Best Hair Pins for Thick Hair

The Best Hair Pins for Thick, Long & Heavy Hair

Thick hair is a blessing — until you try to put it up. Then the pins start bending, the bun flops down, and by lunch your hairstyle has become a disaster. The problem isn't your hair. It's that you're using pins designed for average hair.

Frenchies large 3" velvet pins are engineered for exactly this. Here's what to use and how much.

Why Thick Hair Needs Different Pins

Thick, long, or heavy hair has three things working against it:

  1. Weight. More hair = more gravitational pull on your style.
  2. Volume. You need pins with enough span to cross real masses of hair.
  3. Slip. Healthy thick hair is often smoother and slipperier than fine hair.

Standard bobby pins and small U-pins simply don't have the span or grip to handle this. Large flocked pins do.

Our Recommendations for Thick Hair

1. Go Large — 3" Velvet Pins

Our large 3" velvet pins are the workhorse pin for thick hair. The larger span lets a single pin secure more hair, and the flocked coating keeps them from sliding out.

2. Use a 100-Count Pro Pack

If you wear your hair up more than once a week, a Pro Pack is genuinely the right move. Thick hair uses more pins per style — 10–15 for a regular bun, 20–25 for a full updo — and running out mid-style is the worst feeling. Pro Packs last most thick-haired clients 6–9 months.

3. Add Hair Sticks for Speed

For fast, secure updos, a single velvet hair stick holds a thick twist in 30 seconds. Use two for heavier styles.

4. Skip Tight Elastics

Thick hair + tight elastics = breakage and headaches. Switch to XXL cotton velvet scrunchies or silk for ponytails — they hold without compressing.

Styling Tips for Thick Hair

  • Anchor, anchor, anchor. Put 4 pins in a compass pattern (N, S, E, W) first. Then add.
  • Pin against the direction of gravity. For a low bun, point pins upward. For a high bun, pin down and inward.
  • Sectional approach for bridal. Pin the base in, pin decorative twists on top. Work in layers.
  • Cross pins for extra hold. X-shaped pin placement locks in thick buns.
  • Deep pins, not surface pins. Thick hair rewards pins that sink deep — the pin disappears and the hold improves.

Hairstyles That Work Beautifully on Thick Hair

  • The structural high bun (12–15 large pins)
  • Sleek low chignon (8–12 large pins)
  • Full French twist (10–15 pins)
  • Braided updo with pinned accents (15–20 pins)
  • Hair-stick twist bun (1–2 sticks, maybe 4 pins for decorative finishing)

Color Matching for Dark, Thick Hair

If you have dark brown to black thick hair, our black velvet pins disappear completely. For medium brown, use our brown pins. For salt-and-pepper or silver, our grey pins blend beautifully.

Start With the Right Set

If you have thick hair and you're new to Frenchies, we suggest: