does anyone experience breakage when manipulating their hair?

[sarahthegemini]

Sometimes I am completely incompetent and it takes me as many as 8-10 attempts to put my hair up so it is secure and comfortable. When this happens, I do notice a some short broken hairs. It's really discouraging to think that styling my hair results in breakage if I don't get it right straight away. I am very gentle with my hair though :-/

[Wosie]

Since I started making regular hairdos I've noticed that my hair has gotten lots of breakage too... Or new growth, but I honestly believe it's breakage. It's disappointing, I agree, especially as I was thinking it was better for my hair to be contained... Maybe it's best if I only keep it up when I go outdoors and leave it loose at home. :hmm:

Is there a chance for the hair that looks like breakage to be new growth in your case?

[Federica]

I used to see those breaked pieces of hair when manipulating only when my hair was fried by bleaching.
Since I trimmed the bleaching part and switched to a BBB this is no longer happening.
What about braiding?

[Firefox7275]

I have some small clumps at the top that are all the same length: either breakage, or new growth after hairs were pulled out at the roots. :( Happened when my mother dyes my roots, when I dry detangled curly hair and when styling I think. Hopefully with practice we will gain skill and stop mechanically damaging our hair.

[Entangled]

That can happen to me when I'm working on a new style and my hair gets wrapped around my finger. Normally I'm careful to avoid that, but if I'm in a hurry, it can happen. I mostly get breakage when I'm doing a hasty crown or headband braid.

[queenovnight]

I do, but only when I'm rushing or 'over-styling.' I try to keep it very simple since I like to blow out my hair on occasion. So aside from that, I try to stay away from advanced braids or any style that I know I can't do. - Needless to say, I don't have many styles to rock.

[spidermom]

I've had long hair for a long time now and have become pretty good at putting it up, but sometimes I hear that dreaded !SNAP!

[Henna Girl]

I happens to me too, particularly if I twist the bun too tightly I feel that the fork breaks a hair or two :(

[Madora]

Limiting breakage all boils down to how careful you are when arranging styles or just combing or shampooing. If you take your time you'll lessen the chances of hurting your hair.

Admittedly, hair breakage cannot be avoided..but it can be less aggravating if one is willing to be patient.

[Larki]

I do, mostly when French braiding. I usually hear at least one snap. :(

[jacqueline101]

I think everyone has broke a hair when styling or washing it's something you can not help. You can lesson the chance of having breakage by being gentle and taking your time when doing your hair.

[MINAKO]

I happens to me too, particularly if I twist the bun too tightly I feel that the fork breaks a hair or two :(

Yepp, happens to me all the time, but i'm trying to get more taper anyway, so wo cares if it grows or breaks into a V-shape. ;)
Seriously, i hate that snap sound but become more and more relaxed about these things. Antique lace, lol... yeah every day 24/7! (ain't nobody got time fo' that?)

[dellad]

Yes, this happens to me, especially when I'm trying new styles. Any style that requires sectioning the hair seems to be especially bad, no matter how careful I am. I've gotten so used to doing my single nautilus bun that I can manage this one style with minimum breakage, but not any other style.

[woodswanderer]

I do sometimes if i am trying to insert a ficcare. I haven't got the hang of it, and I got frustrated and set it aside for a bit until I'm in the mood to try again.

[AmyBeth]

The snapping of hairs plus the increased shedding when styling is why I only know 2 or 3 simple updos. I am unwilling to sacrifice so many broken or downright yanked out hairs to practice any moe updos. And since I never have time to practice anyway, it'beside the point. Cinnabun it is!

[roseomalley]

Yes, I hear the dreaded snap when I style and see I have not done a proper job and try again (and again). I try to stay with a simple bun or French braid, but sometimes I get the urge to branch out and that is when I have problems. Also, once in a while, my very fine hair gets caught in my Flexi-eight or Ficarre. Truly, that is the worst feeling for me. Caught and no easy way out.

[YGDW]

Thanks for asking. I've been worrying about the same, especially because I have to use quite some pressure to let a stick 'carry' my heavy and slippery hair. Am I this clumsy? Is my hair extremely fragile? Apparently it happens to everyone now and then.

[RapunzelKat]

Yeah, this happens to me sometimes too, generally when I'm learning a new style and haven't figured out the right way to hold my hair. I find that the best solution is to move very slowly and carefully, and really pay attention to any hairs getting wrapped around my fingers or twisted the wrong way. Watching YouTube videos of others to see how they hold the hair can also be helpful. ETA: Careful detangling before styling is also vital.

I figure as long as it's not excessive, I won't worry about it. I'm unwilling to just keep doin the same styles over and over, so a few hairs may get sacrificed in the learning process. Can't make omelettes without breaking a few eggs, right? :shrug:

[Kherome]

Seriously, i hate that snap sound but become more and more relaxed about these things. Antique lace, lol... yeah every day 24/7! (ain't nobody got time fo' that?)

Amen to that

[roseomalley]

Yes, I hear the dreaded snap when I style and see I have not done a proper job and try again (and again). I try to stay with a simple bun or French braid, but sometimes I get the urge to branch out and that is when I have problems. Also, once in a while, my very fine hair gets caught in my Flexi-eight or Ficarre. Truly, that is the worst feeling for me. Caught and no easy way out.

[Undomiel]

Yeah, this happens to me sometimes too, generally when I'm learning a new style and haven't figured out the right way to hold my hair. I find that the best solution is to move very slowly and carefully, and really pay attention to any hairs getting wrapped around my fingers or twisted the wrong way. Watching YouTube videos of others to see how they hold the hair can also be helpful. ETA: Careful detangling before styling is also vital.

I figure as long as it's not excessive, I won't worry about it. I'm unwilling to just keep doin the same styles over and over, so a few hairs may get sacrificed in the learning process. Can't make omelettes without breaking a few eggs, right? :shrug:

This is me too. Takes me a bit to get a style right and if I'm feeling lazy or frustrated with it, sometimes its best to just throw it up in the easy go-to styles I know. I've got a folder of updos and half ups to try when I'm in the mood to learn though which is usually once or twice a week. OP I'd just take it easy and not worry too much about the breakage as long as you are gentle and don't spend excessive amounts of time moving it around its fine :)

[pixldust]

I kept hearing the dreaded snap when I was getting used to using a hair fork, I think because I was rushing things. I was so used to putting sticks in quickly that I tried to do the same with the fork. I think snapping the odd hair is unavoidable but being as careful as possible should minimise how often it happens.

[jupiterinleo]

Happens to me all the time, no matter how careful I try to be when putting it up. I think I have a perfect storm hair type when it comes to tangles, though.

I get the most annoying short bits right above my ears from when I take off my sunglasses. I hair snapping almost every time when I'm not thinking and just take them right off, instead of carefully unwrapping my hair away from the glasses.

[Henna Girl]

Happens to me all the time, no matter how careful I try to be when putting it up. I think I have a perfect storm hair type when it comes to tangles, though.

I get the most annoying short bits right above my ears from when I take off my sunglasses. I hair snapping almost every time when I'm not thinking and just take them right off, instead of carefully unwrapping my hair away from the glasses.

This happens to me too.

[Anje]

I've gotten better at it, but I still get a snap occasionally when I'm trying to insert something that doesn't have good pokey ends (Anje gives a meaningful look to a few of her forks...) or if I get a hair twisted around a finger. Practice does help!

Having a too-tight twisted updo causes more, for me. The more bulk I'm trying to insert to secure my hair, the looser the updo has to be to accommodate it. Looser updos also mean that snapped hairtoys are a rare occurrence, though obviously you have to find a balance.

[ladylowtide]

When I was apl I did all sorts of braiding and bunning and fancy styles. That is when I saw the most shedding and breakage. Now I just keep it simple with scrunchy braids and stick buns. Almost no handling other than that.

[QMacrocarpa]

I don't notice styling breakage, but I do have limited patience, so if a new updo isn't working, I'll give it a few tries, and then I'll generally call off the efforts for that day and switch to an "old reliable" hairstyle that I know I can get to work right away. Any style with lots of repeated sectioning (a crown braid, say) is always going to be a nightmare with my floaty, grabby hair, so I just steer clear of those.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Sometimes I will hear a hair snap but thankfully it doesn't happen very often. It's annoying, though.

[majesticgoldenr]

Actually, for me this is the time when my hair is air drying... Its mostly fine being put up, finger combing, or getting washed, but let it hang and bam: I'm shedding like a cat. :confused:

When I redo my bun (less often then I should) I *seriously* oil it up, and I think that having it "slick" helps, but who knows the science to that... ?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oh, and take rings off before attempting to manipulate hair. Rings tangling and catching in hair = not good.

[pixldust]

Oh, and take rings off before attempting to manipulate hair. Rings tangling and catching in hair = not good.

This, 100%. I wear rings on every finger apart from my pinkies and after finding out the hard way, I now remove them when washing my hair and putting it up.

[Gertrude]

I hear snap a lot more wearing my hair down. Being fine and fly about it I get a lot of breakage. But putting hair up also gives breakage. Forks are most likely to for me. I normally do a simple braided bun or cinnabun with a fork and if it doesn't go in smoothly I stop and try again. Otherwise I get the crunch! snap! I don't use Ficcares or Flexis because my hair works itself loose gradually and then gets caught in them. Wooden forks. I have also become aware that some of them don't have good prongs that slide in easily . I have sanded some down and then applied Tung oil.

[two_wheels]

One of my latest projects is making myself do looser updos. It took two fork casualties before I admitted to myself that if it did that to the fork, it couldn't be good for my hair :lol:
If you can't do it loosely, I guess maybe wait until it's a bit longer?
I feel your 2a pain so much though, because at this length it's hard to make 2a hair look good worn down, and I guess if you have fine hair that too might cause breakage.

[Anje]

One of my latest projects is making myself do looser updos. It took two fork casualties before I admitted to myself that if it did that to the fork, it couldn't be good for my hair :lol:

I think this is an important lesson. I cringe when I see how tight people on many video tutorials make updos and then torque hairsticks and forks in hard. If you're regularly breaking hairtoys, you're probably doing something rather harsh to your hair.

[meteor]

This is such an excellent thread! Thank you for starting it, sarahthegemini!

Some of you mentioned that flexi-8s and ficcares cause some broken hairs for you. It's great to know for hair-toy newbies, like myself. But I have a question: which hair toys cause the least breakage from manipulation? And which updos?

I always end up shedding and breaking a lot more hair than usual when I try new styles. I keep trying non-braided updos, and it's just not happening on my dense, tangly hair. I really need to work with sectioned hair if I don't want it to break and tangle as I'm putting it up. So I only have like 2 updos I use all the time!

I agree about sectioning causing snapped hairs though. My best examples are: the Elling woman braided bun and the Amish braided bun and their variations. I always hear hair snapping when I do them. I am sure that it's because of pushing the bun under smaller braid(s) in the unusual directions.

[two_wheels]

This is such an excellent thread! Thank you for starting it, sarahthegemini!

Some of you mentioned that flexi-8s and ficcares cause some broken hairs for you. It's great to know for hair-toy newbies, like myself. But I have a question: which hair toys cause the least breakage from manipulation? And which updos?

I always end up shedding and breaking a lot more hair than usual when I try new styles. I keep trying non-braided updos, and it's just not happening on my dense, tangly hair. I really need to work with sectioned hair if I don't want it to break and tangle as I'm putting it up. So I only have like 2 updos I use all the time!

I agree about sectioning causing snapped hairs though. My best examples are: the Elling woman braided bun and the Amish braided bun and their variations. I always hear hair snapping when I do them. I am sure that it's because of pushing the bun under smaller braid(s) in the unusual directions.

Interesting question! I haven't been experimenting with hair toys that long, but I've tried a fair range of current makers :o so I do feel able to share my thoughts...

For me, quattro stuff is probably the least likely to cause any breaks. The tines are so slim, the prongs are round, and all of the surfaces are silky smooth. I do think that all of the LHC-popular makers are wearable for me without breakage, it's just that I find quattro particularly noob-friendly. For example, I did have initial problems with Ficcare maximas and flexi 8s, but they are ok now.

And in terms of styles- whatever I can do loosely, in one go. Tightness is bad as mentioned, and I think repetition is bad because I want to minimise handling, so whatever works first time and stays all day seems best.

[meteor]

Thanks so much, two_wheels, for an such informative reply! :)
What about the materials and types of hair toys (rather than specific makers)? Am I guessing correctly that the fewer prongs, the safer? And woods are safer than horn, which is safer than metals?

[mamaherrera]

My problem now that I 've learned to take my rings off, is that I forgot to put them back on, and hubby is not too happy finding them around the house, instead of on my finger!! But yes, I keep redoing updos or even simple styles, because they come loose as I run, or pull the hairs from the sides of my head (apparently they don't like to go in that direction) but yes, I redo styles many times, and that's why it's very infrequent that I "do" My hair. I see others who sport braids every day, I don't know how they manage it! Or maybe they have someone else do it!

[two_wheels]

Thanks so much, two_wheels, for an such informative reply! :)
What about the materials and types of hair toys (rather than specific makers)? Am I guessing correctly that the fewer prongs, the safer? And woods are safer than horn, which is safer than metals?

Well, the quattro things I'm talking about are his metal forks and sticks, which I think are very friendly. And for me, things with more prongs move around less, so I don't have to redo it, which helps. And the only (recycled) horn item I have is super smooth.

And I have tried acrylic sticks and wooden sticks that were not well finished, and heard a lot of snapping hair. Yet I love acrylic and wood sticks from other makers, and find them very friendly.

So I think that hair-friendliness is possibly more to do with the maker and design than the material. The maker will determine the finish, and I think almost everyone would agree whether that finish is hair friendly or not. The design? That answer is going to depend heavily on hair type.

Edit to add:

My problem now that I 've learned to take my rings off, is that I forgot to put them back on, and hubby is not too happy finding them around the house, instead of on my finger!! But yes, I keep redoing updos or even simple styles, because they come loose as I run, or pull the hairs from the sides of my head (apparently they don't like to go in that direction) but yes, I redo styles many times, and that's why it's very infrequent that I "do" My hair. I see others who sport braids every day, I don't know how they manage it! Or maybe they have someone else do it!

Speaking only for myself, it's sheer laziness mixed with moderate indifference to what other people think I look like :lol:

[meteor]

Thank you very much, two_wheels! That's GREAT information! :flower:

[two_wheels]

Thank you very much, two_wheels! That's GREAT information! :flower:

No problem! What I wish I'd done, before wading in and trying ALL the toys: find a more experienced hairtwin. It was hard for me to do that, because my hair is shorter than everyone else's, and I have a weird texture. Ideally I'd have liked to find people with ii hair but a med-coarse mixed texture, and seen what they like to wear. I think I've figured out what works for me now but it was kind of pricey getting there. Fun though!

[sarahthegemini]

I really hope I improve at doing my hair. It took me eight attempts at a french twist, in the end I gave up and did a cinnabun (which took 2 attempts) I suppose the only way to get better is to just keep trying.

[Skade]

Yes, this happens to me too. I hate when I hear the snaps in my hair. Good advice about making looser hair updos two_wheels. But I often make them quite tight because that feels like the only way to make it stay up, so do you have any advice on how to make it stay up even when it´s loose?

[two_wheels]

I really feel your frustration sarahthegemini. Practice is everything, but you need the length first, but it sounds like you need protective updos to gain length, so ... that is tough.


Yes, this happens to me too. I hate when I hear the snaps in my hair. Good advice about making looser hair updos two_wheels. But I often make them quite tight because that feels like the only way to make it stay up, so do you have any advice on how to make it stay up even when it´s loose?

For me, three things helped:
1. growing more hair, even an inch made all the difference at my length. Yep there's nothing you can do about it, but at least you know that it might be easier in 2 months
2. thinking spatially about bun construction and what is holding it together so that you can be efficient with the hair you have, for some people that would mean sectioning the bun. I watched a lot of youtube to get a grip on this
3. using forks instead of sticks, the more prongs the looser you can go

I guess you could add 4. don't have iii hair (that sounds quite flippant but I don't mean it to be. Like knotting a thick rope vs a piece of string, you need a lot more length), 5. don't have fine slippy hair, I have many coarse strands so it sticks to itself pretty well. What I mean by these last two points is, maybe you aren't doing anything wrong, it could just be harder for you. A member here with iii hair said in another thread that she wore her hair in a twist with a clip until about hip, I think it was. That opened my eyes.

[Skade]

For me, three things helped:
1. growing more hair, even an inch made all the difference at my length. Yep there's nothing you can do about it, but at least you know that it might be easier in 2 months
2. thinking spatially about bun construction and what is holding it together so that you can be efficient with the hair you have, for some people that would mean sectioning the bun. I watched a lot of youtube to get a grip on this
3. using forks instead of sticks, the more prongs the looser you can go

I guess you could add 4. don't have iii hair (that sounds quite flippant but I don't mean it to be. Like knotting a thick rope vs a piece of string, you need a lot more length), 5. don't have fine slippy hair, I have many coarse strands so it sticks to itself pretty well. What I mean by these last two points is, maybe you aren't doing anything wrong, it could just be harder for you. A member here with iii hair said in another thread that she wore her hair in a twist with a clip until about hip, I think it was. That opened my eyes.

Thank you for the advices two_weels, will try to keep them in mind. And would like to add on nr 1, Yes, at a certain length it helps to grow more hair. At my length, no unfortunately not. I thought it was so much easier to get my buns to hold the entire day when I was at waist, than it is now, a bit past tailbone. It´s just getting ab it too heavy and unmanageable.. :) But probably need to stop being lazy and practice more on different styles.

[two_wheels]

Thank you for the advices two_weels, will try to keep them in mind. And would like to add on nr 1, Yes, at a certain length it helps to grow more hair. At my length, no unfortunately not. I thought it was so much easier to get my buns to hold the entire day when I was at waist, than it is now, a bit past tailbone. It´s just getting ab it too heavy and unmanageable.. :) But probably need to stop being lazy and practice more on different styles.
Ah, yes, well I have no experience of that so it's probably something else! Popcorn + Torrin Paige videos will probably help, along with advice from the lovely people here with TBL hair.

[Skade]

Ah, yes, well I have no experience of that so it's probably something else! Popcorn + Torrin Paige videos will probably help, along with advice from the lovely people here with TBL hair.

Yes. She´s great. Whenever I cant get it to stay up I think about her. If Torrin Paige can get all that hair to stay up, I certainly should too :)

[sarahthegemini]

I really feel your frustration sarahthegemini. Practice is everything, but you need the length first, but it sounds like you need protective updos to gain length, so ... that is tough.



For me, three things helped:
1. growing more hair, even an inch made all the difference at my length. Yep there's nothing you can do about it, but at least you know that it might be easier in 2 months
2. thinking spatially about bun construction and what is holding it together so that you can be efficient with the hair you have, for some people that would mean sectioning the bun. I watched a lot of youtube to get a grip on this
3. using forks instead of sticks, the more prongs the looser you can go

I guess you could add 4. don't have iii hair (that sounds quite flippant but I don't mean it to be. Like knotting a thick rope vs a piece of string, you need a lot more length), 5. don't have fine slippy hair, I have many coarse strands so it sticks to itself pretty well. What I mean by these last two points is, maybe you aren't doing anything wrong, it could just be harder for you. A member here with iii hair said in another thread that she wore her hair in a twist with a clip until about hip, I think it was. That opened my eyes.

It is very frustrating as my hair is just so fragile, I'm just going to persevere and hope I get the hang of things. Strangly I also think I get waay more breakage when my hair is manipulated whilst greasy :-$

[Stray_mind]

Sometimes my hair snap if i handle it to rough. I hear snapping hair much more rarely than a year before though and i think it's a sign that my hair got stronger. And of course i am more careful with it.