HELP: Thickness makes updos impossible? Or am I just not doing them right?

[hairconvictions]

Hi everyone,
I have spent the morning looking up LHC friendly updos as my updos for the last length of my hair aren't working so well anymore with the extra inches from the summer...
However, the updos that are supposed to be for waist to longer hair are not working on my hair because it's not long enough. :( Some vids even say you can do it on BSL hair so what's up with this?
Is it possible for thickness to mess with me that much?
Buns in question are the nautilus and all it's relatives (celtic, etc).

*tear*

HELP

[patienceneeded]

If your hair is thick (iii or higher) then you will need more length to do quite a few styles. I see from your avatar that you are a iii, like me. Most styles I could not do until I hit waist, others I need hip or longer to accomplish. It's frustrating at times, but that's how it is.

Sometimes sectioning your hair can help...so making 2 buns rather than one. Try the Cameo Bun, it was one of the first things I was able to do, due to my thick hair.

[Panth]

Yup, thickness has a massive impact on what buns you can do at a given length.

Try doing multiple buns to split up the thickness somewhat. This doesn't have to look like individual buns - you can split the hair into two ponytails right next to each other, wrap the one ponytail around the base of both, then wrap the second ponytail around the outside of the bun made by the first.

Another option would be to do protective updos that are usually associated with shorter lengths, e.g. french twist, Gibson tuck, until you can manage a bun.

[jacqueline101]

Some times extra thick hair requires longer length. You might try to modify your hairstyles until your hair gains length.

[Sharysa]

Thickness will indeed screw up your ability to style your hair. My hair's nearly waist-length, but with iii thickness (my ponytail is nearly four inches). My hair's JUST started looking long when it's braided, and I could never do buns without them falling out or becoming way too heavy to wear.

I compromise by doing half-ups whenever I want my hair down but intricately styled.

[torrilin]

There's very likely not one but two factors messing with you. First off, you're a iii thickness. That means you've got roughly twice as much hair as me, and a lot of stuff I can do at BSL on me will take somewhere in the range of an extra 6-12". You can actually work out the math if you care, but the short version is thicker hair can't fit in as small a space as thinner hair.

The other factor is... not everyone is BSL at say, my 27". Some posters here are BSL at 22 or 23". There are a number of posters here who are waist length at 29" or less. Others are like me and hit waist at 32" or more. And well, if you're looking at a post by someone where their BSL is 27", and yours is more like 22"... double whammy.

[Mainesongbird]

I have some of the same issues. I don't have enough length at waist to do a natilus bun, which I should, but I am at iii too. Torrin Paige has some help for peeps with trouble due to thickness on her Youtube channel

[KittyBird]

I'm iii as well, and I needed waist length hair before I could do any buns, and even at BCL I'm still struggling with most updos. I couldn't actually do a comfortable nautilus before I hit hip+ length. At waist I could do cinnamon buns and lazy wraps. You could try the disc bun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5sSEBy7HQ), I find that one to be very comfortable.

[hairconvictions]

Sometimes sectioning your hair can help...so making 2 buns rather than one. Try the Cameo Bun, it was one of the first things I was able to do, due to my thick hair.

Ok good! I'm not totally crazy! I'm going to try the sectioning two buns idea... I'm just tired of cinnabun all the time. Booooring. The Cameo looks fun!


There's very likely not one but two factors messing with you. First off, you're a iii thickness. That means you've got roughly twice as much hair as me, and a lot of stuff I can do at BSL on me will take somewhere in the range of an extra 6-12". You can actually work out the math if you care, but the short version is thicker hair can't fit in as small a space as thinner hair.

The other factor is... not everyone is BSL at say, my 27". Some posters here are BSL at 22 or 23". There are a number of posters here who are waist length at 29" or less. Others are like me and hit waist at 32" or more. And well, if you're looking at a post by someone where their BSL is 27", and yours is more like 22"... double whammy.

You are totally right on this one-I hadn't thought of that! I have 34 inches and I'm just shy of tailbone, so from your explanation, sounds like my torso is pretty short, comparitively!

Thanks everyone!

[hairconvictions]

I have some of the same issues. I don't have enough length at waist to do a natilus bun, which I should, but I am at iii too. Torrin Paige has some help for peeps with trouble due to thickness on her Youtube channel

Yay! I found it! How did I not think of these things before!! Thanks so much :)

[BlazingHeart]

Thickness can make a BIG difference! I wasn't able to do even a cinnabun until hip (admittedly, I am short-waisted, so for me that was around 35" or 37"). Sectioning is a big help, buns like the vortex and the Chinese bun that naturally section are easier. Alternatively, do a half-up with any bun and then just wrap the lower half of the hair around like a cinnabun around it. I was past tbl and almost to classic when I could finally do a Nautilus, and at classic it's still a close thing. Most of the buns that end with 'and then flip the stick around' like the pencil bun tend to either fall apart or be so tight that they're painful. It's kind of frustrating, because there are all these fancy, pretty buns, and I have all these pretty toys, and I feel so limited by what my hair will actually DO.

[Kaelee]

I'm iii as well, and I needed waist length hair before I could do any buns, and even at BCL I'm still struggling with most updos. I couldn't actually do a comfortable nautilus before I hit hip+ length. At waist I could do cinnamon buns and lazy wraps. You could try the disc bun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5sSEBy7HQ), I find that one to be very comfortable.

I'm almost waist with thick hair as well, and the disc bun is my favorite! I practically live in that bun, and I pretty much wear it daily. It'll work for you I'm sure, and I don't think you're going to grow out of it anytime soon either. Works with sticks, forks (though I prefer sticks) and ficcares. :D

I can't do a nautilus either really....I *should* be able to but not all of my hair is long enough to wrap around due to my thickness and I wind up with a bunch of loose hair sticking up everywhere.

ETA: One thing I found that REALLY helps with disc bun is to section the hair unevenly. Make the first half that you wrap slightly bigger.

[AmyBeth]

It never ever occurred to me that there could be any disadvantages to having thick hair. I've always been so jealous of those of you with thick hair. Thick hair is so much more beautiful down, I think. Poetic justice.:)

[KittyBird]

ETA: One thing I found that REALLY helps with disc bun is to section the hair unevenly. Make the first half that you wrap slightly bigger.

I do this too, but forgot to mention it. :o Using a thick and a thinner section works best for me, since my hair is *just* long enough to do that bun. Can I also just say that it feels pretty great to have a bun where I can actually follow the instructions and "wrap the remaining hair around the base"? I can only wrap it around one time, but still.. Usually the girl in the video wraps her hair around and around and around etc, while I stand there holding a few inches of hair, wondering how the heck I'm going to get this to work. :rolling:

[torrilin]

You are totally right on this one-I hadn't thought of that! I have 34 inches and I'm just shy of tailbone, so from your explanation, sounds like my torso is pretty short, comparitively!

Yeah, I have no idea how long my hair is right now (I usually only measure about once a year), but it's definitely past waist. And waist on me is around 32". I definitely have a pretty long torso for my height... my torso length matches up pretty well with posters who are 5'10 and up, my leg length matches up pretty well with the folks who are 5' and under. Actual me? 5'6".

French twists and peacock twists are styles that a lot of posters seem to like with quite short hair. My hair hates them and tends to treat them as a reason to slither. I'm a lot more likely to do styles based on several small buns instead, or tucked French braids. Chances are a lot of styles that don't work with a single section of hair will work for you with your hair split into 2 or 3 sections. Since my hair is straight and fine, a lot of popular buns like the nautilus, pencil and lazy wrap bun don't work real well for me. Hair too slithery. I'm more likely to do cinnabun variants and knot bun variants.

[Kaelee]

I do this too, but forgot to mention it. :o Using a thick and a thinner section works best for me, since my hair is *just* long enough to do that bun. Can I also just say that it feels pretty great to have a bun where I can actually follow the instructions and "wrap the remaining hair around the base"? I can only wrap it around one time, but still.. Usually the girl in the video wraps her hair around and around and around etc, while I stand there holding a few inches of hair, wondering how the heck I'm going to get this to work. :rolling:

Oh I know. I felt like I'd won a million dollars when I successfully did this bun...the first time I tried it, too. :laugh: I was thinking, where has this bun been all my life!

[Sharysa]

It never ever occurred to me that there could be any disadvantages to having thick hair. I've always been so jealous of those of you with thick hair. Thick hair is so much more beautiful down, I think. Poetic justice.:)

Sure, it looks nice down, but it's certainly not too practical. Plus, wavy hair like mine gets EVERYWHERE if I look at it wrong. :P