"Safe" ponytail?

[Nevb1973]

I feel most comfortable when my hair is in a ponytail in an elastic. I know it is causing some breakage, I can see short hairs on the back of my head. Is there an alternative? I'm a nurse so I need my hair up out of my face. I am terrible at doing buns, working on it but little patience for messing with my hair is my problem. I try once and give up. What can I do with my hair to help protect it and feel comfortable?

[Radiant]

How about a side braid? I'm also a pony tail person, and worry sometimes about the constant hair elastic in the same place breaking my hair. It's very easy and hard to mess up a side braid and for me it's equally as comfortable as a pony tail. I like fishtail side braids myself.

[brickworld13]

How about a peacock twist with a claw clip? Not a bun, but more protected than a pony tail. If you don't like that idea, try different hair ties. I use the cloth ones for children. They are cheap and stretch a lot. Wash them and they shrink up again at least for a few times.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

[Seeshami]

Braids?

Magic combs/ez combs?

Clips or flexis

[gossamer]

If you tell us how long your hair is, we might be able to suggest some styles that could work. Some secure updos work better on shorter hair and some on longer hair.

[neko_kawaii]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

Ooooo! I'll have to try that!

[gthlvrmx]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

If you want a ponytail, definitely try this! ^^

Maybe you can look into braided buns secured with spin pins or hair pins?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Ooooo! I'll have to try that!

Let me know how you like it, Neko!:)

[Brattina88]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

Oh, me too!

[TwilightShadow]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

This is a great idea! I'll have to try it.

[MINAKO]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

nice idea, i will try it too. thank you for sharing! :flower:

[Nevb1973]

Ooh that looks like I could do that! I don't have a fork would bobby pins work?

[Nevb1973]

Thanks for the good ideas. My problem is I can't braid my hair it never ends up right? Then it's early in the morning and I need to go to work so I give up and grab my trusty elastic. I guess I just need more time with my hair. It is just waist length so a lot of the styles I'm too short for. The video I will try but I'll see if bobby pins work those I have. Maybe little claw clips but I would have to buy some. I'm not very good with the hair supplies.

[Nique1202]

Four buns that take less than 3 minutes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcSaBWbBYug) (with a little practice), courtesy of our own torrinpaige. You might not be able to do one of them, the nautilus, but if your hair is only ii thickness, then at waist you should get close.

Another quick, easy, and secure one for me is the disc bun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iViNkltTb9Y), which I've been doing since MBL. Because of the way the ends are tucked under the loops, it's friendly to much shorter hair than hers, though you'll get fewer wraps.

[JustPam]

A knot bun is my day to day style, I use spin pins to hold it but normal bobby/U pins can hold it too, just a lot more of them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGTXkUhFKE

[Rebecka]

http://www.rapunzelofsweden.se/harvard-styling/accessoarer/magic-gummiband-small

I use these kinds, I dont know if they are better really, but it keeps the hair up :)

[Carolyn]

Vary your pony tail placement. One day higher and one day lower. Make sure your elastics are not the kind with the metal connectors. Get some nice smooth fabric ones. There are elastic ribbon ties that are great. Target and Walmart have them. My hair is an inch shy of waist and I can do several buns in less than a minute. Another suggestion is to alternate various ponytails and singles braids. Go get yourself some simple hair toys.

[jacqueline101]

I was going to suggest flexi 8, flexi oh, and scrunchi they're thick and the elastic won't break your hair. I do agree place your pony tail in different areas to avoid damage. I'm almost waist I can do buns and braids easily. I like a single English braid but I tie it off in different areas. Tie it off in different areas to keep from breaking the ends. If you do wear a single braid protect it from rubbing on your clothes. Wrap a silk scarf or something around it.

[MINAKO]

you cold also try the hairagami. the ponytails you can make with this one are kinda formal lookingbecause there is barely a way to do it in anot so neat version. but i like these things, they are fun to play with.

[JellyBene]

Scrunchies are better than general elastics, the best thing I've found though are these things:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/171129461/100pcs-telephone-cord-hair-tie-elastic?ref=market
They're smooth so they don't pull hair and they distribute tension evenly. They look like they'd cause a tangle mess but I swear by them. They're used widely in Asian countries, when I was in school we had a foreign exchange student from Vietnam who used them and we used to trade them for my "American hairties" :p I never went back!

[neko_kawaii]

I'll make a point of trying that lazy wrap ponytail sometime this month! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=129368&p=2933757#post2933757)

[Robot Ninja]

If you're a ii, waist length should be long enough for quite a few buns. I like the lazy wrap myself, because like the name suggests, it is lazy. Hairsticks are easier to use than pins, in my experience. Use a pencil or a pen to practice if you don't have any actual sticks.

ETA: Sarahlabyrinth, thanks for the tutorial.

[Nevb1973]

I tried the lazy wrap ponytail with bobby pins and ow worked but one side was a little loose and I had to go to work so I had to put an elastic in. I really have a hard time doing anything with my hair, I am not a good hair styler. I get frustrated and give up too quick.

[Nevb1973]

Scrunchies are better than general elastics, the best thing I've found though are these things:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/171129461/100pcs-telephone-cord-hair-tie-elastic?ref=market
They're smooth so they don't pull hair and they distribute tension evenly. They look like they'd cause a tangle mess but I swear by them. They're used widely in Asian countries, when I was in school we had a foreign exchange student from Vietnam who used them and we used to trade them for my "American hairties" :p I never went back!

Do they stay in your hair and not slide? I never saw anything like that. I might have to try these.

[cathair]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

That's flipping awesome, it has to be tried! :D Thanks for posting.

It's kind of similar to a spin pin ponytail, where you wrap a piece of hair around the ponytail and put a spin pin through the whole thing. But better, since I can't get that to hold any more now my hair is a bit slippier and I love lazy wrap buns.

[Nevb1973]

Four buns that take less than 3 minutes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcSaBWbBYug) (with a little practice), courtesy of our own torrinpaige. You might not be able to do one of them, the nautilus, but if your hair is only ii thickness, then at waist you should get close.

Another quick, easy, and secure one for me is the disc bun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iViNkltTb9Y), which I've been doing since MBL. Because of the way the ends are tucked under the loops, it's friendly to much shorter hair than hers, though you'll get fewer wraps.
Ok watched the video I might be able to do those. I just need to practice. But I now have some ideas. Everyone has given me such great ideas. You are all so helpful.

[Avis]

Just wanted to echo what everyone else has already said. And also that two years ago, I could only put my hair in a low ponytail and an English side braid (because I couldn't figure out how to get it to go straight back). I couldn't even figure out how to get it into a high ponytail! And now after some practice, I can do several buns with sticks, forks and flexis and can braid my hair in an English AND French braid that goes straight back. It's very frustrating when you don't know what you're doing at first, but if I can do it, I'm sure you can too. Happy practicing. :)

[JellyBene]

Do they stay in your hair and not slide? I never saw anything like that. I might have to try these.

They've always stayed for me and don't slide, I have a realtively large amount of hair and it's pretty slippery so I'd assume they'd stay in just about any hair :)

[QMacrocarpa]

http://youtu.be/Umz6pNWk9oQ

Thanks for sharing, I love this! I'm not a big ponytail-wearer (darned split- and damage-prone ends which are also crazy-thin after a big shed a couple years back!), but my husband enjoys seeing my hair somewhat down now and then, and this will be a great option! Wearing it held with a short stick right now: very comfy and secure! :)