Updo problems

[Yavene]

Hello,

I've been growing my hair for a while, currently at the bottom of my ribcage, freshly trimmed. Split ends are a major issue - I've started treating it better, but have a few questions:

Updos won't stay. I'm not sure if this is because of me doing it wrong, not having proper tools or my hair being too slippery. Scrunchies or clips can kinda stay, but it's more like they take a death grip on a dozen strands and ignore the rest. Ouch! Other than that I've tried pencils as hair sticks (same problem, but won't even stay) and one hair only updo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RwfbPkTfRI&feature=related) which stays as long as I don't make any sudden head movements.

On S&D I've found some hairs that aren't broken, but bend or squiggle at weird angles. Should I cut them?

How do you know if scissors are sharp enough for hair? Will any kind of otherwise unused scissors do? (I'd like a small one, for easier handling, but the only small scissors I know of are nail scissors.)

[LaurelSpring]

We have a similar hair type, and I can tell you that when my hair is freshly washed its hard for it to hold anything. Cones dont help this at all either. The way that I get around this is to wash at night and then set my hair on sponge rollers so I have some curl in the morning for more grab. The other thing is that when I sleep I braid it loosely from the crown and put it in a bun on top of my hair with clippies. This also gives me volume and braid waves for grab.

Otherwise if I do decide to shampoo and then go out I have to wear something that doesnt require any grab like a braided sort of style.

[Yavene]

Good idea, though I need some practice on braiding my own head. Know any good tutorials?

[Pierre]

Welcome to LHC!

For holding updos, I suggest hair scroos or Flexis. The Spin Pin is similar to the hair scroo. It's a helical piece of thick wire that you scroo into your bun. The Flexi is — well, see the Flexi-8 thread for that. They hold my hair for days.

As to scissors, there are two aspects to sharpness: how accurately the edge is a dihedral angle, and what the dihedral angle is. You can have perfectly sharp scissors with an angle near 0° (IIRR scissors are measured so that 0° is kidsafe paper scissors and 90° is impossible) and they'll crush hairs, not cut them cleanly. Hair scissors, at least the small ones I have, have an angle about 45°. That said, I've done S&D with a pair of keys, faute de mieux, and it didn't seem to bother my hair, but I henna it, so it's tough.

[Yavene]

Thanks, I'll see if I can get some of those.