Updos for long thin hair

[HazelnutDelight]

I want to try new updos for my thin, hip length hair. I have a lot of taper though that starts around bra strap length. I have been doing the lazy wrap bun and it looks nice, but I want other options. I tried the wrapped bun, but it doesn't look as good as in the article because of the taper and how thin it is. I tried the infinity bun, but I can barely pull it off with one side twice as thick as the other even though the thicker side is still small. The figure 8 didn't look as bad for some reason, but still doesn't look right. I wish I could do a rope braid bun, but it's too hard for me I still need practice. Any suggestions?

[prosperina]

My hair's not as long as yours, but what about a braided bun. No rope braid, just a simple 3 strand brand coiled into a bun. That would look pretty and the braid can make for a thicker bun.

[spidermom]

Try wrapping your hair as though you were making a cinnamon bun, but don't twist. Just wind around and around 2 fingers, tuck the ends under, and clip the bottom of the coils together to your scalp hair with a small to medium claw clip. The upper part of the coils will drape over the claw clip. It makes you look like you have more hair; I really liked this when my hair was around BSL. It's too heavy for this style now, darn it!

I also like wrapping my hair as above, with maybe a little twisting sometimes, other times not. Hook a couple of fingers around the inner-most coil and gently stretch it out and around the outer-most coils, ends tucked under. Pin down with fork or sticks. It creates a soft-looking bun similar in appearance to the sock bun.

[Delila]

Have you tried some of the knotted styles? There are a lot of them, and I've gotten good results adapting first one then another to suit my needs.

Most of the time when I make a bun, I use the thickest bit to form the bun itself, then wind the thinner ends around and around, and then under the bun. It hides the thinner ends and tucks them out of the way.

[Unnamed]

Hmm. Some (or even most) of this may or may not work, as it depends highly on your thinness and your taper.

I second what Delila said about wrapping the ends around the base if you can. They do make a very good anchor for helping hold the rest in place if you can get 'em hidden.


Lady Godiva's Infinity (in the article section) might or might not work, depending on where your taper hits (and if you have enough length past the second loop).

Inside out bun! Not sure where instructions are for it. I think I would have been able to do this at hip length, though, and it works well with a taper.

Perhaps a chinese bun? I stopped doing those, a long time ago, but liked it a fair bit around hip length. I usually did it braided, but you can do it unbraided, too.

Just plain braided buns (or a french braid bunned) is also an option if you haven't been doing those.


Hmm. Honestly, I've thought of starting one of these threads myself, so not sure how much help I am! My hair is generally in either a mangled cinnamon bun, or the below.

And this probably won't work at hip length, unless your hair is thinner than mine....but doing, er, a wrap bun over another bun (sorry, there's no name for it...sort of a 'wrapped cinnamon bun' or 'wrapped inside out bun', etc.). Basically make the first wrap or so of a cinnamon bun, or make an inside out bun, or...well, probably anything else that you have a decent sized tail of 'extra' hair, secure the 'base' bun with a longer fork/stick that you'd normally need, then wrap the tail like for a wrap/lazy bun until there's no more ends (ends tucked under the base bun). I've also braided the extra hair first before wrapping. ETA: Piccy (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/UnnamedGryffon/2008b/june_09_cinwrap_black.jpg). This was actually 2 wraps of a cinnabun (wanted to use up length!) with the excess wrapped--first wrap plus one wrap or so around the stick/fork might be doable at hip depending on thinness, I'm thinking.

It's something different, and the ends get used up faster wrapping over the bun than around the base. :oops:

If your hair is too short for that, you might (or might not) be able to do a sock bun for the base bun, and then the wrap bun over it with the tail, as a sock bun would use up less length (and the wrapping can help hide the sock, too). ETA: Pic from a year ago here (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/UnnamedGryffon/2007c/nov7_sockwrappedback.jpg). I have the ends wrapped about 3 times over each stick in that, so I'd think at hip length a good wrap on each side might be doable?


Again, if none of that is very helpful, I'm so sorry, and I hope you get some good ideas. :flower:

[LifeisAdventure]

I also have long thin(ner) hair and my old stand-by is pictured below. I call it the Adventuring Knot (no one recognized it at a meet), but I'm sure it has some other name somewhere. :) The first pic shows it pulled tight and the second pic shows it done loosely.


http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=781&pictureid=12259 http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=781&pictureid=8224

What you do is pull the length of your hair back into a ponytail, then tightly loop the hair over one or two fingers (I prefer to use my thumb). Wrap the rest of the length around the base of the loop. I like to leave a little tail at the end but you can wrap it tight without much loose. Secure with a hairstick, ficcare, or comb and you're good to go!

A few others I like are the Orchid Bun, the Pretzel Bun, and the Celtic Knot. Good instructions are linked on the boards, although I'll try to dig them up and do an ETA later. :) HTH!

[aisling]

I think the swirly bun might work for you, held with a stick. Same thing with the KarenLynn knot or some variation of that and the double looped knot, you can wrap thin ends around the base of all these and hide them. Instructions can be found through the old LHC boards.

[Stevy]

Have you tried the equilibrium bun (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=23)? It takes some practice to get right, but it's great for hair with a lot of taper.

[Anje]

The nice thing about thinner hair, is you can do lots of complicated styles at shorter lengths. Take a look at celtic knots, double-looped knots, karenlynn knots, and swirly buns in the style links.

[heidihug]

Perhaps a chinese bun? I stopped doing those, a long time ago, but liked it a fair bit around hip length. I usually did it braided, but you can do it unbraided, too.


I'm at classic, and I do the chinese bun all the time yet, so you can tell that my hair is fine and thin. See my signature below.

There are lots of other good suggestions here - I use the figure 8 quite often (I can't get the infinity to look good, either). Some of them may not suit your hair for one reason or another, you just have to experiment to find out what works for you.

[HazelnutDelight]

I tried the braided bun and it looks good. The double-looped knot works, but I can't do the pretzel bun or celtic knot for some reason and I'm sick of trying to make it look good. The flipped bun kinda reminds me of figure 8, but looks better. I can't do the swirly bun I think my hair is too slippery. I think I have too much taper for the wrapped cinnamon bun thing though I want to do more wrapped styles.

I have a problem pulling my hair through holes/knots it starts to lose shape some place and the hair looks tangled and frizzy. Do other people with stringy hair have this problem also?

I want to try the equilibrium bun, but the video is deleted and I can't understand the description by itself. I also want to try the orchid bun, but I keep forgetting where I found instructions. I can't see the pictures for the adventuring knot I don't think I have enough posts.

[Delila]

... I have a problem pulling my hair through holes/knots it starts to lose shape some place and the hair looks tangled and frizzy. Do other people with stringy hair have this problem also?
...

I find it essential to a) get the updo started correctly, gathering the hair so that the beginning of the updo is in the right spot, smoothing all the hair, sectioning the hair and smoothing it again, if required, even if it takes a few more moments to get my hair organized right at first. b) get the tension of the updo correct from the very start, otherwise the whole thing falls apart or winds up pulling. c) smooth out tangles and flyaway bits right from the start, keep smoothing them as you go along, to keep them from becoming unruly.

It takes a bit longer to do, but since it helps the updo look better and wear more securely, it's worth it.

[Nightshade]

I want to try the equilibrium bun, but the video is deleted and I can't understand the description by itself. I also want to try the orchid bun, but I keep forgetting where I found instructions. I can't see the pictures for the adventuring knot I don't think I have enough posts. Ah, hell, I wish I would have known that was deleted.

Is there a kind LHCer in the house that would like to redo this video? Anyone? Hypnotica? :eyebrows:

[aisling]

I tried the braided bun and it looks good. The double-looped knot works, but I can't do the pretzel bun or celtic knot for some reason and I'm sick of trying to make it look good. The flipped bun kinda reminds me of figure 8, but looks better. I can't do the swirly bun I think my hair is too slippery. I think I have too much taper for the wrapped cinnamon bun thing though I want to do more wrapped styles.

I have a problem pulling my hair through holes/knots it starts to lose shape some place and the hair looks tangled and frizzy. Do other people with stringy hair have this problem also?

I want to try the equilibrium bun, but the video is deleted and I can't understand the description by itself. I also want to try the orchid bun, but I keep forgetting where I found instructions. I can't see the pictures for the adventuring knot I don't think I have enough posts.

I can't make the swirly bun to hold by itself like in the instructions, but it's a great bun to wear with just one stick. That I can do even with my slippery hair.