Personal Style and Benign Neglect

[noreenw]

Hey all!

I'm a college student, and one of my personal goals for the next year is to develop more of a personal style (in hair, clothes, makeup, etc). I really admire girls I see in daring but cute outfits! And my 'style' right now is consistently sweaters and leggings, so it's time for a change, hehe.

I think one of the things that contributes to my 'grandma-chic- look is the fact that my hair's always up in a scrunchie bun... not exactly the most fashion-forward style, but so comfortable and good for hair growth! A lot of the styles I really admire aren't protective at all (and my APL hair is too short for the amazing braided updos I see posted here).

Anybody have ideas for more 'fun, youthful' protective styling?? :disco:

[Laurenji]

One thing that really helped me when my hair was APL was to split it into sections. Two cinnabuns, one on each side is really cute, and you can play around with having them high or low on your head for different looks. You could also do two or three buns in a vertical row - it looks kind of like a French Twist. Speaking of which, French Twists are nice, although they're fairly formal looking. Gibson Tucks were another of my favorite styles at APL. If you know how to do French/Dutch braids, there's a lot you can do with those, even at APL as well. A tucked French braid looks really cute and is easier to do with hair that length.

[Arctic]

Sounds like a fun project! I've been revamping my style as well in the past few years (slowly, in spurts).

APL is plenty for amazing braids, and tons of other styles! I am much older than you, and might not have same ideas what is fun and youthful, but take a look at my blog, I have been doing a project where I try to gather styles that I am able to do with my shoulder/collarbone length hair there, links to those specific posts can be found under my blog's header. My project is still in progress, I should take photos of new styles soon, before my hair grows too much :D You can do probably all of those style and more!

Also don't forget hair accessories, and other accessories, like big earrings and scarves. They can inject lot of fun and personality to one's look.

[lapushka]

I always wore my hair up in a peacock twist at this length, and if it's curly, the ends that poke out are truly magical!

[Auni]

I agree with a lot of tucks and braids. I really loved 2 side braids pinned along the nape, french braids, and peacock twists adorned with a flower!

[swords & roses]

I agree with Laurenji - a simple change of where you place your bun can really change up your look! :) A bun on either side of your head (pigtail style) looks very youthful & spunky when placed high, and look sweet & charming when placed low. A single bun placed low and on the side looks sophisticated & youthful.

[Kendrix]

Wow. I wish I had all these suggestions when I was APL. I called that length "long enough to braid" and I wore it in a braid every day for a long time. I remember how much harder it was to bun my short hair. I needed way more pins than I do now. One thing that worked VERY well for a short time before my hair outgrew it was the headband method for curling hair, it was cute to just wear my hair in that style when I used a scarf instead of a stretchy headband. Now at BCL, my hair just tangles when I try to wrap it like that, but it was cute while it lasted.

[Laurenji]

Oh! Everyone's suggestions of braid placement reminded me - one of my favorite things from about shoulder to APL was to do a diagonal Dutch braid from the top of one side of the bottom of the other side (for me it was usually the front right corner to the bottom left corner since I usually pull my braids over my left shoulder) and then to tie it off with a really cute flower or bow right under my ear.

[Vivalagina]

I wear two braids pinned at nape a ton at this length. The small spin pins make it very secure and comfortable. You can change up your part and the tightness of the braids to create different looks.

[meteor]

Check out accent braids, headband braids, zigzag braids, fauxhawks made with French braids or buns, faux undercuts, stuff like that... There are lots of great YouTube videos on that.
APL hair is a great length for experimenting with accents! :D

[gwenalyn]

Seconding the double bun idea! I tend to avoid them because I'm half-Asian, so when I do double buns I feel like I come across very traditional rice-farmer :). But they can look soooo cute: https://theafictionado.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/kaylee.jpg

Other cool, relatively uncommon updos are milkmaid braids and crown braids, which I quite like but take a bit of work.

[noreenw]

Thanks so much for all the tips, everyone! I'm so excited to try these out :flower:

One thing worth mentioning: my hair is pretty thin, so I'm a little worried about the size of my braids/buns! Nonetheless, I'm sure I'll find a few I like and I'll be sure to post pictures here or on my blog :)

[endlessly]

Back when I was APL, I knew absolutely zero hairstyles, so I pretty much just consistently wore it down! However, my life changed once I discovered hair clips and to this day, I still use them on a daily basis. You could even possibly manage a crown braid, too - they're very cute and I think they're actually much easier on shorter hair.

[Betazed]

I'm also in a style rut. I usually wear my hair down in cooler months and in 2 french braids (that my gramma does because I can never get it as tidy as she can) in the warmer months. I never really realized all the interesting things that can be done with hair until I found this site. I recently began practicing lace and dutch braids. When my hair sticks arrive (I just placed a huge order on the Lilla Rose site. Thank you LHC for that introduction!) I plan on trying different buns. Any suggestions?

[HintOfMint]

Instead of a scrunchie, I would use spin pins instead. A ballet bun is a neater and more sophisticated look and leaves more of a canvas for outfits, accessories and makeup. Sockbuns are also pretty dope.

To be honest, hair is kind of taking a backseat in fashion at the moment. Unless you're doing extreme things like an undercut or dye, the styles are fairly low maintenance. Bangs don't even come to mind. I remember when everybody was cutting bangs, doing sidebraids, curling their hair, or dyeing it ombre. Now it just seems like people are leaving their hair down as is, or throwing it up in a bun and calling it a day.

If you're developing your style, this is a good thing because it's one fewer thing on your plate. You can simply put your hair up in a bun and then can focus on other things to define a look.