Advice on controlling long hair for job interviews?

[Orange]

I need advice on controlling my long hair for job interviews. I used to have short hair, but I started growing out my hair 18 months ago after I was laid-off and it is now waist long fine and straight. I've taught myself how to french braid my hair and can to make a nice bun out of a braided pony tail. The problem is I can only do stuff with my hair while it is still wet after being washed and conditioned. My hair is so fine and straight that I can’t braid it or put it up when it is dry because my hair sticks out, slips out, or falls apart. I’ve been volunteering my time so my hair style hasn’t been a big deal, but I have to go back to paid employment now and I either have to learn to control my hair or cut it

Washing & conditioning my hair every day is not an option as I have a dry skin and scalp. I have asthma so I can’t use hair spray. I've looked at shelves of styling products at the store and got completely overwhelmed. Are there products can I put on my dry hair so I can put it up/braid it and have it not slide out? Does that product build-up with use or have other consequences I should know about?

Thank you for your help!
Orange

[Shermie Girl]

If you want to do an updo or braid, try just drying your roots and crown and upper length, leaving your length and ends fairly damp. Add a bit of mousse or gel to give added control and a little "stick", then do your updo or braid and anchor or tie it off. Leaving it damp and adding a little product will give you the control you need and keep your updo or braid in place and you will still have the top and roots all nice and dry so that your hair looks good. overall.

This works for me when I need my hair to look it's best but have zero time to get it all dry and then fuss and fuss with it before I get out the door and it lasts all day.

[Orange]

I would actually like to get suggestions of which products to use. I’ve never bought mousse or gels and don’t know anything about them.

If there are some products that are better for hair than others then I would love to hear about them.

THanks
m

[Madora]

I need advice on controlling my long hair for job interviews. I used to have short hair, but I started growing out my hair 18 months ago after I was laid-off and it is now waist long fine and straight. I've taught myself how to french braid my hair and can to make a nice bun out of a braided pony tail. The problem is I can only do stuff with my hair while it is still wet after being washed and conditioned. My hair is so fine and straight that I can’t braid it or put it up when it is dry because my hair sticks out, slips out, or falls apart. I’ve been volunteering my time so my hair style hasn’t been a big deal, but I have to go back to paid employment now and I either have to learn to control my hair or cut it

Washing & conditioning my hair every day is not an option as I have a dry skin and scalp. I have asthma so I can’t use hair spray. I've looked at shelves of styling products at the store and got completely overwhelmed. Are there products can I put on my dry hair so I can put it up/braid it and have it not slide out? Does that product build-up with use or have other consequences I should know about?

Thank you for your help!
Orange

Well, you could slightly dampen your hair before you braid it, or put it up.

You don't say if your hair is layered or all one length. Layers will cause problems with stray hairs sticking up.

If worse comes to worse, you could use a tiny bit of coconut oil to help tame those strays. In the long run, however, you're going to have to learn to deal with your hair in another way..i.e. securing it differently (with crimped hairpins instead of hairsticks/forks).

If you still feel you need to style while your hair is wet, then maybe this might appeal to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ


Good luck!

[spidermom]

Since you can french braid, that sounds like the best current option. You can always mist it if it's easier to handle while damp.

[ladyshep]

I have asthma as well. Biolage doesn't bother me, but it might for some others. It's hard to say.

[torrilin]

IME, mousse or gel won't actually help fine and straight hair to stay up. I'm not sure why stylists recommend it for updos honestly, because it doesn't make things easier.

What does help is technique.

1. In my late teens and early 20s, I was so hair incompetent that I also could only put my hair up wet. And my skin is dry, so I couldn't handle daily washing with shampoo. Still can't. But adding some conditioner to my hair every time I got it wet? Totally doable. At the time I used a cheap silicones free conditioner that made my hair easy to detangle and that worked well as a leave in conditioner on my hair. For a lot of long haired people, a conditioner that works well when left in is a useful styling tool.

2. The typical magazine advice for fine hair is to use small bobby pins. This is a load of junk. I would use huge roller pins in my 20s, because bobby pins just got spat right out. Nowadays, I use the scunci plastic U pins or Goody's regular sized spin pins most often. Other sorts of large U pins like a bent knitting needle or Bunhead 3" pins might also work. Or you can go LHC style and use hair sticks and forks, but in fine hair you may want relatively small and light sticks or forks. I had a lot of trouble learning to use forks. I have yet to master using clips like a Ficcare or barrettes like a Flexi-8. The one time where I find the magazine small tool advice useful is with claw clips, where I use the very small sizes to clip buns to my head. My hair laughs and slithers out of a larger single clip used the way a medium or coarse person might.

3. Practice. By age 22, I was wearing my hair up every day as a normal thing. When you do something every day, you get good at it. After a few years of this, I got to the point where I could put my hair up dry.

I do find gel to be helpful for having fewer of my short baby hairs sticking out. Any alcohol free gel should work ok. ATM I'm using a walgreens knockoff of LA Looks gel, mostly because with fine and straightish hair I couldn't imagine using up a jug of LA Looks, but the walgreens store brand version came in a "sample size" tube that I could imagine using up. Still can't imagine using up a big jug :P. For a sleek look, I'd expect to use a dime sized blob or less to slick everything down after my hair is up.

While I know you say your hair isn't curly, when I found LHC, I found that a lot of the things I'd worked out on my own for my hair are considered "curly" techniques. So I started checking out the curly hair focused threads, and while not all curly techniques work for me, a lot do.

[katsrevenge]

Mostly practice... and maybe spin pins.
Try dampinging your hair. Texturizing products help too.
Stuff like this:
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/gar...332157-product

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/got...376117-product

Use a tiny bit on the parts that like to slip when damp. Less is more... I've had a jar for several years now. (It helps that the better I got, the less the braids moved about.)

[Orange]

But adding some conditioner to my hair every time I got it wet? Totally doable. At the time I used a cheap silicones free conditioner that made my hair easy to detangle and that worked well as a leave in conditioner on my hair. For a lot of long haired people, a conditioner that works well when left in is a useful styling tool.

I’ll admit it: I was a tomboy all my life, only had older brothers and never played with my hair at all. I need basic help. LOL

For example if I got a call for an interview and they had a slot open in an hour. If I wanted to put up my dry hair for the interview now, it currently wouldn’t stay up or look smooth. To use your advice, how would I first moisten it with a mixture of water/conditioner? Spray it before I put it up?

I do find gel to be helpful for having fewer of my short baby hairs sticking out. Any alcohol free gel should work ok. ATM I'm using a walgreens knockoff of LA Looks gel, mostly because with fine and straightish hair I couldn't imagine using up a jug of LA Looks, but the walgreens store brand version came in a "sample size" tube that I could imagine using up. Still can't imagine using up a big jug :P. For a sleek look, I'd expect to use a dime sized blob or less to slick everything down after my hair is up.

So you use gel to smooth down baby hair that are on the the top/sides of your head?

THank you!
Orange

[afu]

could you try dampening hair (maybe just with water in a spray bottle) and then applying a little bit of coconut oil. The dampness will make it more managable for you and the coconut oil should add a bit of grip (it does for me anyway). I personally try to avoid having loads of products everywhere, i have a regular cone-free conditioner and a tub of coconut oil and that does everything for my hair without the need for all sorts of branded products and potions. My advice is to start with the simplest options first and try not to overcomplicate things