Question re: hair buns

[TropicalBreeze]

I keep reading on this site about the benefits of putting your hair in buns when trying to grow it out. Why is this? Should I be putting my hair in buns daily and what kind of hair elastic / product should I use when bunning? Thanks in advance!

[Rtzgrl]

As I see it, putting your hair up in a bun protects it mostly by keeping it from getting tangled or catching on things and breaking. In my case, it also keeps it out of my way, which reduces the chance of it driving me crazy and making me want to cut it all off! :)

[SpinDance]

Putting your hair up protects it from mechanical damage caused by wind, tangling and getting caught in/under things. Elastics can cause or contribute to mechanical damage as well, so I think most people use hair pins (the u-shaped ones, not bobby pins), spin pins, a stick, fork, or clip of some sort rather than elastics. Personally I like hair sticks, forks and Flexi's. I've not yet gotten a Ficcare so I can't report on that, but many people seem to love them, too.

[Fairlight63]

Also if you put oil (EVOO) on your hair before bunning it - it helps protect the ends & helps to keep it moisturized so that your hair don't dry out. Bunning your hair protects it from the elements. When your hair is long enough you won't even need a rubber band to keep it up, you can use Flex-8, fliccare, fork, hair stick, etc.

[Zesty]

Updos like buns protect your hair from mechanical damage caused by daily wear and tear. If you wear your hair down all the time, it can get caught on things or rub on chairs, etc., and that can inhibit growth and damage your ends. If it's in a bun, it's out of the way and protected.

I don't know what 10 inches looks like on you (or if that is still an accurate measurement), but at shorter lengths protective updos aren't as big of a deal. Once you get past shoulder and onto APL, etc., there is more potential for damage and more reason to do an updo. As for tools, if you use elastics use a variety that is metal-free and soft. Elastics can damage your hair, but there are some that are gentler. A lot of LHCers use hair sticks or forks to put their hair up (I personally recommend sticks, they are a great starter hair toy -- you can practice with a pencil or chopstick if you don't want to spend too much) because they tend to damage hair a lot less. You might also look into claw clips, etc.

Good luck! :flower:

[torrilin]

You list your hair as 10" long. If I measure from my hairline back (so standard LHC way), that doesn't even hit the nape of my neck. There is NO way I could do a bun with my hair that short. Most people (me included!) wouldn't be able to get their hair in a ponytail for the thickness measure either, and you list yourself as a i thickness. There aren't a whole lot of people with ponytails under 2".

I can usually start to ponytail my hair around shoulder length, so maybe 16"? I could probably do twin braids by then, tho I really don't like how those look when worn down, so I don't. And I can usually squeeze in a French braid somewhere in shoulder length. By armpit length, I can do a single braid and a plain cinnamon bun. By bra strap length, twin braids stop freaking me out because I can use them to do Heidi braids.

In all cases when I put my hair into a braid or a bun, it's so it stays contained and tidy. My hair is really tangle prone, and the best defense against it is to make sure tangles don't have a chance to form. Otherwise... well, I've had detangling jobs literally take 8 hours of work. On hair that was barely BSL. I have to detangle my hair even when it's in a pixie cut. This is not fun in the slightest. Between the tangles and my hair growing stupidly fast, the good choices are wear it long, or shave my head every week.

[Anje]

As others have said, I bun my hair to protect it from friction (on clothes, chairs, etc.), to prevent it getting caught in things like car doors, and to prevent tangles. Keeping it out of my work is also an important factor, especially if I'm using fire.....

Elastics supporting ponytails and buns tend to cause damage for my fine, rather fragile hair. So I typically use a hairstick, fork, or Ficcare to hold my buns. You may find these work better on longer hair and that the elastic is necessary til you get a bit longer, perhaps til armpit length depending on your hair's thickness.

[Madora]

When you create buns, they will feel more comfortable, and distribute the weight of your hair more evenly, if you section your hair first before you create the bun.

Here's how for a double braided bun:

1) Detangle all hair thoroughly with a wide tooth comb
2) Make a horizontal part from the tip of your right ear around the back of your hear to the tip of the left ear.
3) Take ALL the hair above the part, comb it out gently, and ponytail it (be sure not to pull back the hair too tightly!)
4) Divide the hair in 3 sections and loosely braid it to the ends.
Secure with a hair friendly elastic.
5) Coil the braid in a bun around the ponytail, pinning with crimped hairpins as you go. Pin in the north/south/east/west directions. Hide the tassle under the braid

6) Take the remainder of the hair and braid it loosely.
7) Coil the braid around the braided bun already created.

Et voila..an easy double braided bun that is comfortable to wear all day.

Special note! If you want to hide the elastic on that ponytail, take a very small sliver of your hair and wrap it around the ponytail base and secure it with small crimped hairpins (not bobby pins). Then continue on to step 4

You can also do this style with twisted hair strands, or 3 braids (depending on the thickness and length of your tresses).

[Gulbahar]

How long is your hair really? As others have pointed out those 10 inches can't be right. How did you measure? The standard way here is to measure from the hairline at your forehead to the hairline at your neck.

[TropicalBreeze]

My hair is almost at APL. It was 10 inches when I joined this site a few years ago.

And can I use fabric scrunchies instead of hair sticks as my hair is very fine?

[RitaCeleste]

I'm super new to the whole updo thing, think days not even weeks. What I notice is I'm not always brushing. The breaking and pulling from tangles is a big problem for my hair. When I wear it down, I feel like it needs brushing all the time. I discovered a zillion and one places that sell hair toys on here and now I want some. Anything that your hair doesn't get tangled up on would be a fine hair toy IMO. I thought I'd hate wearing my hair up, but I really like it up even though I've been stuck using a pencil.

[Rtzgrl]

....And can I use fabric scrunchies instead of hair sticks as my hair is very fine?

Absolutely! One of my favorite updos for a very long time was a cinnabun with a scrunchie wrapped around it. Very comfortable, and you can get so creative with the colors and different styles of scrunchies. If you twist the hair tight enough, the scrunchie is all you'll need to hold it up.

[torrilin]

My hair is almost at APL. It was 10 inches when I joined this site a few years ago.

And can I use fabric scrunchies instead of hair sticks as my hair is very fine?

Ah, that's less confusing.

Anyway, for my hair... my first buns were held with scrunchies. That works, but if you're active or if your hair is layered or if your hair is slippery and spiteful, it will tend to fall down. You have to twist very tightly to make it stay, and wrap very tightly with the scrunchie. End result? A lot of destroyed scrunchies. No broken hair, but tightly twisted buns can cause breakage. I dodged that bullet because I rarely bunned my hair two days in a row.

The next thing I learned how to use was hair sticks, in the form of pencils. Again, works fine. Again, my hair is somewhat prone to spitting them out. I also find that depending on the day, how I used the pencil etc, sometimes there was just no getting comfortable. These days I'm better at it, but hair sticks are not my first choice.

The next thing I learned to use was hair pins. This works well, but I found that despite what every magazine article about hair claims... on my fine and slippery hair, the bigger the pin the better. These days I mostly use Goody Spin Pins, but most kinds of hair pins can work. They're a very flexible tool, and I find they're the best way to hold things comfortably.

I didn't learn to use hair forks until fairly recently, and they're still not a favorite.

Claw clips also can work, but I need pretty tiny ones to hold a bun. I kept trying to use a clip that could fit over the bun, and my hair just rejects the whole idea. If I want the bun to stay, I should use 2-3 of those itty bitty claw clips around the edge.

Most buns will hold with a variety of tools. Don't feel stupid if you can't make one tool work, and another does.

[jojo]

My hair is almost at APL. It was 10 inches when I joined this site a few years ago.

And can I use fabric scrunchies instead of hair sticks as my hair is very fine?

to measure your hair you need to start from the front of your hair line and pass the tape over your head, until the longest bit and then use that number as a measurement.

I think you have been measuring incorrectly, 10" doesnt even get my whole head:eyebrows:, measure again and report back, you will find you have gained quite a few inches!

[eternalknot]

When you create buns, they will feel more comfortable, and distribute the weight of your hair more evenly, if you section your hair first before you create the bun.




I usually wear my hair down because I get headaches if it's up for too long (it's heavy). This just may do the trick by distributing the weight around a bit more - thanks!

[Madora]

@eternalknot...

If your hair is accustomed to being down most of the time, then your scalp may rebel (at first) when wearing a bun or updo.

The reason being that the follicles are used to being in one position..and when they are pulled in another direction, they HURT.

The sectioning process helps with this...a bit..but it is best to proceed slowly with bunning to avoid your follicles getting stressed.