Special occasion hairstyle - looking for suggestions

[Amenahh]

Hi all

I've got a special occasion coming up, and I don't know what to do with my hair. My haircut doesn't suit my hair type at all - it's very layered, and my hair is too straight for that.

Here's my hair freshly air dried (a hair typing pic from about a month ago):
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=41938&d=1594443858

Here's my hair the next day. You can see that the waves are mostly gone, and what's left it a mess because of the layers:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=41939&d=1594443906


My ideas are (from less damaging, to most damaging):
1. Do a half bun (similar to the picture), and try to get some heatless waves in the bottom part of my hair.
2. Half bun, and blow dry the bottom part straight.
3. Flat iron all my hair straight or curl it with the flat iron.

Any other suggestions for my messy hair? :D

[Feral_]

Amenahh your hair is gorgeous! The half up looks good, agree you could heat less curl the length. Have you some short layers at the front? You could get those curlier around your face. For the up part, maybe a flower in your bun, or a half up braided bun and thread some nice ribbon through it?

[ynne]

I don't think your hair looks messy at all! But for the length, what about braidwaves? For the half up, I think a french braid can make it look a lot more elaborate; or like Feral suggested, a braided bun!

[SleepyTangles]

I think your hair is gorgeous! Silky and shiny! But I understand how you feel about your layers.

I personally really like the half bun! Straight or wavy I think it will look equally good, I don't think blow-drying it straight will damage It much, exp. if you start with cool air and warm It up gradually.

ETA: my only advice is to try it in advance! Don't know why, but things always take a weird turn when I try them ;)

[baanoo]

What are you wearing for this occasion?

It doesn't sound like you want to wear it fully up or fully down, but depending on your outfit and accessories, it could be lovely to do a tucked French braid; full and textured but subtle and elegant. You could also do braid-waves as suggested, with a little mousse and three dutch braids to dry overnight/til the last possible minute – you might have to use a tiny but of heat on the tips once your braids are out but probably not. Then a half-up or even the canopy just pulled back with a barrette of some sort would be classy and simple. I have a set of magnetic rollers that (while a little finicky to get them to stay put) do produce excellent heatless curls.

The more I think about it, so much depends on the style of dress. When my brother got married last fall, I wore a full skirt with an off-the-shoulder blouse, so I decided to wear my hair up in a high braided bun to direct attention to the other elements. For another wedding the same season, I wore a very simple shift dress and more statement shoes, with my hair down and wavy, so it all balanced.

[baanoo]

ETA: my only advice is to try it in advance! Don't know why, but things always take a weird turn when I try them ;)

OH YES this. I always end up with a radical change in plan if I try something new at the last minute! :D

[jane_marie]

Hello! You have such pretty hair! I would avoid heat if you can.

It sounds like you would prefer to wear your hair at least half down but I thought I would suggest a tucked french braid just in case you are interested in getting it up!

I am growing out my layers and prior to my last chop a tucked french braid was one of the few looks I could do that was always polished looking.

If you decide to try it this video is super helpful :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zVlbkBxdYM

[jane_marie]

It doesn't sound like you want to wear it fully up or fully down, but depending on your outfit and accessories, it could be lovely to do a tucked French braid; full and textured but subtle and elegant.

Whoops! I double suggested this because I didn't read the comments. I'm sorry. :neutral:

[GoddesJourney]

I feel your pain. The 1c/2a thing has a hard time looking polished and doesn't always like to hold a curl or be straight. I have the best luck with things like a braided headband into an actual braid, which may be hard with layers. If that doesn't work, your hair is long enough stay in a pretty bun or twist and emphasize a special hair toy. If your hair is like mine, which it seems to be, it probably can't be trusted to behave down for more than like 15_20 minutes if you're basically not walking or moving or blinking too fast.

[cjk]

What kind of special event? You never did actually tell us. And what sort of look do you want?

I'm not asking what you think your hair might achieve, I want to know what look you want.

Let's see if we can figure out a way to make it happen for you.

[Amenahh]

Thanks for all the suggestions, y'all! :o

To clarify a few things:
- as I wear my hair up pretty much all the time, I would really like to wear it at least half down for this occasion, especially since my hair is at the longest it's been in the past 7 years, which is exciting!
- the occasion is a Christening (Baptism? Not sure about the correct term), and I'm going to be the godmother :)
- I'm not 100% sure what dress I'll wear yet.
- the look I want: pretty and reasonably elegant for the occasion, without being too extra, if that makes sense :lol:

From the recommendations, I think I'll try to go with a half bun, it seems like a popular idea. I really like the idea of a braided bun, or maybe even a french braid into a bun, I'll have to play and see how it looks. I'll also play with various ways of getting heatless waves in the bottom part - either a braid or a twised bun maybe. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll just curl it with heat just this once :bigeyes: (I'll try to avoid it though). I'll definitely try the look several times until then, to make sure I get it right!

Also, thanks for all the nice compliments Feral, ynne, SleepyTangles, jane_marie! You make me feel better about my hair, I'm not a big fan of it at the moment. :blossom:

I'll be checking this thread for any other suggestions. I'll also upload pics once I start playing with the style :D

[GoddesJourney]

Oh, that's great! I'm sure the half up style will work out for you. Show us the dress, too! I'm sure it will be a nice combination.

[Lucy McLucyFace]

I'm sorry I have no suggestions to give but I want to congratulate you on becoming a godmother and also your hair is gorgeous :o

[Amenahh]

GoddesJourney, the main dress that I'm thinking of is a light pale blue, so I think that will look nice with my hair colour! I'll show a picture when I have it.

Lucy, thanks a lot! :)

Update: I think I'll go for a twisted bun (cinnamon bun) instead of a braided bun, because it has more volume in my hair.
Also, I slept with the bottom part of my hair in a braid last night, and I really didn't like the braid waves I got. Probably because there isn't that much hair to braid, and the waves were a bit tight.

So I'm thinking of keeping the bottom part straight, which is not as damaging as curling my hair with heat. I can use a blow drier when my hair is almost dry, and just flat iron the ends (which I will start trimming anyway, as soon as my hair reaches hip length). :D

[baanoo]

That will look beautiful! Your hair is lovely and you will be stunning in light blue. A little bit of heat every once in a long while should be fine. :love:

[elisam]

I think that a waterfall braid would be nice!