Oh nooo! Damage from buns!

[tanpopokitty]

I have been putting my hair in a bun every day and night because I thought my hair would benefit from it..However, today I noticed my hair has a TON of damage!!!! I'm freaking out! I used safe fabric hair ties and didn't tie too tightly.. What's wrong? Why did this happen? My hair is super frizzy and coarse and bent where I've been tying it.. Ughhh I am not happy about this at all. I would have been better off leaving my hair down all of the time! Also, what can I do to baby this hair and keep it from breaking? Should I oil it? Conditioner? Ughhh, please help me.

[SpinDance]

Some additional information would help give more targeted advice. How are you bunning your hair? What bun are you using? What sort of pillowcase do you use? What kind of 'safe fabric' hair ties are you using?

Damage can have many causes, including previous activities like blow drying, curling with heat, chemicals, etc. It isn't clear whether you have done any of these things in the past.

Frizz is not necessarily damage, and bends can be a natural side effect of wearing hair up. Please give us a little more to go on.

[Jinglelocks]

This is why I don't understand the trend of keeping long hair up daily. It can potentially (depending on how it's done) be more damaging than leaving hair loose! I am sorry to hear that this happened, I would give your hair a break from the bun style you've been using recently. Oil can't hurt, especially if your hair is frizzing out right now.

Even though the ties you've been using are gentle it might behoove you to try scrunchies in a low ponytail for a while. Maybe not the most fashion forward look but scrunchies are the gentlest way to tie back your hair and low ponytails don't pull too heavily on the roots, etc.

Good luck girl, sorry to hear about this!

[racrane]

Yeah, more info on what you've been doing, please. Frizzy hair isn't necessarily destroyed hair. But coconut oil is great to tame my frizzies so I'd recommend that.

[Slinks]

I'm sorry about your hair .. this is why I don't use ties, only stix and clasp clips - I sleep with my hair in twin braids with nothing holding them and on a satin pillow case .. I won't even use bobby pins ..

[pepperminttea]

I'd also be interested to know what ties you're using. I used to get damage from the metal-free ones; the part where they were glued together was always so rough. It might be a push at 16" length, but can you manage hair sticks yet?

[tanpopokitty]

I don't know what type of bun you could call it, but I've been doing mostly two types. One is where I pull my hair through as if I'm making a ponytail, but then on the last pull through I don't pull it all the way through.. I hope that made any amount of sense. The second bun I do, I put my hair in a loose ponytail and take all my hair, twist it, and then wrap it around the ponytail until it makes a bun. I then tie that down. I don't quite use a pillowcase, haha. I sleep with my head on my DBF's chest. Also, no blow drying or anything for me. I only air dry and I don't straighten or curl etc. I say damage not because of the frizz, but because the ends of my hair are extremely rough and bent at 90 degree angles!

I should probably mention that my hair is layered, so where the tie goes is where I have "ends". ( The end of one of my layers. )

Also, I use those hair ties that are black fabric and glued together at one point. I think they are called Ouchless by Goody's or something. Sorry, I hope that was helpful!

[frodolaughs]

I wear my hair up (bunned) 95% of the time because buns keep it both protected and safely out of the way--out of machinery, flames, and all sorts of other hazards. I started this grow from chin-length and am now just past classic. I've had long hair before, but this is the first time I've rigorously kept it up and it's now longer and healthier than its ever been. That said, there are a lot of bun styles which would give me awful damage if I wore them every day. I only do updos that require a hair-tie occasionally (less than once a month, I'd guess, maybe even once every 2 months). I don't use the same bun every day. I don't use the same hairtoy every day. I'm partial to ficcare clips, hair sticks and hair forks (check these to make sure they don't have rough edges which can rip and break your hair).

When I first started wearing my hair up it was just long enough for the lazy wrap bun. Although I do like the cinnabun, I prefer styles which don't require twisting. My hair is very fragile, and I find that twisting causes damage for me if I do it regularly. Have you checked out this updo page? I've found it quite inspirational.

I'm sorry about your damage. If you find the right updo techniques for your hair I think you'll discover that they really can protect your hair.

[Emerald88]

I find the opposite to be true for my hair. If I wore it down it would be destroyed. I have worn it up in a bun almost every single day for the last 12 years and I have not had damage. I use coconut oil on my ends nightly and also wear my hair in a braid to sleep, so my hair is almost never loose. I hope you find a solution.

[spidermom]

Wearing the same style or two day after day secured with the same type of hair tie would indeed be damaging. I think you maybe need a small trim, then change it up. Learn to use claw clips, sticks, forks, clips, pins, etc, to secure different styles.

I noticed a couple of years ago that my hair doesn't like to be twisted, so I have to limit the number of buns I can do because of that.

My hair is too hazardous to wear down very often. It wanders around and grabs things, like the crack between the light switch cover and the wall. OW! So up is best.