Goody Spin Pins ($6), ohmahgawd, they’re awesome. I brought a pair with me on my trip last weekend based on your recommendations, so thank you — you were so right!
They’re basically these beefed up, coiled metal bobby pin-like doohickies (two per pack) for securing your hair into a bun; Goody says each one does the work of 20 bobbies (no, not the ones in law enforcement), and they come in two shades, one for lighter hair and one for darker. Each pack comes with two pins.
Most of the time my long hair’s a big pain in the @ss. In the time it takes me to do a bun, inserting the 30 or so bobby pins it takes, people all around the world are accomplishing epic things. They’re writing novels, learning how to drive a stick, circumnavigating the globe — seriously, bobby buns take me a really long time.
The prospect of putting my hair up with just two pins kinda boggled my mind, but these suckers really work! I don’t know how (well, I could probably figure it out), but they do.
First, you take your hair, pull it back, and wrap it into a really tight bun. Then, you tuck in the ends and screw in the first pin at the top. The second pin goes in through the bottom of the bun, locking it in place. That’s it! Through some miracle of magic or science, your bun’s done!
Smaller buns, like with the hair half up/half down, seem to stay put longer than larger buns do. They’ll loosen throughout the day but won’t completely fall apart. Larger buns, however, or lower buns worn at the bottom of my neck, give up the ghost quicker, maybe lasting two or three hours before having to be redone.
The Goody pin coils (like springs) themselves may loosen over time, depending on how thick your hair is and how tightly you twist your buns, LOL! 🙂
Now I can see what everyone’s been raving about!
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: Extra thick hair might require two pairs, but Goody Spin Pins outdo bobbies for buns any day of the week. Available at Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreen stores, and online at target.com. Grade: A
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Candace Grubbs says
ohh ive been wanting one of these! i can never find blonde!
Karen says
Do you live near a Target? I’ve seen them there.
MissHikerGirl says
Karen, do you think you can post a pic of your hair using these pins? Or even a picture tutorial? I’ve seen these things before but I’m still unsure how to use them. Thank you!
HanaBerlin says
I have seen a few girls do tutorials on youtube. It seems very easy. I can’t wait to try them. =)
Dea says
I have to search for that videos! 🙂 Thanks, HanaBerlin!
Karen says
Sure! I’ll do it within in the next day or so. 🙂
kayann says
OMG OMG OMG OMG! I’ve wanted to try these for alooooong time but never could remember to pick them up! OMG OMG OMG!! I’m so picking these up tomorrow!!! 🙂 🙂
Karen says
LOL! I hope you can get your hands on a pair! Let me know what you think.
BTW, how’s life with your LORAC Front of the Line Pro liner? Are things getting easier?
kayann says
I bought them today! It’s lurve!
The Lorac FLPL is getting so much easier. I did the cat/winged eye look today. It was sheer bliss! 🙂 THANKS!!
Elisabeth says
Hi girls!
Does anyone know were I can buy Goody spin pin??
I am from Norway and it is hard to get.
Elisabeth
Tre says
Yes! I agree…a picture of how you fixed your hair with these would be awesome and so helpful.
Karen says
I’ll put some up soon!
Tiffany H. says
I have these and I absolutely love them! A must-have for long hair.
Karen says
Yay! Glad you like them.
steph b says
Seriously, these might be my top beauty purchase of the year. I find my bun lasts longer if I secure the bottom first. I also leave the ends out for a messy bun sometimes. Best of all, they don’t give me a headache like bobby pins can.
Karen says
Thank you for recommending these, Steph! 🙂
I’ll have to try using the bottom pin trick today…
steph b says
I’m so happy you like them!
Dani says
I love these things! I saw the commercial on tv and tried to find them but had a really hard time then I randomly came across them at Walmart. They make it so much easier to get ready for work and still look decent when I over sleep lol I find myself sleeping in much more now that I have these in my life.
Karen says
Ya know, that’s probably one of the main reasons why I love these — they save me so much time in the morning. 🙂
Virginia says
I thought the commercial looked gimmicky, but they really are great for a casually, polished look and getting your hair out of your face and off your neck in the summer.
Karen says
They are pretty fabulous. Do you use yours often?
Molly says
These are the BEST THING EVER. My mum sent me some for my birthday last week, and I’ve been wearing them constantly!
Karen says
Happy belated birthday, Molly! 🙂 What did you do to celebrate?
Lowelli says
Ive never seen these before…I wonder if they’re in Canada yet. My hair is super long and I don’t even bother with buns because its a lost cause 🙁 Come to me spin pins!!!
Karen says
I’m not sure if they’re in Canada, hmm.
Have any Canadian readers seen these at the drugstore?
lo says
oh man… these are the first thing on my list to buy when my hair finally gets long enough for a bun!
Karen says
How long is your hair now, Lo? Is it almost long enough for a bun, or do you have a ways to go?
Michelle says
Karen, please be sure to let advertisers know I buy so many of the products you feature in your posts. I’m totally going to have to buy these tomorrow!!! No more 20 bobbie pins for me!
Karen says
I’m so glad you’ll be able to liberate yourself from having to deal with an army of bobby pins! These will save you so much time. 🙂
Phyrra says
Yep I have these and absolutely love them!
Karen says
Awesome! 🙂
Michelle says
I have 3 girls with long hair — I need these STAT!! Will definitely check these out next time I’m at Target!
Karen says
Ooh, you’ll save so much time getting their hair done with these! 🙂
Kelsey says
I agree that some photos of your hair w/them would be very helpful!
Karen says
I’ll put a few up in the next day or so. 😀
Agnes says
wowwww! i’ve heard of these before but never really paid much attention since i chopped off my long hair about almost a year back. 🙁 🙁 but now that its starting to grow back… i am SOOO interested! going go stalk my local walmarts to see if i can find any.. 😀 thanks!
Karen says
They’re awesome! I hope you find ’em at Walmart
Christina says
Hahahaha I have really thick and coarse hair so my hair stays easily with just a pen to twist it up but this is intriguing for a look that’ll stay without having to put like 30 bobby pins in. I’d probably use it for more of an updo than a simple bun.
Karen says
Using 30 bobby pins to put your hair up is never fun!
makeup morsels says
whoaa my mind is boggled…lol
these sound amazing! I’m gonna go run out to CVS and try to find them ASAP
Karen says
Lemme know what you think!
amy says
I have never seen or hear about these before. I will have to check check these out at the beauty/hair accessories aisle at the drug store.
Karen says
I hope you find ’em!
Lucy says
Ooh this looks good – putting my hair up is such a pain (and requires mass-use of pins). I just don’t understand how they work though!
Karen says
I don’t quite get it either. Goody needs to make some sort of xray video that shows what’s happening inside the bun with the hair and the coils.
Hedy says
I loved my spin pins, until I killed one. LOL.
Karen says
LOL, what happened?
Kajal Couture says
OMG you totally convinced me that I NEED this! Maybe a couple for backups too! I have the thickest Indian hair in the world and it takes an army to get my hair in a bun!
Karen says
I think you’ll love these! They make putting your hair up so easy. 🙂
Nina says
when i had longer hair, i used this. now that i dont … i miss it! 🙂 its a nifty gadget!
Karen says
It’s very cool. Wish I tried them sooner!
Nina says
it creates that perfect, loose bun thats so carelessly casual. 😉
Kim says
If I put my hair in a bun, I’d look like a plumper version of Lilith from Cheers. I usually don’t even wear a ponytail in public without a ball cap. This seems awesome for the bun-loving gals though! 🙂
Karen says
It’s a really neat tool and quite possibly the coolest thing to happen to hair since the banana clip, LOL!
Kim says
Now the banana clip is something I used to rock! How many shame points are awarded for that? 🙂
Ru says
For a silky (read: slippery) thick (read: heavy) long haired (and growing) girl like me, this is godsend. Wonder how well it will work, definitely worth a try! Does anyone know if they sell them at Ulta?
I also second the pictures!
Karen says
Sure! I can do a follow up post with a pic of mah hair in a bun. 😉
Lauren says
how do you think these suckers would fair with thin (long) hair?
Karen says
I think these will work GREAT on long, thin hair!
lexi says
I’m going to try to stop by Target after work today – these have piqued my interest. I don’t know how it’ll work on my medium length hair. Whenever I coil my hair into a bun – it’s a puny sized roll. Ugh, I am starting to miss my long hair.
Welcome back btw…
Jenna says
I have super long hair and these work great…
One warning: do not let the two pins interlock together….you have to get wire cutters to cut them out otherwise because they will not come apart.
I only own 1 functioning spin pin now :sadface:.
mkdallas says
Aren’t these just the BOMB.COM???? I’m wearing ’em now. Karen, if your bun is loosening, just jab 2-3 extra bobby pins in strategic places (like if your bun’s a clock, at 10, 2 and 6, lol) and I swear it won’t budge. I work out thirty minutes a day on the elliptical at the gym and my hair never moves.
Megan says
These look cool. I never bother with updos, but this might just make the “undone bun” possible for me!
Chrissy says
I love these things! I nabbed a pair a couple of months ago (on sale of course! That’s the thrifty bargainista in me), and although I haven’t had a chance to use them as much as I like, I’ve got nothing but good news to report about them. Even with my incredibly thick, curly, long hair. Trust me, if they’ll hold my hair, they’ll more than likely hold anybody else’s! :0)
Beth says
These totally did not work for my hair. I was really disappointed. I think its because i have long layers (logest hits the bottom of my shoulder blades) and by the time i had my hair up with the pins, all the layers started slowly unraveling, leading to the whole bun collapsing. I tried it several times, but never made it out of the house with them still holding my hair up.
I’m glad to hear they work for others though! I wish I could wear them 🙁
Shari says
I don’t know how I ever lived without these. They are AWESOME BLOSSOM!!! They even work on my waist length hair. I put the bottom one in 1st (for some reason that seems to hold more securely). One thing I’ve noticed is that they definitely work better on day-old hair. My freshly washed hair just seems to be too “slippery” to get some good bun action goin’ on 😛
Alex says
Welcome back, Karen. 😀 I hope you’ve gotten rest since you got back home. I won’t lie– I missed your frequent posts. I gotta get my beauty addict time on (my boyfriend calls this blog my porn, LOL!).
Those things look awesome. I have really thick, slippery hair and when it was long, it was an impossibility to do a bun. I tried bobby pins and even those giant, weird plastic pins. I could NEVER get it to hold– it just all fell out as soon as I moved my head, even if I used a can of hairspray.
I recently got my hair cut into an inverted bob, similar to Hayden’s, which I LOVE, but I do miss being able to pin it back easier at times. I don’t miss trying to find methods of putting it into more creative styles and keeping it healthy though. Long hair is so much work!
holly says
I love these things. Usually pinning my hair up would require about an entire sleeve of bobby pins, but that may also be because my method with bobbies tends to be twist, jam pins randomly, jam more pins, and then jam some more. I have fairly straight, thick hair that tends to be something of an escape artist.
I find the key is to insert the first pin about where the the bulk of the “tail” of your hair ends, typically for me that ends up being towards the bottom side of the bun, but it depends on how high or low I place the bun and how tightly I twist it.
Tatiana says
I saw these in a commercial and thought “I need those to live!!!” Yes they are a godsend if you are travelling. I have 2 pairs, one for work and one for home.
Nora says
You find the coolest beauty products, Karen. I haven’t even heard of these things. Too bad I just got too much hair trimmed to try these. But I’ll keep an eye out!
Rachel says
I definitely wanna give these a go
shusheshe says
I wish I have enough hair to do this.
JenA says
Okay I totally picked these up today on a whime and just through them in, while in my car (yes this was how excited i was to try them 😀 lol) They are mad crazy awesome!!! They even stayed in when my 5 year old decided to play with my hair. I am seriously excited on how easy these are to use, I am most definitely picking more up, I wonder if they’ll work in my 8 year old’s hair hmm… 😀
CK says
DUDE – I totally got some at Target the next day and they are AWWEESOOME! And you know me – I have the thickest, coarse, chlorine damaged mane of un-manage-able-ness!
I haven’t gotten the skillz yet to make the bun messy/cute. But they’re definitely holding.
Karen says
See! I told you they were life changing! I’m glad you were able to find some… the brunette ones are almost always sold out at the Target near my house.
Chris says
Read a Post earlier on about wether or not these were in Canada; I would so love to get my hands on a pair but so far have not had any luck finding them here; I do live very close to the border so perhaps I’ll have to make a trip; I did hear from someone that you could buy them online through goody.com and they ship to Canada but I haven’t checked it out yet; Thanks for all the great Info 🙂
Chelle says
I must say I’m in shock. Why aren’t you all using just a plain old hair elastic to hold your buns in place? The thought of using bobby pins (and thirty of them no less??) to hold a bun in place is so completely foreign to me.
With a hair elastic, you just twist your hair around, tuck the end in and twist the elastic around as if it was a pony tail. The very end of the hair naturally twists around the edge of the elastic and the whole thing is incredibly solid and the hair elastic never shows. If I do a bun like this in the morning, it’s not budging until I remove it myself. I’ve done this for years with varying hair lengths – from just over my shoulders to hair down to the middle of my waist.
michelle says
oh im so glad to see you love these! i bought them back when i first saw them in target (i buy pretty much everything goody makes in the color collection… oh yeah, dont waste your time on that big coil one.. at least for me, it wouldnt even go in my butt-length hair) and i literally keep them on me at all times, i have a pair of the regular size and recently bought the pack of mini ones (3 to a pack) but find the 3 minis dont hold my bun up as well as the 2 large. if i use the minis WITH the large ones they help for holding up messier bun styles which i prefer, they are also good for when i do a messy knot and always have like one loop that doesnt look right, i can use a pin to stick it where i want it. not a truly messy topknot since its been tampered with but hey, looks great! 🙂 have you tried any of the other color collection items? i got the updo pin, but again, butt-length hair just doesnt work with it. i have to use good ole hairsticks for those updos. i havent tried the poofy pony clip, it seems strange to have the clip on the outside of your hair (if im recalling the instructions correctly).
oh yeah… do you use the stay put elastics? ever since they came out years ago i havent touched another type of elastic… and they just recently changed them! they are “new and improved” and if you look, the rubber is wayyyy thinner. basically rendering them useless. i need at least 2 to hold up my knots and ponytails, and these new ones dont stretch as well and also dont have as much physical grip, the rubber doesnt stick out like it used to, its like they went from using round rubber strings to using flat rubber ribbons, you know what i mean? ugh! so now im trying to hunt down the “old style” black elastics in cvs’s and walmarts, to no luck so far! i am one sad panicked panda
michelle says
oh yeah and the spin pins are great for doing all sorts of braided bun looks. i love to do the mermaid style braid (low, messy, and to one side) and now i can use a spin pin or 2 to pin the braid into a super cute messy braided bun. love it! im gonna buy like 2 more sets of pins this payday 🙂