1/2 up does nothing for me...

[Mary <><]

I have tried tirelessly to conjure up a 1/2 up do that suits me, but try as I might, I never like the result. I love them on other people, but when I try them on myself they just don't look right on me. I always feel like I have a mullet look when I do them. Do any of you have a hard time finding a 1/2 up that suits your face, or is it just me?

[girlcat36]

I live for the 1/2 up. It is a lot more flattering on me than all up or all down.

[cindy58]

Are you taking up all the hair above your ears, or just part/most of it? If you leave even a smaller part of that down it seems to soften the look considerably.

[Just_Isabel]

I live for the 1/2 up. It is a lot more flattering on me than all up or all down.

Me too. :D


Why don't you like it, exactly? Can you give us more details - or maybe post pics of what you don't like?

Ok, here are some ideas:
Have you tried using two clips instead of one to hold your hair back? How does that work for you?
You can also play with different "heights" of where you gather your hair at the back, you'll get different results and some may work better than others.
You can also try taking different amounts of hair to hold back: you could hold about half of your hair up, or you could just use the front (I hope that makes sense, if not please let me know and I'll try to explain it better and / or will post pics or drawings).

HTH!

[frizzinator]

I also find the half-up look on me quite disturbing. I'm certain it's because my hair is thin, mainly in the crown area, and the half-up never looks good. Before I joined LHC, my hair was frizzy, which made my hair look thicker than it actually was. I did wear the half-up then because the illusion of thicker hair made it look somewhat better.

[Bucatini]

I get the mullet look. I hate it! I know that part of it is that I'm 2c but my underneath sections barely bend (so what is that, 1b?).

I've tried gathering up different quantity of hair, placing it higher and lower, even doing just the middle (like a 1.5 or 2-inch chunk at the center of my forehead) and none of it is pretty. Still can't figure out what. I feel your pain, Mary <>< and if I come up with a solution I'll let you know!

[MusingFrog]

I used to love them on myself. Now that my hair is longer not so much, but they looked great around BSL length. For me the big thing was to grab just the very top layer of hair, so almost no hair was being pulled back. I also would go all the way down to my ears, I'd leave a half inch or so of hair right above my ears untouched to hang normally. I'd experiment with different amounts of hair being pulled back and the tension if I were you. I know exactly what you mean by the mullet look.

[Chromis]

Nope, I don't care for them either! I have a hard time getting the hair on top to lie nicely in half ups and often land up grabbing too much while attempting to smooth it out. I also have a perma-part that refuses to be combed in any other direction. If I try to comb straight back, it hurts! ....then it goes back to being parted somehow on its own.

Full up or full down for me!

[firebird]

I don't like them either, though they look great on other people! I find they make my hair look really thin, and also it looks very two-tone as the top layers of my hair are a lot lighter than underneath, and I hate the color it is underneath :(

[Miss Murphy]

I get the mullet look. I hate it! I know that part of it is that I'm 2c but my underneath sections barely bend (so what is that, 1b?).

Me, too! It's just mullet central for me. I like it on other people, but I simply live for/in full-ups.

[freznow]

I used to hate them. Then I learned a technique: Start with your fingers just above your ears and go straight up, collecting the hair from your forehead to that line connecting your ears. Then you take that hair and position it where you want it in your half up. This solved my problem of not having enough hair down to look nice. It uses a much smaller amount of hair for the half up.

[Moiraine]

http://bp2.blogger.com/_BjXfo4hWzCY/R_Aps4oJFlI/AAAAAAAAAac/bNQ6-LQWNZE/s200/580072926111_0_ALB.jpg (http://bp2.blogger.com/_BjXfo4hWzCY/R_Aps4oJFlI/AAAAAAAAAac/bNQ6-LQWNZE/s1600-h/580072926111_0_ALB.jpg)This is mine of a half-up I did last year. Just like the others said, it is better to make the part across your head under the ears with your two forefingers and I always run my fingers up pretty high under the part you the separating and that way you don't see the part/ (I don't know if I am being clear in my description maybe someone can do better:)) Anyway you get the effect like above, and put your scrunchie low and it will be nice and tidy.....good luck:blossom:

[Village Mama]

I am not used to the texture of the hair underneath. The top of my hair is finer and really smooth. The underside is wavy , but not in any consistant way, so it feels just messy and odd to me. Maybe when my hair is longer.

[Silver & Gold]

I love the half ups. The give the elegance of an updo with some of the playfulness of having your hair down.

[spidermom]

I don't like it on me, either. I did when it was shorter. Now the part left down ends up looking stringy really fast.

[Just_Isabel]

Yes, what Freznow said, go up instead of back with your fingers. It makes a huge difference, and now I think I know what you mean with mullet look. :lol:

I tried to take some pictures with my laptop's camera, but they didn't turn out that good. And you can't see much of the "after" pictures because the back of my head looks just dark... and my hair is pretty short, especially at the back.

But anyway here are some pics:
(Mind: they were taken in a hurry, and my hair is all messy, and the quality and size could be much better. But I'm just posting to give an idea and hopefully explain better.)

Go up like this: (well, I did it really fast, you can make it much neater ;))
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q248/haraldette/hair/e18ede18-1.jpg

instead of like this:
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q248/haraldette/hair/20631c78.jpg

You get different results.
Up vs. back:
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q248/haraldette/hair/8d1bbe74-1.jpg http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q248/haraldette/hair/a25a262f-1.jpg

Does that help any? :o

I'd definitely give this a try - I also don't have that much hair, and if I get too much hair into the half up, it really doesn't look good - it looks like I have way too little hair. If you grab less, it can make you look like you have more.

[Nevermore]

I live for the 1/2 up. It is a lot more flattering on me than all up or all down.

Ditto, I don't think I'll be wearing my hair down totally, it looks loads better, especially with braid waves/bun curls, in a half up.

For those of you who say that half ups look like funny, you tried using a mini claw clip and pushing the contained hair foward, to give it some height?

[Unofficial_Rose]

I'm another one that finds they look great on other people, but not me. Maybe when my hair is longer.

I actually wonder if my face or head is the wrong shape for this style :o

[chloeishere]

I look awful in half-ups, too, I absolutely never wear them! I think my face shape, for whatever reason, just does not suit well. I've tried many different styles, and I think they look great on other people (there's a woman at my job who wears them almost every day, and they look great on her), but I just look really bad in them.
I might try out some of the tips here, but it's not the hair that looks bad... it's my face. :p I don't know how I can fix that! :D

[SweetPea88]

I really like the half-up although I never really do them anymore for some reason. I like to do mine loose, held with a barrette or with the sides sort of twisted or braided.

This picture is of a half-up when I did a tiny gibson tuck (sorry, I forgot to crop it!).
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff265/raventresses88/mis002.jpg

[kwaniesiam]

I've tried it in the past, I also don't like it. Probably because my hair is thinner, it just doesn't look right. If I want my hair up, I'll put it all up so its out of the way. If I want it down, I'll just wear it down or with a headband or something.

[busnutmedic]

I don't like them just because my hair is so thin it looks like I have no hair - and I can never seem to get the perfect amount of hair up in whatever I'm securing it with.

They look lovely on others though, and I wish I felt good about it on me :)

Bonnie

[Riot Crrl]

I like it it because my 3a roots are so confused. With a half up I can comb them straight, then wear the tail and the bottom half curly.

[Mary <><]

Thanks so much for all of your replies! I am so glad I am not alone! I will experiment with some of the ideas given here. I will let you know if I ever find a 1/2 up that doesn't make me look like I just crawled out of 1985! LOL!

[Alley Cat]

I used to love half up's on myself now somehow they just don't seem to suit me. :shrug:

[Carina]

I don't like the way I look with half up.My friends like it but I just love to have my hair up in a bun or braid so that's what I do.

[lilalong]

My main problem is that I seem to have lots of hair on top of my hair and not so much in the back.
When I gather the top up for the half-up, there's not much left to hang down.

[Boudicca]

It doesn't suit me either. It looks good at the back, but really unflattering at the front.

[may1em]

I don't really care for half-ups, but half-back is one of my best friends and can rescue me when the crown is funky but the rest looks fine. It is also important that when I say "half-back" what I really mean is "third to quarter-back." I usually use either a barrette or small claw clip, as I'm incapable of using a hair elastic or scrunchy to get half my hair back without also involving strands from the bottom half.

[Alethia]

I sympathise - half ups look awful on me because they show how thin my hair is. I can wear my hair pulled back by barette as long as all the hair is allowed to flow down after that. Ick.

[Tangles]

I always thought half ups were super versatile...
if you have thin hair just put a little bit up (or fringe if you have it)
if you have a round face, add more height to the pulled up part
if you have a thin face, pull back more tightly
if you want a sporty, but elegant look, make a little bun
if you want a super feminine look, use a ribbon or barrette
etc...

[florenonite]

I rarely wear half-ups, because I just don't think of them, but after seeing this thread I put my hair in a topsy-tail half-up and really like it! It adds width to my long face, looking better than when it's down, and it also leaves hair to "frame" my face, so it looks better than wholly up, too. It also keeps my hair away from my face (although not off the back of my neck).

[Leisha]

Half-ups rarely look nice on me.
Somehow they make my head go pear-shaped, lol. :D

Or it makes the top of my head look perfectly flat, which is also not the look I'm going for. (I have a round face, so like Tangles said, I think I should try to create some more volume on top maybe)

Sometimes I can get them to look ok, depending on how much/what hair I include in the halfup, or how tight it is, and if I leave a few locks of hair loose around my face.
But it's not easy to get it right. I also have to use the correct hair toy/tool, I think. A claw clip is better than an elastic (easier to create a little looseness/volume).

I love how a half up looks from the back, and I also often love them on other people. It's such a great way of showing the length of your hair without having it fall in front of your face. In fact I'm quite sad that I can't wear them more!

[Curlsgirl]

I like it it because my 3a roots are so confused. With a half up I can comb them straight, then wear the tail and the bottom half curly.Me too!!!


It's such a great way of showing the length of your hair without having it fall in front of your face. Yes, especially at work!

[Poolsoflaughter]

Since I have so many layers that I'm trying to grow out, when the top part of my hair is pulled up, the rest left down looks mighty sparse..:( Ah, well.

[HairColoredHair]

I don't like them at all on myself.

My mother LOVES them on me. :(

[Katze]

dear Mary (hair twin)

It may be that it's a look you aren't used to. I feel *exactly* the same way with buns - they make me look fat, dumpy, and unkempt. Perhaps this just means that halfups aren't for you, like buns aren't for me. :)

Halfups lengthen my round face and - I think - accentuate my bone structure, making me look retro-exotic. When my hair is a bit lank, they extend the time I can wear it down, and I can play with putting more hair into them and thus showing off my wavier hair underneath which looks better 'dirty' or less hair into them to just keep it off my face.

I've learned, with regards to buns, that just because many other people here like them doesn't mean I have to force myself to like them too. It may be the same with you and halfups...

[Pegasus Marsters]

Here's a trick you can try. Seperate off a section at the front of your hair (I'm assuming you don't have bangs) and keep it to the front of your head. Then pin the rest of the top half of your hair up whichever way you like best. Then brush that front section to one side... it gives you a sideswept fringe look and really softens the appearance of the half up.

[Kyamo]

I like the way half-ups look on me... for about 3 minutes. It goes stringy really fast after combing, and I don't have enough thickness for it to look good after it goes stringy, even if I don't take much hair for the half up. I only wear my hair all up or all down.

[Delenn]

Sometimes I can get a good half-up, some days it just doesn't want to work. Like this morning. I had every intention of it being a half-up kind of day but here I am with my usual braided bun.

I'll have to try the "section it going up" rather than back. Never tried it that way! I also like to take the hanging bits of the half-up, twist them like I'm going to do a figure 8, clip them in the upward position so the ends fan out and over kind of like a half-up messy bun. Sometimes that will detract from the mullet effect.

[Curlsgirl]

Anyone wearing a halfup today because of the suggestions here? I am! :D

[NorthernDancer]

I LOVE half ups! I think they are like the best look for me. I'm wearing one today in fact! I like that it keeps the hair out of my face, while still keeping my hair down. What I'm wearing today is something I just did one day about a week ago, and I really like it.
I'll try to describe it: I put my fingers a little in front of my ears and went up to my part so that I had only about a half an inch (depth wise) of the front of my hair. Then I took those small sections (one from each side) and draped them back into a little clip at the back of my head (where you normally see a half up clip together). It somewhat covers the sides of my head, and being that my roots are greasy, this style hides that and still looks pretty. This is similar to that style of taking those small sections and doing a braid (or twist) around the sides of the head, but this is loose.

I don't really like the all up look on me. I think it makes me look bloated or something. I have layers so sometimes I will take a few little wisps from the front of my hair (that are about chin length) and leave it down the side of my face. That seems to help soften the all up look for me. I'll even do this for half ups.

[jivete]

It really depends for me. I too have thin hair and a fairly round face, so they look great if I make them full and/or leave plenty of hair to frame the face. I also have to be carefull not to put too much hair up or I don't have enough to hang down.

[Mary <><]

dear Mary (hair twin)

It may be that it's a look you aren't used to. I feel *exactly* the same way with buns - they make me look fat, dumpy, and unkempt. Perhaps this just means that halfups aren't for you, like buns aren't for me. :)

Halfups lengthen my round face and - I think - accentuate my bone structure, making me look retro-exotic. When my hair is a bit lank, they extend the time I can wear it down, and I can play with putting more hair into them and thus showing off my wavier hair underneath which looks better 'dirty' or less hair into them to just keep it off my face.

I've learned, with regards to buns, that just because many other people here like them doesn't mean I have to force myself to like them too. It may be the same with you and halfups...

WOW! I never realized you and I are hair twins! That is very encouraging, LUCKY ME!!! :cheese: Funny bc I LIVE in buns! I too have a round face, but the bun seems to work anyway for some reason. Thanks for the encouragement, guess one day I will finally be able to embrace what I was born with!


Here's a trick you can try. Seperate off a section at the front of your hair (I'm assuming you don't have bangs) and keep it to the front of your head. Then pin the rest of the top half of your hair up whichever way you like best. Then brush that front section to one side... it gives you a sideswept fringe look and really softens the appearance of the half up.

This is one I have not tried yet. When I get home for my lunch break today I know what I will be doing! Thanks!

[freznow]

Anyone wearing a halfup today because of the suggestions here? I am! :D

I wore it last night and it's my new sig pic!

[Islandgrrl]

I'm not a fan of 1/2 ups either. I can never seem to get the right proportions and I think I look funny.

[Magdalene]

They only really look good on me if I have braid waves. Otherwise it just looks odd.

[Darkhorse1]

I'm pretty good with the half up/half down. But, I think it depends on your hair line and how your hair falls/grows. I'm growing out the majority of my bangs, and it's a true challenge. They are finally just past my chin, and I can get it back into a ponytail (high) with the rest of my hair. In my job, I wear helmets/hats, so that takes care of that problem. I find a nice little barrette and a scrunchie/hair tie works awesome.

How do you guys use those sticks?? For the life of me, I just can't figure them out! My hair is pretty light until you bunch it together, but then it just falls out of the stick :)

[heidihug]

I used to be able to wear half-ups a lot, until my hair got to about mid-way between BSL and waist.

After that, I found they were just an invitation to underneath tangles so bad they had to be cut out. Love they way they look on other people, though - oh, that my hair wasn't so darn fine and tangly. I wear my hair down about once or twice a year; all down hair really isn't an option for me, either, due to my tendency towards tangles and piece-y-ness. Away-from-the-head half-ups and loose ponytails are no-no's for me, too, unless I want to detangle every 15 minutes or so.

[avraea]

I love half-ups, but I definitely agree that they're difficult to get the right proportions and to position it correctly. There are a lot of things I like about this style involving my face shape and hair, but oddly the one thing I like most about it is that it's the perfect frame for my bigger/longer earrings. I can't wear my big/longer earrings with my hair all up. It just looks odd to me, so I can only wear the tiny earrings or the studs when I wear my hair all up, and with my hair all down, forget earrings, you'd never see them. My hair is just barely bsl, but I dream of the day that I get it long enough to wear my half-ups and have it look like what I call ''Arwen hair". :)

[coppercurls]

I always thought half ups were super versatile...
if you have thin hair just put a little bit up (or fringe if you have it)
if you have a round face, add more height to the pulled up part
if you have a thin face, pull back more tightly
if you want a sporty, but elegant look, make a little bun
if you want a super feminine look, use a ribbon or barrette
etc...

Ditto! I sometimes braid the tail, bun or topsy tail it.

[Stagecoach]

Half ups/back have never worked for me. I think it's something about my hair line and high forehead... if my hair isn't parted and going down it just looks terrible!

I have lately discovered that if I leave a section of hair--that would be bangs if I had them-- out, than I can make it work ok.

[marty girl]

I haven't tried many 1/2 up but I get a great 1/2 down about 30 minuets after I do an all hair up. *she snickers* Where do ya'll get those hair toys at!
Marty girl

[aprilmay]

Sometimes, I have success with the 1/2 which looks good in front, but not necessarily in the back. I like this style pulling my hair back while maintaining my part and having the clip or elastic in the middle of my head rather than on top.