ponytail holders--what is the consensus on them finally

[mamaherrera]

I'm a bit confused on the "no damage" ponytail holders. Most people say they are damaging, but others say on here that if you do a braided ponytail, then they aren't damaging to wear ponytails. I like them for working out, running, but I know they must bounce around a lot, so I just wanted to ask specifically, are braided ponytails bad for hair, and in which cases do you all use ponytail elastics?? To tie off braids. . . . anything???

[gustavonut]

I always wear a ponytail with a headband because I can't manage do put it in a bun or anything. Unless my mom braids it. Sorry I'm not much help. My hair is pretty healthy and soft and I can't notice damage from the ponytails.

[Nadine <3]

I don't think wearing a pony tail once in a while is damaging, it's just not protective since the ends are free and you can get tangles. If you put them on to tight and then pull on the tail to tighten it you can get damage too. I like to wear them from time to time, I just make sure I don't do it to tight, don't pull to tighten it, and take them down gently and detanglr the tail gently.

[darklyndsea]

Yes, elastics are damaging...but if you're using them on the end of a braid, that hair's already taking a worse beating than the rest of your hair simply by virtue of being on the end. Unless you're dead set on no trims and no S&D, those ends are eventually going to get trimmed off anyway.

[gthlvrmx]

Well i read on here that ponytails can damage hair by the pulling it gives on your scalp. I also read that the heat from your head goes to your hair tie and that heat can cause heat damage somehow to your hair where the hair tie is. I don't know how much heat is needed to get damage from it but that's what i read before online. I can easily make a braid without any hair ties at all and then bun it and secure it with a hairstick or spin pin.

[Lyv]

I've never had any damage or breakage from ponytails, right now I wear my hair in one every day. If you use them just be sure not to wear them too tight and don't yank them out of your hair. Braids and buns are definetly going to be less damaging though so if you are worried about damage it's probably better to go with those. If you use the clear elastics to tie off a braid coat it in olive oil before you take it out and the elastic will usually snap and you won't have to worry about it being wrapped in your ends.

[Jennah]

I found that elastics, even if they don´t have metal in them, or the other plush soft types tend to pull hair when I remove them and feel damaging...but that the "spiral" plastic holders (pic (http://www.clarissibasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Black-Med.jpg)) seem to do a much better job at not being so damaging and hold the hair quite well. Not sure about the braided tail question.

[schnibbles]

When I wear ponytails (which is very rare, but sometimes I'll do a low one at the nape) I like to use a silk scrunchie. :cool:

[QMacrocarpa]

My guess is there's no consensus because everyone's hair is different, and something that's fine for more resilient hair is not good for more damage-prone hair (like mine). At some point I learned that I could basically get along without using hair elastics (my exception is I occasionally use them to convert a hairstick into an "elastic slide") because my braid will stay in place without being secured, and I think it does save wear and tear on my ends to not use elastics there. To secure a (low) ponytail (mostly while my hair is air-drying), I use a Flexi-8.

[lapushka]

I think there's a big difference in wearing a ponytail with an elastic (esp. higher ponytails) daily versus having that style once in a week or a while. You have to decide for yourself whether it's worth it and how much you wear the elastic. It's not damaging if you wear it sensibly.

[kganihanova]

I don't have an issue with them. But i'm also super careful taking them off and use the thin ones unless I need extra hold power.

[Anje]

I think it ultimately depends on the hair, the length, weight, frequency of ponytailing, etc.

Me: I wore a ponytail about every day from shoulder to BSL (well, before that, too). Used elastics without any metal in them, so reasonably hair-friendly. I "tightened" it when it felt loose by pulling two handfuls toward my face -- never thought anything of it. And then I noticed a huge broken chunk of hair leading from the top of my head to about where the ponytail holder was. Somewhere between how I was wearing my hair and how I was handling it, the ponytails had caused a lot of breakage on the section of hair that supported most of the weight. So I swore off ponytails and never started wearing them again. I just bunned or braided instead. Eventually found LHC.

Now, your hair might be different. Mine's not that heavy, but it's pretty fine. It wasn't damaged, but it doesn't withstand a whole lot of abuse. But for me, it IS damaging.

[Madora]

They are not hair friendly, no matter what they are made of. That being said, if you need to use one once in a while, and have no other options (like a one piece barrette which is much more hair friendly than a ponytail holder) then if you use it carefully...and take it out gently, then you should have no problems. Just don't do the ponytail "yank"...that is, splitting the pony tail hair in two parts and pulling on it, to make the ponytail tighter.

[DreamSheep]

Well, I suppose one can think of what might be the sources of damage caused by a ponytail holder:

- Friction damage - if you pull it very tight, or yank the halves of the ponytail to keep it tight, it would probably cause friction at the contact point, and pulling it backwards will probably ruffle the cuticle a bit (when I was younger, I used to do that a lot and always got kinks in my hair, though I liked it). This may happen to a lesser extent at the ends
- Breakage - if you have metal bits that can get caught on hair and snap it.
- Non protective for ends - hair can tangle, mess around with itself, can weather and split.

However, using the softer ones, or even scrunchies will probably reduce the damage, and honestly, nothing wrong with wearing a ponytail once in a while. I think one's hair is to enjoy it rather than worrying how we might be damaging it.


Well i read on here that ponytails can damage hair by the pulling it gives on your scalp. I also read that the heat from your head goes to your hair tie and that heat can cause heat damage somehow to your hair where the hair tie is. I don't know how much heat is needed to get damage from it but that's what i read before online. I can easily make a braid without any hair ties at all and then bun it and secure it with a hairstick or spin pin.
I'm just bolding this because this has made me raise an eyebrow and sounds like someone fancied writing some crap online. Firstly, I doubt 37 degrees can cause too much heat damage, as after all, this is the warmth of our bodies, and all of our hair grows out of our scalp, meaning that for 1-6 months, the shaft is close to the scalp and likely at that temperature.
The hairtie will be further away from the scalp, and even if there was heat transfer, it would reach an equilibrium between ambient temperature and the head temperature, which probably won't be over 40 - so I don't see how that would cause heat damage.
The only way that might happen is with a completely metallic hairtie in the sun, as metal is a very good heat conductor and the sun could heat it up till it behaved like a flat iron. However, how you would get a metallic hair tie on is another challenge, and it probably won't do wonders for your hair. (what I'm trying to say is I call nonsense on the heat damage part :p though if someone has a valid explanation otherwise do correct me!)

[lapushka]

My gosh, you know... as a child, from age 6 to 10/11, I wore nothing but high pigtails every day during the week. My hair never broke. My pigtails were made with the old-fashioned metal-tied elastics and I got no breakage from that either. I do remember that my pigtails never were tightened (with the pull-apart method) as they were so tight it hurt. My hair was just fine! No bald spots either.

I think it takes a lot to cause breakage...

[sarahthegemini]

Honestly I think the 'consenus' is a big pile of hypocritical poop. Oh they're the devil for securing ponytails yet they're okay for securing braids? Hmmm.....

[lapushka]

Honestly I think the 'consenus' is a big pile of hypocritical poop. Oh they're the devil for securing ponytails yet they're okay for securing braids? Hmmm.....

Yes but the difference is, the first is attached to your scalp, and the latter is not. It's a big difference with tension on the head and hair and such.

[ARG]

Even at "can I call this hip?" I still throw my hair up into a pony tail occasionally, but I get sick of it after a while (2 hours) because my hair weighs so much it just pulls it down.

I think repetitive styling is what causes the most damage. A pony every day, yeah, could be damaging if its very tight, in the same spot, etc...

I'm more of the mindset of wear your hair. If you enjoy pony tails, then wear them.

[elocin9911]

As long as you have your hair in a loose ponytail and only do it a couple times a week, you should be fine. Also, use the fabric bands instead of the ones you buy at the grocery store. Those will damage your hair in so many ways. Plus, with the fabric ones they won't leave that dreaded dent in your hair after you take them out!

[cat11]

I dont think its damaging if it's every now and then, and I think its better when you use it as a base for a bun than just a hanging pony because the bun will take the pressure off the front of your hair and he pulling a ponytail causes. I cant wear just a ponytail unless its done in a flexi-8 or tied with a ribbon or scarf. The elastics make my scalp hurt because my hair is too heavy. You should learn how to tie your hair up with a ribbon :) It's easy and it can stay. Yo ujust wrap it around first tight like with an elastic and then tie the two ends

[Majorane]

I used to wear my hair in hair friendly no metal elastics ponytails for a very long time and I did that almost every day. Lo and behold! A waterfall of tiny split endsies from ear to my ends. Fortunately, splits don't show too much on my hair.
Now, mind you, my hair is very damage-susceptibe, and I wore a ponytail almost every day and often redid it during the day, too. And I might not have been careful enough with removing an elastic from my hair. But in me, yes hairties were damaging. Probably also because of the repetitive hairstyling. Now I try to be a good girl and use spinpins or forks or sticks, but I do still use elastics now and then on the pony bit and I often sleep in a braid, that's also secured with an elastic. But my ends are fried anyway, so I don't feel particulairly sorry for them.

Overall, it depends all on how careful you want to be with your hair. I like my modded Gibson tucks too much to swear off ponytail holders, and I'll take a bit of damage.

[Bene]

I didn't know there was supposed to be a consensus.

[lunalocks]

I had TERRIBLE damage from wearing a scrunchie for my pony (a satin scrunchie, very soft) and 3 times a week for 2 or more years, wore my hair like this for aerobic dancing. I found myself repeatedly tightening the pony as it would repeatedly get loose. Ir is AMAZING to see the damage this caused, but I didn't realize it at the time. When I s and d I have the broken hairs and splits ALL in the "outside hair", or the hair that was rubbing on the scrunchie. The "inside hair", the hair protected on the inside of the pony, is long and strong and no splits.

I rarely wear pony tails now, maybe once or twice a year.

[Sharysa]

Ponytail holders depend on SO MANY THINGS, which is why there will never be a consensus besides "do what you want."

Hairtype? Coarse hair might be strong enough to withstand damage. But coarse THICK hair? I haven't worn an actual ponytail for years. Not because of damage, but because at hip-length my hair's too damn heavy and it tangles like whoa.

End preferences? If you like thick or blunt hemlines, you might not like wearing ponytails OR hanging braids due to end damage. But if you're like me and you adore fairytale ends, then damage is actually a good thing for achieving the medieval tapering look.

Practicality? I would love to try at least one or two buns, but I literally can't because as my hairtype denotes, it's way too heavy to be concentrated in one spot like buns and ponytails are. Buns will inevitably sag or come undone because I can't compress my hair very well. Braids might get fuzzy, but they're far more secure FOR MY HAIRTYPE than buns, so crown-braid types of styles and half-ups are good if I want updos.

General personality? If I'm not being attacked with scissors or if I don't have a highly visible hair accident, I don't give a crap about damage as long as my hair is relatively tangle free and moisturized. Plus, I don't really need to worry about damage since my hair's very strong. But ultimately, I'm just too lazy to keep my hair shielded from the world as much as possible.

I've accidentally shut an errant piece of hair in the car door, my braid has fallen into my coffee or soapy dish-water, and it's gotten caught on a fan (just the outside cage and it wasn't on, thankfully). If it's not visibly damaged, I just rinse/rebraid my hair and go on with my day. This will differ greatly from someone who has very fragile hair or just loves her thick, blunt hemline.

[Beckstar]

I wear cloth ones made from tshirt material, no metal pieces and not too tight and not on soaking wet hair. Never had mechanic damage from this. But that is my experience from shoulder to hip length.

[lapushka]

I think it depends with the weight of the hair as well. If it's short, there's barely "pulling" on the hair strands. If hair is long, there's greater weight associated with that and so it pulls more on the hair. It's not just always the elastic bands themselves.