Help me get my slippery, thick MBL hair in a bun :)

[diamond_storm]

Good afternoon, everyone!

Today I am hoping to recruit your help! I'm still hanging around at not-quite-waist, and with my thick and super slippery hair, it's so hard to get it to stay up in a bun. I don't like to wear my hair down when I'm at home because it's either getting tangled, stuck in things, or getting stuff like dish soap on it and forcing me to wash my hair. I prefer not to use braids for the same reason. I know that I could pin up the braids/make the into a bun, but I really don't prefer the look of braid waves on myself, so I would rather not.

So buns it is! Great, except for the fact that it's proven very difficult to actually get my hair to stay up. I've been using these silk scrunchies to put it into a sort of cinnabun/bee-but bun type thing, but I feel like I'm not being the kindest to my ends by doing it every day, since the ends tend to get kind of shoved up under the scrunchy and receive some mechanical damage. So I'd like to find another hair toy to use.

Just to forewarn you, I'm a bit obsessive about my hair (I'm sure many of you understand that ;)), so some of the concerns I have are probably just me being way too careful.

I do own hair sticks and a fork, but at this point, my hair is still not long enough/too thick to really use them since I can't really do any buns besides cinnabuns (I can sort of pull off a disc bun, but the tension is just too much for my scalp at this length to use a hair stick or fork.... my hair isn't long enough to do a lazy wrap bun either).

Hair pins (the u-shaped ones) also won't hold up the bun-they fall out of my hair within 20 minutes. I also have some concerns with these as they seem to pull my hair at weird angles and are just a bit uncomfortable. And I don't really like the straight bobby pins... I just personally feel like they are a bit damaging by squishing the hair down. And they are such a pain to remove.

I tried using tiny claw clips around the perimeter of my bun today, and so far, they seem to be doing the job well. The only concern I have with these is I hear a sort of crunching sound when I put them in, and I really don't like that. I could be totally wrong, but I always equate "sounds" to equal some damage being done. By the way, I checked all of the clips to make sure that they don't have any rough seams or edges, so I think the sound is just from the tines of the clips piercing through the bun. I've also been careful not to make the bun too tight. But that dreaded sound alone is enough to make me a little on the fence about using these often.

So!! After all of that background information, my question is: do you know of any other hair toys that would work for me to get my hair up into a (preferably cinna-)bun at my thickness, texture, and current length? I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to hair toys, so I would really appreciate your expertise:) I would prefer things that I can pick up at the drug store, but any suggestions are more than welcome!

[Arctic]

Have you tried spin pins? How about some hair products?

In general, as for buns/styles, thick haired folks have often success with reducing the bulk in one way or another (not talking about trimming, ha ha). You can do double, triple, and so on buns - they looks cool when arranged with an artistic eye. You can also do sectioned buns, or combine braiding and bunning. Since your hair is thick, you could do awesome accent braids and still have enough hair for a nice bun (which would stay better thans to the reduced bulk).

PS: I think you might be hyper-sensitized to the sounds of your hair. The thicker the strands the more noise hair makes from just touching it. Unless the clips snag or something, I wouldn't worry.

[diamond_storm]

Have you tried spin pins? How about some hair products?

In general, as for buns/styles, thick haired folks have often success with reducing the bulk in one way or another (not talking about trimming, ha ha). You can do double, triple, and so on buns - they looks cool when arranged with an artistic eye. You can also do sectioned buns, or combine braiding and bunning. Since your hair is thick, you could do awesome accent braids and still have enough hair for a nice bun (which would stay better thans to the reduced bulk).

PS: I think you might be hyper-sensitized to the sounds of your hair. The thicker the strands the more noise hair makes from just touching it. Unless the clips snag or something, I wouldn't worry.

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I have given spin pins a go. Sadly, they don't hold a bun for me. It could be that two of the regular sized ones just isn't enough... I may need to use more.

I think you're probably right about me being overly aware about hair sounds. Any noise at all and I totally stress out, haha!

I do quite love the look of multiple buns. For some reason I've always thought of them as being more complicated to do than one simple bun (possibly since they tend to look more intricate) so they intimidate me:p But now that you mention it, I can see how they would make thick hair easier to work with. Thinking I might have to give those a try! They look very lovely, which is a plus too!

[Stormynights]

Have you tried a Chinese Bun? Those were the first ones I could do that stayed for me.

[meteor]

For very slippery, thick hair, I was immediately going to suggest pinning up braids (I always do! :lol:), but then I saw you are not into braidwaves. :)

How about the Disc Bun? It holds decently on slippery hair, because it splits the length as you wrap, and it requires only half the length that would be required for a lazy wrap bun. Also, check out the Chinese Bun and other buns that start off with a ponytail base: pony-based buns tend to corral slippery hair into buns more easily.
Since your hair is thick, some styles may not yet be achievable at MBL, but just sectioning and doing 2/3 or more buns instead of one may provide a good temporary solution.
Here are some tips on sectioning thick hair from a half-up (by torrinpaige): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZvXrEOfJ4w

About tools to use on hair that can be found in local shops: I'd recommend checking out spin pins, claw-clips (these 9-tooth ones by Goody (http://c4.q-assets.com/images/products/p/ago/ago-042_1z.jpg) are pretty good), and double-ended knitting needles (which can be bent in U-shape and work like mini-forks), Amish pins and U-pins with wavy sections. Many people also have great success with clips like Ficcares or Fakkares (Avian Clips, Karinas, etc). Silk scrunchies are pretty hair-friendly (if you don't tighten them too much), so kudos on using them instead of standard elastics! :thumbsup:

Hair sticks and forks are extremely useful, but yes, I can understand that they may not work at MBL yet, but no worries - they'll definitely be of great help in the future! ;)

[copperlites]

My hair is the same length as yours and also slippery, though not thick. I find 3 spin pins work a treat so I would suggest with your thickness an extra one or two might work.
I have s couple of forks but they don't work for me, they either slide out or the bin slips and listens.
I love sticks and find that a single lady Idun will hold like a rocknMd be very comfortable. The wave in the body of the stick seems to provide a good hold. They're not cheap and hard to come by but I think they're worth it. i also have a couple of pairs of wiggly acrylic sticks which hold well. Cricket mountain make a gorgeous thick spiral design stick that I reckon would be perfect for slippery hair. I have two in my wish list. 😄

[lapushka]

It wasn't until waist/hip (more like hip) until I could do a simple LWB, other buns simply didn't work yet because my hair was too thick. For thicker hair, you actually need more length before you can put it up in a comfortable bun; so keep that in mind. I'd try and give a LWB a go.

[Nique1202]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I have given spin pins a go. Sadly, they don't hold a bun for me. It could be that two of the regular sized ones just isn't enough... I may need to use more.

Two suggestions for spin pins: 1) I highly recommend using at least 3, and 2) DO NOT cross the spin pins inside your bun if you can avoid it. I use three spin pins in a triangle shape inside my buns (and I try to catch scalp hair with all of them) and they are utterly rock solid, even with my slippery layered hair. The more they cross over inside the bun, the less hair they're locking in place and the more likely the bun is to fall apart. You might even be able to get the two you have to work, if you either place them going in the same direction but separated a little bit or if you put one in horizontally and one vertically, or like two sides of a triangle, or any other way that minimizes how much they overlap and interlink inside the bun.

From your first post, I also suspect that you're making your disc bun too tight to begin with. Be conscious of how tight the wrapping is in each spot (the loops and the wraps around the base) next time you try, see if the problem is trying to get the stick to pull down too-small loops or get through the too-tightly-wrapped base, and you should be able to figure out where your tension problem is. You have the length to loosen it up either in the loops or the wraps without sacrificing stability. Play with it a little more, and I think you'll find it starts working for you soon.

[furnival]

My hair isn't thick or slippery but I need at least five spin pins to hold it comfortably. Any less and the weight on each one pulls at my head. They're the most secure method I've found to hold a bun; don't discount them until you've tried a lot of them at once! :)

[mwallingford]

My hair is around waist, but it sounds like your hair is thicker than mine! I second the suggestion of the goody claw clips; I use two, one on each side of a cinnabun and it will hold through anything. They are extremely durable too- I sleep with a high cinnabun secured with one of those claw clips and it has yet to break. I would also recommend a flexi eight, but they can be a little bit heavy depending on your thickness. It varies day to day but it is in my experience that if you don't do it just right you can end up pulling on your scalp. Best of luck!

[Deborah]

I love those tiny claw clips like you tried today. Maybe the bun is a little too tight if you are making noise putting them in. Or maybe I just don't notice the sound as I am accustomed to using them frequently. I like them a lot, as they hold well and comfortably. I don't think they are damaging to the hair.

[mermaid lullaby]

Like two other people have said, I would try to grow it out more. Also, watch Torrinpaige on youtube, she has good tips for thick hair. She uses these hairpins and they work better than spin pins, at least for me.

[Vanilla]

My hair is also extremely slippery and on the thicker side of ii. MBL was a tough length for me. LWB's were just starting to get to the point where they pulled, and my hair was too short for a nautilus.

When I've been in the in-between lengths before (MBL and between waist and hip), I have found that buns can be pretty difficult. I usually adapt the buns that worked at the shorter length to braided versions of them until I reach the next milestone and can wear different buns. I'll usually do English braided versions of the same buns, then Dutch braided versions of them when my hair gets a little bit longer.

I know you aren't a huge fan of braid waves, but I found braided buns to be the most secure and comfortable at those in-between lengths. I did a braided LWB at MBL up until waist, and then I could finally do an unbraided nautilus, which has been my go-to ever since waist.

I am not a huge fan of spin pins either. I could use one in my hair comfortably only up until BSL. I find Amish pins to be the best in terms of hold, even better than forks or sticks. I only need 3 Amish pins to hold up an entire bun without any slippage.