Protective Styles questions from a newbie?

[amandasmith911]

I am not really good at protective styles, but I am trying to learn a few for the great articles here. It also doesn't help that I feel I look terrible in protective styles, but I want waist lenght hair so I am determined to learn to like them because I have been stuck at bls for years :rolleyes:. I hope all I am learning here will help me achieve my goal. I think my hair rubbing against my office chair and my brushing teqnique has been a big reason why I have been stuck, but I would have never figured that out without this web site :). I have a good starting grasp on everything but the darn protective styles.

Once I get my hair to waist length goal, will I be able to wear my hair down more? Or at least in half up's, ponys and tails up, not "ends completely tucked in" protective styles all the time.Right now I am allowing ends exposed up do's maybe once a week. I am so jealous of all of you who look so lovely with your hair up in the slicked back buns and such. With my big strange ears, it's hard to pull off.


Forgive me, because I have asked a similar question before, but I could use some more clarification.I have been putting my hair in protective styles while fairly wet and heavly leave-in conditioned and lightly oiled on the ends. When i take my hair down some 12 to 14 hours later to put up in a bedtime scrunchie bun, it is still pretty wet from ears down. When I get up from sleeping it is still slightly damp. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? It's not bothereing me or anything, I am just asking from a health of my hair prespective. Is it bad for hair to stay wet so much of the time? I ask because I have read so much about hair being extra fragile when wet.If I dry bun i have frizzy's sticking out everywhere halfway through my day.

Last protective style question. I hate regular bobby pins, I feel like they rip my coarse hair. I have seen mention of amish pins . What other hair pins are safe and where would i find them?


Thanks for putting up with all the questions.

Amanda

[Elphie]

Good morning (well, for me it's morning!) amandasmith!

I'm glad that you are finding useful information to help you obtain your goals :-) Some people here wear their hair up 99% of the time and some people don't. You'll have to find what works best for you. I usually keep my hair contained in some way but it isn't always up and I don't feel my hair suffers for that choice.

You're correct that hair is most fragile when it's wet. If you're finding that your hair is constantly wet, it may begin to cause difficulties with your scalp. Perhaps you could let your hair down a little earlier before bedtime?

I know Sally's has Good days hair pins, you could consider trying those.

[Melisande]

I wouldn't put wet hair up. Wet hair is vulnerable. Damp hair, oiled hair, hair with leave-in - yes, but not wet hair.

Protective styles look much nicer when you invest in nice hairtoys. You will find out for yourself how much fun it can be to vary your look every day by working with sticks, ficcares, flexi 8s, forks and slides. You will find that updos can enhance your look. Don't worry, it took many people here some time until they got used to seeing themselves with updos.

I find good eye make up (eyebrows!) helps very much, so do lovely earrings. If you can find earring and hairsticks that fit together, you may feel much better with it.

A lovely French twist with a nice comb or clip, an deep infinity bun with a nice hairstick, a figure 8 bun with a great fork - all from good materials, not plastic junk - and you can carry your head high.

I always hated my look with hair back - I'm the severe matronly type and it has not been easy to get used to it. But now I dediced that I look classy and elegant with my updos, and the fact that my ends are having a great time with their sheabutter while hidden inside the bun is like a beauty secret ;-)

Even if you expand your updo time by hours per day and not days per moth, you should see a difference in the way your hair looks. Make gentle updos, don't tiwst too much, don't use scratchy hairtoys.

And have a look at your pillowcase, your shampoo and blowfryer ;-) Anything that is less than gentle should be banned from the honor of touching your hair.

[DragonLady]

I hope all I am learning here will help me achieve my goal. I think my hair rubbing against my office chair and my brushing teqnique has been a big reason why I have been stuck, but I would have never figured that out without this web site .

I had those exact problems for years, and didn't realize it 'till I came here. I threw away my brush and bought a horn comb on eBay, then covered my chair with a big piece of slippery, satiny polyester. Those two things have made a world of difference, and my hair is getting longer again for the first time in years.

[misstwist]

When you say regular bobby pins do you mean the ones that are smooth on one leg and bumpy on the other?

If you are in the US, take yourself to Sally's Beauty Supply and look at the hairpins. There are u-shaped bobby pins of various stiffness and length. They also carry the plastic Good Hair Days pins and/or the Goody clone of the same.

Those are what I started out with because they are easier to use than the metal ones and were good practice. I don't use them much anymore because they are thick and tend to make my scalp sore under my favorite updo, a braided bun, but still work well in a french twist for me.

The Good Hair Days Grip-Tuth combs are my new favorite toy. http://www.goodhairdays.com/grip-tuth.htm They are harder to find, but I have good luck with finding them in small town variety stores like Pamida.

I use those to create a bit of volume around my hairline so I don't look so severe. Just take a small section of hair from the front, give it a twist or two and push it forward to create a small pouf, secure with a comb (or two crossed hair pins, but I don't like that look).

I have also used the big magnetic rollers from Sally's to create volume. I'm a back sleeper so I can put a couple on top of my head and one on each side and use them comfortably through the night, but they don't really take that long to set the curl.

[Brisen]

I wouldn't put wet hair up. Wet hair is vulnerable. Damp hair, oiled hair, hair with leave-in - yes, but not wet hair.

I put up my damp hair to let it finish drying for the first time in a long time today, and even damp, I could feel the difference in how delicate my hair felt, vs. when I put it up completely dry. Is it still better to put up damp hair to let it finish drying, rather than letting it dry down and loose?