Safest Way to Pony?

[JessicaAnn]

I'm currently growing out a weird layered cut that is hitting about halfway between SL and APL with layers going from my shoulders to the top of my ears (not my choice). I've grown out similar cuts before and my default way to deal with it is just to wear my hair in a ponytail most of the time and in a few months *poof* my hair is longer and doesn't look so weird down. Right now I"m using Scunci Mini Scrunchies http://www.scunci.com/products.php?pcID=150&products_id=539 to hold my hair back. Until coming here I never really thought about the damage I could be doing to my hair by putting it in a pony all the time, but I really don't know what else to do with it because of the layers. They are really making my life kind of difficult right now and not wanting to stay in any kind of clip. Any suggestions on how to minimize pony damage until my hair grows out a couple of inches and the layers will cooperate with me?

[Bruiser]

I was in the same boat as you, I got a horrible over layered cut from ears to waist :( I ended up cutting it to my collar bone and I'm still trying to grow the layers out.
I used a similar looking hair tie, also hair bands and half ponys, I also French braided just the front to the side and secured with a clip, then I was able to wear a pony in a variety of nights. Good luck.

[Anje]

Scrunchies are a pretty good choice, actually. Definitely less stress on the hair than your standard elastic.

I had a lot of ponytail damage -- I had a big broken chunk right at the back of my head, which I know was the piece of hair that supported most of the weight of the pony that I wore every single day in the exact same place. Some of that might have been the elastics I used, quite a lot of it was never varying my ponytail position, but I think a large amount of the damage came from "tightening" the ponytail. So that thing that people do where you grab two chunks of the ponytail and pull them toward your face -- DON'T DO IT!

Do try to vary your styles as much as you reasonably can. Pigtails some days. French braids are great, distribute the load very well, and can capture a lot of short bits that won't make it into other styles.

[QMacrocarpa]

I rarely pony these days, but when I do, I use a flexi-8.

My go-to style for getting over a rough patch early on was using an octopus clip as a bun-cage. Might not catch all your layers though.

[tbonita]

Those are the same scrunchies I use when I have long hair and never noticed damage. Just vary the pony's position!

[Rio040113]

I agree with all the advice above, vary position, don't pull to tighten, etc

Adding my own 2 cents, metal free elastic aren't too bad but they're still a lot of pressure on a small strip of hair and can still tangle, scrunchies are great but from my own experience the material matters, I find velvet-y ones actually make my hair feel a little dry where they've been! A satin weave or silk scrunchie seems to eliminate this :) Other than that I use Invisibobbles as well, I don't wear a pony often so I use them in the shower (if I'm not using an acrylic stick) or just to pull my hair back for a short period of time if I've worn it loose to go out and need it out my face :) I'd happily use them for a longer period of time though, they're very comfortable.

[askan]

I tried to ban myself from wearing my hair in a ponytail, but it's soo quick and easy. I sew a satin scrunchie (covered a regular elastic with satin) and the satin has so much slip, it feels a lot better. It stays in my hair, but is super easy to just slip off when taking it out. I'm a gymnast though and it doesn't hold for doing flips, it slides off, but for less violent movement it's excellent :D

[tbonita]

Oh also when my hair was longer (awkward length as you describe) I used varying little clips for a chic, easy updo that wouldn't pull or tug or break hair off at all! Just varying little mini jaw clips. It looked cool!

[Applegirl84]

I second the mini jaw clips. I was able to put my hair up with those even above SL. I would separate my hair into 4 sections and twist/bun each section with a mini clip or two. The 4 mini buns stuck together looked like one bun.
I have these in brown and still use them at BSL:
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd344/kuipersfamily/40a37fd291ae4818e47ad38f8f65a5bc_zps3ff33240.jpg