Help Wanted: Slippery Hair

[Duckie]

Hi all,
I have crazy slippery hair and am new to long hair as a 30 year old so I never learned how to do any hair dos as a kid and come from a short hair family. I mangle a French braid still but can braid my bangs back.

I cannot use sticks to put my hair up because it falls in no time. Princess Bob can attest. I can really only use hair ties to keep it up in a bun too as bobby pins can hold hair back but not up.

I would love professional up dos to try. Or suggestions for my hair type. Even a little, "yep that sucks" group therapy.

[PrincessBob]

I hope others will be able to chime in, but I have a couple links for you from past slippery/fine convos:

Up-dos for thin/fine, slippery hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=29746)

Hair Forks and Hair Sticks for Fine, Slippery Hair? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=129956)

[Nini]

As for hairforks and sticks it's all about practicing. You might not be able to do loose buns for instance, but a firm bun should be do'able. You can start off with a ponytail base until you learn to balance it.

My fine hair, that I hardly ever wear down, is much easier to work with when I use my SLS-free shampoo. Whenever I clarify I have a few days were it's much more slippery than normal. You can also add products. It all just depends on what kind of routine you follow, and what products you like to use.

Just hang in there and you'll get there in the end. Don't try everything all at once, and have fun it:)

[Deborah]

I have super slippery hair too, and it is tricky getting it up in buns or other updos. I figure that if I can do it, probably anyone can. I wear it up almost every day, so it can be done. For me a regular cinnamon bun or a flipped bun are easy and hold well if I use the right tools to hold them. The flipped bun actually holds a little better, likely because more of the hair is tucked into the flip. I used to use forks, but really I find that three or four spin pins hold about the best. I like that they don't show too. Tiny claw clips put around the perimeter of the bun hold well also, but they obviously show. Amish pins tend to slide out so I have given up on them.

Another style that works and holds well until my hair gets too long is a French twist. The trick is to just keep tucking and tucking until everything is tucked in tightly, then to start securing. If some hair slips out while you tuck other parts, just keep tucking it again until it all stays in place. Once in a while I have to just give up on it, but usually if I persevere I can get it to come out quite nicely.

Try to look at the good side while you're at it. My hair is super shiny and soft as a baby's hair, so I consider the slipperiness the trade off for that wonderful shine and softness.

Good luck!

[meteor]

I'd try braiding hair before putting it into updos. Braiding along the scalp (e.g. French/Dutch/lace) gives a bit of grip at the base, but even if you can only English-braid, things that use braids and create "pockets" that hold hair, like the Ellingwoman bun, Amish braided bun, etc... can be of some help.
Also, I'd try hair toys with multiple prongs/teeth, like using a few claw-clips or forks with a few prongs.
Adding some texture temporarily to the hair (e.g. by damp-setting overnight) before bunning it helps, as well.

[FineMiracle]

Agh! I was just about to post a thread on this. Mine gets tangled amazingly easily with hair toys, or they don't stay. I don't know which hair fork/stick to get. Does anyone have any recommendations of any specific forks/sticks? :(

[lizardspots]

I also have slippery hair. I can only get my updos to stay if I ponytail first, and then pin the ends done with a snap clip or bobby pin.

[Anje]

Yep. Length helps, since eventually you've wrapped around enough times that the hair can't slither out easily. I always twisted buns, even ones that supposedly you didn't need to twist, because it helps keep the hair in the same position relative to hairsticks. Braided buns are also good for the same reason.

Sticks and forks have a learning curve, as well as a length-related curve. Don't get discouraged if it takes a while to get them to work reliably.

[Aredhel]

I wasn't really able to keep my hair up with a stick until my hair was quite long....maybe just past waist? Because my hair is crazy slippery too. Forks are great for slippery hair, sometimes when my hair is too "clean" I still need to pin my ends against my bun because my ends start to unravel by the end of the day.

[Cg]

I still can't use a stick alone, at almost TBL. Some slippery hair really needs a lot of length. I almost always braid or twist a bun, and usually anchor with a multiprong fork.

[Shiranshoku]

I have reasonably slippery hair. My best advice:

- forks work better, especially with 3-4 prongs close together
- tusks are even better
- amish pins
- don't wash too often
- avoid cones, they add even more slip
- braid before bunning
- overnight curling methods for texture.

I don't have as much trouble anymore now at TBL, I only redo my buns 2 times or so a day. It gets better!

[akurah]

Skip metal sticks and forks. Wood is your friend.

I make my hair texture a little "stickier" by using mousse after I wash. While it does help, it doesn't help as much as I would like.

[esfand]

I have slippery, SLIPPERY hair. I need to use grease or gel to have some hold, but even that's not enough. The only thing that sortof worked for me is hair claws, tons of spin pins, and buffs.

[Pumpkin3826]

I have the same problem for the 1st and 2nd day after I wash my hair. I used to wash my hair 2 times a week but fresh washed hair is so slippery when you put it up, so now I only wash once a week and that helps a lot. I have even had it slip out of braids which is frustrating. What I do on those days is put a little oil in the ends, and I spray my hair with water just to dampen it a little. Then if I want to put it in a bun with a hair stick I will do a French braid and bun the tail. The braid helps hold the hair stick in and the damp hair helps as well then it dry's and locks in place. It takes some practice. I have days where I get so frustrated with those darn hair sticks, all I can say is practice with different buns. Some might stay better for you then others and let your hair get dirty. I always have the best bun days towards the end of the week on day 5 and 6 after washing my hair! Good luck!

[MusicalSpoons]

My hair is much less slippery now I no longer use cones, but learning to use hairsticks was frustrating at times. Things that helped (and still do):

- wooden hairtoys
- Ketylo sticks (they have a half-spiral curve in the middle)
- forks with 3 or 4 prongs
- actually not twisting! My hair compresses and slips all over itself, so the vast majority of my buns are wrapped, but length is definitely needed. I don't know how long your hair is right now though, so twisting or plaiting may be your only option
- ponytail base can help, but be careful of breakage from wearing elastics in the same place all the time
- spin pins for any twisted hairstyle. The pins can lock the hair in place exactly where you need them to. (I once went to bed wearing a cinnabun held with 4 spin pins. The next morning, the middle loops were hanging down but the loops in the spin pins were where I'd put them to start with!)
- flexi-8s, however again length may be needed, for them not to be too heavy for the hair. I was new to hair-friendly styles and hairtoys at around tailbone-classic length, so I have no idea how flexis would hold up in fine, slippery, shorter hair.
- Neoma Knot bun. I don't know how easy it is to find a tutorial or step-by-step pictures, but it was the first bun I could get to hold with a stick or fork (and doesn't have to be tight against the scalp, thank goodness!)

All that being said, if I misjudge the tension or accessory or even the style for a bun depending on how my hair is behaving, I will find myself redoing it once or twice in the day. Today, I used a 2-prong fork for a nautilus bun, the centre of which fell out by lunchtime, so I had to redo it - but it was redone in a rush, so when I got home an hour or so later, I gave up on the fork and did a different bun with a flexi which feels certain to hold for the rest of the evening.

You'll get there! And at your thickness you will hopefully be able to do many styles that others with thicker hair have to wait to do until they have much longer hair :)

[lapushka]

Back when I was a teen, and we had no conditioner on the market, the shampoos by Garnier Fructis were not only filled with silicones, they were overloaded, to the point where even I could have smooth hair (this was my late teens, I think when I had stopped crimping).

Silicones don't do much for 1a/b/c hair, for sure. I would actually stay away if your hair is this sleek.

But I'm a 2 and I do use them because they do make it a lot more manageable (and if not I would have a dry, bushy, tangly mess on my head).