Help Please: wisps, flyaways, gel, hairspray and keeping it tidy!

[Loviatar]

Hello everyone,

so finally I can now put my virgin hair up in a bun with a stick! It has to be damp to go up at the moment though so the stick needs to be metal or acrylic (see photo).

But I have a lot of not quite grown out layers from my old pixie, and as a result I have a ton of wisps and flyaways. The majority as you can see in the pic are held up at the back with two black sleepy clips. However the ones that bother me most are my bangs layers. They are nose length and drive me insane especially for work (I'm a student midwife and have to have my hair up and off my face.)

I have been doing basic ponytails for the past few months and using Elnett hairspray to keep the wisps neat and off my face, which I hate as it dries my hair out and it stinks, or aloe gel which doesn't hold on a windy day (plus they both dry crunchy, which is disgusting to me). Has anyone got any tips for what I could use instead, other than lots of bobby pins or an Alice band (not comfortable as I wear glasses so already have something tucked behind my ears)?

Damp cinnabun Photo:

[Syren_Curls]

A few things I did while growing out my bangs during that unpleasant phase included bobby pinning them straight back or to one side, but always with a bit of a pouf. Doing that only required 2-3 pins since the section of hair was gathered together for the pouf. I also did twists, lace, or dutch braids with them and varied that to either side (a few inches past ear) or the center of my head. That again only required a tiny butterfly clip or 1-2 bobby pins for me. I made sure wherever I secured them was comfortable and out of the way.

In terms of products, I never used hair spray or a commercial gel. Most days, I was fine styling the hair like I described above. Every so often, I could use a tiny touch of oil to smooth the hair that was sticking up a bit all around. I was very careful with this though ;-) Plain water to smooth down also helped, as did dry shampoo some days. I tend to use fsg over avg so maybe trying that would leave less of a crunch.

HTH

[lapushka]

A headband would be the best, and your clippies in back aren't bad either. Do you have more to cover the front?

About Elnett. I think they sell an unscented version, at least in the US they do, and regardless it's pretty good stuff for hairspray!

[two_wheels]

As mentioned on another thread, lace braids!!!

Or that thing where you twist a section at the front, and keep adding sections and twisting, that looks very neat but you may need to spray it as you're presumably active all day.

Also, if you're crafty and like the look, you could probably crochet or knit a headband with shaping at the ears to leave room for glasses. I've never tried so it might be a horrible idea... Or who knows, it could be the next big thing!

[Firefox7275]

My wavy flyaways and hairs that are too short to reach a bun are way more well behaved with conditioner only washing than they ever were with shampoo.

Otherwise thin fabric headbands (like large no snag elastics) shouldn't interfere with your glasses as a hard Alice band would, and you can purchase them in neutral colours. I suspect you will find most styling products with hold will be somewhat crunchy or increase friction so potentially damage hair when you brush it out. Growing out my fringe/ bangs I did the same as Syren_Curls and did a pouf with kirby grips/ bobby pins.

[Crystawni]

My daughter, who wears glasses and also needs her fringe out of the way with both hospitality and nursing, has had success with one of these, which comes in tortoiseshell and black:



We got it from Target here in Australia, but not sure who makes them. Maybe Scunci? But it's flexible, disappears into your hair colour-and-size-wise, and hooks up onto itself.

[spidermom]

I agree with a lace braids to contain the growing out bangs. Wrapping my damp hair with a scarf for awhile helps a lot to make the flyaways lay down. I have also used styling wax, pomade, or putty. A tiny bit goes a long way.

[kidari]

Everyone has some really great suggestions! I'd like to add that you could always fold and tie a scarf or bandana or something similar to hold everything in place. Also, I've found that waxes and pomades can really help with providing some hold. It's similar to using the tiniest dab of oil. I've made my own before by combining things like beeswax and oils but prefer the texture and hold I get from "strong hold" styling wax. However, it wouldn't be enough to hold back bangs that fall out of a ponytail or bun. For that it would probably be best to braid it out of the way, use clips, bobby pins, hair bands, or a scarf to hold them out of the way.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I got the Shea Moisture Curling Gel Souffle yesterday and found out very quickly that it works extremely well for taming flyaways. You only need a little tap from the surface of the product, so a tub should last you an extremely long time!

[eadwine]

Damp cinnabun Photo:

Is this one of those clear stick Eaduard has in his shop?