Standard shedding rate for healthy shoulder length hair

[qijino1236]

Hi, I am a transgender woman and have not taken any hormones yet. I was just wondering what is a standard shedding rate for relatively healthy hair? I About 1-1.5 months ago my hair reached a length that I could finally put it in a high ponytail and ponytail and put it in a banana clip. I am afraid though in the excitement of finally feeling more feminine by being able to do this I may have damaged my hair through stretching. That is why I am wondering what the standard shedding rate for healthy shoulder length hair. I may or may not be just paranoid though. When I first was able to put it in a ponytail I tied the ponytail band really tight(no metal though, I made sure of that) and that was about a month/month and a half ago, some front hair would still escape though. 1-1.5 months later I am not tieing the ponytail band as tight but now that I am not tieing it as tight my front hairs come out and I keep having to put bobby pins in every 15 mins and it looks a mess after about an hour. Lately some hairs seems to be falling in my hand in front while combing and I am starting to get worried. I really want to style my hair but not at the cost of losing hair. Any advice on anything I said in this post or different less damaging methods I could use for styling my hair? I am sort of afraid of hair spray and haven't used cause I have heard that damages your hair so I try styling with hair toys. Is there a specific part of my hair I could take a picture of in order for someone on here to determine if I am just paranoid or not?

[cathair]

My hair a little longer than shoulder length, I loose anywhere between 30 and 250 hairs day. This doesn't worry me, I think this is a fairly normal amount of shedding. If you are used to have shorter hair I can understand it may be slightly disturbing, because you just don't noticed this shedding on shorter hair so much. Shorter hairs are less easily found on the floor and in the shower. It's a little bit tedious, but if you are worried count them and please do report back. You may find that it looks worse than it actually is :)

Unless you take each stand and individually pull on it, so long as it is dry and not over mositured (which is pretty hard to do if I am honest), you probably won't damaage it from stretching. You may however find that you get breakage around where the hair band sits next to your head, even when they are metal free hair bands. I also find like you, that if I put my hair in tight ponytail, so it is very smooth again my head, you may loose some hair around your parting at the front. This is one of the reason I stopped putting my hair in ponytails, it's dark so it is quite obvious if I loose hair there. Although I really enjoy a high ponytail, much like you :) I do miss them.

I imagine if you have just been able to get it in a ponytail you won't be able to twist it yet to get it into a bun. Perhaps you could put it up with hair pins until it is long enough to twist, when you need it to be up? I have to say though, if my hair were a little shorter, I would enjoy wearing down as much as I could :) This will become harder to manage as it increased in length, due to tangling and having to try to protect it.

Hair coming out when you are combing is quite normal unless it is litterally finger sized chunks. I also read somewhere that the longer you hair gets, the less it will actually shed. I think this was to do with the roots of longer hair having get stronger to hold the extra weight. So it may improve as it gets longer.

Lots of people seem to find that if conditioner is used near their scalp this will make them shed more, myself included. I don't comb my hair much so most of the shedding I notice is in the shower and it is *always* after I have used conditioner. Try to keep conditioner to the outter layers and ends, so that it does not touch your scalp.

This is a picture of a very average shower shed of mine with all the hairs seperated out, http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=10993&attachmentid=2699 I hope you can see the image and it will make you feel a little more relaxed.

Lovely to hear you are enjoying your hair so much, good luck with your transition :)

[jeanniet]

Average shed rate is around 50-100 hairs a day, but that can depend on the individual and hair thickness as well. My hair is fairly thick and I shed on the high end of normal. Many people also have seasonal sheds where they may lose quite a bit more hair than normal for a few weeks or so. I just got done with my summer shed, and during it I'd guess I was shedding twice what I am now. Some people find that conditioner on the scalp makes them shed more, but many people feel conditioner only washes make them shed less. One thing I would check is if the hairs you're losing are actual shed hairs or broken. Check to see if there is a tiny bulb at one end--this is the hair root and would indicate a shed hair. No root, especially shorter hairs, are indicative of breakage. If you find many of these, you should look at how you're putting your hair up and how you're detangling it.

I don't think length has any effect on shed rate for most people. I shed the same whether my hair is 3" or 30" long. Of course, when it's longer it looks like there's more shedding!

[Louise148]

My hair's at shoulder length and very fine and thin but I barely shed anything (thankfully....otherwise I would have even thinner hair). I'd say somedays as little as 5-10 and on others maybe up to 30 at a push. I think people with a lot of hair shed more than those of us with a lot less.

[jacqueline101]

I think thicker hair sheds more at shoulder I didn't shed, arm pit still no shed, and bra strap shed second time at bra strap shed. I think certain lengths has more sheds too. My hair has also thickened up since starting my hair journey.

[qijino1236]

Thank you so much cathair, jeanniet, Louise, and jacqueline for all the helpful responses. Cathair I always use conditioner only on the ends. I have heard somewhere to only use shampoo at scalp and not at the ends??...I mean I do shampoo only at the scalp but my hair is only shoulder length currently and so the shampoo ends up at the ends anyway. Cathair, I have never used hair pins but thank you for that advice. Can you use a hairpins as a larger more stronger bobbypin? I end up putting way to much bobby pins in my hair as my hair falls out. And I think maybe the putting in and taking out of bobbypins maybe damaging my hair too but I can't be sure. What kind of hairpins do you use? I am pretty trying to find any hair toy that I can keep up my hair/or style without damaging it too much. I thought I would post some pics to show what exactly is happening to my ponytails after an hour or so....

here is what it is like in a regular ponytail when I first put my hair up in a ponytail...
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/Before-regularponytail_zpsf91fe743.jpg

here is what it is like in a regular ponytail after about 1-2 hours of activity...
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/After-regularponytail_zpsb20f761d.jpg

here is what it is like in a high ponytail when I first put it up in a high ponytail...
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/Before-highponytail_zpsf148063c.jpg

here is what it is like in a high ponytail after about 1-2 hours of activity... not bad as reg ponytail...but the back hairs are all fallen down and a sometimes front hairs fall out too:
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/After-highpnytail_zps4ba7b081.jpg

Finally I am just going post some pictures of my hair ends... Do my hairs ends look quite damaged or is this normal...do my hair ends look damaged enough to require a trim? I hope not...I really like the ability to get feminine styles and I don't know if I could stand the wait again. But if it has to be done it has to be done:
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/Hairdamagedquestionmark_zps9b603fa3.jpg
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/DSCI0124_zpsc2b58b47.jpg
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/DSCI0126_zpsd7f09577.jpg
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/DSCI0125_zpsd35352e1.jpg

I have been doing body feminization exercises for the last 2 months and I do ab crunches and other exercises that has my hair on the floor. What would be the best way to wear my hair to prevent damage while doing ab crunches and other hair on floor exercises?...I am assuming a high ponytail but I'll ask the question anyways:).

Thanks again to all that responded ...I really appreciate the helpful advice :).

[Kaelee]

Put the top half in a pony (like a half up) and then gather ALL of it (including your half-up) into a low pony. It looks awesome and holds really well at that awkward length. :D

[qijino1236]

Wow Kaelee...thank you so much... I don't feel any stretching on my hair at all! I wasn't sure what you meant by half up ponytail at first but I looked up in google "half up ponytail" and found this: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Half-up-Half-Down-Ponytail. I followed the first 4 steps and then finished in the way I thought you explained the rest. Is this how it is supposed to look after finished? >>>

http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/DSCI0133_zpsdcb975b5.jpg

Thank you so much for the help :) Hug :)

I did have a question though relating to this style. I seem to have very hard time separating layers with my hair.Tried with a comb like in step 2 of the halfup tutorial...http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Half-up-Half-Down-Ponytail and I ended up breaking one of my hairs. I ended up using a rectangular cushion brush(I think it is called a styling brush but I'm not sure if that's the same thing) to separate as best as I could. Any advice on the best combs/brushes/hair tools to use in order to seperate hair into layers for the half-up/low ponytail?

Once again...love this very feminine style and thank you for the info. Hopefully this will reduce the stretching, hair falling down, perhaps damaging my hair??? problems I have been having ever since my hair grew long enough. :)

[Firefox7275]

Hi, I am a transgender woman and have not taken any hormones yet. I was just wondering what is a standard shedding rate for relatively healthy hair? I About 1-1.5 months ago my hair reached a length that I could finally put it in a high ponytail and ponytail and put it in a banana clip. I am afraid though in the excitement of finally feeling more feminine by being able to do this I may have damaged my hair through stretching. That is why I am wondering what the standard shedding rate for healthy shoulder length hair. I may or may not be just paranoid though. When I first was able to put it in a ponytail I tied the ponytail band really tight(no metal though, I made sure of that) and that was about a month/month and a half ago, some front hair would still escape though. 1-1.5 months later I am not tieing the ponytail band as tight but now that I am not tieing it as tight my front hairs come out and I keep having to put bobby pins in every 15 mins and it looks a mess after about an hour. Lately some hairs seems to be falling in my hand in front while combing and I am starting to get worried. I really want to style my hair but not at the cost of losing hair. Any advice on anything I said in this post or different less damaging methods I could use for styling my hair? I am sort of afraid of hair spray and haven't used cause I have heard that damages your hair so I try styling with hair toys. Is there a specific part of my hair I could take a picture of in order for someone on here to determine if I am just paranoid or not?

Daily ponytails, especially tight ones can be damaging over time, they can either cause hair to break off through stretching or pulled out at the roots (eventually traction alopecia). But honestly the second you stop your hair will start to recover, mine did and I was abusing my hair for many years not a couple months.

It's normal to have some shorter hairs around the face, if you want your edges to lie down you can use natural gels that will not damage your hair like aloe vera, flaxseed or okra (last two you can DIY). Don't brush hair that is sticky or damp, if you re-wet to reactivate the gel use the flat of your hand to smooth. Personally I think some loose baby hairs look really pretty, feminine and soft - you don't want to look like a librarian or you are in the army (by which I mean the look is intended to be professional not cute). And as your hair grows you won't have clumps slipping out of the band.

From the photographs you look to have healthy, naturally slippy straight hair that loves to do Mission Impossible style escapes! You might consider wrapping your hair in a super fine silk or satin scarf whilst you are exercising, so there is no stress on one spot as with a ponytail band (even no snag elastics unfortunately) and your hair is not rubbing on your mat. Save your cute ponytails for when you are socialising or at work: or wear a elastic satin ribbon Alice band/ microfibre sweat band to hold the strays out of your face.

[qijino1236]

Thanks for the advice and the hair gel/toy suggestions firefox. I will look into those for exercising and keeping the hair up :)
I'm gonna wear this new ponytail style for a little while today though(and at social occasions/work), I like it a lot.

[jeanniet]

It looks like you have very slippery hair, so I can see why it wouldn't stay in a ponytail very well. Your ends look pretty decent, from what I can tell from the pictures. You're just at a really difficult length, even without having slippery hair. You might try experimenting with barrettes or claws. I personally don't like bobby pins because I think they're damaging. I also don't like snap clips or barrettes with french backs. I wear barrettes with what's called a "tige boule" back, which is basically a plain metal back that closes over the hair and fastens on a little ball. France Luxe makes some very nice ones, although they're expensive: http://www.franceluxe.com/c/tigeBoule/tigeBoule.html. You might be able to find tige boule clasps at a Claire's--I don't live near a mall, so I've never been in a Claire's (do they have them in malls?). The tige boule clasps never catch my hair and are very gentle. I also use small claw clips to pull my hair back, and larger claws to do half-ups.

I think high ponys can be more damaging, because they're tighter at the hairline and also tighter where they're fastened. I only do looser ponytails with a fold-over elastic tie, but I don't think that would work for you because of your slippery hair. I think you'll just have to do some experimentation. There's lots of youtube videos to help--search for "styles for shoulder length hair," for example. I'm pretty cloddy at hair styling, so I really need a video to follow if I'm trying anything new.

[Anje]

Your hair looks pretty good to me so far. Quite thick, too, so I imagine it would shed more than someone with thin hair would shed. As has been said before, as your hair gets longer, normal shedding amounts make bigger piles of hair, so it can be weird at first.

Do make sure that you're not pulling your hair back too tight. Facelift updos are not OK and can cause hairloss. A few bobby pins on the sections that come loose can keep them from falling down so much. They'll grow out in a few months, though. Wearing hair secured the same way all the time can also cause problems, but that's much more of a concern when your hair is, say, waist length. When you're at shoulder, you pretty much are stuck with trying to keep it up however you can manage, and the hair is young enough that it's usually OK.

The other thing I'm going to advise you to do is completely ditch the hair ties with the metal crimps holding them in loops. Long-term, they cause damage for a great many people. This kind (https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/562565_591278020896697_321504818_n.jpg) and this kind (http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a06/51/i0/can-hair-ties-harmful_-800x800.jpg) are my go-to types. They're less likely to cause damage in general, and I can pick up absurd quantities of them at the dollar store.

[McFearless]

Your hair looks really healthy! As it grows longer you'll have more styling options with more hold throughout the day. The shorter pieces in the front can be held back like this (http://cs1.fashionising.com/media/hair-trends/tomboy-pompadour.jpg) with bobby pins (make sure the zig zag part goes into the hair and the straight part lays on top) or in a less drastic style with a thin headband.

[Kaelee]

Wow Kaelee...thank you so much... I don't feel any stretching on my hair at all! I wasn't sure what you meant by half up ponytail at first but I looked up in google "half up ponytail" and found this: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Half-up-Half-Down-Ponytail. I followed the first 4 steps and then finished in the way I thought you explained the rest. Is this how it is supposed to look after finished? >>>

http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a611/QuinnQuiver/DSCI0133_zpsdcb975b5.jpg
O
Thank you so much for the help :) Hug :)

I did have a question though relating to this style. I seem to have very hard time separating layers with my hair.Tried with a comb like in step 2 of the halfup tutorial...http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Half-up-Half-Down-Ponytail and I ended up breaking one of my hairs. I ended up using a rectangular cushion brush(I think it is called a styling brush but I'm not sure if that's the same thing) to separate as best as I could. Any advice on the best combs/brushes/hair tools to use in order to seperate hair into layers for the half-up/low ponytail?

Once again...love this very feminine style and thank you for the info. Hopefully this will reduce the stretching, hair falling down, perhaps damaging my hair??? problems I have been having ever since my hair grew long enough. :)

I always did the second pony at the nape of my neck, but it looks good there, too! I think you should do it however you like.

As for the parting, I always use my tumbs. Combs never worked for parting I just get tangles.

[qijino1236]

Did you mean thumbs? or is there a special hair parting product called "tumbs"? Just wondering

[Kaelee]

Did you mean thumbs? or is there a special hair parting product called "tumbs"? Just wondering

Yes! I meant thumbs. Haha! Sorry, I was typing on my phone and didn't catch that.

You can also get shorter front pieces to stay back by TWISTING THEM and then pinning them gently with bobby pins. One on each side should do. They'll stay all day. (If I don't twist them, they slip right out!)

[Firefox7275]

Thanks for the advice and the hair gel/toy suggestions firefox. I will look into those for exercising and keeping the hair up :)
I'm gonna wear this new ponytail style for a little while today though(and at social occasions/work), I like it a lot.

You are welcome: do you have a length goal? I bet you will still have a nice thick hemline even at waist. I hope you will keep posting photos as you hit length milestones or learn new styles!

[qijino1236]

You are welcome: do you have a length goal? I bet you will still have a nice thick hemline even at waist. I hope you will keep posting photos as you hit length milestones or learn new styles!

My length goal is as long as it will grow(I think it is called terminal length)...hopefully to the waist. Definitely will post more pics in the future :)

[lazuliblue]

Your hair looks really thick and healthy, I wouldn't worry about the bits falling down at the front, as the others have said, you're just at a really awkward length! Would you be able to do a Dutch or French braid in your hair? I do that with the bits at the front, and braid them so they are going back and join the rest of my ponytail.

[qijino1236]

Your hair looks really thick and healthy, I wouldn't worry about the bits falling down at the front, as the others have said, you're just at a really awkward length! Would you be able to do a Dutch or French braid in your hair? I do that with the bits at the front, and braid them so they are going back and join the rest of my ponytail.

I was actually thinking of trying a french braid...I have watched youtube videos on French Braiding but I don't know if I got the hang of it yet...hopefully I will eventually get it. One I tried was this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51p3fQqYZ_E (How to Put Short Hair Up in a High Ponytail : Shoulder-Length & Short Hairstyles ) In that video they put the hair up in a high ponytail and then French Braided upwards from the bottom of the hair for the rest...I tried to duplicate what they were doing many times but I could not get it. I will keep trying though. Any helpful advice?

[qijino1236]

Yeah it is really hard for me to section my hair.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yDEqP6FsQs (How to:How To: Basic French Braid) I am trying this, but when I try to section into 3 parts, some hairs that should be in the middle section go to left and right and some hairs that should be in the left and right sections go to the left and right then when I try to cross them everything gets tangled. I don't know if it's just my hair or I am doing something wrong.

[qijino1236]

Maybe I just have to wait until my hair grows longer in order to try a French Braid. I have tried sectioning into 3 sections 10-12 times and everytime I try to cross everything gets tangled and I have to comb my hair again to straighten and start over and more hairs fall out then.

[jeanniet]

Maybe I just have to wait until my hair grows longer in order to try a French Braid. I have tried sectioning into 3 sections 10-12 times and everytime I try to cross everything gets tangled and I have to comb my hair again to straighten and start over and more hairs fall out then.

I'm pretty hopeless at anything but an English braid, so don't ask me about French braiding, but you might be able to manage a short English braid using the following technique. Do a high ponytail, the way you have it in the photo above--that's your middle section. Then split the remaining hair in half--those are your side sections. Then start braiding, a little tightly at first. It might be easier for you to manage the sections this way! And don't worry if your sections aren't entirely even. Just practice, and you'll get better. Easy for me to say, but I have curly hair and straight hair should be easier with practice.

[itdontmatter48]

I suggest silk hair ties, they work well for me.

[itdontmatter48]

Also, I have a wide toothed wooden comb, a small toothed wooden comb, and a horn comb and they are my go to items. Believe they came from Etsy.com.

[itdontmatter48]

I suggest silk hair ties, they work well for me.

[qijino1236]

Thanks for all the help and advice itdontmatter48, jeanniet and all

[Kherome]

When my hair was that length I really like the micro claw clips for holding the front back securely.

[BlazingHeart]

With the length of hair you have right now, there are some very glam and super feminine looks you can try. The 1940's looks like victory rolls were designed for about this length.

[karenpetal]

Heya qijino1236 - Congrats on growing out your hair - it looks gorgeous !

Not too different advise than all the great advise given above - the stacked pony does looks really cute on you :)
I started growing out mine 5 years ago - love the feminine feel - as you grow longer try out braids and buns - try head bands and scarves - love them !!!

Great going girl and good luck on the transition

Hugs
K

[cathair]

Thank you so much cathair, jeanniet, Louise, and jacqueline for all the helpful responses. Cathair I always use conditioner only on the ends. I have heard somewhere to only use shampoo at scalp and not at the ends??...I mean I do shampoo only at the scalp but my hair is only shoulder length currently and so the shampoo ends up at the ends anyway. Cathair, I have never used hair pins but thank you for that advice. Can you use a hairpins as a larger more stronger bobbypin? I end up putting way to much bobby pins in my hair as my hair falls out. And I think maybe the putting in and taking out of bobbypins maybe damaging my hair too but I can't be sure. What kind of hairpins do you use? I am pretty trying to find any hair toy that I can keep up my hair/or style without damaging it too much. I thought I would post some pics to show what exactly is happening to my ponytails after an hour or so....


I would only shampoo the scalp, the ends and length don't need it, they will get a little shampoo when it runs down from the scalp anyway :) I mostly use spin pins these days, for buns, but your hair may not be long enough for that yet. I use bobby pins too but not so much. Perhaps you could use some small hair slides until you hair gets longer? Like these:
http://www.goodyhair.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/01818-Luxe-Deco-Contoru-Clips-x-2-%C2%A33.99-300x194.jpg

or these:
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/ba/babyliss-snap-clips-hair-slides-x-8.jpg

I used to find these held better than bobby pins when I had short hair. I don't think they should be too damaging so long as you are careful not to get hair caught in metal rivet part.

Your double layered ponytail is so cute :) I am really tempted try it out and see what it looks like :)

[qijino1236]

Thanks Kherome, BlazingHeart, karenpetal, cathair, and everybody for all of the wonderful ideas and suggestions
for me to try out on my shoulder length hair. Yeah, cathair try it out :) and if you want post a pic of the double layered
ponytail on here ;) BlazingHeart, After seeing your post I checked out a few video tutorials on youtube on how to do Victory Rolls. It looks like a lot of hairspray is needed for Victory rolls. I don't own hairspray and wasn't planning on ever buying any because I didn't really want to use product in my hair, but after watching those videos now I am tempted. Maybe I'll buy some hairspray just to try out victory rolls once or twice ;) It looks like the subject of this thread is going everywhere so I'll ask: Do you know of any hairsprays that don't damage your hair as much / easy to get out with standard shampoo?

Hugs to all who posted all these great ideas and suggestions!

[ravenreed]

My hair is long but I always have naughty wispies that escape through the day. I will never have smooth, sleek hair without resorting to some sort of styling aid. My hair type is just like that, sort of wild, like me. :Star: I also shed a lot. I often wonder how I have any hair left on my head at all. I can run my hands over my carpet and pull up a handful of my hair, and we vacuum every week, and I wear my hair up all the time.

There are some fairly gently ponytail holders out there that look like elastic. I am not sure whether you will find them where you are located, however. They look like this (http://www.minted.com/julep/2013/04/02/diy-hair-elastics-2/). Also, what sort of hair brush are you using? I use either a Tangle Teezer (http://www.sallybeauty.com/detangling-brush/TGLTEZ1,default,pd.html) or a Wet Brush (http://www.sallybeauty.com/the-wet-brush/SBS-152011,default,pd.html?cm_vc=SEARCH) because my hair is naturally very tangly and if I am not careful I can snap hairs.


Hi, I am a transgender woman and have not taken any hormones yet. I was just wondering what is a standard shedding rate for relatively healthy hair? I About 1-1.5 months ago my hair reached a length that I could finally put it in a high ponytail and ponytail and put it in a banana clip. I am afraid though in the excitement of finally feeling more feminine by being able to do this I may have damaged my hair through stretching. That is why I am wondering what the standard shedding rate for healthy shoulder length hair. I may or may not be just paranoid though. When I first was able to put it in a ponytail I tied the ponytail band really tight(no metal though, I made sure of that) and that was about a month/month and a half ago, some front hair would still escape though. 1-1.5 months later I am not tieing the ponytail band as tight but now that I am not tieing it as tight my front hairs come out and I keep having to put bobby pins in every 15 mins and it looks a mess after about an hour. Lately some hairs seems to be falling in my hand in front while combing and I am starting to get worried. I really want to style my hair but not at the cost of losing hair. Any advice on anything I said in this post or different less damaging methods I could use for styling my hair? I am sort of afraid of hair spray and haven't used cause I have heard that damages your hair so I try styling with hair toys. Is there a specific part of my hair I could take a picture of in order for someone on here to determine if I am just paranoid or not?

[ravenreed]

I very occasionally use hair spray in my hair, maybe three or four times a year for special occasions. I make sure not to comb or brush my hair until I have completely washed out the hairspray and haven't noticed any damage from it at all. If you are worried, I would go for one with a light hold and see how it works for you.


Thanks Kherome, BlazingHeart, karenpetal, cathair, and everybody for all of the wonderful ideas and suggestions
for me to try out on my shoulder length hair. Yeah, cathair try it out :) and if you want post a pic of the double layered
ponytail on here ;) BlazingHeart, After seeing your post I checked out a few video tutorials on youtube on how to do Victory Rolls. It looks like a lot of hairspray is needed for Victory rolls. I don't own hairspray and wasn't planning on ever buying any because I didn't really want to use product in my hair, but after watching those videos now I am tempted. Maybe I'll buy some hairspray just to try out victory rolls once or twice ;) It looks like the subject of this thread is going everywhere so I'll ask: Do you know of any hairsprays that don't damage your hair as much / easy to get out with standard shampoo?

Hugs to all who posted all these great ideas and suggestions!

[BlazingHeart]

For styling, my preference is to use a good strong pomade instead of hairspray. Sprays are really hazardous for me, because my asthma tends to respond very badly to them. Besides, hairspray as we know it really wasn't widely available until the late '50s or early '60s, so the women who wore Victory Rolls and similar styles in the '40s didn't have it! They used something else, and from poking around, I'm pretty sure it was a pomade! I also think it's easier to do them with pomade than with hairspray, because to do them with hairspray, you have to get them in place and then spray them, where with a pomade you put the pomade in first, so your hair has something helping you hold it together and in shape while you're working. (If the instructions say spray and then style, run! That is likely to break hair, especially if your hair is on the finer side)

For pomade, I used to use one by KMX (I only changed which brand I used because when they reformulated several years ago, they weren't on the shelf for a while, and I ran out right during that period - I have no doubt that their current one is good), and my current one is a tub of L'Oreal Nature's Therapy Mega Slick Moisturizing Pomade that I got a while back. I can't say which I prefer for certain, but the L'Oreal cost a bit less for the same amount. Some things I've read suggest that pomade is difficult to get out of hair, but I've never had trouble with it - ymmv.

~Blaze

[BlazingHeart]

Oh, and for sectioning, try the handle of a rat-tail comb. They're kind of pointy to make sectioning easier. Keeping your hair from tangling on cross-overs is just a matter of practice, mostly. What you might do is pick out a 1" section of hair near the front and practice braiding just that, instead of your whole head at once. You need to keep your fingers between sections - watch the hands of someone braiding, and you'll see what I mean. This video is in nice and close so you can see - she's always kind of surrounding each section with her fingers so that they can't tangle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiU6mFNgLMQ