Pinned

Lately I've been experimenting with pinned buns. By that I mean buns that are held solely by hair pins. I've mostly been using a combination of crinkly amish pins and spin pins, but yesterday I got my hands on some loooong bobby pins.

I saw a bun tutorial by Torrin Paige a while ago, where she secured a cinnabun with only 4 long bobbypins. I wanted to try that too, only I wasn't trying to do it with only 4 pins (because that would never work on my hair!). My goal was to use less than 20. I lost count by the time I got to 6, but I don't think I used more than 10-12. The pins hold fairly well and the bun is comfortable, though it does move a bit when I walk. I added a tiny Flexi-8 for some bling.

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Daisy

My Daisy flexi-8 in size L arrived this week, and it's so pretty! Here are a few (only slightly photoshopped) pictures of it. :)

The Sapphire Collection

It's no secret that I'm crazy about the blue Flexi-8s, so here's my tiny Sapphire collection. I clearly need more! ^-^

Roman Stone Lite Sapphire

My newest custom flexi-8 arrived today, and it's wonderful! Lite sapphire and clear AB beads.. <3 
I put off ordering this one for so long because I couldn't figure out how to make it more "me", but at last I got it. I'm glad it took me so long, because otherwise I would probably have gotten it in XL or XXL, which means that I wouldn't wear it much right now. L is currently my go-to flexi-8 size, because it's perfect for sectioned buns. I've also discovered that it can be used to secure nautilus buns. Flexi-8s are obviously magical!

First I made a nautilus bun and secured it with the Roman Stone. Then I re-did the bun and secured with Roman Stone and Emerald Dream. I figured those two would look pretty together. The bun is comfortable and secure with just one flexi, but it's even nicer with two. Also, it's much more flashy and blingy, and I like that!

Ugly bun

I wasn't sure what to call this post, but the bun isn't particularly pretty, so it fits. I had a few lazy days at home this week, and I discovered that my claw clips are brilliant for securing lazy buns. By lazy buns I mean any kind of loose, sloppy, ugly bun. I mostly use them for nautilus buns. The claw clips distribute the weight more evenly, and the entire bun doesn't rest on just one spot. Very comfortable. 
I love being able to throw my hair up with these when it's my turn to do the morning walk with the dogs. I can't always be bothered to detangle, section, bun, wrap, and pin my hair, and then take several action pictures before I go (because my bun will most likely be pretty messy when I get back). 
I bought the clips in a Chinese store in Portugal, and I regret not buying more. If only I had known that 7-9 months after buying these, I would finally figure out how to use them.. There's always Ebay, but I feel pretty 'meh' about most of the clips there. 
I guess I could have called this post "Claw clips".

Ficcare, flexi-8 and spin pins

Sectioned buns work with L Ficcares too! I was worried size L would be too big, but it fits perfectly. I do need to make the bunning section slightly bigger though, but not much. There's still plenty of hair left to twist around afterwards. This may even be more comfortable than with flexi-8s, simply because the Ficcare holds my bun in a death grip. It does. not. move. at. all! I tried shaking my head and jumping up and down, and the bun remained glued to the back of my head. I'm amazed. In fact, so amazed that I kept my hair bunned the entire day, even though I only stayed inside after work and could easily have gotten away with just a loose braid.

Speaking of flexi-8s, I purchased a new one. A custom, of course. The new FOTM was very pretty, but I would have preferred it in gold. I almost always prefer gold, which makes it pretty ironic that my new custom is in silver. I'm getting the Roman Stone Lite Sapphire in large, with both lite sapphire and clear Aurora Borealis beads. Steve at flexi8.com sent me a picture to make sure they got my instructions right, and it looks gorgeous. I can hardly wait! 
I've also decided to part with one of my XL flexis, simply because it doesn't look that good in my hair and I almost never wear it. A fellow LHCer mentioned that she was interested in it, and I think it's better to pass it on to someone who will appreciate it. I have looked through my collection, and there are a few other pieces I'm not loving anymore either. Not sure if I'll be putting those up for sale too, at least not yet.

I purchased a super cheap 12-pack of spin pins on ebay, and I was a bit disappointed, but not surprised when they arrived. They didn't have the little bump on the tips that my Hair Scroos have, so the tips were quite sharp and not very hair and scalp friendly. Otherwise the pins seemed fine, but obviously I couldn't put something like that in my hair without fixing it first. I experimented a bit with one if the pins today, and tried to make ' end bumps' by adding several layers of clear nailpolish. It appears to be working, because the ends aren't sharp anymore, they seem more like the Hair Scroos. A bit time consuming to do this to 11 more pins, since the polish has to dry between each layer, but I've got next Tuesday off and don't have anything better to do. I'm happy that I will be able to use my pins after all. The seller also included a few telephone cord elastics, and I'm very skeptical. I know of other LHC members who use them without any problems, but they look hazardous to my hair. 

Lite Lavender Silky in a sectioned bun, as the sun sets.