ponytail damage?

[Nenwing]

My hair is finally long enough to wear in a ponytail without it looking silly, and so I have been for some time now most days wearing it up like that.

Any way to by any chance reduce the potential damage from hair elastics? I use ones without the metal connector, but I do have fine hair that can tend to break.

I guess really it will just have to be so until I could wear it up another way when it is longer.

How do most of you wear your hair up day to day yet preventing damage?

[mariika]

You can try using a wooden fork - that does not damage hair at all (I think)

[little_cherry]

How about a satin scrunchy?

[2peasinapod]

I always use a scrunchie or a soft hair tie (no metal). It also helps is you change the tie point and vary the way you wear it, if you can (higher, lower, more to the right/left), to reduce medchanical damage.

[spidermom]

I think wearing a ponytail is o.k. as long as you don't pull the ends of your ponytail apart to make the elastic tighter. This causes the elastic to roll against the cuticle and can cause peeling and breakage.

[LisaMonster]

Scrunchies will be nicer to your hair than elastics

[Theobroma]

You can use a Flexi-8 to hold a ponytail in a way that's hair-safe -- you just need to get one in the right size for the purpose.

[cleanbug]

I wear my hair in pony tails quite often. I haven't noticed any damage from it. However, i have coarse hair & use lots of oils & never blow dry or use hot irons.
i think if you use ponys that dont have the metal and you are careful when you take them out, you should be okay.
i usually opt for french braids or claw type clips for my hair. once my hair is a little longer, i will use my hairsticks/forks more.

[MissMB]

When I was little I wore mine in a high ponytail every single day. I had tons of broken hairs from it that would fall down on my face by the end of the day. Their numbers increased over the years until I started wearing it down!

[GoddesJourney]

I made mini scrunchies out of silk.

[Anje]

First and foremost: No tightening your ponytail by pulling the hair in different directions to slide the elastic closer to your head! That's where you're going to get more damage than doing any other single thing.

Other than that, consider moving your ponytail around (high one day, low the next), use the widest bands you can (rings cut from pantyhose are a good option, and less puffy than scrunchies), do little braids and pigtails sometimes to further change where hair is secured, and so on. Eventually, you'll be able to start bunning your hair without a ponytail elastic, and you'll be able to eliminate that source of damage. Until that point, the weight of your hair hopefully won't be enough to cause too much ponytail band damage.

[jojo]

Scruchies or claw clips are good, also always change the position from day to day as i find this decreases damage. I cant even remember the last time i wore a pony tail!

[swivelhop]

For those that don't tighten their ponytails, how do you get them tight/comfy/stay? I know its bad but without tightening they feel really weird and sag.

[spidermom]

I can't wear ponytails now (my hair is too long and heavy), but when I did, and the ponytail sagged, I'd take it out and re-do it. It really does cause a lot of damage when you tighten the ponytail by pulling your hair in opposite directions. This is not hype.

[joyxo]

goody makes these super soft hair ties, they're just basically a circle of soft cloth. No elastic in them or metal!

[Nenwing]

Thank you for the replies and suggestions.

I know I have on several occasions taken the "tail" part and split it to push the elastic closer to my head, it makes sense that is where the most damage would come from, as that is going against the hair grain.

Hmm, what is this panty-hose ring that can be used? I bet that would be very good as it would be very soft and non-damaging.

When I previously had long hair (back in highschool) I wore it up like EVERY day, same spot on my head, and of course had all the little hairs from the damage that would fall around my face. I am hoping to avoid that moreso this time around!

[Chestershire]

I only use soft hair elastics without the metal piece to put it in a loose tessabun, and you can see a line of damage in my hair

[Nenwing]

I did get some real soft hair bands by Goody. They are basically a ring of knit fabric, no elastic or anything in them! Heck I could probably make them pretty easily!

[XcaliburGirl]

I am bad and use the no-metal elastics almost every day... AND I tighten it. I have some top layer breakage which can only be due to that.

I'm switching to hairsticks as soon as my hair is long enough. For now, I just try to alternate with a Flexi-8.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

claw clips are awesome. As long as no hairs get caught in it, it's a safe way to wear un-bun-able hair.

[ddiana1979]

Yet another thing to worry about. *sigh* I wear ponytails all the time. Even when my hair is braided, I still use the elastic bands without metal.

When I had thick WL hair in high school I never even though about this stuff. Just shampooed & conditioned every other day, and hot oil treatments a couple times a month. I was pretty lazy, so I rarely ever blow fried or curled my hair though.

[2peasinapod]

I think that's called benign neglect! A lot of people here (especially me :D) highly recommend it!

[Dolly]

I did get some real soft hair bands by Goody. They are basically a ring of knit fabric, no elastic or anything in them! Heck I could probably make them pretty easily!


I use these exclusively for my ponytails and braids.....I haven't found that they cause any damage.....

[KittyLost]

A good thread! I was thinking about this myself the other day as I wear a ponytail everyday simply because my hair is too short to do anything else.

I need to invest in these Goody elastics.