Curly hair at work: Suggestions welcome...

[Sofoulee]

Hey everyone, it has been an insanely long time since I've been on here.. so here I go...

I work as a waitress and I have extremely curly hair, just past shoulder length when dry. I'm sick of slicking it back when I go to work because it has to be out of the way. I want to show off the curl somehow. I'd be fine with some sort of half up/half down idea, but I was wondering if there are any kind of updos that don't look too fancy that would let me show off the curl while keeping my locks out of my face.

Thank so much

[Anje]

Love the curls in the siggy picture!

Personally, I like it when curly hair is pulled back a bit more loosely, say, into a medium-to-high ponytail, so the curl pattern is clearly visible against the head and not just in the tail. Yes, the styles sag and slouch a little more because they're not slick-tight, but it looks nice.

Half-ups, or even just top-half back are great in so many ways. Just make sure you can wear it that loose when waitressing. I don't know what the rules are about containing hair.

[florenonite]

I agree with Anje that loose ponytails look really good with curly hair, and also to make sure you can wear a half-up for waitressing. Your curls are beautiful, though!

[Sofoulee]

Thanks Anje!

I absolutley love the way loose ponytails look, it's just that when I wear my hair that way the curls in the back look really thin and straggly (if that's even a word). Haha, I just wonder if there's anything that I could do with the tail that would look somewhat polished and not so messy.

[Sofoulee]

Thanks Florenonite,

I am allowed to wear half up. Just so everyone knows.

[coppercurls]

Hi fellow curly!:waving:

When I was at your length, I remembering wearing lots of half ups. Shoot, I still wear a lot of half ups! I just can't stand hair in my face. I also like to wear side combs when I get tired of the "slicked back" thing. If you let your hair dry before putting in the 1/2 half up or combs et al. you can really get a softer fuller look. HTH:blossom:

[Druid of Alba]

Hello!

You are lucky to have such beautiful curls, and I think that a half-up style would look best on you, so that you could show them off. I think something as simple as twisting the front pieces back to the crown of your head and securing it with a clip would looks great, so that the curls could still be seen within the twist, as opposed to a tight ponytail, which would hide them.

You could also try a loose English braid (or French braids) that ended at your crown.

Good luck with finding the right updo! Whatever you do, I am sure it will look great!

[akurah]

I don't know if your hair is long enough, but I always thought a loose french twist on curly hair (loose enough that the curl pattern can be seen despite being pulled back) always looked awesome.

[Sofoulee]

Thank you everyone! I ended up trying a really loose french twist.. it looked pretty good! I can't wait to test out some more suggestions.

[manderly]

How about something like this:http://knotheads.typepad.com/photos/knot_heads/triple_headband.html

Your hair won't do the sticky-uppie thing, but the headbands will pull your hair out of your face and still show of your gorgeous curls.

[Saranne772]

Ooo I love that hair!! SO beautiful :D:D

I think those who suggested half up have a good idea and go with the same.

[Xandergrammy]

You could look in the Archives- jessie58 and darkwaves have curly hair and some beautiful updos. I know there are many more, but you could poke around the archives and see if you find anything.

[seabear]

Just wanted to say your curls are gorgeous! I see lots of servers with their hair in a messy-tousled uptwist of some sort.... just twisted up with tendrils left to curl out as they will. Very pretty, and well, spunky!

[EbonyCurls]

I don't know what type of restaurant you work at, but this is nice little funky up-do (don't see why it can't be professional). I just did a twist up the back, starting at the base of my neck, let some curls loose at the end (to create a mock curly bang) and clamped it at the top w/a barrette to hold it. BTW my hair is a bit longer than yours, but this do makes it look like it's short. Everyone thought I'd gotten a haircut when I first did it.
ETA: so basically the "bangs" at the top of my head are really the ends of my hair.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8da30b3127cceb7da1df34dce00000005100AatGjVq4cuG LA

[florenonite]

Thank you everyone! I ended up trying a really loose french twist.. it looked pretty good! I can't wait to test out some more suggestions.

That sounds really nice. Do you have a picture?

[Medvssa]

Some suggestions:

http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/edward1.html
http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/regency1.html
http://intimelyfashion.com/hair/regency2.html

Or just a loose Gibson Tuck

[Irishred]

have you tried a loose peacock twist? Kind of a french twist with the tails out the top instead of tucked. I think that style looks great with curly hair. Actually it isn't to different from what Ebonycurls did except the peacock you clip at the crown and let the curls fall from there.

A losser bun/twist with a few tendrils in the front can look pretty too.

PS. Ebonlycurls, that looks fabulous on you, so different from your avatar.

[Sofoulee]

Manderly, headbands are definitely my thing! Haha,
I just think that they are just really versatile. Thanks Saranne and Seabear!

Xandergrammy, I’ll be sure to take a look at you suggestions. Ebonycurls, I absolutely love your picture! I think that I might look a little too done up if I wore that to work, but I’m gonna try it first thing when I go out! Medyssa, thank you for your suggestions!

Florononite, I didn’t take a picture, but I’ll re-create it and try to get some pictures up!
…and Irishred, the peacock twist is my style of choice! haha

[Peggy E.]

What about the peacock twist, where you have the curls "showing off" at the top? There's also a style called the "Quiff" which is a half-up sort of up-side-down flipped bun thing.

Or a french twist where you leave the top of the hair draped over the side rather than tucked in as with a "normal" french twist. A bit like a modified peacock twist.

Your hair is beautiful and you are right in wanting to let it shine in the spotlight to be enjoyed and admired!

ETA: Topsy Tails would work for you, wouldn't they? There's all sorts of different styles you can get with these nifty little tools!

[windswept]

What pretty hair you have!!

My hair isn't as curly as yours, but I tend to wear mine in a loose french braid to work - it keeps it contained, but because it's loose, the curl is still obvious throughout. You could finish yours at the nape of the neck in a ponytail, rather than braid it to the end, if you wanted some 'free flowing' curl.

[psvzum]

Your hair is beautiful. I can see why you want to show off the gorgeous curls : )

[Curlsgirl]

I was just going to post this the other day when I was thinking about it! My hair is just getting long enough to really get caught in things and get in the way more and even though I love half-ups I am wearing them less often because of that. This morning I was at a stadium type gathering and I was sitting there with a middle of the head (not high/not low) pony tail and a man behind me pinned my hair between the back of my chair and his knees. I pulled my hair trying to get it out and he didn't notice until I had really hurt my scalp. I decided then I was going to have to learn some more updos!!! I am getting it caught also more easily in doors and seat backs etc.

Anyway at your length I LOVED the half french twist where you take your hair and twist it straight back and fold it up and let the curls cascade over the top. What I did was spritz with a mister a bit and arrange the curls so they would fall instead of stick straight up! :p Here is a picture of my favorite used to be style. It's probably sort of like some have already mentioned. I have it held with a Ficcare here. I can still somewhat achieve this but it tends to hurt my scalp now with my hair longer.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i194/curlsgirl/Hair006.jpg

[Sofoulee]

Thank you Peggy E, Windswept and psvzum!!

That's such a great idea curlsgirl! Thank you! I was always aprehensive about wearing my hair with a half twist because the curly sticking straight up always looked a little teeny-bopper to me. I never thought about misting them so that I could arrange them, duh! I really appreciate it. :)

[longhairhelper]

With all of those curls, it seems like you could do a little twist at the back, hold your hair with a claw clip & hide the clip with your curls so no one could see what you were using to hold your hair up. Beautiful curls, btw!!

[longhairhelper]

Oh yes, and those Ficcare clips are fantastic, but they can be kind of expensive too.

[Ella]

EIther a claw clip and let your curls spiral over the top, or a low half-up with a pretty hairslide

[Curlsgirl]

Thank you Peggy E, Windswept and psvzum!!

That's such a great idea curlsgirl! Thank you! I was always aprehensive about wearing my hair with a half twist because the curly sticking straight up always looked a little teeny-bopper to me. I never thought about misting them so that I could arrange them, duh! I really appreciate it. :)

You're welcome! It really works well! You can also add a little gel to help the curls.

[Sofoulee]

I added photos to my album of the updo I wore to work if anyone is interested!!! :smile:

[Smokie]

I skimmed through the thread as I'm at work and things are picking up a bit, so I hope no one has mentioned this before.

I waited tables for a total of ~three years. Every restaurant I've worked in required our hair to be off the collar of our shirts, bunned, braided, or in a snood. So I couldn't wear it down, in a half up, or a ponytail.

My go-to style for showing off my curls at work was a folded over pony. Only I left the ends sticking up (instead of folding them underneath), so they were visible from pretty much all angles. I also always left a couple curls out at the front before I cut my bangs. These would hang to about chin-length and could easily be tucked behind my ears if I wanted them out of the way (which I did most of the time, good thing they stayed there).

[curls2grow]

Sofoulee -- your hair is gorgeous! I love how it looks loose -- maybe you can describe to me what you ask for when you get it cut -- please PM me if you prefer.

I have a similar curl pattern to you, but prob not as thick. Half-up is my stand-by for most of the year. In warmer weather, I will do a loose/low pony or a bun.

[Sofoulee]

Smokie, you're right, I thought I could wear my hair half down because I'd seen the girls with really short hair doing it. When I got there they told me to put it up.

And thank you so much curls2grow

[darkwaves]

Sofoulee -- I love your curls!!!

You might really enjoy the book Strictly Curls by Nicole Siri. It has styles for curly hair from shoulder length to mid back, and I think many of them would be wonderful with your hair. (I really like the three and five mini-buns she suggests.)

What I like about this is Siri's freeing to random twists and leaving ends loose. And what sense it makes to embrace the curls, rather than try to contain them! It's on naturallycurly.com's Curlmart (http://www.curlmart.com/Strictly-Curls-A-Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Styling-Curly-Hair-p-340.html), and I think Siri has her own site, too.

I went on a bit of a style-overload a year or so ago, trying a style a day. The pix are in my archived journal, linked from my blog (pr perhaps searchable on the old LHC site.)

[FlowerHair]

I really like Curlsgirl's suggestion. I try to wear my hair up and leave a few tendrils in the front to show off the texture and make the updo look less "severe"... :)