Is hair that 'sways' impossible for some?

[shikara]

I once had a hairdresser tell me that my hair is of the type that it would never sway. If I was to move my head quickly from one side to the other it will merely move over a little rather than swing. I would say my hair is in quite good shape, is fine, and I've done the cold rinses as well. Some shampoos and conditioners can definitely add a lot of volume for me, but the sway remains elusive...

[xoxophelia]

I am not really sure why this would happen but it could be that your hair is actually fine or very porous naturally so it doesn't have the weight needed to sway?

[girlcat36]

I am fairly certain that my hair will never sway. It is thin and babyfine. It floats.

[Tiina]

I think curly hair sways less than straight hair. It is just harder to see the motion with the texture. Straight hair should theoretically be more sway-y (?) especially if it is low porosity and well moisturized. Also, the longer your hair gets the more likely it is to sway around, I think. You speak in past tense so perhaps your hair was so short at the time that it didn't sway? However, it is hard to look behind your back and see what your hair is doing so maybe you just haven't noticed how it moves and you actually have swaying hair.

[spidermom]

That would be nice. My hair moves all over the place.

[RocketDog]

My hair doesn't do that 'shampoo commercial sway' at all. Never has, never will. If I flounced around like the hair models do with my hair down I'd just succeed in making it get enormously poofy and tangled up...

[myria]

Mine doesn't sway either - i think it's too heavy. It probably would if it were layered though.

[luxepiggy]

Your hairtype stats are similar to mine. My hair definitely sways (if I'm interpreting your meaning of "sway" right), so I imagine yours is capable of doing so as well. A lot of it comes down to how you hold your head, your posture and your gait, I think.

Is this what you mean by sway?
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6020&pictureid=90987

[shikara]

I think so. I am meaning there is not very much movement - maybe what I am talking about is body. My hairs kind of tend to hold on to each other rather than hanging independently. My hairdresser at that time said it is because my hair type has smaller hairs comings out (not that you can see it with the naked eye). Is she talking cuticles maybe?

[pepperminttea]

My hair doesn't sway either, it never has, even with 'cones. It just sort of spreads itself out, sticks to my back, and random strands float up. My ponytails are tangle factories. I don't mind though, it's quite happy in an updo, it just tends to look a bit straggly when down.

[christine1989]

I always thought that it is just coarse hair that refuses to sway but I guess a lot of fine haired people have the same problem as me. Although my hair is very healthy it just dosen't have good movement. If I swing my head around I don't get that beautifully swaying hair; I just get a tangled mess. The only way I can get a good sway is to blow dry and straighten and it is just not worth the damage.

[luxepiggy]

A lot of the movement is inherent in the way you walk, not necessarily the hair itself. I can walk such that my hair doesn't move at all, or so that it swishes rather dramatically from side to side. If I get some good speed going, I get what my friend calls "catwalk hair" where it sort of flows out behind me (^(oo)^)

[Juneii]

To get a sway you should try swaying your hips. My hair is a bit too thick to sway if it is down. But if I have it up in a ponytail I can get my hair to sway by slightly tilting my head from side to side, and move my hips side to side as well to keep the momentum. It's like the wave :)

[eezepeeze]

My hair is sway-less, also. It shifts, blows in the wind, and falls into my face. But graceful sway? Never.

[shikara]

Well, I am going to try that but hope I don't overdo it and look silly :o But you know, sometimes I will see someone who is standing still or sitting, and they will quickly turn their head and much of their hair will effortlessly glide then cascade up and round their shoulders to the front. Mine will just move a little and stay pretty much where it is in the back.

[luxepiggy]

Well, I am going to try that but hope I don't overdo it and look silly :o But you know, sometimes I will see someone who is standing still or sitting, and they will quickly turn their head and much of their hair will effortlessly glide then cascade up and round their shoulders to the front. Mine will just move a little and stay pretty much where it is in the back.

That's a learned movement too, actually - tip your head ever so slightly backwards & give it a shake to get your hair off your body, then whip your head & shoulders around, and as you turn your head, tilt your chin down - you have to rotate both head & shoulders together in order to get the effect ;)

You know how in the movies, the pretty girl is always doing that head-toss thing, or shaking her hair off her shoulders? Those are all learned movements. Try different things at home in front of the mirror, if you like. Once you get the feel for how the movements of your head & body affect the movement of your hair, then you'll be able to control it (^(oo)^)

[Anywhere]

My hair doesn't "sway" unless its straightened, otherwise its just like ropes flinging around. :p

[Kaijah]

Okay, I'm not entirely sure I completely understand what everyone means by sway. :silly: Is it just the hair moving as one body as you walk/turn/dance/etc? Or something completely different?

I remember people asking me before how I got my hair to swing as I walked, kind of in time with the sway of my hips. Is that what hair sway is? (For the record, my response was always "Uhhh... I don't know how I do it, I just do." xD)

[luxepiggy]

Okay, I'm not entirely sure I completely understand what everyone means by sway. :silly: Is it just the hair moving as one body as you walk/turn/dance/etc? Or something completely different?

I remember people asking me before how I got my hair to swing as I walked, kind of in time with the sway of my hips. Is that what hair sway is? (For the record, my response was always "Uhhh... I don't know how I do it, I just do." xD)

That's what I'm referring to - hair that swings back and forth as you walk, or swings out & around when you turn, thus:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6020&pictureid=90986

[lacefrost]

I find that my hair sways when it's straight and in a ponytail, when I walk a certain way. When it's straight and down it just gets in my face, in my eyes, etc and I'm constantly brushing it out of my face, tucking it behind my ears and swooping it over my shoulder. Which can be sexy and graceful if I do it just right.

When it's curly it pretty much stays where it is being all big and volumous and defying gravity. So then I can get some nice hair motion by running my hands from my nape to my ends. It gives me a moment of an updo-look and then I let it go and it's BAM WILD CURLS. Sometimes I'll pull on a curl for a boing effect.

I think it's like what others have said, it's about learning the movements and finding ways to show your hair off (in whatever state) to make it look graceful.

[Maggie May]

Now that I have started treating my hair with regular trims, I think it will greatly change the way my hair acts. My hair is currently above my shoulders, but seems much thicker than it was before when it was long and I hadn't trimmed it for probably at least 5 YEARS!!! I am going extreme opposite this time around and going to have regular little trims!! It feels and looks very nice!

[Roseate]

My hair doesn't have that slippery, silky sway: it's just too coarse and wurly. Not going to happen for me in my natural state! Blown out, heavily coned and flatironed I can get some of that movement, but I don't go there much anymore.

[shikara]

Luxepiggy and juneii, (or anyone) you might just fall to the floor laughing if you saw me practising these learned movements!!!! I never knew...

[McFearless]

I think slightly to really wavy hair is the most prone to swaying. My hair doesn't sway it tangles:(

[trolleypup]

That's a learned movement too, actually - tip your head ever so slightly backwards & give it a shake to get your hair off your body, then whip your head & shoulders around, and as you turn your head, tilt your chin down - you have to rotate both head & shoulders together in order to get the effect ;)

You know how in the movies, the pretty girl is always doing that head-toss thing, or shaking her hair off her shoulders? Those are all learned movements. Try different things at home in front of the mirror, if you like. Once you get the feel for how the movements of your head & body affect the movement of your hair, then you'll be able to control it (^(oo)^)
And you can spot a recent ex-longhair by those same head/body movements! And even make a guess at former hair length.

Another issue with sway (not the learned toss and flip) is body shape and posture...if the ends are hanging free and not resting on the body, they are much more likely to move separately.

With coarse slightly wavy hair, I've always had decent sway, especially if my hair is clean and detangled. As for the learned moves, honestly, they came naturally as I gained length...and changed as the length changed...past classic you are pretty limited with what you can do with the full length (without large neck straining body movements).

[Juneii]

Luxepiggy and juneii, (or anyone) you might just fall to the floor laughing if you saw me practising these learned movements!!!! I never knew...

PFF. You should see me when I am home alone, I prance around trying to get my hair to look as if it is blowing in the wind XD. And doing the sexy hair flip over the shoulder like you see in the movies only ends up with a mouthful of hair.

[Lianna]

I'm not sure what you mean by sway. Going from side to side as you walk? Flip when you turn around quickly? The 'flip' I think it would only be harder if the hair is a type 4. Anyone has a video to share? I would like to know what you mean.

[maria_asa]

I am fairly certain that my hair will never sway. It is thin and babyfine. It floats.

This.
If my hair is down and I move it just floats away in all directions at once.

[luxepiggy]

I'm not sure what you mean by sway. Going from side to side as you walk? Flip when you turn around quickly? The 'flip' I think it would only be harder if the hair is a type 4. Anyone has a video to share? I would like to know what you mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cfmxaaRnXo#t=1m47s

Crystal Gayle! I assume we're talking about the way her hair moves when she walks, especially around 1:55 when she turns around (^(oo)^)

[Lianna]

luxepiggy, thank you so much for the video! :flower:

It does look cool. :D

[Tabitha]

My hair doesn't "sway" unless its straightened, otherwise its just like ropes flinging around. :p


My hair doesn't have that slippery, silky sway: it's just too coarse and wurly. Not going to happen for me in my natural state! Blown out, heavily coned and flatironed I can get some of that movement, but I don't go there much anymore.
I would LOVE to have the kind of hair that sways and moves like a silken curtain.

I don't flatiron (those things scare me to death! not just for my hair's sake but for my general safety) but my hair is only swayable if it's coned into submission and blowdried by my amazing hairdresser.

I just can't do a sleek blowdry the way she does. Interestingly, she has long hair herself and says she can't blowdry her own hair that nicely either - something to do with your own arms being in the wrong place.

[Deborah]

My hair sways a lot. I think it's because my hair is straight and very fine in texture, thought it's not thin. Each hair is tiny in circumference, but I have a lot of them.

[shikara]

Juneii - you're cracking me up again!!! I BURST out laughing!! And maria asa too!! My hair especially did that floaty thing after using a keratin poo and condish!

[DreadfulWoman]

And you can spot a recent ex-longhair by those same head/body movements! And even make a guess at former hair length.

Haha, totally true. I once cut my then BSL hair into a bob, and for the whole next week I was moving pretty strangely. I always joke with DBF that I'd have to relearn how to walk if I cut my dreads off. My counterweight would be gone! :p