How to successfully wear my hair down?

[teal]

I tried to search, so please forgive me if there's another thread like this one, but searching for "wear hair down" becomes a search for "wear hair" for some reason. :mad:

Anyway, my hair is past tailbone, on the lower end of average circumference and strand thickness, and 2b wavy. The last few inches have old damage that is easily managed with a dab of oil. I wear it up with sticks or spin pins 95% of the time. 4.99% of the time I put it into a high pony with either elastics at intervals down the length or a free braid secured at the other end. While I'm quite happy to wear it up, I want to find ways to wear it down more than 0.01% of the time, partly for me - I want to enjoy it in all its glory! - and also because I think DH would really dig it and he's been so supportive of me growing my hair. I want him to enjoy it too, and not just at "those" times if you catch my drift.

The main complicating factors are that I have two young and active boys, and I really don't like hair around or on my face. I got rid of my bangs at age 11 or so because of this. In fact, when I was about 4 I cut my own bangs (very unevenly and with safety scissors, ha!) because they were bugging me; I didnt want to wait for the hairdresser appointment. The hair is wispy and gets picked up with the wind, and because it's long and wavy it's like it has those pea vine tendrils... it grabs at everything, sometimes when I'm still walking! I'm also a physical person - I don't do well with constraints like clothing where the range of motion is limited, and I would chafe at a hairstyle with the same requirements. I can manage combing out tangles from time to time, though.

Please tell me I'm not a lost cause! :cool: How do you wear your hair down without it either getting into everything or annoying you into putting it up?

[neko_kawaii]

I've found that headbands or half ups help with keeping it out of my face, so if I plan to wear my hair down I do that.

[HintOfMint]

Headbands, bobby pins and the like help for keeping hair off your face (obvious answer) so there's that.

I have tailbone length wavy hair that tangles easily but I don't really do anything special to wear it down. I just remember to use a little product (oil, serum whatever) and comb out using my fingers every so often. Maybe some product would help give it some weight so it doesn't float so much?
I try to keep it up when I'm outdoors (wind, purse straps, backpack straps, walking in general jostling my hair) and let it down once I'm inside. But really, I just don't have a very active lifestyle.

[melusine963]

No useful advice, but I'll be watching this thread. My hair sounds very similar to yours and I also haven't found a good way to wear it down.

[Jenny31557]

If you want your hair out of your face, you could maybe do a braided headband. (maybe Dutch lace) I think it looks really pretty.

[jacqueline101]

You can try those snap clips.

[nobeltonya]

90% of the time, I wear my hair down. I've found that regularly oiling at night [every other now that it's hot] and using a leave-in conditioner have really helped significantly. It also helps that I have increasingly coarse hair. I also have 2 highly active little boys, and they like to pull my hair >:X and play with it, and it gets caught in things, although that's more of a rarity nowadays b/c I'm more aware of it from always wearing it down. I also wash it every morning w/regular sulfate shampoo and lots of moisturizing conditioner. :disco:

[Quixii]

I basically never ever wear my hair 100% down, because I can't stand hair in my face. If I want to wear my hair "down," I'll grab the two sections of hair closest to my face, and pull them back into a ponytail or something similar. So they don't actually go up, and are still "down" with the rest of my hair, but they can't get in my face as easily.

[starlamelissa]

I do half ups to keep my hair from flying everywhere. I'm at butt crack, so I feels ya. Plus I also have small children.

[jeanniet]

Jaw clips or small barrettes to pull back the front sections. It doesn't take a lot to keep the hair from falling in your face (which also drives me crazy if I'm trying to do anything). Another trick is to take two sections from underneath your hair, bring them out and over your hair like a loose ponytail, and then use a jaw clip or barrette at the back to hold them. This works really well to keep the hair back, and it looks pretty too. I don't do half-ups all that often, but I do these two things all the time.

[10000days]

You could also take one section of hair from each side of your part near the front of your face (the 'fringe' part) and secure it under all of your hair like a make-shift headband.

[socks]

My hair is just ridiculous when I wear it down. It goes everywhere and catches on everything. A braid is the closest I can come to wearing it down without it driving me nuts, and even a braid can sometimes get annoying.

[Quahatundightu]

Definitely half ups! It looks really nice if you braid the tail of the half up. Other than that I always find it just takes getting used to having hair doen. Since I now tie it up most of the time I get annoyed much faster with it in my face and going everywhere. When I wore myhair down almost all the time I barely noticed it, I guess I was just used to it? So maybe if you wear it down more often you will also get more used to the sensation and it might not drive you so crazy :)

[Carolyn]

When my hair was hip length and longer I came to realize I had to pick my times to wear it down. I tried to plan ahead. I only ever wear my hair down on a day that I wash it. That alone limits me to maybe 3 possible down days a week. If it's a windy day it's impossible to have it down. I would try to pick a day when I was going out with my girlfriends or going to the mall. I hate hair in my face too so I like to use a very narrow plastic headband to keep it out of my face. My hair is a little above waist now and much easier to wear down. It doesn't tangle like it used to and it doesn't get into everything. I'm going to stop growing longer once it gets to that stage again.

[Bagginslover]

half ups, leave-ins to help combat the light whispyness, and curls! Curls will make your hair clump together, and help to keep it out of your way. Use an overnight heat-free method ideally, with a leave-in that will help it set (coconut oil really helps me ;) ). Clumpy hair moves far less than straight, or wavy, as the hairs can seperate more easily in those hairtypes, Even braid waves in my hair will help keep it more under control :)

[teal]

Ooh, thank you all for such great ideas! I'll be trying them out and will update with results!


Maybe some product would help give it some weight so it doesn't float so much?

Do you have any recommendations? Because I don't have a ton of hair, product in the past has just caused my hair to become a lank mess. It's lik there's no in between!


When I wore myhair down almost all the time I barely noticed it, I guess I was just used to it? So maybe if you wear it down more often you will also get more used to the sensation and it might not drive you so crazy :)

There is something to this, definitely! :) It's just so hard not to tie it up when the annoyance factor gets to a certain level! :p


When my hair was hip length and longer I came to realize I had to pick my times to wear it down. I tried to plan ahead.

I'm thinking this will have to be the case with me as well. I currently hardly think about planning for hairstyles, so this will take some adjustment.

[AnqeIicDemise]

Here are some options:

Bandana waves to eat up length (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/bandana-waves/)

Not quite 'loose' or 'down' but its a faux pony. (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/faux-short-pony-tail/) I do this one sometimes when I want to wear it loose ish but I need it up and out of the way for the most part. I mean, I get annoyed with all the weight rubbing up against my neck sometimes, so this is a nice alternative to the usual pony.

Sea shell half up. (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/shell-bun/) Half ups are nice too. I get to show off the length but without so much weight against the nape of my neck. It makes it cooler somehow.

braided headband (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/braided-headband/) I haven't quite tried this one yet, because I keep forgetting. But I intend to do so with a 'wider' headband. And by 'trying' I mean, wearing it all day. I've practiced it before right before bed and with a wide enough section I feel the 'napeless' cool that I keep referring to.

Yet another half up that eats up a lot of length (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/the-cecily-half-up/)

Bandana Curls (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/bandana-curls-or-rag-curls-for-long-hair/) Again: it eats up a lot of length

I think the key is to have a style that eats up length so its a)more manageable and b) cooler.

You can virtually do just about any variation by combining some or all of these techniques. :D

[lapushka]

Half-ups, I think, are helpful, and not something you want to hear, probably, but cutting to a more manageable length (waist, hip) might do the trick.

[Misty'sMess]

No advice sorry—I have the same problem with long straight hair that likes to escape when I wear it down. Yesterday I gave in and bought an anti-frizz spray that's supposed to help tame hair. Hopefully this will help.

Half-up works to keep hair out of my face, but it doesn't stop my hair knotting or frizzing. That being said, I like the idea of the braided hairband. I will definitely try that tomorrow :)