questions about wearing hair up for a year/ hairtoys

[cdonald2]

I have luckilly ended my trimming addiction and I am now past shoulder. I wear my hair up practically all the time in a messy bun with a hairtie or scrunchie since my flexi 8s make it feel "too loose". I am going to participate in not trimming my ahir for the year as well as keeping it up all year

I have a few questions for those who have involved themselves in those challenges
1. Did you see a surprising amount of length in that time by the end of the year? (photos would be great!)
2. can i let my hair down at night for the challenge? i can only sleep with my hair loose anymore, satin pillowcases drive me absolutely nuts, i CANNOT sleep on them, and my satin caps make me breakout so i cant wear those for too long either..... Ill probably have a bun on the top of my hair as it gets longer.....
3. Has anyone else had to transition from tight feelings buns to lose ones? how can i make it easier on me? are there hairtoys that allow for tighter buns? if so what are they? or is it that my hair is just too short at this point to get a tight bun with something other than a hairtie or scrunchie?

I thank you all in advance for the feedback. :)

[Panth]

I've not done any official (or strict) challenge, but I did abruptly transition from wearing loose hair >75% of the time and uncontained, low English braids the rest of the time to protective updos (braided cinnabun with spinpins) for ~8hrs / day at least 5 days a week (low English braid the rest of the time). I've been doing that for about 4 years now.

1) With daily protective updos, I get steady, solid growth even though I have i/ii and F hair and am now past knee. Without them, I had a false terminal at about TBL.

2) I don't follow any particular challenge, but IMO you make the rules. Personally, I unbun my English braid and sleep with my hair braided. I've never got on with having bunned hair to sleep (too uncomfortable!) and loose is too messy and tangly (though I used to do that before about TBL and when I didn't have a husband to get snarled into my hair). I used to wear a silk sleep cap but I don't currently. I found it made my already fairly flat hair incredibly flat against the skull. I haven't noticed any major damage since quitting using that, despite having delicate hair.

3) The only buns I find comfortable are medium-to-tight-tension and positioned at the nape of the neck. As I have 1b/F hair and use 'cones, my hair is too slippery to stay bunned if I do loose buns.

[brickworld13]

I too cannot wear loose buns. I usually have to re-do my hair a couple times a day anyway. It's always escaping. I used to wear a lot of claw clips when I was around your length. They held solid and easy to replace when lost/broken.

[meteor]

I've worn hair up almost every day since joining LHC.
1. Did you see a surprising amount of length in that time by the end of the year? Not really surprising amount (I think my hair always grows at pretty much the same rate), but what was surprising is how much I can preserve my hemline and how I stopped getting split ends, since my ends are always protected now. So I can go much, much longer without trimming if I wear hair up all the time.
2. can i let my hair down at night for the challenge? You mean, will it still count as "wearing hair up every day"? I would think so, why not? I wear hair simply braided every night, but I still count it as wearing hair up every day.
3. Has anyone else had to transition from tight feelings buns to lose ones? Can't do loose buns, unfortunately. Even my tight buns unravel. I bun tightly. I know this is supposed to be "bad", but my buns can kind of hurt for the first minute or two and then they stay put. If it's loose, it won't stay for more than a few minutes. :(

[Leeloo]

2. can i let my hair down at night for the challenge? i can only sleep with my hair loose anymore, satin pillowcases drive me absolutely nuts, i CANNOT sleep on them, and my satin caps make me breakout so i cant wear those for too long either..... Ill probably have a bun on the top of my hair as it gets longer.....

About the satin cap. I used to breakout with satin polyester caps too until I tried a satin silk cap (AdorabellaBaby store on etsy has really comfy ones).

[Catatafish]

I would say maybe try a silk pillowcase instead. I had a satin one that I bought on ebay and I hated how it felt. The silk is much nicer, it doesn't have that horrible sticky feeling, and it's cool. I found two for twenty euro. I also can't wear my hair up at night, and even though I wasn't paying too much attention before I joined LHC, I feel that it helps.

I can't really help with the rest of your questions, sorry.

[cdonald2]

I'll definitely try the silk ones :) thanks.
I do use a lot of claw clips nut I even feel like those are too loose in. My hair. I need. My hair fixed to my head and completely stationary. I know, I'm strange, but it's the only way I'm comfortable.

[Colochita]

About the satin cap. I used to breakout with satin polyester caps too until I tried a satin silk cap (AdorabellaBaby store on etsy has really comfy ones).

Popping in to co-sign the AdorabellaBaby silk caps. They're really great. :)

[Zugar]

Sorry to be off-topic, but after reading a lot on the forum I´ve understood it that everyone here do keep their hair up everyday, it´s more the rule than not. So why do challenges about this?

I do NOT mean to be rude, it´s just struck me as kind of weird..... :)

[neko_kawaii]

Sorry to be off-topic, but after reading a lot on the forum I´ve understood it that everyone here do keep their hair up everyday, it´s more the rule than not. So why do challenges about this?

I do NOT mean to be rude, it´s just struck me as kind of weird..... :)

Some people find participating in challenges helps them form new habits. There are also challenges for fitness and cleaning. . . pretty much anything someone thought they could use the moral support of others doing the same activities as they.

There is no rule about wearing hair up, but many find that it does help with condition.

For the OP, I have not noticed a length benefit to any of the practices you mention, but I do think my hair has gotten thicker (less is shedding or breaking near the scalp) from wearing a silk cap. If you like making things yourself, a silk cap is not hard to do: easy tutorial (http://www.ehow.com/how_8791301_make-satin-sleep-bonnet.html), and silk shirts from thrift stores are an inexpensive source of material.

[Nadine <3]

I think at just past shoulder/nearing collar bone length I relied heavily on french braids. I had loads of layers and a french braid helped contain them really nicely. I just used the little terry cloth ties that wear out after a few uses, but you get like 300 for a dollar at the dollar store. I didn't start wearing buns until recently and I'm almost at BSL. I probably could have started wearing them at APL but it took me a long time to figure it out haha

This is the first year that I will be keeping my hair up and not trimming for a full year, so we'll see how far it grows!