Curlies & wurlies - updo's how do you keep it neat? Tell me :)

[CornishMaid]

Ok, I am after your advice & experience please. :D

I am a curly 2c /3a. When I put my hair in an updo, I have loads of strays / messy hairs hanging around. What do you do to make your updo's look neat?
I can pull my hair really tight, but after about 5 minutes it looks like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards ( to quote my dear mum!).

What am I doing wrong, what should I be doing?

Here is me today with my first sockbun attempt

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae330/elmsj/LHC/3db0b577.jpg

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae330/elmsj/LHC/01dead9d.jpg

Look at the frizzies!:confused:

[Jules diamond]

lol I usually don't! A little bit of oil might help you, though.

[eezepeeze]

Not sure about your willingness to use product, but Herbal Essences Totally Twisted gel works wonders. Smooth just a little through your DAMP hair before doing the updo and it will really help. Also, just the smallest amount of oil will help, too, especially in your DAMP hair. You updos will always turn out smoother if you do them slightly DAMP. So, my theme here is DAMP :-) I cannot tell you how much smoother my hair is when I damp bun/braid versus doing it dry. Frizz city!

Also, you might try a bit of conditioner or a good leave in conditioner. They can be pretty good at taming frizz.

Good luck! It's a cross we curlies have to bear, the errant and wild hairs springing unbidden from our buns :-)

[eezepeeze]

Forgot to mention that damp doesn't necessarily mean freshly washed. I get my smoothest braids and updos on 3 day hair that has been misted with water from a spray bottle, combed through, and then done. I also add some product like gel after I spritz it, but natural oils in your scalp really do help with taming frizz.

[ellen732]

I run Fox's Shea Butter Cream through my hair before putting it up. It smooths out all of my hair and keeps it soft.

[Remyy]

I sometimes wear a headband to keep flyaways down near my hairline. Also, I've found that if I'm concerned about hair sticking up when its in a ponytail I try to make a lace braid on both sides of my hair and then tie it back which keeps flyaways down too. Not sure if this will work for your hair but it's what I've been doing since I don't like using gel,

[Quixii]

I usually either don't, or I run a little bit of water/aloe vera gel over the frizzy bits.

[Juicematic]

I spray my front with water and brush with a hard brush. Today I added Shea Moisture curl smoothie and it worked really well!

[CurlyCap]

Honestly, I don't really embrace updos that are primarily for straight hair. They assume I can brush out my hair before I put it up. Doable if it's damp, but what if I want to put my hair up in the middle of the day and don't want to get it wet (or product soaked)?

You know all the oddly stiff curly updos that everyone tries to do for proms and weddings? YOU HAVE THE HAIR THAT DOES IT NATURALLY. Use some plain hair pins to strategically push up your curls and position them around your head and !voila!, instant updos. And since your hair is already curly, you're working with it instead of against it. You can dance and it looks fine.

Odd trick if you don't mind uber artificial product. When you want a smooth updos, take a fine tooth comb and spray it directly with hair spray and then comb over where you want it smooth. Doing this both smooths and locks the flyaways downs without having to helmet spray your head.

[MrsGuther]

Ok, I am after your advice & experience please. :D

I am a curly 2c /3a. When I put my hair in an updo, I have loads of strays / messy hairs hanging around. What do you do to make your updo's look neat?
I can pull my hair really tight, but after about 5 minutes it looks like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards ( to quote my dear mum!).

What am I doing wrong, what should I be doing?

Here is me today with my first sockbun attempt

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae330/elmsj/LHC/3db0b577.jpg

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae330/elmsj/LHC/01dead9d.jpg

Look at the frizzies!:confused:

I get the same thing when I put my hair in an updo, which is every day. I put a little leave in conditioner/treatment on my palms and smooth it over the frizzies to make them stay where I want them too.

[katsrevenge]

I embrace them as part of what my hair does. Unless I gel the life out of my hair it does the same thing.
Oil make it look sleeker/shinier and then I pull out a few tuffs and boom. Instant sexy instead of something that could be seen as 'frizzy'.

[darkwaves]

I like the look of loose, free curls with updos! Embrace the curls!

Don't try to make that frizz go away. Instead, ignore it (because it really is lovely) or twist it into curls flowing back to the updo, or down around your face. Gel will help with this.

(Or, if you really must pretend you have straight hair, wait till day 4 or 5 after washing for updos, and use a boar bristle brush to smooth back those free curls. Your natural oils and the brush will help them bond with the hair that's held back, and you might be able to pretend your hair is straight. For a while, at least. And yes, I have BB brush, and this is what I use it for... not for brushing/detangling my hair, but for smoothing free frizz in updos. Works miraculously.)

[darkwaves]

And look at those beautiful nape curls and cheek curls!!!

Your hair is beautiful in an updo!

[lacefrost]

I love the little curlies! I actually really like that look. But I do agree with everyone else: damp hair and something else (oil/conditioner/etc).

[MinderMutsig]

I just don't try to make it smooth.

I pull my hair back just enough to make the bun while leaving the curls intact instead of pulling it back to try and make it smooth. I think the curly version of a bun suits me much better than a straight version. Why would I want to look like a mean old lady if I can soften that look up by letting my hair do what it naturally does? If I pull it all back the curls are going to fight me and frizz up. If leave the curls intact to bun it, the frizz stays mostly within the curls.

[redmj]

I agree... The curlies are adorable. It's just part of being a curly. I used to try everything to get them to lay down and now I just don't notice them much. The frizz I just comb back and hope it stays.

[celebriangel]

I bun my hair while it's the wet end of damp and let it dry that way (letting it down for short intervals, but always putting it back up again). This means that when it's dry, it's wavy-straight at the top and front etc, and the rest is in looser curls. So when I put my hair up on successive days it stays that way.

You do have to cope with the loss of curl, but since I wear my hair up all the time anyway, I don't mind. I do sometimes let my hair dry curly, but only if I want to wear it down.

[bunzfan]

I have the same problem thats why i use a little oil or aloe vera gel when i do updos i have some very frizzy pics in my album:lol:

[CornishMaid]

Oh Thank you everyone who has posted here :)
I think I will try lots of things, conditioner, oil, gel and see what happens. I dont mind the curls showing, it s the huge amount of frizz that makes me feel messy. so off I go to try with a BBB plus product :D

[Audrey Horne]

Sometimes I just leave it the way it is because aloe vera gel and water don't last too long. It is annoying but what can I do.

[CurlyGirly]

I find that a little oil or gel helps, but only so much. I'm learning to just embrace the curl and little frizz that comes along with it and accepting that although a lot of the styles are lovely on this site, I just will not be able to do them and have them look the way they do here. And that's okay.

[cheetahfast]

I spray my front with water and brush with a hard brush. Today I added Shea Moisture curl smoothie and it worked really well!

I was just going to say a little bit of shea moisture curl smoothie fixes it for me.

I also sometimes spray it with the rooibos tea and put it up damp.

But no matter what I do by the end of the day there is some frizz. When my hair was still brazilian keratin straightened it would have none. I love my curls so I've accepted my little bits of frizzy-fuzz around my updos. To me it almost looks like the hairs in your picture are shorter new growth, I have some of these by my temples.

[jaine]

I bun my hair while it's the wet end of damp and let it dry that way (letting it down for short intervals, but always putting it back up again). This means that when it's dry, it's wavy-straight at the top and front etc, and the rest is in looser curls. So when I put my hair up on successive days it stays that way.

You do have to cope with the loss of curl, but since I wear my hair up all the time anyway, I don't mind. I do sometimes let my hair dry curly, but only if I want to wear it down.

I do that too ... with some hard-hold gel to make sure that even the shortest new hairs dry in the right position.

[CornishMaid]

Well thanks to all of you I have found somethig that works for me. Today after I washed my hair I applied some coconut oil and then damp bunned it. It is still looking very smooth and neat, I have a meeting at 7pm and I am confident it will hold through till the end of the night.
Plus my hair is feeling very soft due to the coconut oil. Bonus :)