My Hair Is Too Soft to Hold Pins. What Now?

The problem: you have been told, maybe by a stylist you loved, that your hair is too soft to hold an updo. Or you have lived it. You sat for an hour, the pins went in, and by the cocktail hour everything had slid halfway down your head.

It is a real problem and it is not a character flaw. Fine, smooth, freshly conditioned hair has no friction. Pins need friction.

Fix one, wash timing. Hair that was washed the same morning is at its most slippery. Wash the night before and use a small amount of mousse or a salt-based prep spray on damp hair before drying. That creates a slightly rougher cuticle surface without making hair feel dirty.

Fix two, the right prep on the right section. Before any pin goes in, I backcomb the base of each section lightly and set it with a texture spray. Not hairspray. Texture spray adds grit, hairspray adds a shell, and a shell on soft hair is what makes it eventually slip out as one piece.

Fix three, pin technique. Pins go in with the ridges facing the scalp, angled so they catch the hair they just crossed. Most updos fail because pins are placed flat and parallel, which does nothing. I also use a mix of long pins and fine pins, and I cross-pin the anchor points.

Fix four, the right style. If your hair is genuinely soft and fine, a low chignon or a braided shape will hold far better than a high voluminous updo. Soft hair does low and structural beautifully. It fights high and airy.

What I will not do is spray your hair into place. It looks like nothing in photographs and it feels awful by dinner.

If you have been told your hair will not hold, inquire and let me look at it. The Bride Experience is $1,000, and full pricing is here.