How to best "wear" long hair - day and night

[julliams]

I'm finding that as my hair is getting longer (past BSL now) it is getting more tangly, sore at the roots more often and I'm not finding a style that I can wear without having to fuss with it during the day.

I had it much longer when I was in my early 20's and to wear it to bed I remember simply throwing it over the pillow so that it hung over near the headboard. Now I finding it all over the place (my old trick doesn't seem to work anymore) and I even have a silk pillowcase.

I'm sure I'm now at the length where in the past I have gone to get it cut because of these issues. But my goal is waist and I'm not willing to go back to the same shorter length that I have gone for, over and over for the last 10 years.

What styles do you swear by to keep your hair out of the way but looking lovely. By day and by night (not necessarily one for both).

Thanks

[Theobroma]

Night: English braid. Seems to be the most comfortable thing for me at night.

Day: I'm finding four-prong hair forks incredibly comfortable to wear, and there are so many buns you can do with them that take about ten seconds to put in, look great, and hold all day. I'm particularly fond of doing a lazy wrap bun and then securing it with a fork rather than a hairstick -- it makes a loose-looking but very secure bun.

Another thing I like to do, especially in winter when I need to wear hats to go out and fancy hairtoys would get in the way, is a French braid with the end tucked in against my scalp. I secure that with pins or mini-claws at the base, and it looks elegant and lasts all day.

[mariika]

two semi-loose French braids for night since I got layers, two plain braids for the before layers era
down or clawed in different ways during the day
when I get too much tangles I just go wash my hair and the tangles go away during the conditioning phase
p.s. I don't brush or comb, not on purpose, just don't need that

[pepperminttea]

Night: Single English braid. I did try a top knot bun a few times, but I found they created more tangles for me than they saved.
Day: The nautilus bun is solid as a rock, and I second Theobroma's suggestion of many-pronged forks. I also find folded braids are the best way to make a bad hair day look presentable, and anything braided is normally fairly secure. :)

[dfotw]

During the night, I sleep with my hair in an English braid, folded in four at my nape and held with a scrunchie (I'm at the length where my braid tends to strangle me during the night if I don't secure it).

During the day, if I want a rock-solid hair-do that I won't have to fuss with, I choose a cinnabun held with pins/claw-clips/two hair-sticks, or a braided Chinese bun (with one long hair-stick). Both distribute the weight of the hair very well (no sore scalp), remain rock-solid all through a day at work, and don't suffer much from the Fuzzy Syndrome.

Once your hair is a bit longer, you can try hair-taping. I taped my hair last night with a bit of ribbon, slept in it, went out this morning with it, tried on clothes (the worst thing to do to a hair-do, I've found), walked around all morning, cooked, and my hair hasn't budged, doesn't hurt, and looks very elegant. Usually you're supposed to be able to do this once your braid is long enough to go all the way around your head, but I ponytail my hair, do two braids, cross them at the nape, and then cross them over my head. You can easily hide the ends of each braid under the other, and once you've taped them in place, it looks like a whole braid (cheating at hair-dos is part of the long-hair journey! ;))

[Night_Kitten]

During the night - a single braid at the nape,
During the day - mostly a lazy wrap bun with a single stick, and sometimes (rarely) a braided bun with 2 sticks (the one where you braid your hair, stick a hairstick at the base of the braid, wrap the braid behind the hairstick and then secure with a second stick... hope that made at least some sence :) )

[Othala]

Daytime - I wear it loose unless I am cooking or doing dirty work in which case I do a simple pony-bun i.e. make a pony tail, stick a loop of hair out of it and wrap the rest around and tuck it into the bottom of itself. I've done this since BSL.

Nighttime - I wear it loose, flung over the back or sides of my silk pillow. Every braid or bun I've tried pulls on my scalp and is uncomfortable on my scalp.

[Speedbump]

For me, the English braid, day or night, although I do simple buns held up with Ficcares as well. That's about the extent of my uhm... vast repertoire. :lol:

[Pierre]

My usual style is stim-friendly, since I'm an aspie. I part down the middle, twist each side, fold it behind the ear with the bight up, and clip it with the Flexi, with enough left loose to stroke that side of my face. To sleep, I simply wrap the updo in a Buff. It's comfy even if I lie on the Flexi, more than a single bun would be.

[spidermom]

At night I lay across the bed so that my hair hangs over the side, then reach up and start a simple English braid right at the top of my head, which I finish by sitting up and pulling the end of the braid in front of my face. Then I direct the braid over the top of the pillow for sleep.

During the day most days, my hairs drives me crazy by refusing to be comfortable no matter what I do with it. So I do it and un-do it and re-do it and contemplate cutting it all day long every day, week in and week out.

[squiggyflop]

at night to sleep a beebutt scrunchybun at the top of my head.. mine goes everywhere and tangles like mad otherwise..
during the day my usual style that suits my lazy ways is.. you guessed it a beebutt scrunchybun at the back of my head.. if i have time i prefer french/dutch braids into a bun.. but i never really have time since 3 alarm clocks going at once cant wake me

[Gumball]

During the day I usually wear a bun, either a braided one or a nautilus. At night I have an English braid secured with a scrunchie.

[blctsyllwdg]

English braid, sometimes two, sometimes go advanced and try a French.... Some days go really really advanced and pin/clip the braid up.

Lazy is my middle name.

[TXbarbie]

I'm a student so during the day, I don't do anything special. I have one of those jaw-clip things from the grocery store, and I just roll my hair and clip it up.

During the night I either flip it over my pillow or put it in a single braid. My hair is about 4 inches or so from waist so it's about as long as yours, but I don't have a problem at night. It's during the day that my hair can get tangly. Good luck!

[Slug Yoga]

Now that I'm past waist length, hairstick styles seem to be the least hurty things for day. I was using a ficcare daily, securing a sort of log-roll thing, but the weight of the ficcare plus hair would often be too much and it would pull. (Maybe if I redid it and redid it it would find a balance, but that's a pain). I'm still improving my hairstick skills, so occasionally it will end up too tight and pull on a few places in my scalp--but when I do it right, I feel nothing, and it holds well.

I really need to be better about braiding at night... I tend to roll around a lot in my sleep. It seems like two braids, one on each side, work better than a single one at the nape of the neck for whatever reason; that tends to get all frazzled and loose at the back by the time I've woken up.

I like doing rope braids, because they're loose and easy to do and look cool in the morning when you've unbraided them.

[Blond Unicorn]

I'm sooo understanding what you are going tru! I have been there several times as well.
At night: very loose english braid, that I take over my shoulder (i'm an aside-belly-sleeper) and this works great for me.

During the summer month I'm putting them up a lot (almost every day since 8 weeks) and as I have a (little) addiction for hair toys I'm constantly changing every day what bun with which toy ;-)) Just for the change

We'll go over that length!

[LoversLullaby]

At night I wear two English braids covered by a satin cap. Since I sleep by myself no one sees me in my silly hat. Lol.

During the day I usually am in a single English braid.

[835]

I have a really hard time finding out a comfortable way of keeping my hair at night. If I keep it in a braid I always ending up sleeping in a strange way and wake up with pain in my neck. I tried having a braid on top of my head and that was more comfortable, but on the other hand it made my scalp very sore. Does a silk pillowcover make the hair less tangly and nice? Otherwise the satin night cap seems like a really cute alternative, LoversLullaby :D

[eezepeeze]

At night, I often sleep in two Willie Nelson style braids, especially if I've oiled my hair. If I've worn my hair curly during the day, I'll pull it into a scrunchie on the very top of my head and then do the "not quite pulled through" pony thing. I don't do it really tight because my main thing is trying to preserve the curl. I also often sleep in a loosly done french braid.

During the day, I'll do all kinds of things, but a go to style is a ponied braid or a dutch braid or a sock bun. I find braids to be WAAAAYYY more comfy than a bun. Buns always pull by the end of the day.

Another thing I've been doing a lot lately is just pulling back the sides of my hair into two combs, so that it's out of my face, but you can still see the curly length. I think I'll be doing this more when the weather cools off some.