I can't do anything!

[Periwinkle]

So my hair is BSL, but it's ridiculously thick, which makes it harder to style.

I am totally inept with hair, and always have been, but since finding this place (which was actually back before the database change thingy, but I never signed up) I've been trying to do more inventive things with it.

Unfortunately, I've yet to manage to do anything at all.

I can French braid my hair, but it goes really poofy at the front which looks a fraction silly and there's no way I could wear it out like that.

I can twisty-braid-with-two-strands (whatever that's called) but I have to do it with a centre parting and I hate tying my hair back with a centre parting because when I was very little (about junior school, hehe) I used to tie it back like that every day until I realised just how stupid it looked and now it makes me cringe with embarrassment.

The only way I've ever been able to put my hair 'up' is just by twisting it and putting a hair elastic over it, but I hardly ever do that because the elastic pulls it really tight and because I have more hair than I did when it was shorter it now looks like I have a gigantic pompom on the back of my head.

I've been trying French twists, but I can't pin then up and despite a myriad of different techniques, I haven't been able to do anything with the ends.

I've been trying all sorts of hairstick buns, having finally got hold of some hairsticks (albethey - is that a word? - cheap plastic ones), but the only way I can hold anything up - if at all - is by savagely twisting my hair around until I'm almost wincing in pain and then yanking up huge great lumps of it to stick over the stick, which isn't particularly fun. I've tried a variety of techniques for putting the stick in (just putting it straight in, putting it straight in and 'stitching' it, and recently one that I found whereby you put the stick in, push it the other way and then push it back the right way), but to no avail.

I tie my hair up every day because I detest the way it looks down like you cannot imagine (especially given its thickness), and given my evident skills, it has to be a ponytail every day.

Does anybody have any advice for anything that I might be doing wrong or anything I might actually be able to do? :(:confused:

[Unofficial_Rose]

How about a "grab n twirl" cinnamon-type bun with a ficcare on it to keep it secure?

I'm updo-challenged, but I can normally manage a messy version of this if my hair a) refuses to hold with a stick, b) doen't really want to do a ponytail etc. :magic:

[amaiaisabella]

Well, I like the way you have it in your avatar :)

I know you don't like the ponytail, but if you do a lower ponytail, right at the base of your neck, you shouldn't get as much "pouf." To dress it up, you can take a strand from the lower part of your ponytail and wrap it around the hair tie to look like your hair wrapped around itself to stay together. That always looks pretty.

[AJoifulNoise]

You say you've tried a french braid. But, have you tried a dutch braid? I'm currently in love with them.

[eadwine]

Awww Periwinkle.. I feel like hopping on a plane now to come help try things together! I can understand how frustrating this is!

What you can do.. you can make twins of just about any style. Divide hair in half (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) and make two of the bun you want to try. Then see for kicks if you can flick one over the other somehow to make it look real cool.

That is about all I can think of...

[Periwinkle]

You say you've tried a french braid. But, have you tried a dutch braid? I'm currently in love with them.

Yes, I tried a couple earlier, actually, but I found them unbelievably confusing. They look ever so pretty, but I found it totally impossible.

What's a ficcare? (I'm sure that's a stupid question)

[Xanthippe]

What's a ficcare? (I'm sure that's a stupid question)

Aww, not a stupid question :flower:

A Ficcare is a very strong type of hair clip. It's kind of expensive (runs you around $30 for a Ficcare Maximas, which is what people here usually mean when they say Ficcare). Here's a page from their site with style videos: http://www.ficcare.com/videos.aspx You can find them at Nordstroms and some other places I think. Some people like them and other people have problems with them, so you probably want to try one out before you invest that kind of cash.

I'm afraid I don't have thick hair, so I never really had that problem at the shorter length. Maybe try doing a halfup bun and then gathering the bottom layer of hair that is left and wrapping it around the top half? Sorry if that didn't make sense.

[prosperina]

but the only way I can hold anything up - if at all - is by savagely twisting my hair around until I'm almost wincing in pain and then yanking up huge great lumps of it to stick over the stick, which isn't particularly fun. I've tried a variety of techniques for putting the stick in (just putting it straight in, putting it straight in and 'stitching' it, and recently one that I found whereby you put the stick in, push it the other way and then push it back the right way), but to no avail.


This was me this morning, and usually most mornings or afternoons. I have lots of sticks, but unless I over moisturize my hair and make it almost lank, it's hard to get it to stay up in hair stick bun. The only thing that I can consistently manage--and sometimes it hurts, sometimes it holds--is to pierce the cinnabun at around five o'clock and flip it over with just a bit of stick inserted, and poke the stick all the way down at 11 o'clock.

Once I got a medium ketylo through a cinnabun and it stayed all day. I was extremely happy about that. :joy:

Otherwise, I use a ficarre for a secure no pull updo.