A Quick Homage to the Hairpin!

A life saver? Hum….Maybe not. But it can definitely make a bride’s wedding day, make a bad hair day better and even inspire you to be more creative with hair styles!  It’s always lurking around in the bottom of your purse and hanging out in your bathroom drawers. It’s the hairpin!  

When it comes to styling my natural hair, the hairpin and its companion the bobby pin are my very best friends.   A vital piece of my styling pie, I use pins when doing my favorite natural hair styles and without pins, I just don’t think my styles will last or stay in place.  Designed to be almost invisible, I use the slender, u-shaped piece of wire to secure my up-dos, shape my buns and to keep my natural hairstyle in place. 

The modern day hair pin is made when different lengths of wire are bent in half to form a u-shape, then a few kinks are placed along the two opposite sides to make the finished pin.  The pin may vary from two to six inches in length, which helps with placement and to hold several different styles of hairstyles in place. The kinks helps to keep the pins secure during normal movements.

Bobby pins are the next best thing.  I use bobby pins to secure my french rolls, pin curls, bantu knots and more.  With natural hair, I can pull each side of my hair back and slide bobby pins down each side to secure and I will have an instant Fro-Hawk!  I even criss-cross bobby pins for added security.

The bobby pin is a flat, spring like metal hairpin having the prongs held close together by tension. This double-pronged hair pin slides into hair with the prongs open and then the flexible prongs close over the hair to hold it in place. Bobby pins became popular in the 1920s to hold the new bobbed hairstyles.

Hairpins are typically plain and unobtrusively colored but now some are decorated with beads or jewels on the bend to add beauty and flair to a hair style.  Bobby pins are also elaborately decorated with jewels, beads and flowers, that makes any style look great!

Thank you to the person who invented this little life saver!