Long-wearing hairstyle advice, please...

[Imalath]

Hi everyone! I am going to be busier than normal the next month or two and am looking for a low-maintenance hairstyle that would last me from wash day to wash day. I just don't have time to keep switching from a sleeping style to a day style and back. My hair is brushing hip, and I usually go three days between washes. I don't mind taking some time to put my hair up once if I don't have to do it again until I wash again. I have to wear it entirely up for work (I also have to cover it, so any frizzies will not be much of an issue), and I am a very restless sleeper, so it needs to hold well.

Does anyone have any personal experience with stretching a style for days? Any styles to point me at, or advice in general?

Thank you!

[Decoy24601]

I think braids might be the best way to avoid tangles (probably a french/dutch braid or a crown braid?). Personally, the thought of having my hair up and not combing it for days makes me very uneasy. Be careful that you don't end up with dreads/tangles that end up needing to be cut out. I know my hair does have a tendency to dread in spots. YMMV and I'm not too educated on different hairstyles.

[Nique1202]

Heidi braids, held with spin pins, will last me forever. Make twin braids, flop them over the top of your head, fasten the ends down under the other side's braid with the spin pins, catching scalp hair. You may need one bobby pin or an additional spin pin in the middle to stop the "headband" section from shifting. I've honestly worn this for 4 days straight before, and the spin pins are much less painful than regular bobbies.

[RebekahE]

Torrinpaige has some videos on YouTube, two I can think of are her Elizabethan hair taping. I have worn it a couple of times and it is very comfortable. I tried to sleep in it but I just couldn't, about the only thing I can wear is a single braid or my hair loose.

[Frankenstein]

You could leave your hair in the same braid between washes and just make a braided bun. I do this a lot when I don't want to mess with my hair much.

[Novine]

Heidi braids, held with spin pins, will last me forever. Make twin braids, flop them over the top of your head, fasten the ends down under the other side's braid with the spin pins, catching scalp hair. You may need one bobby pin or an additional spin pin in the middle to stop the "headband" section from shifting. I've honestly worn this for 4 days straight before, and the spin pins are much less painful than regular bobbies.
This sounds cute. I will have to try this.

[HeartofHaleth]

I've heard that Amish braids can last really well, but I haven't tried them myself. You should be able to find instructions with a forum search.

ETA: Here's a clicky-link to the thread with instructions: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=30688

[hobbitlocks]

I've had a crown braid last two days -- three days would be really pushing it for me though, I'm definitely sporting a messier look on day two (I just hope it looks romantic/intentional ;) ) My hair is quite fine and likes to snake out of things though. I only bobby pin down the very end of the tail when I do a crown braid. I weave the tail in and out of the original braid, which makes it more secure feeling to me and also more comfortable to sleep in because I just take the one pin out.

I wear a french braided LWB when I don't want to mess with my hair all day (I have it braided for my bike ride and put it up into the bun when I get to my office). I agree with others braids are likely the best bet. Although I remember someone on the forums saying they wore a LWB for a couple days straight -- they even slept in it. So it probably depends a lot on your hair.

[pailin]

Torrinpaige has some videos on YouTube, two I can think of are her Elizabethan hair taping. I have worn it a couple of times and it is very comfortable. I tried to sleep in it but I just couldn't, about the only thing I can wear is a single braid or my hair loose.

She has 2 videos I think, and the second one is built on dutch braids so it's even more secure.

[lapushka]

I've been wearing a LWB for years now, loose at night, up when I'm up. It works, and I can stretch to a week, when before I needed to wash 2/3 times a week (when it was shorter). I'm classic now, the length surely helps (for me). But I do have to watch what shampoos I use. They can't be too mild, or I'll have a far too oily head on wash day and I can't keep up with the oil (washing it out). I have seborrheic dermatitis, so I need something to cut through the grease! I can interchange a mild shampoo with a harsher one, though, but harsh shampoos, is my point, do help!

[PixieP]

I wore double dutch braids for 24 hours yesterday, even for my unintenially layered hair (breakage) it didn't look messy when I woke up in the morning. And my hair tangles easily, but I had no tangles when I took them out. I think a double braid is better for hiding roots that is getting slightly greasy.

Otherwise I echo a LWB. It takes me literally 15 seconds to put up. On the third day, a light dusting of dry shampoo can hide a greasy scalp. If I know I'll have short time in the morning, but also know I'll have greasy day because it's wash day, I put dry shampoo on my roots before going to sleep. That prevents greasy roots the next day and I don't need to use extra time in the morning.

[Imalath]

Thank you all for the advice! I usually live in LWB during the day and twin braids at night, but I am trying to be even lazier and not have to deal with detangling twice a day. We are going into the busy season at work, and I am only getting 7 hours or less at home daily to sleep, eat two meals, shower, laundry, etc. I am just looking for a way to streamline everything and hopefully avoiding the temptation to just hack it all off because I don't have time to take care of it until school starts and life slows down.

Today i am trying crown braids overnight to see what they will look like tomorrow. I like them so far, and I think they will stay fairly neat with a little practice. We will see! I will be sure to check out the amish braids and elizabethan taping too

[Betazed]

I was going to mention torrin's hair taping but i see someone else already has. I haven't tried it myself (yet) but it seems like a really good option.

I've made 2 dutch or french braids last 3 days. I'm growing out bangs and a few "face framing" layers so I end up with a lot of pokey bits after the 2nd day. When I danced in a powwow last summer, my gramma used sugar water (at least, I think that's what it was) to hold my french braids in and they were solid! I ended up leaving those in for 3 days with minimal escapage. If you're looking for a non-chemical alternative to hair spray, I highly recommend it. I've also had Amish braids in for 2days but I've never attempted to stretch it to 3. I like braids because I need to be able to rinse my scalp and they allow the water better access.

Don't forget to let us know how your experiments turn out. Ill be keeping an eye on this thread for ideas for my upcoming camping trip. :)

[meteor]

Any braided updo style is a good idea, because you can still sleep with the same braid and bun it or otherwise pin it up in the morning again.

Personally, I find styles that start with smaller braid(s) going into a bigger braid to be much sturdier. So things like Amish Braided bun or Ellingwoman Braided Bun. But even if you don't use the smaller braids as "pockets" for bunning hair, but only as accents, it still works, because the smaller braids along the scalp help control all face-framing hair better than a simple bun would, which helps the style last longer.

Also, consider "battle" type braids: multiple braids braided together, for example, 3 English braids braided together. Then you can bun the final braid. The smaller the (accent) braids, the longer they tend to last, even if they aren't secured at the bottom but just bunned together, so you can reuse the same small braids for different styles on different days.

[Climber]

When I had rotator cuff surgery, I tried hair taping. I did a base of two Dutch braids, then wrapped the braids around my head and used a tapestry needle to work the ribbon. It held up pretty well for the 4 or so weeks I couldn't raise my arm.

[Imalath]

My crown braid came undone overnight, so I swapped it out for amish braids this morning. I love the way the amish braids distributes the weight of my hair around my scalp...but the style only lasted an hour before it fell out. I had some trouble securing the braids on the top of my head after putting them through the loops; the ends were very tapered and slid out of the tie from my normal movements of making breakfast; I tried wrapping them around the loops and using pins, but the extra weight made the braids loose and floppy, and they started falling out not long after. I like it a lot, but I need to find a way to get it secured enough to last a day or two.

I am planning on trying the amish braids again this evening, maybe pinning the tails over my head like a crown braid instead of crossing them behind my head and trying to secure all that weight on my thin braid ends.

Practice makes perfect....it's a good thing I have an extra day off this week to practice!

[Tassledown]

Seconding the braid suggestions. Generally what I've done towards that end is two French braids, myself, so - best of luck with it all! I find that the wispies that escape can be tamed with a bit of water, oil, and a bandanna (all day or just for ten minutes) to encourage them to at least make firmer thin curls rather than a halo of fuzz the following days.