help with BSL to Waist and beyond

[Kitsu]

I posted my story in the newbie thread, but I have a few specific questions I wanted to ask, What is the best "updo" to protect my ends whilst I'm at work? I CO washed my hair last night and gave it a vinegar rinse after a few hours as it still felt very greasy. I had it up in a pencil bun all day and I'm going to sleep with it in a sock bun as I saw that t was good for the ends.

I took a photo of my hair today so I could see for myself what it looks like from behind.

http://sadpanda.us/images/816911-K0FFBFL.jpg

my ends are in desprate need of tlc I can see for the first time. But what is the best thing to do? there are a lot of different advice here but I'm a little lost.


Thanks

Kitsu

[Madora]

If you're worried about your ends in updos, then select a style that puts less stress on those ends..i.e. perhaps a Gibson Tuck..or a double cinnamon bun.

You could possible get away with doing a double braided bun..PROVIDED that you only braided the braids 3/4ths of the way down, then tucked the rest of the hair out of sight.

To protect my hair at night, I rely on a loosely braided bun, which I braid 3/4ths of the way down, then coil on the top of my head. Detangling is a breeze in the morning.

[Creatureling]

Many of the people here have tried a catnip infusion to prevent their ends from becoming split or broken. Ktani wrote an article explaining how to do it it if you want to give catnip a try.

Good luck!

[Kitsu]

@Madora a double braided bun? Is that as simple as it sounds?


@creaturling catnip that I give to my cat?

where would I look for the articles?

all the ones I've read so far have been linked in the forum

[Madora]

Here's Ktani's catnip for split ends article:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=118

[Creatureling]

Sorry, I should have included the link. It's http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=118

[Madora]

@Madora a double braided bun? Is that as simple as it sounds?


@creaturling catnip that I give to my cat?

where would I look for the articles?

all the ones I've read so far have been linked in the forum

Yes, a double braided bun is pretty simple:

1) thoroughly (gently!) detangle your hair with a wide tooth comb

2) Make a horizontal part from the tip of your left ear to the tip of your right ear.

3) Take all the hair above the part and gather into a ponytail (use a hair friendly elastic if you have to). Braid the hair loosely.
(in your case only 3/4ths of the way down to protect the ends. Band off with elastic

4) Take the braid and wind it into a bun, pinning the outter edges with crimped hairpins. Pin in the 4 directions: north/south/east/west. Insert the pin so that the "points" are facing outward and down, towards the scalp. Pivot the pin so that you catch a tiny bit of scalp hair, then weave the pin up and down thru the braided bun you're coiling.

5) Take the remaining hair, detangle thoroughly, braid it loosely, then bring it around the bun already in place, pinning as previously described. Voila...a double braided bun.

A variation on this is the double twisted bun:

Repeat steps 1 thru 3 but instead of braiding, divide the ponytail in two sections, then wind one section over the other, until you reach the end. Coil the twined section at the end, then coil in a bun, pinning as you go.

Detangle remaining hair, repeat the twining sequence, then wind it around the bun already made.

This style can also work with the roped braid effect.

Lastly, you might want to look into the possibility of the braided Chinese bun with hairstick. Very easy to do with 2 simple braids down your back (placed as close together as you can get them), then each braid wound up around and over a point of the hairstick, with the tassle tucked under the braid to hide it.

For further tutorials, you might like to visit Torrin Paige's You
Tube tutorials.

[Jessykins]

well when im at work i normally French braid or a cinnabun (or more like a bumble bee butt the way i do them), quick enough to do on a morning and keeps every thing out my face. so long as you dont tie off the same place day in day out on the french braid it should damage it

[Kitsu]

I wonder if I can get my BF to lend a hand with the double braided bun ??? It can't hurt to ask.

I do have a hair stick so I can do the Chinese braided bun until I master the double braided.

@jessykins I've never in all my life been able to french braid my hair :( It always seems to fall out after a little while. Do you need those open bobby pins to secure the bublebee bun? (such a cute nickname for it) all I have are those one smooth side one bumpy side ones.

@creatureling, I've read about cat nip I'm going to see if i can find some organic stuff but does it actually dye the hair like henna does? The article mentions grays but I don't have those yet *touch wood* but my ends are very pale as they are dry and stuff, or is the point of the catnip to stain then ends darker as well as nourish them?


I have another question regarding oils, When do you do this? every day at night or only before you wash your hair or even in the morning?

[Madora]

Here's Heidi W's hair oiling article:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=71

You might also want to check out Ktani's oiling articles in the Articles area (see grey menu bar above - look under Hair care)

[jacqueline101]

I like the bun myself and creating new original up dos. My hair friends are my detangler monistat and a wide tooth comb and a oils.

[Kitsu]

Thank you madora, now i know how to access the articles.

I did not know they were right there in plain sight!

[Kitsu]

@jacqueline101 this may seem really dumb but is a detangler an item or a product?

[torrilin]

The CO suggestion you got was a good one, but it might feel a bit weird at first. And since it doesn't look like anyone has sent you to the most important article... Ursula's standard newbie advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39). The condition/wash/condition method she suggests is excellent for all hair types. Depending on how you do it, it can be veryveryvery cleansing, or as gentle as conditioner only washes. Very good stuff, and the article is worth the time for that tip alone. But the rest is pure gold too.

The next articles I'd look at are things like the visual hair typing guide (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=227) and some of the other articles about clarifying and hair typing and hair measuring. Your hair type doesn't tell you everything, but it does suggest things like whether your hair tends to be dryer or more oily, whether you'll be more or less tangle prone, and what sorts of hair styles will work at your length. I'd definitely doublecheck at least your thickness measurement, because we have sooooooo many posters who are convinced that their 2.5" ponytail means their hair is dreadfully thin, and it's not. It's average. Really! In some respects, thinnish hair has an advantage, since it's much easier to manage updos with it.

It looks like if you're not already at waist, you're very close. Remember, waist isn't where the waist of your jeans hits, it is where your body is narrowest. Your elbows and waist are often on about the same level.

[celebriangel]

By the by, there's a knack to CO washing. You have to:

1) select a good conditioner for washing. A very cleansing conditioner will go foamy (not as lathery as shampoo, but you get the idea) when you add water to it.

2) Apply LOTS. A 500ml bottle lasts me about 10 washes. Yeah. This is why I buy 47p conditioner.

3) Make sure your scalp is saturated

4) Add a little bit of water to your scalp hair, then massage. You should get that foaming thing I referred to. I'm pretty sure this is the bit where the emulsifiers do their thing.

5) Then rinse.

Some people can't seem to CO wash - they get buildup or their hair gets greasy quickly - but if your hair is greasy directly after a wash then something went wrong.

At your length, the lazy wrap bun and gibraltar bun should work well. Hairtye-free buns in general are good for the ends. Also, if they feel dry between washes, applying a teeny bit of water then more oil is good.

I would also try a trim as soon as you can bear to - just a teeny, teeny trim. If you do 1/4" every month for 4 months, your ends will be so much better but your hair will still have grown.

[Kitsu]

@torrilin you are right it did feel really weird when I tried it, I ended up rinsing my hair again with a vinegar solution as i did not want to use shampoo :S



@celebriangelDo you think a hair dresser would trim just as much as I ask off? I'm too scared to try and trim my own hair

Where did you get a 47p conditioner from? O.o Bargain!

[alyanna]

Your hair looks lovely! Beautiful color. I always like to see i/ii with lovely hair ;)
If I were you, I'd try to learn to self trim. That's what I plan to do when I get to BSL. Wouldn't want all that progress to go to waste due to overzealous stylists. I think you've gotten some fabulous advice so far. I would go on to add that I believe a small trim may be beneficial at this point. Good luck!

[torrilin]

Well, the thing I like about Ursula's article is how she emphasizes that you already know a lot about your own personal hair, and you should start off with small, gradual changes to what already works. It's often hard to judge a dramatic change properly.

So while in principle CO is best for encouraging waves and curls... if it feels weird, it's totally ok to try something that is more familiar feeling AND more conditioning. And who knows, you might have left out important details. My sister-outlaw has eczema and a family history of psoriasis, so her dry skin really is happiest being washed with T-gel, which is a quite strong shampoo. But it doesn't have anything to cause a skin reaction in her, and she reacts to all KINDS of things. And her hair is curly. It might be a smidge less curly due to the shampoo, but... it's still gorgeous. And she wouldn't feel good at all with a raw bleeding scalp from reacting to something in her shampoo!

For most of us, drastic changes aren't necessary. Fun maybe :). The biggest change I made over the last year was trimming EVEN LESS, and using less conditioner. Turns out if I use a conditioner that really suits my hair and do CWC, I can use far less than I would of whatever random conditioner I happened to try. And to make my product junkie little heart happy, I've found THREE conditioners that work well for me.

[Kitsu]

@alyanna aww thank you so much ^^ Over eager hairdressers is my number one fear, but I'm currently toying over getting bangs cut in, and that is something I'd dare not try myself ><