How to Use a Hairpin in Fine Hair
Posted by Aviva Jansen Perea
Fine hair has a reputation for being difficult to style, and when it comes to pinning, that reputation isn't entirely wrong. Fine hair slips. It flattens. It slides out of a style that looked perfectly secure five minutes ago. And because it's lighter and smoother than thicker hair, it gives a pin less to grip.
But the solution isn't to pile in more pins and hope for the best. It's to understand what fine hair actually needs, and adjust the technique and the tool accordingly.
I've worked with fine hair my entire career. Here's what makes the difference.
Why Fine Hair Slips
Fine hair has two characteristics that make pinning harder than it looks.
The first is texture. Fine hair, especially when freshly washed, tends to be smooth and a little slippery. A pin needs friction to stay in place, and very smooth hair doesn't give it much to hold onto. This is why a style that feels secure right after you pin it can start to slide within the hour.
The second is weight, or the lack of it. Thicker hair creates natural tension in a bun or twist that helps hold a pin in place. Fine hair has less of that tension, which means the pin has to work a little harder on its own.
Neither of these things is a flaw. They just mean the technique needs to account for them.
What Fine Hair Actually Needs
A little texture. Freshly washed, very smooth hair is actually the hardest to pin. Working with day-old hair, or adding a light texturizing spray or dry shampoo at the roots before you pin, gives the hair a bit of grip that makes a real difference. You don't need a lot. Just enough that the hair isn't completely slick.
The right size pin. A large pin in a small amount of fine hair can feel like too much tool for the job, and it often won't seat properly. A pin sized to the amount of hair you're working with holds more cleanly and stays put better.
Precise placement. With fine hair, where the pin goes matters more than how many pins you use. A single pin placed correctly at the right point in the style will outperform three pins placed at the wrong spot every time.
How to Use a Hairpin in Fine Hair: Step by Step
Step 1: Prep the hair with a little texture. If your hair is freshly washed and very smooth, work a small amount of texturizing spray or dry shampoo through the roots before you start. This gives the pin something to grip.
Step 2: Build the style with intention. Gather your hair into the bun or half-up style you want, and make sure it has some structure before you reach for the pin. A loose, shapeless gather is harder to anchor than one that's been twisted or folded with a little tension.
Step 3: Choose a pin sized to your hair. For fine or medium hair, a smaller pin seats more cleanly than a large one. Our Petite Power Pin is designed for exactly this, it gives real structural hold without being too much pin for a lighter amount of hair.
Step 4: Insert at a slight downward angle. Aim the pin slightly toward the scalp as it enters rather than sliding it in parallel to the head. This helps it catch more hair and seat itself against the scalp rather than floating at the surface of the style.
Step 5: Weave, don't just slide. Pass the pin through the section, catch a small amount of hair near the scalp, and bring it back through. This locking motion is what keeps the pin from working its way out over time, and it matters even more in fine hair where there's less natural tension holding everything together.
Step 6: Check the seat. Once the pin is in, it should sit close to the head and follow the curve of the scalp. If it's sticking away from your head, it's not anchored deeply enough and will slide out. Press it gently inward and re-seat if needed.
The Pin That Works Best for Fine Hair
Not every pin is built for fine hair, and using one that's too large is one of the most common reasons fine-haired people feel like hairpins don't work for them.
The Petite Power Pin is our pin for fine to medium hair. It's smaller than the Power Pin but built with the same structural hold, designed to anchor a bun or half-up style without overwhelming a lighter amount of hair. It seats cleanly, holds all day, and blends into the hair rather than sitting on top of it.
If your hair is on the thicker side and you're looking for what works there instead, Best Hairpins for Thick Hair covers the other end of the spectrum.
The Honest Truth About Fine Hair
Fine hair can absolutely be pinned well. The people who tell me it can't are almost always using a pin that's too large, placing it at the wrong point in the style, or trying to pin hair that's too smooth to grip.
Fix those three things and a single well-placed pin will hold your hair up all day.
For more on technique and choosing the right pin for your hair, our Complete Hairpin Guide covers everything from placement and angle to which Day Rate pin works best for your hair type.
xo, Aviva
