New and overwhelmed

[Joette]

I've just recently stumbled (or re-stumbled) on these forums, which are awesome! :cheese: But I need help!. I have very fine and slippery mostly 2c hair that's low BSL. I've tried and tried different buns but they all just seem to fall apart. The only thing I've managed to figure out is a bun-ish thing for sleeping in, but it involves a pony tail holder as a base AND a scrunchy to hold the whole thing together while I sleep, which I can't imagine is good for my hair. And it's definitely not something to leave the house with. I've searched the forums but most of what I see is for hair that's 6-10 inches longer than what i have. Does anyone have suggestions for a bun or other updo that I can sleep in that doesn't take all that hardware? And/or something that's presentable enough to wear to work?

Thanks!

[Ravenne]

Braids are my best friend and it only takes one hair elastic at the end. I usually sleep in a french braid. Once you get the finger positioning down, it should take you no time at all. My sleep braid takes me five minutes, tops.

[Joette]

I can braid, but my ends really don't like it and braid waves in my hair often end up frizzing out the next day. :( That's why I've been hoping to find a bun that I can figure out how to do.

[Star Eagle]

Joette,
I would suggest when you do a hair do get it wet first...that will help it stay... I hope this helps

[Joette]

I admit my hair is usually dry when I try to make a bun. I'll have to spritz it first and see if it will stay. Do you have a favorite quick and dirty bun style for BSL length with easy instructions? I'm bun challenged!

Thanks!

[TXbarbie]

I don't know if this makes sense, but I'll try! I'm right handed so these are right handed instructions

- Grab all of your hair as though you're going to make a ponytail in the middle of the back of your head
- Twist the hair all the way down to the ends using both hands
- Put your left pointer finger in the middle of the back of your head, to hold the bun steady
- Wrap your twisted hair around your finger with your right hand. Sometimes I have to "retwist" as I'm going.
- Add a ponytail holder!

That's what I do since I'm also bun challenged... but we have approximately the same length of hair :) Good luck!

[melikai]

The Lazy-Wrap bun: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=72

:)

[TXbarbie]

The Lazy-Wrap bun: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=72

:)

Oh wow! My very first "hairstick" bun :) I totally just did this using one of my mechanical pencils to hold it haha.

Now I guess I have to get a few hairsticks and jump on the bandwagon...

[Laurenji]

Try a gibson tuck. I loved that style when I was shoulder/not-quite-APL. It's elegant, too, especially with curly or wavy hair. It does use an elastic, though. But when I was at that length, I needed an elastic to get most things to stay.

Except for a French Twist, actually. It works really well as long as you have a French Twist comb (I picked one up at Claire's for like 2 dollars, best thing I ever did) and if your hair is slightly damp when you do it. (My hair is super-slippery too, so I feel you there... I promise, everything sticks better when it's slightly damp).

Also check out "The Cheater's Easy Hairstick bun", which I'm getting too long for now, but I also used to do a lot when it was not-quite-APL. Here's (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=138) the link to the article. That author did a series of hairstyle articles for shorter hair, so look up her other stuff too. I personally never got the chingnon to work for me, but YMMV.

Another thing you could try doing: I don't know if there's a name for this style, but it's where you separate your hair into a bunch of finger-width (or smaller) pieces, twist them really tight until they start curling in on themselves, then pin the squiggles all in a bunch on the back of your head. It uses a lot of bobby pins and takes some time, but it's super-comfy and wears really well -- I even sleep in it and wear it the next day again sometimes. It should work on shorter hair too, as long as you don't mind it being a little spiky. ETA: and it's one of those styles that will have people telling you "OMG your hair is gorgeous!! How did you do it?!"

[countryhopper]

I admit my hair is usually dry when I try to make a bun. I'll have to spritz it first and see if it will stay. Do you have a favorite quick and dirty bun style for BSL length with easy instructions? I'm bun challenged!

Thanks!

If you look at the top of this page, there is an "articles" section that has a whole bunch of bun instructions and pics under the hair care section.

I can do some of them, and my hair isn't even APL yet, so I'm sure you could do them with your length.

[Joette]

Thanks for the wonderful responses, ladies! I've got to go find instructions for a Gibson tuck, now. I did find the articles section (and the VIT stickie with links to all those different and wonderful styles), but there's just SO MUCH information, when I tried to sort through it all to find something for my length I just felt swamped.

I tried the lazy wrap bun with a pencil that I snitched from the supply closet and yay! it works! I can feel my slippery hair slipping slowly but surely out of it, though. I'll probably have better luck with it damp.

I'll try to get a length shot to upload here today so you all can see it.

[Anje]

I find the twisted variety of the Lazy Wrap (tends to be called things like the Nautilus or Inside-out bun, but I basically form it the way people do Lazy Wraps) to be a bit more secure than when it's not twisted. If you can tweak it to the point where it's slightly snug going over the middle bit, it'll hold all day with a hairstick or pencil.

Actually, I think that's how my hair is right now. I've got it clipped with a Ficcare, though. Take a look at Ficcares and the knock-offs. The real ones are quite expensive and the knock-offs are rarely as good, but they're extremely good at holding slippery hair.

[Katze]

I can't do most LHC updos myself, so I have taught myself to do different kinds of braids which do work, though they are time consuming.

At your length I wore a LOT of half-ups just to get my hair out of my face, but wore it down a lot. It looks like we have similar hair, so you may have some difficulties getting your hair smooth. My DH has 2c/3a hair and it is even more difficult to get it smooth along his head. The BBB helps me in this regard, though often I have to get my hair damp, then oil it, then use product if I really want it to look tidy. Usually I can't be bothered, especially since I am a mom of an 11 month old.

Low maintenance 'dos that work for me are half ups, half ups with twisted or braided sides, braided half-ups, French twists, or messy half-bun-half-pony hairdos. Headbands are my friends since they help keep my hair from sticking straight up, but they don't stay on my head very well.

The longer bobby pins also help a lot - u shaped pins fall straight out of my hair no matter what I do. Barettes and mini claw clips help too.

hth!

[Joette]

Where do you go to find the longer bobby pins and u-shaped pins and whatnot? I've been browsing the hair toy sections of Walmart, Walgreens, the grocery...well, everywhere, really.

I do have a large selection of hairbands and use those a lot to keep my hair out of my face, but now that I've decided to head for the waist I want to try to keep it up as much as possible. If I don't I'm afraid I'll get grumpy and cut it! I'm tempted to join one of the always up challenges but I'm so bun deficient that I'm pretty sure no one wants to hear about my boring daily attempts.

[Joette]

Oh, I meant to add...I'm really lucky with my hair. It's got an awful lot of spiral wave, but if I pull it back while it's still wet and use a good strong leave-in conditioner, it'll happily lay flat against my head. That's probably also the result of years of headband training. :) That's why it doesn't look nearly as spiral-y in my avatar photo. I'm 4 days post-wash in that pic.