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Darkhorse1
May 12th, 2009, 08:38 AM
This is something that I'm finding tricky now.

Most cars I'm in have higher head rests, for safety, but make any sort of updo a challenge.

Lately, I keep my hair loose until I get somewhere. Even a braid, now with the length it is at, gets snagged behind me/is uncomfortable.

Curious to know if you all leave it loose then style, or if you manage a bun/updo/ponytail---I use a ponytail on hot days :)

SimplyViki
May 12th, 2009, 08:50 AM
Hmm... I'll have to pay attention the next time I'm driving. I'll let you know.
For a while, I was just wearing it down, but I started to get concerned that the backrest would create too much wear-and-tear on my hair if I just sat back on it. I started bringing my hair around to the front, but then the seatbelt wears on it, which concerned me because it's more concentrated friction in one area, instead of spread out all over my back.
Now that I'm participating in the wear-your-hair-up-for-X-number-of-days/months/etc challenge, I've been driving with my hair up, which relieves the first two concerns of mine. I haven't noticed the backrest getting in the way of my bun, but like I said... I'll have to pay more attention and see.

Magicknthenight
May 12th, 2009, 08:53 AM
I always end up having the seat kinda slanted (never straight it seems).That and my posture makes it so my bun never touches the head rest. Not much advice i know! But perhaps you could move the back of your seat back a smidgen

MsBubbles
May 12th, 2009, 08:57 AM
Good question. I have started to feel my hair being tugged now when I drive so have just put some hair accessories into my car, just a claw clip (which might bump against the headrest in any other car but mine) and some soft gigantic ponytail holders. I had a hair stick in my car for a while but I can't get it to hold unless I rip my hair out.

I started pulling my hair to the non-seat belt side, but I have noticed some kind of breakage on the seat-belt side, so I am going to have to change something. Looking for ideas...

Darkhorse1
May 12th, 2009, 09:23 AM
I was more wondering if piling hair into a bun might cause more whiplash if we got into car accidents. I was listening to a radio broadcast, and they were saying that your head should rest up against the head rest to protect your head. If we have a gap due to our hair being piled, that might not be ideal.

I tend to do a mini-braid--meaning I braid it, but not the whole length. That or a ponytail. I can do a french twist, but again, I have to flatten it so I can drive. :) Jaws clips don't work--I have to use a mondo barrette.

Just more curious to see what people use when driving. (hair style wise)

Ranee
May 12th, 2009, 01:18 PM
I always bun it with claw clips. Fast and easy. Letting it down just causes to much irritation and friction (getting it stuck between my belt and such.) I do have a gap which is not ideal when in an accident as you mentioned. I actually never thought of that before... Or maybe the bun creates a protective 'cushion'... Braiding it I think would be better regarding safety.

Nevermore
May 12th, 2009, 01:27 PM
I wear it the same way I almost always do-firmly bunned. I've never found that it gets in the way of driving, whereas having it loose would lead to getting into an accident with it whipping around.

As for the whiplash thing, my bun takes up half of the distance between my head and the headrest and if what you heard is right, then less distance is better. I don't ever put my head back all the way, never have, even when my hair was much shorter than it is now.

misstwist
May 12th, 2009, 01:32 PM
I don't have a special 'do for driving, and I drive lots (tomorrow morning will start with a four hour drive to our first gig for the day). I usually wear a low braided bun or a retro-style front with a nape bun for our daytime gigs.

If I only have it braided, which is more usual in the summer because a bun won't work with my cowboy hat, I do pull the braid over my right shoulder.

I often wear my hair down for an evening gig and I pull it over my right shoulder while driving.

Cinnamon Hair
May 12th, 2009, 02:00 PM
I just wear it in whatever style I want for that day. If I lean my head forward slightly (which is how I usually sit anyway) the headrest doesn't touch my updo. Be careful of long hairsticks/forks when you check your mirrors --that is my only hair problem when driving.

HairColoredHair
May 12th, 2009, 02:02 PM
For day-to-day driving I don't bother doing anything different, but if it's a longer haul (3 hrs +) I usually do two braids so I can pull them over my shoulders as I drive.

Then I can bun them when I get where I'm going if need be.

jera
May 12th, 2009, 02:41 PM
I always wear it down while driving but when it finally get to knee length I'll have to watch out not to close the car door on it. :p

Curlsgirl
May 12th, 2009, 03:25 PM
If it's down or in a halfup I just gather it and bring it over my right shoulder. If it is braided I do the same. If it is in an updo usually it is flat enough where I think it's okay, at least it's fairly comfortable. If it's not I take it down and gather it and bring it up over my shoulder. :D If it is a long trip I braid over one shoulder or do 2 braids to the front. NOTHING matches the comfort of that on long trips!

Iylivarae
May 12th, 2009, 03:43 PM
Mostly I put it up with a ficcare. I find it still comfortable with the headrest and I can turn the head, which is a problem if I use hairsticks.
I can't wear the hair loose or in a braid, it always gets stuck between the seat and me, which is very uncomfortable for me.

Euphony
May 12th, 2009, 03:45 PM
I always wear it down while driving but when it finally get to knee length I'll have to watch out not to close the car door on it. :p
It doesn't need to be knee length for that, sitting to close to the door does it for me. Yes I have found a few very long sparkly hairs hanging out of the door :rolleyes:

I wear my hair on my head, whether it's up or down :D I don't worry about it. I have a bad habit of sitting up too straight though for the most part, perhaps even leaning forward a bit. I've only had one car that any part of my back touched the back of the seat. Generally I cannot adjust a seat upright enough for me. I even sit like that in my office chair, my boss tells me my back is going to get tired if I keep doing that, my back doesn't get tired from it, ever. But that's because I always do it.

Firefly
May 12th, 2009, 03:54 PM
I can empathize. It drives me crazy when my bun bumps against the head rest. :headache:

What I've been doing lately is wearing it loose in the car. I just bring it all to one side and lay it over the seatbelt as it lies flat across my chest. This has worked for me so far, though I do hate that I have to quickly put my hair up when I get to my destination.... usually without a mirror.

Anje
May 12th, 2009, 04:17 PM
For longer trips, I tend to do a braid over the shoulder. Buns on top of the head work, too, but they tend to tire out my scalp. Around town, I don't style my hair differently for a short car ride. (It's usually only on long trips that I relax and lean my head back, anyway.)

I wish I had a headrest in my car with a large-ish bun hole. I don't suppose there's a market for aftermarket hair-accomodating headrests outside this site, is there?

HairColoredHair
May 12th, 2009, 04:55 PM
Hrm. A quick check of EBay motes reveals a number of headrests with holes in them about the right size for a bun... :)

Does anyone know if most headrests are universal? Some I can see are obviously not, but many look the same.

Anje
May 12th, 2009, 05:07 PM
Hrm. A quick check of EBay motes reveals a number of headrests with holes in them about the right size for a bun... :)

Does anyone know if most headrests are universal? Some I can see are obviously not, but many look the same.

There are a couple different post styles that I'm aware of. But you might be able to measure the diameter of the posts and the distance apart, then order. I think I need to go look. Google wasn't much help.

EdG
May 12th, 2009, 07:16 PM
I put my hair over my right shoulder and in my lap while driving. That keeps it out of trouble.

The only minor problem is that I sometimes get funny looks from other drivers at stops. :rolleyes:
Ed

Elphie
May 12th, 2009, 07:58 PM
I do not have enough length for it to be causing me trouble yet, my only difficulty is clearing the car door without hitting my forks or sticks. For some reason, I catch them every time!

JamieLeigh
May 13th, 2009, 09:30 AM
I've always had difficulty with hair in the car. When it was nearly knee-length, the first time warm weather hit, I decided it was time to take the tops out of the firebird I was driving (MAN I miss that car *stares out at the soccer-mom van with a wistful sigh*:(). If you've ever seen a soft-serve ice cream cone, all twisty, then you can imagine what my hair looked like once we hit the highway and my scrunchie bun blew out of my hair!

To this day, when I drive with the windows down (my A/C works just fine - but I like fresh breezes instead of canned air all the time :D), I have trouble keeping my hair in place, no matter what style I've got going on.

And forget hair sticks in a vehicle with high seat backs. This is why I'm happy to have learned to put my hair up without a mirror - I often have to redo my hair when I'm arriving at my destination. I absolutely cannot have it loose in the van. My hair is sittable and it either gets snagged under my butt, making it hard to turn my head and view traffic, or snagged between the armrest and seat. Or both. :rolleyes:

So really, I don't have a solution. I just do what I can.

GeoJ
May 13th, 2009, 09:50 AM
For me, the best driving updo is the coronet braid, or heidi/milkmaid braids.

When I wear buns I either sit oddly with my head forward, or take it out and bring my hair forward over my right shoulder (if I am in the passenger seat I bring it over the left).

:)

Fencai
May 13th, 2009, 10:13 AM
Usually down in the car and then put it up when i get where im going.
However if I can't do that, then I actually take the head rest right off the seat. Im not sure if you can do that in your car or not, but mine does!

82exoticbeauty
July 25th, 2009, 09:59 PM
Sometimes I put my tail into ponytail and put a hat over it so my hip length hair won't get in the way! I also put my hair into ponytail, put a short synthetic dark brown hair extension which wrap around my soft thick cotton elastic band (it's like a rubber band, but it's synthetic hair, then put a medium jaw clip on top of middle of hair so it looks like I have above BSL hair without the hip length getting in the way!

CaityBear
July 25th, 2009, 11:17 PM
Low ponytail. I don't drive much, but when I do, I can't wear it in a bun or anything because it's smushed into the headrest which is hard on my head so I just take it down and I put it up whenever I get to my destination.

LittleOrca
July 25th, 2009, 11:21 PM
Twist it up in a Ficcare. :)

Nyghtingale
July 25th, 2009, 11:21 PM
Either a bun or down and over my right shoulder.

janiejones
July 26th, 2009, 12:21 AM
I always have the window open in the car, so if it's not getting blown around, my hair's all stuck in the seatbelt so I just save myself trouble and braid it about halfway down and pin/clip the tail to my head....driving's already enough of a hassle!

Laylah
July 26th, 2009, 12:28 AM
You could make tie it into a braid and stick the braid through the hole in the headrest. (I'm not sure if your care has one, but the headrest in my car is shaped like an rectangular O.) Or, you could try hair taping, so the hair is in a position like that of a crown braid, and not a bump behind your head.

krissykins
July 26th, 2009, 01:16 AM
My hair is usually up in a ponytail or a bun, and I have the seat slanted usually, so my head doesn't actually touch the head rest.

vampodrama
July 26th, 2009, 03:06 AM
Once I get inside my car without slamming my head against something or catching my hair in the door, I'm fine. (The only downside of driving a tiny korean vehicle - I'm way too frigging tall for this car!)

Seriously though... I tend to lean forwards a bit when I drive so the headrest doesn't bother me. But hairsticks don't work in the car, indeed. And whatever you do, do not wear a ginormous claw clip while driving. The only time I ever did this, my tiny little korean vehicle got majorly rear-ended by a large Jeep. Whiplash takes a whole new dimension with a large plastic pronged device embedded into your skull (or at least that's how it felt like. It HURT.)

Tap Dancer
July 26th, 2009, 03:37 AM
I've been keeping a scrunchie in my purse. On the days I wear my hair down, I'm trying to get myself into the habit of pulling my hair back into a ponytail while I'm in the car. That way the seat belt won't slice my hair.

TheBlondeApple
July 26th, 2009, 05:29 AM
Unless I'd wear a claw clip, I don't bump into the headrest, no matter how I wear my hair.
Anja