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View Full Version : Half up Hairstyle advice- "shortening' length?



Cyetra
July 22nd, 2010, 08:30 AM
Well, here goes...long and convuluted question warning :)

It is actually in the hopes of picking the brains of the amassed knowledge here for this issue that I signed up. It is a problem that needs a bit of explaining, so bear with me if you will.

Just for reference, my hair is slightly past tailbone length, pretty much medium in everything, and it has never co-operated with hair clips. Ever. They slide out, or poke through...or get eaten...or tangle...or disappear for all time.

Part of the time, I perform professionally in Middle Eastern Dance. The pretty much standard industry look is loose hair. Also, of course, I didn't grow my hair to this length in the first place to stick a wig over it or always have it 100% up.

Most of my custom designed costumes are fine, as I specifically make sure nothing snaggable goes on the back. But I still have a couple of costumes I can't afford to or bear with parting with at the minute that have full bead fringe and other snaggy things...which means at the back as well. And, bearing in mind these sit at hip level for the most part...there is +- 5-7 inches of 'danger' for the most fragile ends of my hair to tangle in, and that's not doable...not willing to invest in the damage, plus it hurts!

So I need an efficient way of 'lifting' or 'shortening' my length...without going fully into an updo.

In the past, I have used an upside down high ponytail [make a loose one, stick your fingers into the piece between band and scalp, grab bulk of pony, pull through and flip] That shortens it enough, but makes things incredibly tight and it is starting to feel too tuggy on the scalp- I am turning into a baby in my old age!

I have a sideways claw clip I have been considering doing something with...if I simply pony it, pull it up a few inches and slide the claw in so it cascades over though, my hair has the tendancy to 'split' and hang down the side of the clip leaving it poking out rather then spread over it [grrr...]

So any other ideas? Anyone able to suggest something to do with the claw that would avoid that fault?

Thanks for reading the wall of text.... and any aid appreciated!

[Oh..if you have a good imagination, claw in question is: &=... hinge at left side, tines sideways to right]

Cyetra
July 22nd, 2010, 08:32 AM
Oops...should have mentioned. I am not in the USA or UK....I live in South Africa, so brand specific recomendations aren't usually of much help, just generic ideas.

Oh, and the bump it hasn't made its way out here yet...it may have worked :(

WyrdWay
July 22nd, 2010, 08:41 AM
You could part your hair at the ears, put the top half in a bun, you can use a hair fork, comb or stick.
Then you could curl the loose bottom half with rag curls or putting it an a couple of smaller cinnamon type buns at night and then it should hold the curl for the rest of the day.
Hopefully the curls will "take up" enough of the length for it not to snag.

You could always put a bunch of plaits in too :) and curl those up! that would take up even more length, and you could let the ends of each of the plaits unravel a bit so it will look a little more like your hair is loose.

Magdalene
July 22nd, 2010, 08:55 AM
Have you thought about a braided ponytail? Or how about a "Jeannie" look- basically a bun with a ponytail coming out the center- you could wrap the bun and just use whatever leftover length you want for the pony.

I couldn't find a really good Jeannie pic, but this gives you kind of an idea:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63122153@N00/3735283219/

WritingPrincess
July 22nd, 2010, 08:56 AM
I sometimes tie a knot in my hair, near the scalp; then pin/clip/whatever it into place, leaving a ponytail behind. Like Dianyla's bunnytail (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=12&pictureid=3419)--just not so much "tail" when I do it.

Village Mama
July 22nd, 2010, 10:04 AM
I would ponytail it, then flip the hair forward ( head forward and upside down) and pin the hair in a line above the pony. When you flip your head back the hair will flow over it all, hiding the pins and pony elastic. I actually saw this style in a bellydancing video that I have. Pretty and very fitting. Should eat up a few inches in lenngth anyways.

Capybara
July 22nd, 2010, 10:17 AM
I immediately thought of Dianyla's bunnytail hairstyle as well! :)

Would it help if you curled your hair beforehand? Curling my hair makes it lose many inches of length. Maybe braid waves would have the same effect as well.

You could try this style: Shortened High Ponytail (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=125), but maybe do it in sections so you have more "flow" to your hair (if that makes sense?)

HTH, and Welcome! :flower:

eezepeeze
July 22nd, 2010, 12:33 PM
I think I would make a ponytail on the very top of my head and wrap it with a bit of hair to hide the hairtie. You could even sleep in braids the night before to give you some pretty curls. That way, you still get to see the wonderful length and texture of your hair and it goes with the style of dance you do. But, it will still be protected from the costume.

Another thing you could do is put it in a low pony and braid it a few inches, and leave a nice long tail. The braid will take up a lot of length. Especially, if you do a fishtail braid (herringbone braid). I find those eat up a lot of length.

Also, you might try putting your damp hair up on velcro rollers (no heat) to give you really defined curl and volume. Curls really do eat up a lot on lenght. Believe me, I know! ;)

heidihug
July 22nd, 2010, 12:41 PM
Or how about a "Jeannie" look- basically a bun with a ponytail coming out the center- you could wrap the bun and just use whatever leftover length you want for the pony.
I second this suggestion. I used to do this all the time when my hair was shorter. Divide the hair at your ears, top and bottom. Put the top part in a sock bun. Gather and smooth the bottom part into a pony with your fingers, and pull it through the middle of the sock bun (you might need a tool similar to a Topsy Tail to accomplish this). Looks great and I always got compliments on this style.

cindy58
July 22nd, 2010, 12:52 PM
You can start making a bun, wrap some of the length and secure with a stick, and leave the rest of the length as a tail coming down.

Cyetra
July 22nd, 2010, 01:35 PM
Thanks folks, some very nice ideas....shall definatly have to play around a bit :)

High ponytails hurt me personally a bit much...still pulls my scalp incredibly tight [yes, I am a baby, but in fairness I suffer from [utterly unrelated] headaches] and I should have mentioned...curls are a no no. No matter what I do, they realy don't hold well in my hair, which is vaguely curly naturally. Also, some days I go straight from hours of teaching to 4 or 5 performances in a row, so they will sweat out really easily.

But there is definatly some super ideas to try out and all the input is really appreciated!

Anyone got any ideas [don't know if its even possible, though, bearing in mind the priority is shortening the length a little] of anything that doesn't involve a ponytail/ bringing hair very centrally on the head? I ask because of my build- [really] high forehead, long neck... I look incredibly severe with my hair pulled back, and although it is quite an authentically 'eastern' look, sometimes something softer and 'girly' would be a nice option to have too.

Cyetra
July 22nd, 2010, 01:40 PM
Ugh...no brain today...meant to ask specifically to Village Mama:

That is exactly what I have been trying to do. Do you have any specific reccomendation on pins or clips [or do you remember from the vid] that might hold a good volume of hair? What I have been struggling with, is that commercial pins/clips either won't lock over the volume of hair, or slide out...and the bigger ones poke out to look somewhat random :)

lapushka
July 22nd, 2010, 01:43 PM
This can make your long hair look short:
http://www.youtube.com/user/youtips4u?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/2/B347qKB9Kag

tinti
July 22nd, 2010, 01:45 PM
You could try the upside down topsy tail high on your head? Flipping it upwards and not downwards? Then your hair wil cascade down your back, eating more lenght than it would if you just tipsy taled it :) For that look it's a good idea to sleep in braids or buns to give it a bit texture, so that it doesn't split in two pieces on the sides, which mine allways does :)

Bluegrass Babe
July 23rd, 2010, 06:36 PM
LittleOrca has a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1IvsCdd9Gw
and Cuddledumplin has a thread here (http://archives.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=41837) in the archives. (Link courtesy of WritingPrincess)

You don't have to make your hair that short looking. The youtube video may be your best bet at shortening to a medium length. (my guess - because you don't need to roll the hair.) Good luck. Let us know what worked and post a pic.

supercarrot
July 28th, 2010, 06:10 PM
awww, and here i thought i made up the term bunnytail. :-p (i google the term, and here it is.) (i must not have enough posts because i can't see the post linked to explaining the bunnytail)

the only way i wear my hair these days is in this bunnytail. i stopped using bands over a year ago because the weight was making my hairline recede on the front right-side of my head because of the direction i wrap my bun, and all the weight of my hair was being supported by that section of hair.

so i figured i'd experiment with hairsticks. for this, you only need one one-pronged stick (chopstick style) nothing else.

pull your hair up as if you were going for a bun, twist it and before you start wrapping it around, place your stick above the hair at the base of the twist. (i twist with my left hand and hold the chopstick with my right with the pointed end pointing to the left.) wrap the hair up and then behind the pointed side and behind the blunt end and then again behind the pointed side. you can go for another revolution if you feel like it. (i have butt-length abundant thick hair, so i wrap 2x, and have just enough to peek through when i'm done. if i wrap once, it ends up at shoulder-blade length.)
so where you want to end up is with your ends peeking out behind the pointed end. you then grab a little bit of hair from the bun and lock the ends securely.

i hope that was explanatory enough. i can totally make a video tutorial if needed.

Bluegrass Babe
July 29th, 2010, 04:27 PM
Yes, please, supercarrot! I love hair intruction vids! I am not creative enough to come up with new styles on my own and have no idea how to do videos. Those skills amaze me.