Need hair help; specifically, easy ways to wear it up

In My Humble Opinion
1

The title pretty much says it all. What I couldn’t include is that I have fairly fine hair with a tendency toward irregular waves and flyaways. Also, I possess absolutely no hair styling skills and don’t have much time in the morning. I have tons of clips, combs, kits to make a perfect “bun, updo, French twist”, etc. but I cannot make heads nor tails of the instructions, which are usually a tiny, crude drawings. Is it even possible to impart instructions without visual aid? I’m hoping one of you lovely, resourceful ladies (or gentleman, if you have the skills)can help me. Or maybe even point me toward a particularly helpful video, though I probably won’t be able to watch it here at work.

My hair is about shoulder length with a few long layers and longish side swept bangs that I’m contemplating growing out. Sorry I don’t have pictures.( If I knew how to perform that feat you all would have seen way more of my cat than you would ever want:p ).

Thanks in advance,

Frumpy in Florida

2

I have never been an expert at this, but the gist is often: Make a ponytail. Hide the ponytail in a fancy way with the rest of your hair.

A clip extension like this can help if your hair is kinda scraggly, like mine. :slight_smile: Or just to give you more to play with.

My problem is getting the smooth parts smooth. It’s like I need three or four hands. As soon as I get one side nice, there’s a “lump” in the other side.

3

I can’t help with updos but if you ever decide to go with hairbands get some Bondi Bands. Runners wear them and they are SO COMFORTABLE. I personally get headaches from hairbands but don’t with these.

4

Yeah, that’s about right on all counts. I just can never figure out how to do it in a way that will stay secure and won’t send hair pins flying off my head a la Witch Hazel.

5

There are neat hair pins that look sort of like violins that work pretty well. The ones I linked aren’t what I have, but close.

I can’t do bobby pins well. Thesekind of barrettes can do the trick if you aren’t a perfectionist. (Get something to match your hair color, though. Or not!)

You could also try those tiny claw clip thingies.

Um, that’s about all I got. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

I have all of these products, so we’re on the same wavelength! I just don’t know how to use them to good effect. I sometimes wonder which is worse; lack of opposable thumbs or having *all *thumbs.

7

I’ve got the problem, but don’t have much to offer in the way of a solution, either.

For years, I had to wear a hard hat fairly regularly. On those days, I would divide my hair into 4 sections - two in the front (one of each side) and two in the back. I’d braid each of the front sides (and don’t laugh), I’d do it by laying on my side on the bed with the hair hanging down. I could get a tighter, neater braid that way.
After I’d braided each side, I’d braid the ends of the front braids combined together with the two back sections. Obviously the front braids would run out before the bottom sections were fully braided. But it was pulled together enough that I could rubber band the top and the end of the back braid and it would stay neat even outside in the wind and I didn’t constantly have a face full of flyaways from the hair near my face.

8

This is interesting. It wasn’t one of them fancy French style braids was it? I can actually do those on others but not on myself.

9

Lol! oh gosh no. I can’t do French braids either. Although I like 'em and have gotten 'em done for me now and then.

The ones I used were the good old-fashioned kind like your mama used to do.

10

Check out pinterest. There are hundreds of websites with “easy-to-do” hairstyles for work, etc… Most of the websites will have video tutorials, or pictorial step-by-step instructions.

I also have fine hair, and am always looking for better ways to do my hair. I can’t stand to wear it down.

11

Is your hair long enough to twist into a bun? Forget for now whether or not you can or know how to make it STAY. Just … can you, if you hold it into place? That will give us a sense of what kinds of styles can work for you.

I bun up my hair a lot, and here’s what I do: smooth into a ponytail but do not secure, just hold with hands. Begin twisting entire tail while winding it in a spiral. Think of the label on a tub of Cool Whip, or the spiral of a soft-serve ice cream, and you’ll get the idea. Once it’s twisted into place, then wrap a hair elastic around the whole shebang, twice.

From my ballet-lessons days, I can offer a far more secure, but sort of more severe or “done” looking bun: make an honest-to-God ponytail, secured with a firmly gripping elastic. Braid all hair, and secure ends with 2nd elastic. Wind-spiral into a bun and stick in bobby pins – the big giant honking ones, not the little bitty things you use to hold flyaways.

The 1st option is softer & more flattering, and much faster & easier to do. The 2nd one will hold through double pirouettes so it’ll definitely hold in a high wind. :slight_smile:

12

Youtube has a metric butt load of “military sock bun” videos. Don’t ask me why I know.

13

I have mine up every day and like fancy-ish stuff.

My lazy everyday 'do is a French braid. Just one, down the back. Sometimes I braid it all the way down (it looks fuller if the actual braid is kind of loose) and sometimes I end it in a messy-ish bun at the nape of my neck. I usually wear a headband with it to keep the flyaways back. I prefer hard over elastic because the elastic ones tend to slide back on my head and it’s a pain to keep them in place while I’m working. These and these are my staples.

Anyway, once you get the hang of the single french braid, you’re pretty much set. It’s easier than it seems and very versatile. I’m lacking in hair skillz myself, really. I mean, I can braid and can follow youtube tutorials that involve braiding, but I’m not someone who has fabulous hair and can make it behave. But knowing how to French braid gives you all kinds of options. If it helps, when I was teaching myself to French braid on my own head, I did two so that I could see what I was doing. And then for a little while I reminded myself that the messy look is totally in and if it wasn’t perfect, what the hell? I was just being casual.

My newly-discovered other favorite hair accessory is these guys. They’re spiral-y bobby pins, basically. I keep one in my purse all the time. You don’t even need a ponytail holder- just twist your hair, roll it into a bun, stick one of these in, and you’re good. Best part is that if I do it when it’s a little bit wet, my hair looks fabulous when I take it out- soft waves from being twisted and rolled up all day without a line from a ponytail holder or frizz from being braided.

14

Here is how I learned to do a French braid on my own hair:

Got it put into a French braid by a stylist.

Unbraided it a little bit, rebraided.

Unbraided it a little farther, rebraided.

Unbraided even farther, rebraided.

And so on until I got to the top of the braid, then rebraided.

It was slightly damp when the stylist did it so there were some bends in my hair that I matched up.

It does take some time to learn how to do this, but once you know how to do it, it takes about three minutes.

If you do it when your hair is slightly damp, then when your hair is dry you can shake it out and you will have really nice waves.

Also once you know how to do it you can do lots of variations. One one side or the other, upside down (this is tricky), milkmaid braid (very cool), etc.

There is also the very simple bun. Pull hair all together as if in a ponytail. You can even make a ponytail. Then twist it around, keep twisting until it kind of naturally curves around. Anchor it with two long bobby pins in an X. You can do it high or low. Maybe it will unravel a bit but so what.

I have bought a whole bunch of hair stuff that did not work–the directions make it look so simple! But there is a bun band thingy that does work. I forget the name. You put all your hair in the gap between two slightly stretchy bands, then roll it up…it is hard to explain but this one actually works. I think it’s called EZ Bun or something like that.

15

Check with the local hair schools in your area. You might get a few weird styles, but you might learn something. You can always brush it out. My hair is very fine, board straight, and I have a whole lot of it. I find a little Fructis Pixie Play rubbed between my palms and then smoothed through my hair makes it less fly away.

16

I’m surprised nobody has suggested youtube! I learn just about anything much more quickly and easily by watching someone else than by reading instructions and I’ve learned all kinds of things by watching youtube tutorials. I’d suggest doing a search there on “easy updo tutorials” or more specific, like “updo for fine hair” or anything else you are looking for. I just now went there and searched on “easy updo fine hair” and it gave over 27,000 suggestions. Give it a shot.

17

Quick postscript to the OP - if you have specialty or novelty hair kits or products like clips that you can’t figure out how to use based on the instructions, if you know what it’s called try a search on youtube using the name of the product and you’ll probably find someone showing how to use it. If you don’t have the name of the item, try using descriptors like “how to use alligator clasp in hair.”

18

These are all great tips; thanks so much. I know it’s hard to describe some things without visual aid but you’re all doing very well.

BeeGee, I have put the Pixie Play on my shopping list.

SurrenderDorothy, I have some of those spirally thingies. *How *do I put it in?

19

I recommend a bun donut, particularly if you have fine hair. I use these myself to get a decent easy bun, plus small ones on my kids who are required to have buns for ballet.

20

Is your hair fine and thin, or fine and thick? Mine is thick but wavy – I like Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum to smooth flyaway/frizzy hair.