Updos Without Hair Ties for Thick, Kinky Hair?

[Colochita]

I have very think type 4 hair and it's incredibly difficult for me to find some type of fork or stick or Ficcare held bun that is reliable.

So far the only things I've gotten to work are a split in half pseudo-cinnabun (avatar) and an inverted braid with the tassel tucked in and clipped by a Ficcare. But this all get so boring after a time! :(

So are there any ideas out there for how to keep this fluff contained?

My stretched hair is just grazing BSL (or 3-4 inches below BSB). That's maybe 12-15 inches (too lazy to measure). Unfortunately, when my hair is loose (and even when contained) it shrinks to just below my shoulders, which makes things harder.

Please help! I'd love to kick the hair tie habit, but I don't know whether it's possible.

[Kina]

Have you tried twists? There are some youtubes with fabulous updos (that won't work for me :wail: because I lack the texture) starting out in twists which feed back into the eventual bun. I'm sorry if that's a poor description, I just can't think any better right now.

I'll try to look some up when I get home today, at work atm :)

[CoveredByLove]

Have you seen EZ combs? I have a friend who has your hair type and is extremely thick and she loves these. :) There are different brands that make them. You can do partial undos with them, french twists, pony tails, or even use them as a bun cover. Hope this helps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahBditSQWR0

[YvetteVarie]

I unfortunately, have nothing to offer. All my updos are either braided or I do a bun from a satin ribbon tied ponytail.

I do understand how annoying it is having extra thick hair, and being unable to do much with it

[Mullsha]

I'm a relatively textured hair (Hispanic curls) And I'm at TBL so not 100% this will work for you but I thought it was worth a try. What I do is I put all my hair up then twist it till it fold in on each other creating a bun. Once I reach the end I tuck in the access hair it is usually really firm and I don't need anything but my own hair.

[meteor]

Sorry, I don't have that hairtype at all, but how do big-barelled claw-clips along the perimeter of buns work for you? Also, what about wide hair combs?

I think something with flat large gripping area with many tines might work at this stage, if forks/sticks/ficcare-type clips are unreliable and don't hold well at this length...

Also, starting the updo with twists and braids should really help hold the overall structure together better.

[Anje]

Between being thick and being kinky, I'm sure it's rather short to bun.... The first things that come to mind for me are a folded braid clipped up with a Ficcare or Flexi-8 or similar. You probably could get by with not tying that off. Alternatively, can you get a french twist to work?

[proo]

3 sections: mohawk section from forehead to crown, then split the rest down the back to create the other 2 sections.
Create a large, loose rope from the mohawk section and bantu it so it is self-held.
Rope braid the right bottom section, directing it toward the left side of the bantu,
then wrap it around the bantu clockwise, tucking in the end.
Do the same on the other side in the opposite direction.
Place a large silky scrunchie over all this, tucking it under the bun once it's on.
This usually holds on it's own for me, sometimes I'll add a couple pins.

[Hairkay]

Hmm, a there are a variety of flat twists updos and braided updos or you could section your hair in two or three sections making some buns.

You can do two upside down French braids that'll end up at your crown and then twist the rest of the hair to make a bun at the top of your head. You could do two normal French braids or inverted braids and tuck the ends up under the finished braids. The ends could be crossed over and tucked or just tucked. I do this sometimes and I don't have to use any hair pins at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoptIA5iMKo

This one is nice. I sometimes do something similar. I tend to do large cornrows that meet in the middle like a ponytail, then'd be most likely 11/12 in all though it would look okay in 4 or 8 depending on how long you're keeping the style for. One braid end can then be used to wrap around the others and tucked in. My version of this video would be taking those twists and doing an upside down French braid to the top then some sort of LWB on the top so I'd use none or few hair pins or bobby pins.

Here's another one. You can still get a good result without stretched hair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kTgeTCyqs

[gthlvrmx]

Maybe you could try spin pins? They come in mini sizes as well which are perfect for french twists. Maybe a peacock twist secured with spin pins might help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boGblrUa_O8
That video shows a peacock twist with a hairstick but you can just use spin pins to secure it.
There is also this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmX88wOShQM With the "EZ" comb.

[Colochita]

Thanks to everyone for their assistance.

Kina, right now that's how I do my buns with hair ties. I have a much harder time trying to bun my hair loose, so I put in twists and then pull them into one and pin them down in a spiral.

CoveredByLove, I hadn't heard of them before but I'll definitely check them out.

meteor, starting with twists does seem to work best for me now. I haven't tried claw clips, though. I'll keep them in mind as well.

Anje, The braid with tucked and clipped end does work best for me currently. I haven't tried a French twist in a long time. The last time I did it required a ton of pins to secure, but perhaps now that my hair is longer it won't take so much.

Hairkay and gthlvrmx, I'll check out those videos too. I've also been considering spin pins, but I'm not sure how my hair would do with them.

Thanks you guys for all the responses! I'm sure out of all the suggestions here I'll be able to think of something new/fun. I always have the tucked braid to fall back on, but it's nice to mix things up sometimes.

[Colochita]

I actually have one of these comb things somewhere in my house! I hadn't thought to use one. I'll try it.

[Madora]

Lilith Moon's two strand rope crown braid - link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ

Easy to do as it only uses two strands. Hair is woven near to the scalp so all you need are a few hairpins to secure the ends. Keeps hair neat and off your neck in hot weather. Easy to sleep on also.

[mssummerrose]

You could do variations on what you currently do. Maybe two french braids tucked under, or goddess/Dutch braids tucked under? Or braid across the front, around, and into a bun?

[Colochita]

Thanks Madora and mssummerrose, I'd done crown braids in the past but I forgot about them. Thank you for putting them back on my radar. And I haven't tried double French braids, but those might be cute.

[Arctic]

My hair is barely wavy, but my experience with spin pins is very positive. I think it's very difficult to get damage from them (although I've read some members say they think them damaging). Their stucture is like a screw. If you have ever screwed a real screw, you know how it penetrated and gets out easily when rotated to the right direction, without tearing or damaging the wood around it. Spin pins are the same; you never need to rip them out, they screw off of your hair easily. I would get the biggest ones you can find, so you can locate them from your hair more easily when you are ready to remove them. One trick I learned with them, is that for me (who has shorter and much thinner hair than you), they hold much better when I insert them in X, so that one is actually screwed right through the other. I thought it was impossible because of their structure, but it is very easy. I had problems getting them hold reliably before I learned that. Make sure if you buy them, to have ones with rounded tips. I have seen cheap versions whihch don't have anything to cover the metal wire tips. Those, I can imagine, easily would damage hair.

[gthlvrmx]

My hair is barely wavy, but my experience with spin pins is very positive. I think it's very difficult to get damage from them (although I've read some members say they think them damaging). Their stucture is like a screw. If you have ever screwed a real screw, you know how it penetrated and gets out easily when rotated to the right direction, without tearing or damaging the wood around it. Spin pins are the same; you never need to rip them out, they screw off of your hair easily. I would get the biggest ones you can find, so you can locate them from your hair more easily when you are ready to remove them. One trick I learned with them, is that for me (who has shorter and much thinner hair than you), they hold much better when I insert them in X, so that one is actually screwed right through the other. I thought it was impossible because of their structure, but it is very easy. I had problems getting them hold reliably before I learned that. Make sure if you buy them, to have ones with rounded tips. I have seen cheap versions whihch don't have anything to cover the metal wire tips. Those, I can imagine, easily would damage hair.

It might be best not to interlock them, just to be safe. Some people have found the spin pins get stuck after getting them interlocked and it even says on the package that you shouldn't interlock them.

[Arctic]

It might be best not to interlock them, just to be safe. Some people have found the spin pins get stuck after getting them interlocked and it even says on the package that you shouldn't interlock them.

Oh, didn't say that on the package of mine. (Mine are bought from Finland and are not brand name.) The do not get stuck at all, I always wear mine this way. They screw on and off just as easily if I wear them parallel (etc) to eachother. Maybe there are some minor differences in the construction/measurements/design between brands; if it says not to interlock in the package, I would definitely follow that advice - meanwhile I'll continue wearing mine in X because it works for me. Maybe "dry test" this first before interlocking in the hair would be a good advice.

Anyway, I assume kinky curly hair has no problems with staying up without interlocking the spin pins, I just mentioned it in case they don't feel sturdy enought when used parallel/non-interlocking way.

[gthlvrmx]

Oh, didn't say that on the package of mine. (Mine are bought from Finland and are not brand name.) The do not get stuck at all, I always wear mine this way. They screw on and off just as easily if I wear them parallel (etc) to eachother. Maybe there are some minor differences in the construction/measurements/design between brands; if it says not to interlock in the package, I would definitely follow that advice - meanwhile I'll continue wearing mine in X because it works for me. Maybe "dry test" this first before interlocking in the hair would be a good advice.

I think the Goody spin pins might be bigger than other kinds of screw/spin pins and I haven't heard much problems with the Goody ones, but I have read about random people here and there saying they had problems with their pins that were not from Goody. Something to do about the pins "splaying" and not being able to get the corkscrew shape back, but that probably had nothing to do with them interlocking.

[Arctic]

I think the Goody spin pins might be bigger than other kinds of screw/spin pins and I haven't heard much problems with the Goody ones, but I have read about random people here and there saying they had problems with their pins that were not from Goody. Something to do about the pins "splaying" and not being able to get the corkscrew shape back, but that probably had nothing to do with them interlocking.

Might be. Thanks for bringing this up, I had never heared of this before. I have been advising people quite often to try the X shape inserting, and will be more careful from now on.

:flower: