Hairstyles - freshly washed hair vs oily/unwashed hair

[ExpectoPatronum]

I don't know if I have a style preference on freshly washed hair - it lives in a bun or ponytail. But, I do like braiding my hair when it's oily. As mentioned above, it sections nicely and I think the extra oils make my braids look shiny and prettier than on freshly washed hair.

[lapushka]

When it's clean & fresh, I wear it down for the day. As of day 2, I wear a peacock twist, because, to me, BSL (bra strap length) needs to go up and by then the waves are sagging and my hair is a tad bit frizzy/fuzzy, so up it goes. Anyway. It goes up in same peacock twist until the next wash day. I wash every Sunday.

I make a point of wearing a "loose" peacock twist. Don't want to go back to bunning too tightly. I lost a lot of hair (breakage) by doing that for years. I had no clue I was bunning too tightly. My hair has not thinned at the very base, just the midlengths (from twisting I reckon). Anyway, please don't bun too soon you guys. If your scalp feels sore after a week or a couple days: ditch the hairstyle.

[solocricket]

I've only just recently been able to stretch washing to every other day (I know it's not much compared to everyone else!) and I've also found that braiding is easier on day 2. I'm about an inch away from APL, so still pretty short, but I kind of french braid the front sections away from my face and do a low bun in the back on day 2. I like my messy buns on day 1 better since my hair's fluffier and not clumpy at the scalp. I also do half up half down on day 1, or a low bun with some strands loose since they're not oily looking.

I'm pretty oily though, and I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up in the summer months!

[pumpkinsage]

For freshly washed - I love to wear my hair down because the first day that it is clean, my curls are defined and juicy. I like how they bounce and curl and feel. It's fun for me to wear it down for the first 2 days.

For oily hair - It typically takes about 3-4 days for my hair to even start to get oily unless I put too much product in. If there is too much product, it gets oily by second day and my hair gets stringy and squashed from sleeping on it. My hair is also very short so there isn't much to work with. On a typical day, I will clip my bangs out of my face or use a headband and leave the rest down or tucked behind my ears. If I want my hair to be "up," I'll do a low ponytail with my bangs clipped or pushed to the sides. I just found out I can do braids now so I will most likely be doing two half-up braids and leave the rest down. Some other hairstyles I do are half-up/half-down, space buns, or earth buns (2 low buns). When my hair was APL, earth buns were my go to. I used to have green ends so they looked like planet earth LOL

[mochichichi]

When it's clean & fresh, I wear it down for the day. As of day 2, I wear a peacock twist, because, to me, BSL (bra strap length) needs to go up and by then the waves are sagging and my hair is a tad bit frizzy/fuzzy, so up it goes. Anyway. It goes up in same peacock twist until the next wash day. I wash every Sunday.

I make a point of wearing a "loose" peacock twist. Don't want to go back to bunning too tightly. I lost a lot of hair (breakage) by doing that for years. I had no clue I was bunning too tightly. My hair has not thinned at the very base, just the midlengths (from twisting I reckon). Anyway, please don't bun too soon you guys. If your scalp feels sore after a week or a couple days: ditch the hairstyle.

Lately my go to style (cinnabun) has been leaving my scalp sore at the end of the day. After wearing the same bun every day for... five years? I'm finally experimenting, trying to find some new ways to distribute the weight of my hair.

How did you notice the breakage in your mids? Did your hair literally develop an hour glass shape? Uneven tapering in braids? By bunning "too soon" are you referring to hair being wet?

I don't know if I have a style preference on freshly washed hair - it lives in a bun or ponytail. But, I do like braiding my hair when it's oily. As mentioned above, it sections nicely and I think the extra oils make my braids look shiny and prettier than on freshly washed hair.

I don't really change what I do based on whether my hair is washed recently or not--I think the only main difference I notice between freshly washed and unwashed hair is that the oils make my hair overall darker. If I'm going to have it "down" (for me, down is double dutch braids), I do it the last day before a wash. I was keeping my hair up all the time to keep it clean for stretching washes long before I knew what a protective style is.

[shelomit]

I do different things depending on how close/far I am to a wash, but in my case oiliness isn't really a compelling factor. It has more to do with what my texture does. And my texture does things based on when my hair was wetted down and how it was detangled, not whether I used shampoo/conditioner/whatever:

I can only manage sectioned hairstyles neatly when my hair is damp, so in the couple of days after a wash I might put in a crown braid, a Madora, or something comparatively "fancy" like that. It's also the only time I'll wear my hair down because I like to admire the wurls when they're fresh ( ;

Once my hair is thoroughly dried, I usually start off finger-detangling it for a while. In that stage, when my wurls have kind of dried into place, I can really only do buns.

When it gets to the point that I have to properly detangle my hair with a brush/comb, that will break all the locks apart and leave my hair kind of ploofy. At that point, I usually go back to braids/braided buns.

[cookies]

I wash it every 6 days.
My freshly washed hair is veery uncooperative, so when I'm out I just wear it down. If it gets in my face too much (it refuses to stay behind my ear the first day), I do a half up.
Pre-LHC I'd put my hair in a high ponytail days 3-5 after washing. Now when I'm out I leave it down, and maybe wear a hat on day 5 When winter is over and my hair is longer, I'll play around with braids more.

When I'm at home, I keep it in a lazy wrap bun with a stick, which the first day or two after washing needs to be redone a few times.
By day 5 I can do my knot bun, which is essentially a lazy wrap, but in the end instead of poking a stick next to my index finger, I slide my thumb in too and I pull the overhanging hair through to make a knot. No sticks, no clips, just hair. It's only stable on dirty hair though

[Emila]

Thank you everyone for sharing what you do. I'm finding your methods interesting! I love how we all have our own unique ways of managing our hair in relation to whether it's freshly washed or due for a wash.

[Gibson_Girl]

My hair drives me crazy when it's freshly washed! It was worse when I had a lot of new growth, but I always end up with a cloud of flyaways. I don't love keeping my hair down, but sometimes it's the only thing that lets me keep my dignity. A day or two later, I can usually manage buns (Nautilus and Nessa buns are a personal favorite), and when my hair starts getting oily I'll start wearing my hair in some kind of braided style. Lately, it's been a lot of crown and milkmaid braids, with the occasional French pinless.

Personally, I love braids on slightly oily hair--my hair's pretty dark, so it's a good way of seeing just a bit more definition in a braid that otherwise wouldn't show.

[angel-baby]

I wash my hair twice a week. If I have the day off, I like to wear my freshly washed hair down
Otherwise I wear a French braid like...5-6 days a week; keeps it out of the way for work.
I don't like how my hair looks braided when the roots get oily, so it just goes into a claw clip.