What can I do with the sides of my damn hair?! HELP!

[Snoofie]

My hair-growing journey is going well, all things considered. I never thought I'd get to this length, to be honest (although you could hardly call it "long" yet, but it's definitely a lot longer than it was even three months ago!)

Now I'm facing a new problem. Since I'm growing out from a (very, very) short pixie, obviously the sides have always been the shortest bit. And they still are. And now, because my hair isn't totally straight anyway, the sides of my hair have decided to go completely nuts on me. I think they have some serious split end issues happening (that bit has not been touched since I began growing my hair; I go in for "dusting" on the back every eight weeks, but the sides have literally never been touched.) And I admit to getting so very frustrated with the sides' tendency to flip out that I have resorted, on a few occasions, to taking the straightener (I *know*. I *know*. I hate myself for it, but it's the only way to keep it looking even halfway decent.)

I think that when I go for my next dusting (May 8), I'll get her to dust the sides too. Not a lot, but just enough to get rid of the split ends. I think that's why I'm having so much trouble. If the hair was smooth at the ends it might not have such a tendency to stick off and be unruly.

I was actually thinking about trying to braid the sides so I could maybe tuck them behind my ears or something. But I realized tonight that the ends are so split that even if I did manage to get it into a braid, the ends would still stick off.

Ugh. Any ideas?

[Snoofie]

Oh, and here is a pic of the sides of my hair. Forgive me for the lousy photographic skills (as you can tell, I am SO used to taking selfies!):

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/Snoofie52280/sides_zpsc485230a.jpg

[threadOfGold]

My hairs been BSL at its shortest so I have no first hand experience sorry! But a few ideas did come to mind:

Can the rest go into a bun or ponytail yet? Maybe have it in a ponytail and gel the sides back slightly so it just blends in with the ponytail? Or.. You could wear head bands that push them back. I like your idea of braiding the sides! Maybe you could get some false hair to hide behind the sides that are plaited and both meet at the back (again, just a crazy idea). If all else fails, just let it be! Good luck on your hair journey :)

[GoddesJourney]

Some of this is just the sore journey of growing out a pixie. The first thing I would suggest is a silk pillowcase. I get a lot of breakage on the sides eventually just from rubbing on my pillowcase, and a silk one makes a huge difference. Second thing is do NOT use clips or bobby pins to hold the pieces that stick out if you can avoid it. That only perpetuates the problem (Ask me how I know…). A leave in conditioner may help you keep it tame, but part of it is just waiting through the annoying stages until it is long enough to weigh itself down. You can also S&D any split ends you do find. As for a leave in, I would suggest just a cheap Suave or VO5 regular conditioner left in to dry in tiny amounts.

Any other info would require us knowing more about your hair type. Fine? Medium? "Coarse" (meaning thick individual strands)? You already mentioned your hair is very straight. Oh, also growing out a pixie myself I learned some things about short hair. Bed head comes from short hair. I never got it when it was long and it was out of control until it was around shoulder length. Leaving that conditioner in really saved me by helping weigh it down. I would just CO my hair and then add a tiny bit back in after rinsing it out before exiting the shower. I hope this helps.

[Rosa Harris]

I did pin curls at that length - poof - fluffball but I think it would be cute on you too

[Lindseyh]

Could you gather your longest side pieces and make a kind of half up with a claw clip? Maybe with a little poof to it? That's how I dealt with growing out my bob. Good luck!

[Tall Blond(ish)]

I did a lot of improvising with clips, scarves, hats, and headbands at that length. If you really have a lot of split ends, a small trim may be the way to go.

[spidermom]

A small trim would probably be a good idea. I used to get my hands wet, rub a bit of gel between my fingers, and finger-comb all my hair back away from my face. That helped to keep everything looking more cohesive. (unfortunately I also used the blow-dryer and curling iron a lot as my hair grew out because I didn't know much about heat damage)

[MadeiraD]

My husband had similar issues when growing out a long on top undercut, he slicked back the sides with pomade until it grew out

[Snoofie]

Any other info would require us knowing more about your hair type. Fine? Medium? "Coarse" (meaning thick individual strands)? You already mentioned your hair is very straight.

My hair is coarse and very thick. It's also not straight (maybe I mis-typed.) It's actually wavy once it grows out. Which is why I'm having such a hard time keeping the sides from "flipping out" -- because it keeps wanting to revert to its naturally wavy state and it isn't heavy enough in those spots to hang "straight"-ish. Everywhere else it's gotten heavy enough that it doesn't flip.

[GoddesJourney]

My hair is coarse and very thick. It's also not straight (maybe I mis-typed.) It's actually wavy once it grows out. Which is why I'm having such a hard time keeping the sides from "flipping out" -- because it keeps wanting to revert to its naturally wavy state and it isn't heavy enough in those spots to hang "straight"-ish. Everywhere else it's gotten heavy enough that it doesn't flip.

I see. In that case, I still suggest a possible tiny trim or S&D, plus leave in conditioner. The next thing after flipping sides I got was "triangle head", which is when all your hair poofs out together to form a stylish pyramid until it's heavy enough to weigh itself down. Leave in and CO saved me from a certain amount of that. If it gets out of control, subtle layering can help. Unfortunately, you will still just have to wait out that awkward stage and eat healthy food in hopes you get maximum growth. Also, still voting for silk pillowcase. Happy growing! You will get through that before you know it and run into problems you'd prefer to have, like it being too long for whatever hair style you're working with and having to learn new ones. :)

[Hairitic]

You could also try a couple of side combs to hold the side hair back if you don't want to use gel to slick it back? You could pick up a couple of cheap ones from WalMart to try it out.

[ErinLeigh]

I agree with the small trim. Maybe the stylist can blend everything together also so the sides aren't such an issue. Blending helps so much in getting thru the grow out process.
Another option could be to twist them and secure with those tiny claw clips.

[jacqueline101]

Could you wear it up and put a few cute barrettes to hold the sides. I've never grown out a pixie but I had shoulder length hair that was too thick for up dos so I put up what I could and decorated with barrettes or clips.