If your hair is really long, you can make a hair knot to shorten it as we know. But instead of the standard hair knot, you can braid your hair first, starting the braid as high as possible on your head. Then wrap the braid around and pull the hair through, and you can secure with hairsticks or put in bobby pins (which makes a cooler effect). Also you can unbraid the bit hanging out so it looks like a ponytail held by a braided scrunchie!

That sounds cool.  one Question, though.  If you start the braid as high as possible on your head, do you have a problem with the lower, underside back part getting poofy?  You know, the hair at the back of your head that you brush up into a high ponytail.

Hmm... no, I've never had that problem...  ???

I know what you mean, BraiderSC about the Poofy look to the back.  :-/     My hair, though thick, is baby fine and tends to have a few rebellious fly-aways at the nape (that never grow more than 7 inches and are very curly) and just enough wave throughout the length to puff out or become annoyingly lumpy/uneven when I do a very high braid.  I usually try this when my hair is in a particularily poofy mood: I dampen my hands with water and just a speck of oil before starting the braid, then when I flip my hair over (bending at the waist) I run my hands through the back about 12 inches, then gently comb through to evenly disperse the water.  Then I start the braid high on my head.  It seems to do enough poof control to get a good snug start on the braid (I just stopped using hair safe bands to start my ponytails or braids - and find I LOVE the look of my styles without the tell tale lump of a band - but the "poofy" thing was my hardest challenge).  The water plus the snug start seems to hold the poof under control for me. The other trick I've found, is starting the braid (I hope this makes sense) with the 3 strands from top, middle, bottom rather than left, right, center - so the braid faces the sides, not flat when completed - when making a knot, it doesn't really matter how the braid "lays" .  I also use this method of sectioning when I "bun" my hair - it gives a nice balance to the bun whereas I often get a bit of a bump braiding the "usual" way.   I started using a braided knot recently for my "around the house" do... especially on those "heaving oiling" days - you know the ones... day off, too lazy to wash - hey - great excuse: oil my hair, don't have to wash till tomorrow - ha ha - I don't need pins or a  hair stick to hold it up, though - it seems to do so quite nicely by itself, thankfully - and if the "tail" starts bugging me, I make a double knot - you know, wrap the end of the braid through the loop twice before gently tightening it - then I do use one small pin to hold down the tiny tail that reamains (it just looks too silly not to) :)

THanks for the tips nightowl!  I do a lot of braiding on myself, but I'm not used to starting single braids high.  I will do the "top, middle, bottom" sectioning next time I try, and see what happens.  What kind of oil do you use on your hair, and where do you get it?

Jojoba oil is my favorite - I put a small amount (2-3 tiny drops) daily from the nape of my neck to the ends, working it in with my fingers gently then braiding before I go to bed.  I use it daily as I rarely, if ever wear it down.  I'm a nurse, and (aside from the fact that they never let us have days off - ha ha) must wear it up at work, and when home, I'm always cleaning around the house - so again, it's up. If I were wearing it down, I'd skip the oil the night before.  On my days off, I'll apply 5-6 drops of oil to the same part of the hair, braid it high on my head and leave it alone. I also like almond oil - and will mix it 50/50 with the Jojoba -  but only once in a while.  I have a tiny (3 ounce) bottle of jojoba oil that I purchase at my favorite local health food store - my current bottle is 2 months old and only 1/10 of the bottle has been used so far - So you don't need much.  I prefer to run it through my hair with my hands, though others use a wide tooth comb or a boar bristle brush to do so - I think my hands work better and I can feel any resistence/tangle and work the oil through without damaging the hair - I leave the oil on my hands, too - then put on some "sleep" gloves and let it soak in - as a nurse, I wash my hands in antibacterial soap no less than 200 times per shift - and the oil helps undo some of the dryness.  Hope this helps!

Those are some AWESOME ideas, nightowl! I will be sure to utilize some of these! THANK YOU!!


Lady