Ponytail Help!

[manderly]

I generally don't wear ponytails because I don't like how they end up looking on me.

It gives me "severe librarian" head with a ditzy cheerleader tail hanging off the back. Now, some love that, but it's not my cup of tea.

I just want a little fluff on top!

I can't figure out how to have my ponytail sit on my head and keep some lift on top like this:http://www.whosdatedwho.com/fashion/pictures/0L/11/11_large.jpg
http://www.xomba.com/files/images/jessica%20simpson%20ponytail.preview.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/beauty/1/5/u/j/nicolepony.JPG

The second is a bit more bouffanty than I'd like, but the first and last are pretty and they look natural, not like they were trying to poof their hair.

So......how do you DO that? Does it really involve 9000 pins and backcombing? Is there a hair-friendly way to do this? Help!!

And just because this popped up on my Google image search and I found it hilarious:
http://www.hji.co.uk/hjimages/images/qhs1699/hji/medium/1987-side-ponytail.jpg



http://keetsa.com/blog/diy/knit-ponytail-hat-diy/


Thanks for your help :flower:

[lady G]

For my hair (I have fine hair, thick hair may be easier to volumise) to get lift like that I have to back comb and use some hairspray or use velcro rollers the large variety and set with spray when they are taken out, now that I have my hair in a short bob though I don't mind a bit of back combing to get some volume etc as I know it is getting cut regularly but with long hair maybe save the hair wreckage techniques for special occasions!!! :)

[EvaSimone]

On the old LHC someone posted a tutorial about how to do a ponytail with some oomph. It basically consisted of taking a rat (you can buy them at Sally's), or some of your own hair near the crown of your head and twisting it under a bunch of times to make it poofy and then bobby pinning it to make it stay. Then you take a layer of hair from in front of the pinned hair and bring it over the poof you have created and then pin it. Then proceed with the ponytail. It was really simple and worked well for me. I would also leave some hair towards the front of my face so I could do a kind of side bang, it was really simple and cute.

The first and second pics that you posted look like they both used either some serious back combing or a rat.

I hope my instructions were clear enough, if they weren't please let me know and I'll try to clarify.

Good Luck! :)

[EvaSimone]

I found the video that the original poster used. Woohoo! She does a much better job showing how to do a ponytail with a pouf than my garbage explanation ever could! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz_oJf3sG6A

[manderly]

Thanks Eva Simone :D. I love pursebuzz (but god I hated her stripey hair).

I've tried this a couple of times and wasn't too successful, but I'm sure I can get better with practice. It only works for low ponytails though.

I can't seem to get the same effect with a higher ponytail. No matter what I do (tease, roll) when I pull it into a tail behind my head it flattens out my crown and it goes all severe on me.

[aisling]

I think one of the secrets about those ponytails are extensions.... The extensions go into the tail and your own, shorter hair, especially the one on the top, doesn't go into the ponytail and it's easy to fluff up. This also prevents us from seeing the base of the extensions :silly:

[bte]

That last one is a definite headache!

[Periwinkle]

You can get a similar effect by tying the ponytail then lifting it forwards (so you're basically grabbing it and pulling it forwards to the front of your head). When it flops back, it's uneven, and the hair flops around it, which creates a sort-of poofy effect and also relieves the stern-ness a bit.

ETA: Just remembered bumpits (http://bumpits.com/index.html) from another thread. They're quite expensive and most people thought they wouldn't hold without hairspray, but you might want to investigate. She mentions that her original idea used popsicle sticks, but I have no idea what those are, so I don't know if that helps. This (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4396&highlight=bumpits) is the thread where I saw them.

[Arctic]

I don't have advise on how to get poofy crown hair, but if you want the ponytail itself to be boofy, you can try reversed topsy tail, i.e. take the topsy tail from below of your ponytail to above (loop under the pony), and take the hair from below to above. They fan nicely and are bouffant. Sorry bad explanation :blushing:

[Curlsgirl]

What about doing a puff and then clipping it with a flattish longish skinny barette toward the back of it? I have seen a lot of girls do that here.

[bex487]

To get good height like that, I use a spray mousse (I like the Beyond the Zone one you can get at Sally's) and spray it right into my roots. I take a round brush and dry my hair with the brush. If you're worried about heat damage, you can wait until hair is almost dry and just use a blast of heat to seal in the volume. Then, loosely pull hair into a pony, making sure to leave some volume at the top.

[Periwinkle]

Another idea: you could also do what lots of people I know do (though on my it looks about as good as wearing a cowpat on your head): take the front part of your hair, then tie the rest back. Twist the front part a lot, then lay it flat back, as if it were tied. Then push it forwards, so that the untwisted bit at the front puffs up.

Or use alice bands: put the alice band in, push it forwards to get some height, then tie back behind it.

[goodenough]

I have a puff thing attatched to a barrette. It's called a poofdini. I like the way it looks, but I find I like it better if my ends are curled, because the ends are so straight and jagged right now. Anyway--the poofdini is cool, and you can use the puff attatched to any barrette, or use the special updo barrette without the poof.

[bex487]

Another idea: you could also do what lots of people I know do (though on my it looks about as good as wearing a cowpat on your yead): take the front part of your hair, then tie the rest back. Twist the front part a lot, then lay it flat back, as if it were tied. Then push it forwards, so that the untwisted bit at the front puffs up.

Ooh, this is a good technique, too! I have a hard time getting the "poof" part to lay towards the crown of my head versus the front of my head, but I do enjoy this style. It also looks great with the rest of your hair down, too.

[danacc]

Here are a couple of variations on pursebuzz's theme:

Fast forward about 1/3 of the way through this one, it has a long intro and a long prologue; the useful bit is in the middle: Poofy Messy Ponytail using a jaw clip and ponytail holder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNqr86zE7k)
Another variation: How to Poof + Ponytail using 2 bobby pins, a jaw clip, and a ponytail holder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0g0eL3SN9s&feature=related)The important part seems to be to use as thin a section as possible from the front for the poof. The rest of your hair needs to bear the weight of the ponytail. If any of the weight of the ponytail is on the poof, it will pull it flat.

Something else to try is to section off the front part that you will use to make the poof, and put the rest of your hair in the ponytail. Then twist and poof the front section, and pin it. Use the remaining length of the front/poof hair to wrap around the ponytail holder. Once wrapped, either pin the ends under or pull it through with a topsy-tail tool. This method would prevent the poof from bearing the weight of the ponytail since it isn't really part of it, but if the ponytail slides downward, it will still pull it flat.

[Arctic]

I tried the you tube- technique, and I couldn't make it work. I had too little hair for it and I have 2 annoying cowlicks at the crown, making the hair part :( I'll try some other tips here too. (I used to backcomb my crown area all the time before I started to grow my hair.) :shock:

[manderly]

I've successfully done the youtube video minus the pony. It's quite cute :D BF even approves.

I did a side pony at first but it was making me hot so I just let it be a half up. It's quite pretty.

I did some messing around last night and I used the crown hair on top separate from the pony and wrapped it, I think I used too much hair so it didn't come out very good. I'll keep trying :D

[Jen]

I do these styles regularly.

I'm trying to articulate what I do to avoid bullet head.

Uhm....ok...it's about the tension. Any place you have the full weight of your hair pulling on it wil flatten out. So if you sort of section off an area to be excluded fromt he ponytail...it won't be affected by the pull.

One way to accomplish this [for example] is to keep the topmost area of the crown "chunk" of hair clipped aside when you make your ponytail [regardless of where you want it to sit on your head...high or low..doesn't matter]. Then once you have your ponytale in place you can play with that top leftover chunk. You don't need to backcomb...you can use a pin, or a pretty clip, or simply leave is looser to the scalp than the rest. Once I have the basic look I want I usually take whatever is leftover and wind it around the ponytail base [around the elastic] to cover and blend it in.

Did that make any sense at all?

The whole issue became very easy for me to navigate nce I really "clicked" on the notion that I didn't have to be all or nothing in the style dept. I don't need to backcomb and spray in order to still utlize the basic METHODOLOGY of the style [ie dividing different parts of the hair into different parts of the style]

Hope that helped!

[pariate]

I'm with you on this Manderly! I usually just pin a small section at the front so that it sits a little proud of my scalp. Otherwise my ponytails make me look like I have a painted scalp rather than hair :? Reeeeeeeeally attractive... :lol:

I might try the rat substitute though, i.e. roll a section of hair, pin it and then pull the rest of the hair over the pinned section to give it some lift.