair that lies against my head, along with catching the bun itself. I figured out the best technique by my second try. I promise these aren't complicated to use. The instructions have pictures.
And once they're in, that bun stays until I take them out. I can walk, dance, shake my head around, and the bun will stay perfectly in place. I usually need to use a couple of bobby pins to tuck in a few stray ends here and there, but the Spin Pins hold the weight of my hair -- and believe me, my hair is heavy. I've made buns at the nape of my neck, on the back of my head, and on the top of my head, and all of them stay perfectly in place with these pins.
I've used them regularly for probably a year now, and they haven't bent or broken or anything, despite the large quantities of hair they are forced to hold up.
Don't panic too much about interlocking them (despite the dire package warnings). With four Spin Pins in my hair, they can't help but interlock a bit, but I have never had the slightest problem unscrewing them from my hair again. They also like to interlock in storage, but again, I've never had the slightest problem just unscrewing them from each other again.
I'm glad I was able to get the 3-pack, because now I have a couple of extras in case I lose one.
If you've never been able to get bobby pins to hold your hair up properly, do give Spin Pins a try.