Best Hairpins for Long Hair
By Aviva Jansen Perea, celebrity hairstylist and founder of Day Rate Beauty
Long hair and thick hair share a common pinning problem: weight. The longer the hair, the heavier the bun, and a pin that cannot handle that weight will start to slip before the morning is over.
But long hair has its own specific challenges beyond weight alone. A very long bun is also often larger in diameter, which means the pin needs to travel further to reach the anchor point at the base. And long hair, particularly when it is fine or medium in thickness, can be deceiving: it looks like a lot of hair but may not have the density to hold a pin in place the way thick hair does.
Here is what matters when choosing a pin for long hair, and which Day Rate pins are built for it.
The two things that matter most for long hair
Length. A pin needs to be long enough to pass through the full depth of the bun and reach the base, where the hair is gathered closest to the scalp. This is the structural anchor point. A pin that runs out of length before reaching it will seat itself somewhere in the middle of the bun, feel secure briefly, and then gradually work loose as the weight of the hair pulls the style downward.
Long hair creates larger, deeper buns. A pin that works for a small, compact bun on shorter hair may not have the reach to anchor the same style in longer hair.
Strength. A pin in a heavy bun is bearing real downward load throughout the day. A pin that is too fine for the job will bend slightly over time, losing its internal tension and its grip. The pin needs to be strong enough to maintain its shape and hold under the weight of the style.
The best Day Rate pins for long hair
Power Pin
The Power Pin is the right starting point for most long hair. It is the longest and strongest pin in the Day Rate line, built for exactly the scenario that long hair creates: a large, heavy bun that needs to be anchored at the base and hold through a full day.
It is long enough to pass through a deep bun and reach the scalp-level anchor point, and strong enough to maintain its tension under the weight of heavy hair without bending or shifting. Made in the United States from upcycled stainless steel with a smooth plant-based nylon coating, it goes in and comes out without snagging, which matters in long hair where there are more strands for a rough edge to catch.
For long hair that is also thick or dense, two Power Pins placed at opposing angles through the base of the bun distribute the weight across two anchor points and hold significantly more reliably than one.
Foundation Pins
For long hair that needs to hold through a particularly demanding day, or for more structured styles like a French twist or a formal updo, Foundation Pins build the interior architecture that the outer pin sits over.
They go in first, invisibly, and create the internal structure that keeps the shape of the style intact regardless of weight or movement. This is the approach I use professionally when the hold needs to be completely reliable. The result is a style that holds from within rather than relying entirely on the outer pin to bear all the load.
Petite Power Pin
For long hair that is fine rather than thick, the full-size Power Pin can occasionally be more than the style needs. Fine long hair creates large buns in terms of coiled length, but the density of those buns is lower than it would be in thick hair. In these cases the Petite Power Pin may seat more naturally, particularly for styles like a half-up or a smaller, looser bun.
The best way to gauge this is by feel: if the Power Pin feels proportionate to the bun and seats well at the base, use it. If it feels like too much pin for the amount of hair, try the Petite Power Pin.
Technique notes for long hair
The weave matters more with long hair than it might seem. Long hair produces buns with more volume and more outer layers, and there is a temptation to pin somewhere in those outer layers because it is easier to reach. The base of the bun is the anchor point. The pin needs to get there.
Angle the pin slightly downward as it enters, direct it toward the scalp, weave through to catch a small amount of hair near the base, and bring it back through. That crossing motion at the base of the bun is what holds the weight of the style through a full day. Surface pinning in long hair holds for a short time and then gives way under the weight of the hair.
For very long or very heavy hair, gathering the bun with some deliberate tension before pinning also helps. A loosely coiled bun of long hair has a lot of movement in it, and pinning into that movement is harder than pinning into a bun that has been gathered firmly first.
For more on the technique of pinning a bun specifically, How to Put Your Hair in a Bun with One Hairpin covers it from the beginning. For thick long hair, Best Hairpins for Thick Hair and How to Use a Hairpin in Thick Hair go deeper on the weight and density side of the equation.
The Complete Guide to Hairpins covers all of this in one place, including how to choose between the pins and how technique shifts across different hair types. Browse the full line at dayratebeauty.com/collections/pins.
xo, Aviva
