How to Stop Hair Clips Slipping: 3 Easy Hacks for Fine Hair

Can Hair Clips stay securely in Fine Hair without Sliding?

If you're struggling with fine hair, and yet you'd love to wear hair clips, don't despair. There are 3 simple hacks that you'll love to have up your sleeve - and yes - they will keep those hair clips firmly in place. You can say goodbye to slipping and sliding!

If there's one thing I hear time and again from customers at my John Lewis Pop Up Shops, it's this: "I love hair clips, but they just won't stay in my hair." And honestly? I know the frustration only too well - because for years, I had exactly the same problem.

As someone with fine, flat hair, I struggled to make statement hair clips stay in place. I created a beautiful range of large hair clips for my thick haired customers, and I wanted to wear statement hair clips too!

I'd pop one in, feel a surge of joy at the "main character" vibes, and then watch it slowly slide out within the hour.

It was so frustrating that I stopped wearing many of my own hair clips altogether - which, as a hair accessories designer, is rather ironic!

But once I teamed up with a hair stylist, and discovered a few clever styling tricks, everything changed. You can see me in the photo above, wearing my favourite star hair clip without fear of slippage!

Now I can wear any hair clip - large or small hair clips, heavy or light - and I know my hair clip will stay put all day and all night.

I want to share these hacks with you, because I've felt that frustration, and because I want you to know that you don't need to miss out on wearing beautiful hair barrettes, just because you've got slippery hair!

Why Do Hair Clips Slip Out of Fine Hair?

Fine hair has a naturally smooth, silky texture - which is lovely in many ways, but it does mean there's very little for a hair clip to grip onto - even a secure hair clip. Without any texture or friction in the hair, even the tightest barrette will work its way loose over the course of the day. The good news is that once you understand why it's happening, the fixes are delightfully straightforward.

It's simply a question of adding that texture and friction onto your hair, in the place you want your hair clip to sit. 

3 Proven Hacks for All Day Hold

Does Dry Shampoo Help Hair Clips Stay In?

Before we talk about hair clips, let's start with the simplest texture trick in the book: dry shampoo. Fine hair is slippery hair, and dry shampoo is the quickest way to change that. A quick spritz at the roots and through the mid-lengths gives your hair the grip it's been missing, creating a much more secure base for any clip.

Hack 1: How Do You Keep a Small Hair Clip in Place?

Once you've added your dry shampoo, take a single kirby grip (also known as a kirbigrip, or bobby pin if you're in the US!) and slide it into your hair just behind the ear, on the side where you'd like to wear your barrette. You can see in the photo below, I've positioned the kirby grip exactly where I'd like to wear my small hair clip. 

Now take your small pearl hair barrette and clip it directly over the top, positioning it just above and in front of the kirby grip. The grip underneath acts as a little anchor, giving the barrette something to hold onto rather than sliding against smooth, fine hair.

This is such a simple hack - just one kirby grip or bobby pin - and yet it makes the most enormous difference. I wish I'd known about it years ago! It really is so easy to implement. 

The result is a delicate, elegant look that stays put all day. The rose gold pearl hair clip is a classic choice here - understated, chic, and endlessly versatile.

Hack 2: How Do You Stop a Large Hair Clip from Slipping?

For a larger, statement hair clip - think a show-stopping crystal barrette - a single kirby grip (or bobby pin) simply won't cut it. But don't worry, because this hack is just as straightforward, and the results are absolutely stunning.

For this style, you're going to create a half up hairstyle and use four kirby grips (bobby pins) to build a really secure base for your clip.
Take the top section of your hair as you would for a half up style, and before you add your clip, place two kirby grips on the left side at the very back of the head, and two kirby grips on the right side - four in total, arranged symmetrically. Slide them in close together so they create a little nest of grip just where you want your clip to sit.

Now take your large hair clip and secure it over the top of the kirby grips, sliding it through both the upper and lower sections of hair so that it holds the half up style in place. The kirby grips beneath act as a secure foundation, and the clip has something to truly anchor itself to.

The difference is night and day. Your statement hair clip will sit beautifully - no slipping, no sliding, no adjusting every five minutes. Just a gorgeous, glamorous half up hairstyle that stays exactly where you put it.

Our silver hair clip in rhinestone adds that statement finishing touch, and is unbeaten for gentle shimmer.

This is my go-to hack for big events like weddings and parties, where you need your hair to look perfect from the ceremony all the way through to the last dance.

Hack 3: What's the Best Way to Keep a Hair Clip Secure All Night?

Here's another wonderful hack for wearing a statement hair clip - and this one is particularly brilliant if you're heading out the door in ten minutes, and you don't have any of those kirby grips to hand!

Start by creating a simple half up ponytail, securing the top section of your hair with a neutral coloured hair elastic. You don't need to do anything fancy here - just a neat, secure ponytail will do.

Now take your large hair clip and slide it directly over the hair elastic, positioning it so that it sits over the tie and covers it completely. The elastic holds the hair firmly in place, and the clip sits right on top of it, giving it a completely secure anchor.

This style has the added benefit that you can tighten the elastic upwards, and manoeuvre your large hair clip into exactly the spot on the crown of your head that you'd like. 

The result looks effortlessly chic - a polished half up hairstyle with a gorgeous crystal clip at the crown - and absolutely nobody will know there's a humble hair elastic doing all the hard work underneath!

This hack means you can genuinely wear your large hair clip with complete confidence - dancing the night away, hugging friends hello, or rushing for the last train home. It. Will. Not. Move.

How can I get more volume in my Fine Hair using a hair clip?

Each of the 3 Hacks above can help create volume in your fine hair.

Hack 1 - where we used dry shampoo, and secured the hair clip at the side with a bobby pin adds definition to your hairstyle. When you pin the hair back at one side, it creates the illusion of thickness on the other side as an added bonus. 

Hack 2 - where we secured the hair in a half up hairstyle with kirbigrips, works well to create crown volume, if you try a little back-combing before you smooth and pin the hair in place. 

Hack 3 - where we use a ponytail holder to secure the hair in a half up hairstyle can also create crown lift. Backcomb the area before you create your ponytail, and then smooth the hair back and tie with the elastic. For the final volume hack, you can tighten the ponytail, which pushes hair up at the crown. 

These tricks prevent the hair clip pulling your hair down, and so they help with volume and crown lift in fine hair. 

Can Fine Hair Really Hold Hair Clips in Place?

I spent years thinking that fine hair and statement hair clips simply weren't compatible - and I want you to know that this simply isn't true!

With a little preparation (hello, dry shampoo!) and the right tricks, fine hair can hold any clip beautifully.

Whether you're reaching for a delicate pearl barrette for a daytime look, or a dazzling crystal clip for a special occasion, there is a hack here that will work for you.

These are the tricks I've shared at my Pop Up Shops with thousands of women, and the reaction is always the same: a look of pure delight when they realise that the clips they thought weren't "for them" actually look absolutely stunning in their hair - and stay there.

Give these a try, and do let me know how you get on!

Do email me any styling photos amanda@queenmee.com, or tag me on Instagram @queenmee_accessories. I'd love to see how you wear your hair accessories!

If you'd like to get some more styling ideas, try my Free Easy Hairstyles Cheat Sheet. Just enter your details below!
With love and thanks, Amanda X