Anyone else dislike protective styling?

[Isadora Lewie]

I'm actively concentrating on growing my hair, for the first time in years, but I can't bear to wear it up. I do think that buns or updo's look nice on other people, I just prefer the wild untamed look on me.

I love love love having my hair down and would rather enjoy my hair than hide it away.

I don't use heat or products with drying ingredients and am really careful not to let my hair rub against anything.

Does anyone else prefer to leave their hair swinging free?

Did you find you got more broken ends or thinning? Would anyone else rather trade a few more splits for the joy of wearing their hair down?

[gnegirl]

I'd say let it go free, but be very aware of any split ends that need to be snipped... You may end up needing more, like a small trim eventually.

[Calista]

Well, if your ultimate goal is hip (would that be stretched or curly, btw?), you probably will be fine wearing your hair down most of the time. The longer your hair gets the more important it is to protect it from everyday wear and tear. And every little bit helps - so if you could bear to put it up for the ride to work you can take it down once you´re there. Beware of things that rip at your hair, like shoulder straps of backpacks, seatbelts, strong wind etc.

And of course the most important thing is that you enjoy your hair, so you ought to wear it whichever way you like it. But if you wear it down all the time you´ll miss out all the fun of cool hairtools like sticks or Ficcare clips.

[Isadora Lewie]

So true...

I do love hairsticks, and do a mean loose messy twist :-)

Best of both?

[rogue_psyche]

I'm with you too! I try to be good about putting it up when it should be, like when I'm being active, or if it's windy. It made me feel a little vindicated when I started buning my hair at work and would end up with crunchy, bent ends from the elastic I used to fasten the bun. I would switch to hairsticks but I'm frugal AND have simple taste so I couldn't find any plain wood hairsticks on the cheap.

[ravenreed]

I love my hair down more than up, however, I try to wear it up at home and when something is going on that might cause lots of tangles. My hair is so tangle prone! When I wear the wrong shirt, I end up with a huge mat in the back that usually needs to be at least partially snipped out. I always wear my hair down for something festive, though.

But yeah, if I had to pick 100% up or not getting the length I am after, the length would never happen.

[Isadora Lewie]

Ha, me too! I found some plain hairsticks once, then lost them (like gloves and umbrellas they seem to belong to the 'universe')

Hmm... wonder if you could sand down a chopstick and wax it for a cheap and minimalist aesthetic?

[longforhim]

I like wearing my hair down to, but I do put it up when I know I will be really active or the weather is bad out.

[halo_tightens]

Hmm... wonder if you could sand down a chopstick and wax it for a cheap and minimalist aesthetic?

Absolutely you can!!! It's been discussed before-- chopsticks, and also those little cuticle sticks from manicure sets, for mini-buns.

Another way to get simple sticks for cheap is the everythingchopsticks.com website. They have sticks in a wide range of prices, including some for only a couple of dollars.

[Themyst]

I'd much prefer to wear my hair down, it looks better on me that way. But my hair is thigh-length - any time you bend over to feed the cats/dogs/pick something up off the floor/get clothes out of the washer/dryer/put dishes away from the dishwasher/make dinner/scrub toilets/bathtubs etc. it would actually damage my hair more to leave it down and fly all over the place and get caught on things. So until I discover my long lost next-in-line Queen heritage and don't have to attend to daily, mundane housecleaning chores any longer, I must keep it bunned.

I did wear it down most of the time until I got to be about waist - I just kept one of those enormous jaw clips around to easily throw it up in if I needed it.