Hair toys fall out due to lots of slip. Help!

[Liz_H]

My hair has lots of slip, especially after a SMT. I love the way it feels, but neither a hair stick nor a fork will hold a bun for me. Any suggestions? I'm tempted to henna just to give them something to grab on to. I don't use cones.

ps I usually use spin pins, though I'm not sure they hold real well right now either.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

It won't slip out of claw clips.....

[Natalina]

It won't slip out of claw clips.....

I agree! But if you've thick/very long hair it can get a bit heavy and hurt your scalp (this happens to me if my hair is being extra slippery, the claw doesn't come off but it's pulling due to the slipperyness I guess?).

If this happens, try to section them, and maybe use multiple and perhaps smaller claw clips.:) Good luck!

[AmaryllisRed]

My hair is very slippery. What kind of styles are you doing? I almost never wear an unbraided bun with a stick. Unless my hair is damp or braided, things tend to fall out.

[lapushka]

Yes, good question, AmaryllisRed. What kind of bun are you doing?

[Cg]

Also how long is your hair? My ultraslick hair doesn't even hold solidly when damp, braided, and twisted -- and it's well past FTL. Until it reached classic I could guarantee having to rebun it several times a day no matter the style, hairtoy(s), or weather. Now I can sometimes go all day, but it took mine a LOT of length before it would reliably not slither out of its clips.

As for claw clips, yes they do slide down and out. I almost always French braid from crown to ~ APL or so and then bun. The then hidden crosses behind give your clips something to anchor to and not pull down too far.

[Tinyponies]

Also not all sticks and forks are created equally with regard to how well they’ll hold.

[Cg]

Also not all sticks and forks are created equally with regard to how well they’ll hold.

Right. I need sturdy forks with close-set prongs, the more the better (typically I use 5-prongs). I could never get skinny little metal forks with their skinny little prongs to hold, nor single sticks either.

Wood forks hold better than acrylic. I recommend Jeter forks.

[SpottedBackson]

I find that a braided bun will hold much better than any other type if I'm using a hair stick or fork. You could try that?

[Lady Stardust]

You are not alone!
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=141358

[gin]

My hair has lots of slip, especially after a SMT. I love the way it feels, but neither a hair stick nor a fork will hold a bun for me. Any suggestions? I'm tempted to henna just to give them something to grab on to. I don't use cones.

ps I usually use spin pins, though I'm not sure they hold real well right now either.

I have the same problem. How long is your hair? A lot of people here have recommended braided buns, but I can't do braided buns yet because with my hair length/thickness ratio, it's just not long enough. I can get some buns to stay, but they have to be tight and in the end, if I wear them too long my scalp suffers at a great cost. If I'm just lounging around the house, I'll sometimes do a bun on top of my head so gravity isn't pulling down on my scalp as much, but even then my scalp can't handle that for more than an hour or two.

Dutch braids + hair taping seem to be the best comfort-wise for me, but it takes forever to do. I'll do regular English braids to the side too or twin braids, but any braids that dangle shred so much. Because of my sensitive scalp, I have to change up my hair every few hours, even with braids. Even if it's in a loose braid my scalp can feel specific spots being pulled a little more than others.

I got this satin tie-up wrap on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I5XHHM/), I'll stuff all my hair in it and wear it at home (no way I could wear it in public), it doesn't pull very much on my scalp but my scalp doesn't like feeling suffocated either. So again, only for a couple hours a time, then to something else.

Unfortunately wearing my hair loose is the most comfortable for me. So I'll still wear it loose sometimes.

[jane_marie]

How long is your hair? Mine has a ton of slip too.

So far I have found that flatter sticks are most effective for me. The ones that work the best are these:

https://i.imgur.com/kR0H41k.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/JdHhb7O.jpg?1
Flat sticks hold all day with me. Though, for what it's worth all of my flat sticks have been bone. So, maybe that has something to do with it too.

Round sticks almost always fall out of my hair. This is especially true for ones that are wider in diameter which is sort of unfortunate since so many cool sticks are kind of big. Very thin metal sticks seem to work well for me too... I don't know why.

Amaryllis's question about how your put it up is a good one. I think twists and braids work best for my hair. I'm not sure if that is due to slip or my layers or thickness but it might be something worth trying. Generally I do a modified twist that looks like this:

https://i.imgur.com/vZBxM4K.jpg?2
(Sorry the quality is lacking and I need to bite the bullet and trim a bit)

I hope some of this helps you. If not, I'm sorry, keep playing. You'll find something that work well for your hair.

[lithostoic]

You could spray it with a bit of saltwater.

[Zesty]

I would try braiding or using clips. I would also like more details though (length of your hair? styles you've tried?).

Also not brushing it might help, if you are brushing before bunning. I usually don't brush my hair in the morning but if I do brush then I notice that my buns loosen up more. (I don't think it makes a difference aesthetically so I usually opt not to brush. It also suits my laziness.) I know not everyone's hair is cooperative enough to manipulate without detangling though.

[Nini]

I can't do loose, messy buns, I need the tension to keep it up.

[bparnell75]

I can't do loose, messy buns, I need the tension to keep it up.

Tight buns work best for me or 3 or 4 prong forks. Looser buns have to be screwed up along with a toy.

[Liz_H]

Thank you for all the responses! My hair is waist length in back, tapered to about 6 inches shorter in front. Type 1b/1c f in

My usual bun is a tightly twisted cinnabun on top of my head, held by 2 or 3 spin pins. A little top knot. I first tried a looser cinnabun with my new stick and fork, then my usual tight one.

I'll have to look for some flat sticks jane_marie. That makes a lot of sense. I'll try some braided buns. I should get an idea if they hold even if my first attempts are messy. Any specific recommendations for buns?

I washed my hair today, skipping the 2nd C. It's not nearly as slippery as directly after the SMT! Once it's dry I'll try again.

[Tinyponies]

Aha Liz H, getting a cinnabun to stay with a stick is a bit of a rare thing around here. try some different buns and see if that helps. To complicate things further, different buns can work better with different hair tools so I’d recommend experimenting, along with varying the tightness (make sure it’s never so tight along your hairline that you can’t get a finger underneath).

On YouTube there are some very good bun tutorials- look up lazy wrap bun, disc bun, nautilus bun to name some good sturdy ones. Hopefully someone can chime in with some vid links.

Best of luck!

[Liz_H]

I'm trying to use a beautiful but large diameter stick by Timberstone Turnings and a 2 prong rounded fork by Canadian Inspirations.

[spidermom]

The most helpful thing for me is don't comb or brush my hair before making the bun. If I comb or brush, my hair is too smooth to hold. A braided bun works pretty well, too.

[lapushka]

Thank you for all the responses! My hair is waist length in back, tapered to about 6 inches shorter in front. Type 1b/1c f in

My usual bun is a tightly twisted cinnabun on top of my head, held by 2 or 3 spin pins. A little top knot. I first tried a looser cinnabun with my new stick and fork, then my usual tight one.

I'll have to look for some flat sticks jane_marie. That makes a lot of sense. I'll try some braided buns. I should get an idea if they hold even if my first attempts are messy. Any specific recommendations for buns?

I washed my hair today, skipping the 2nd C. It's not nearly as slippery as directly after the SMT! Once it's dry I'll try again.

Skipping the 2nd conditioner is probably very smart if it's too slippery. Hope that works out for you. Maybe just try S/C for the next couple of weeks, just plain, no fuss washing.

[Liz_H]

Between finding some new buns and washing my hair again they work very well. The beautiful fork holds a Pha bun like crazy. The hair stick and nautilus bun don't hold as long. I'll try with some pins to see if that helps. I don't want to use gel or spray.



https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39057&d=1573597745

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39053&d=1573597688

[bparnell75]

I find that it helps to insert toys from the top or 2 o'clock to keep them from sliding out.

[lapushka]

I find that it helps to insert toys from the top or 2 o'clock to keep them from sliding out.

I always put my fork in horizontally. My mom has complained of getting "poked" a few times. LOL! :)

[MusicalSpoons]

I find that it helps to insert toys from the top or 2 o'clock to keep them from sliding out.

Oh yes, good point!

I don't have entirely houdini-hair but when I find forks with tines that converge even sightly are far more likely to be spat out. Also I went through a stage of finding the right balance of tension for buns - too tight around the hairtoy and it would be spat out, but too loose and my hair would slip out. For me extra length really really helped as well because most buns have so much hair left over to wrap around the stem a couple of hundred times (also thinness at the ends meant more wraps than if I had a thicker hemline) that squished between the hairtoy and the main bun structure, the ends just *cannot* unravel enough to slip out. Not that you can do much about length any more than it's already growing, but I thought I'd mention it to give some hope!