Hairpins

I'm not ready to declare this a success yet because I've only tried it once, and once is not a good sample size, but . . . bun!

Also, do not comment on my wallpaper.  I tell myself that if I wait a little longer, Eighties retro will become a thing and it will be acceptable.

Super-messy bun, yes, but it was a first attempt and I didn't even brush my hair or put it in a ponytail first.  I just wound it up, rolled it, and skewered it with five or six of the tiny miracles that are Amish hairpins:

I'm actually afraid to try it again for fear this was a fluke and they won't actually hold that well ever again.  Seriously.  I have never been able to put my hair in a bun except with one of these:

You put your hair through, roll it up, bend the thing, and hook the ends together.  They work, but they work less well when your hair outgrows your arm length, and it's tricky to get hair rolled evenly, especially at the sides.  They pull on your hair and scalp, too, and I cannot imagine they're not ridiculously damaging.

My hair is mid-back length and moderately thick/dense--long but not exceptional--but it's also completely straight, very fine and soft, and slippery.  My friends who wear buns easily all have hair that is at least somewhat wavy or curly, and more wiry than mine.  Mine is all weight and no structure so it doesn't help support itself.  It doesn't hold a curl.  And nothing stays in--not bobby pins, not barrettes, sometimes not even ponytail holders.

I cannot be the only person in history, though, to have hair like this, and generations of pre-20th century women had to put up long hair with . . . something.  They didn't get a pass to wear long braids well into adulthood just because they had limp hair that wouldn't behave, right?  I think I might finally "get" how this worked.

If it does work as well as it appears it might, I'm going to regret that I don't need a whole lot of them because I want to make sure the company stays in business!  These are from Fischer's Wire in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and I got them through--hilariously--Amazon.

More on Amish hairpins at Humblebee.