When vigorous exercise turns your hair into a weapon of doom!

[flapjack]

Okay, I have a dorky question. Yay! :o


So my hair is being ridiculous. As some of you know, I'm a dancing goober. For ballet, my hair in a bun is okay most of the time. It stays in the bun unless I do a lot of really REALLY fast traveling turns in succession and start whipping my head very sharply for a long time. For some reason, this doesn't happen a lot. So it stays up well enough.


Over the summer, I have started taking jazz and hip hop classes and boy do they like to whip their heads in turns and in everything possible! Tonight was kind of the last straw because first, my bun fell out as I turned across the floor, pelting people standing along the wall with bobby pins (including a very attractive male, noooo, don't you hate it when that happens). They were not pleased!


These people were kind enough to help me find/give me back all of (or most of them) my pins and hair ties and I left it in a ponytail/braid after that fiasco.


After hitting MYSELF in the face about ten times, trying to hold my braid in my mouth when turning and not succeeding and then hitting someone in the forehead with my braid, which was apparently hard enough for them to cry out... I realized my hair is a hazard in this style of dancing, haha.


I have been making a lot of observations and I have noticed most girls wear their hair down. Most girls also have hair between chin length and bsl. Their hair looks so tangled after class, just thinking about them brushing it later physically hurts. One girl in the class had hair a few inches shorter than mine, also straight, but it was extremely thin, especially below bsl. She wore it down with a headband and I was thinking "girl, you are crazy" haha. So I didn't really see any examples I could imitate as far as hairstyles. My hair is a monster, I can't wear it down, I will sweat like a beast (we all already do, honestly, it's a 3 hour class) and it will stick to EVERYTHING. My arms, my face, my back... then I will lose half of it when I brush it out *wails*. Alright, I'm exaggerating a little bit, haha.


So does anyone have any style ideas to prevent me from hurting others, myself and my own hair? I would really appreciate any ideas at this point because I'm lost, haha. My hair is being obnoxious and I need to snap my head with 'tude *snap snap*.

[manderly]

How about a tucked under french braid??

[LongForLife]

Maybe a Frech Braid? They always hold the hair against my head more, rather than the free-flying regular braids. lol And if you do the braid slowly and lay each strand close together side by side, rather than aiming downwards, it should shorten and thicken your braid, hence less length for a weapon. :D

[aisling]

Braided updo of some kind held with something better than bobby pins. I wear a braided bun or some kind of folded up braid held with a Ficcare when jogging and it's very secure. Hair scroos is another alternative, they won't fall out like bobby pins.

[flapjack]

Hmmm, I don't even know what a french twist looks like. I'm going to do a search for it in just a second to see if I can do it.


You know, I didn't even think of that with the french braid. You're right, it will go down along my head more, so less of the length will be able to whip around and it will be only from the neck down instead of a ponytail with a braid. I'm definitely going to give the french braid a shot, I think. I was also thinking that I would leave a bit more tassel because I think part of what hurt the other person was the weight of the rubber band and braid at the end. If some of the hair is loose at the end, it would be softer during impact, haha.


I have been thinking about getting a ficarre. Right now I only have four hairsticks, bobby pins, headbands, covered rubber bands and a hairigami. So I'm really limited in the hair toy dept.

[LongForLife]

Hmmm, I don't even know what a french twist looks like. I'm going to do a search for it in just a second to see if I can do it.


You know, I didn't even think of that with the french braid. You're right, it will go down along my head more, so less of the length will be able to whip around and it will be only from the neck down instead of a ponytail with a braid. I'm definitely going to give the french braid a shot, I think. I was also thinking that I would leave a bit more tassel because I think part of what hurt the other person was the weight of the rubber band and braid at the end. If some of the hair is loose at the end, it would be softer during impact, haha.


I have been thinking about getting a ficarre. Right now I only have four hairsticks, bobby pins, headbands, covered rubber bands and a hairigami. So I'm really limited in the hair toy dept.

Exactly! Mine is the same way, if in a ponytail and braided it is the perfect leathal weapon. LOL I usually leave a good tassel as well, because I have layers, but it would help with the flipping too. Tightly banded hair likes to flip hard. :D

[Angellen]

What came to mind was an upsidedown french braid, but I don't know how well the 'bun' part would stay for you.

My absolute no-nonsense dance 'hairtools' are these bear claw type things. Here's what two of them look like clipped together: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Angellen/1197001117.jpg

Mine are by scunci, and I think two of them should be under $10. I've had to adapt as my hair gets longer, but we have relatively similar hairtypes, so hopefully this will work for you. Wrap your hair in a basic bun/something relatively flat and compact (my cinnabuns are roughly as big as a decent sized cheeseburger, so they don't have to be minuscule). Then clip one 'claw' on one size, making sure to catch scalp hair as well as bun, and repeat on the other side. The key to getting this to stay, however, is to make sure that the claws interlock, as you can see in the picture. I find that this curves nicely to the head, and is very secure. It might take some practice to get it to hold really well, but it's been nothing short of great since I figured out the combination.

I think of it as hair armor, too, because you get this great big plastic plating on the back of your head. Great protection. No one messes with hair dressed like that. :D

Oh, one more thing. You can't really see in the image, but there are these rounded bumps, for who knows why that occasionally hair can loop over during said vigorous exercise. Just be careful removing them (gently pulling hooked hair free) and you should have no problems. ETA: I've had no pinching or snagging or ripped hair with these.

And there you have it. My recipe for no-nonsense tangle-free hairs. I sincerely hope it works for you, if you're so inclined to try. :)

P.S. That IS the old LHC.

[Angellen]

I have been thinking about getting a ficarre. Right now I only have four hairsticks, bobby pins, headbands, covered rubber bands and a hairigami. So I'm really limited in the hair toy dept.

I really like my ficcares, but I don't find them sufficient to keep my hair in control during vigorous exercise. Then tend to loosen and then pull uncomfortably on my hair when bounced around or otherwise jarred.

Thanks for mentioning them! I haven't worn mine in awhile. I think I'll put one in tomorrow for work. :)

[flapjack]

Thank you for the idea, that looks like it might work really well, I think I'm going to look for it at rite aid and walgreens tomorrow. They both carry a lot of scunci brand stuff. We do have very similar hair so if that holds yours well, then I will definitely give it a shot. I like the idea of it covering my bun, too, because at least that will keep it all together even if it starts getting a little loose. My hairigami does that to a point and then starts coming unrolled, so that's why the hairigami is failing me, at the moment. Thanks for letting me know about how the ficarres work for you, too.


Yeah, I've gotten rid of about 90% of my layers (I used to have layers from my chin to my waist... it took soooo long to grow out!) and while that's nice when I'm doing normal stuff, it's not helping me right now, haha.

[SylphideNoir]

Before my chop my two dance styles were double french braids (each on the far side of the head and then attached together about shoulder length, the wishbone shape keeps the lower braid stay close to your back) or a pony-loop (a ponytail that is looped in half and ferociously wrapped by scrunchies and/or ribbon and/or elastic and/or... :p )

[Paradise Lost]

I'm not really into sports but I had pretty much the same issue during concerts when my hair was past tailbone. Not only did moving and headbanging create horrible tangles, but it also got stuck to everything, me of course, but also people next to me... :disgust:
What worked for me is exactly what SyphideNoir said: two french braids joined around shoulder length. It kept my hair tangle-free and also close enough to my back so that other people were not bothered or hurt :D

[Altocumulus]

I've been having the same problem during karate - I whap myself in the face with my braid doing kata or any kind of spinning move, and I've occasionally hit my sparring partner with it. I know it's a martial art, but your hair is not supposed to participate! I'm thinking of trying the folded braid style where you make a ponytail, but don't pull the ends through so it ends up being half the length of your regular ponytail, and then braiding it so as to end up with a half-length braid. I've never actually done this, so I don't know how easy it is to get the hair to stay in place. Another thought is a bunned french braid - I find the french braid base is much more secure than just bunning a plain english braid. I use a lightweight Quattro starlite fork for that and it doesn't move at all, ever.

[Amara]

I lead a dance troupe and what we specialize in is a mixture of bellydance, hip-hop dance, and bhangra. For anyone who's familiar with ANY of those three styles, you can guess we do a LOT of jumping, spinning, squatting, and other craziness. We're dripping sweat halfway through class. I realized soon after my hair got past BSL that I needed either 1) shorter hair 2) a different profession or 3) a WAY better method of securing my hair. A tangled, sticky mess was causing splits and soooo much hair loss.

Hopefully my two go-to hairstyles will help as you and I are almost exactly the same length and thickness - I'm at 34" and right on the border between ii and iii thickness.

My first go to style is double figure 8s. I divide my hair in half, left side and right side, as if for pigtails. Then I make a figure 8 bun on each side, about top-of-the-ear height. I secure with two hair scroos (check out hair scroos on ebay! Better than bobby pins, they're AWESOME) each. Those two figure 8s stay put even through our (spotted, so lots of head whipping)tornado turn drills (1 count turns repeated ad nauseum, literally :D).

My other go to style is a single figure 8, pulled up so it's high, on the crown of my head, usually secured with four hair scroos (although approaching wash-day hair that's well oiled will stay through anything with just a hair scroo or two and a stick) That's almost too much for my hair (the four scroos, they're I would guess two inches long-ish each) but if you put that many in you can kind of do an interlocking thing like another poster was mentioning doing with her claw clips.

I hope those are useful, and good luck! :flowers:

[Fencai]

my hair isnt that long, but I was thinking of a french braid with the end tucked up inside the base.

[tiny_teesha]

I'm thinking of trying the folded braid style where you make a ponytail, but don't pull the ends through so it ends up being half the length of your regular ponytail, and then braiding it so as to end up with a half-length braid. I've never actually done this, so I don't know how easy it is to get the hair to stay in place.

I did this here. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4033)

[Altocumulus]

I did this here. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4033)

Was it secure? It looks like it might be tricky to do, but would hold well once it's complete.

[Curlsgirl]

I find a high figure 8 with a good wooden fork holds like a rock if you get it in right. You could also put some hair scroos or pins around it for extra hold if you wanted to. That way you wouldn't have to worry about anything slapping you or anyone else in the face.

[hippiechick1976]

A girl in my daughters jumprope team secures her braid end to her sports bra. she pins it with a saftey pin thru the elastic. works great and still gives her room to move her head etc.

[Delenn]

I've been having the same problem during karate - I whap myself in the face with my braid doing kata or any kind of spinning move, and I've occasionally hit my sparring partner with it. I know it's a martial art, but your hair is not supposed to participate! I'm thinking of trying the folded braid style where you make a ponytail, but don't pull the ends through so it ends up being half the length of your regular ponytail, and then braiding it so as to end up with a half-length braid. I've never actually done this, so I don't know how easy it is to get the hair to stay in place. Another thought is a bunned french braid - I find the french braid base is much more secure than just bunning a plain english braid. I use a lightweight Quattro starlite fork for that and it doesn't move at all, ever.

I have this problem, too. They call it my "extra attack" and some people call it cheating. :eyebrows:

I really wish I could secure a braided bun enough to make it through one whole class. I'm going to start experimenting with braiding multiple braids to shorten the length and then clip it in an "ends up" style with a sturdy barrette. I think if I can get that to stay with the right balance it might work. That way I can flip it downwards for sparring (I should be able to get my headgear overtop) and the braid length is shorter than a single braid. If that makes sense...

[Delenn]

A girl in my daughters jumprope team secures her braid end to her sports bra. she pins it with a saftey pin thru the elastic. works great and still gives her room to move her head etc.

That's definitely something I've been meaning to try, I learned that's how they secure those really long braids for martial arts movies, if you notice you never see Jet Li getting smashed in the face with HIS braid. :o

[getoffmyskittle]

I just want to address a Really Bad Idea that I see in this thread: do NOT dance with a Ficcare!!! You will fling it across the room and hurt people!

Okay, that said, I have never managed to find a good solution to this problem that doesn't involve a hairnet and a load of hairspray (reserved for shows only). I used to dance with a scrunchie-bun that I'd just redo every time it fell out. Annoying, yes, but at least my hair didn't attack anyone.

ETA: I actually posted this and then looked at my avatar and had an idea. I didn't know how to do a crown braid back when I was dancing regularly, but I think that would be a good style!

[DotDotDot]

For me, the length of the bobby pins is the key. I don't take hip hop (I do have it every day next week for my dance summer intensive, though), but for ballet I use 6 of those giant Goody pins from Wal Mart, 4 regular sized ones, and a scrunchie. Sometimes I wear a hairnet too. It stays in securely, even during jumps.

[Unofficial_Rose]

first, my bun fell out as I turned across the floor, pelting people standing along the wall with bobby pins (including a very attractive male, noooo, don't you hate it when that happens). They were not pleased!


After hitting MYSELF in the face about ten times, trying to hold my braid in my mouth when turning and not succeeding and then hitting someone in the forehead with my braid, which was apparently hard enough for them to cry out... I realized my hair is a hazard in this style of dancing, haha.

I have nothing helpful to add as my hair is too short but thanks for the comical mental images and making me laugh after a tough week :D:rollin:

[ladystar]

I don't have any ideas, I just thought your post was funny. lol

[Starr]

I've always done either a single french braid as close the front of the hairline as possible or a bunned french braid using about 6 magic grip hair pins. I've had very few fallouts since switching to the magic grip pins instead of bobby pins.

[manderly]

Hmmm, I don't even know what a french twist looks like. I'm going to do a search for it in just a second to see if I can do it.



:oops: No such thing (I think), I meant to say BRAID. DUUUUUUH

[crebbsgirl]

I used to dance a LOT, competitively and with troupes etc. The tucked under french braid is probably your best bet. I would advise against any sort of clip if you are doing any floor exercises. (A lot of my jazz and contemporary classes involved warm-ups while lying on the floor, clips can HURT!) The crown braid is probably a workable 'do here too!! Your post made me giggle, I can vividly remember wearing my hair down once and by some freak accident a wayward strand managed to poke some poor guy in the eye. Embarrassing!

[flapjack]

:oops: No such thing (I think), I meant to say BRAID. DUUUUUUH


Hahaha, that's okay. Not a big deal. Turns out that a french twist is a real style and it's something I've done before for dressy occasions. But for dancing, I don't think it would work at all. The french braid is what I'm going to try next, though.


I'm looking for those scunci things. I found some nice clips today, I bought one made for "thick" hair. You know how most regular clips with teeth have VERY little space between the sides when closed? Well these new ones for thick hair now have a bunch of space, even when closed completely. I can fit three fingers in there! So I think that might be helpful for daily stuff, probably not for the dancing because it's bulky and we do a lot on the floor.



Taking note of the ficarre situation. Sounds logical to me, I don't want to take anyone's eye out (esp. the cute boy, ok?). Har har.


Long bobby pins is also on the list of things to look for. I may have to order some of this stuff online.


I used to braid my hair and wrap it around my bra shoulder strap under my shirt during concerts when I was in the crowd. That always worked well. Pinning it or tying it to my sports bra under my tank top is not a bad idea, actually.


I'm going to a class either tomorrow morning or monday morning, so I think I'm going to try a french braid for that.



I'm also glad I could make people laugh. :eyebrows:

[BittSweetCherry]

I haven't rigorously tested this style yet, but I have done it on myself and it worked well:

Part hair in two down the middle, then braid each side about an inch from the hairline (ie. close to the forehead, ear, drifting around and finishing above the nape pointing horizontally above the collar line). Plait/braid to the ends, tie each with a hairband and then lie and pin each braid length over the opposite braid to form a circlet- basically, it's a cheating crown braid. If your hair is long the braid should cross again at the top of your head. Alternatively, you can use taping ("sewing" the braids to the braided roots with leather strips or ribbon and a curved needle) which is even more secure, but time consuming.

I found dutch braiding to be easier when taping the braid length because you can easily see what you are sewing to - pinning/taping to braided roots is much more secure then brushing hair straight back to the nape and then plaiting, because if you don't braid it, the whole top bit will want to slide back towards the crown when shaken about.

Sorry for the time-consuming suggestion, but I'd bet money on this one staying put for me :)

[k_hepburn]

Have you tried Amish pins or bunheads (http://www.bunheads.com/stage/Hairpins.html) pins (especially designed for dancers) rather than bobby pins to hold your bun? I'm biased, since personally I can't get bobby pins to work for me at all, but I find you can get quite amazing hold with about four or five u-shaped pins in a bun, as long as - and that's the crucial point - they are of a sufficiently solid make. Giving them a bit of a bend, like the bunheads pins already have, makes them work even better!

Greetings

katharine

[Sarahmoon]

Try a tucked under or folded braid. It will protect your hair and make it "shorter" so you won't whack people in the face so easily ;)