So, has anyone done any interesting styles on their hair lately?  I'm ready to cut mine off today>:(!!!  It won't stay up, not in stix, not in a clip, no how, no way...and trying to just let it down is fairing out even worse.  Having a bad hair makes me very cantankerous!  So i'm hoping that someone out there can cheer me up with stories of hair behaving as it should, and cooperating with it's owner!!!  Please, won't you share a good-hair-day story with me??? :'(

I'm sitting here at work with greasy hair up in a bun, a frumpy tshirt, my funky cow-fur shoes.  I dont' think anyone wants to know I how I look today.  (Thank goodness we don't use web cameras or camera phones here at work!!  :o  )

So I guess I'm not alone 2day in trying to dodge the public!  Unfortunately, I do have to deal with people face to face here at work, my hair's been up, then down, then up, then down, then half-up, then all down...now all up again...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Me*no*like*bad*hair >:(!  Can't wait to go home!!!

I'm not doing to well with my hair either. I have been experimenting but still end up putting it in a ponytail each day, boring, boring, boring. :( The problem I have is when I put it up in a bun I have so much hair at the nape of my neck that refuses to stay up and hangs down and looks so messy. >:( I have tried very kinds of 'stickum' but still have all these hairs that won't behave.  ::)

Hi Autumn!
  (That's my absolute favorite season by the way!)  Anyway...just thinking about your nape-hair dilemma...since they refuse to stay up, have you ever tried just leaving them down and maybe curling them into little ringlets or something?  I realize that wouldn't be very practical for the on-the-spot pull-up, but if you had intentions of wearing your hair up for the day it might work...just a thought.  Orrrrrrrr, maybe if you were to do something in a braid first to get the hairs all incorporated (you know, make them feel important!) and then pull the braid up and clip it or bun it, like a braided bun held with the hair stix?  Would that work for you?  Just thinking... :-/

For the 'wispys' at the nape (a problem I always have to contend with)....

I've got a straight line of hair - at the base of the nape, that never grows more than 6 inches.  It's fluffy and wispy and ANNOYING, as I wear my hair up every day.  They curl on their own and tickle my neck.  

When I had my "5 inch cut that did away with the end of the 8+ year old perm" during the summer, I had my cousin use a razor on the wispys to thin them slightly and I find them much more cooperative now.  If the hairs at your nape actually grow in length (jealousy from me if they do - ha ha) I have found doing a quick upside down french braid usually does the trick and holds them in place nicely.  just bend at the waist and begin the braid at the nape, proceding to the crown - then the completed braid can be worn as a pony tail, clipped down, or put into a bun and fastened with a hair stick.  It's a style that gets comments - as folks aren't used to seeing the "french braid look" without a braid hanging down - ha ha.

Have a good hair day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Tell your hair to read the last line 10 times, slowly)
ha ha ha ha
nightowl

I can't do a decent french braid no matter how hard I
try.   I'm practicing, but it just doesn't look right.

Practice EVERY day - you will get it!

wrote on Oct 29^th, 2004 at 8:37pm:

I can't do a decent french braid no matter how hard I try.   I'm practicing, but it just doesn't look right.

Babyfine, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it before you know it.  My french braids didn't get really good until I had a job that started at 5am and I just braided it to keep it out of the way.  I never looked at the back of it for the months I had that job and when I went to a new job at a more reasonable hour I found that my braids looked better than ever.  

That said, I haven't mastered the upside down french braid.  I can't seem to get it tight to my scalp, but eventually I'm hoping it will work.  

THANKS Maggie & Nightowl for the suggestions on those darn stray nape hairs. I can just curl it and accept that as part of the style and an upside down braid could work the for the times when the curls won't work (like hot weather). :D

Actually, I thought about trimming and perming my nape wispies, since they don't seem to be growing out. But then I realized that the reason they're not growing out is they are so damaged from detangling that they've become wavy/curly/tangly. So I made the committment to put jojoba on them daily, and trimmed off all the stretched-out ends. It seems to be working for me.

The nape is the area of the scalp that takes the most abuse, so I think we need to take the best care of it.

You are soooo right eKatherine.  I struggle with the wispies at my neck.  <sigh> I try and try to be careful with them, but they just won't grow out.  Oh well, I'll keep trying!

Maggie, I don't know how long your hair is, so these suggestions may not be plausible.  That said... Try pulling the front half of your hair back and securing in a clip or braid.  It's a nice half-down look, and it WILL stay all day if you do it right.  As for all of your hair... A simple french braid will always work, and stay good (if you think it looks too plain, try changing it by making it tighter or looser, or doing it Dutch instead of French).  I would try a hair knot w/ hair sticks, or just a bun.  If you have trouble with your hair coming out of a bun, try braiding it before bunning it.  if it's too short for a braided bun, try twisting it in a rope instead.  Ropes don't 'shorten' the hair as much as braids in my experience.  
  Anyways, hope this helps next time the hair attacks!

i've problems with braided buns ... they never feel well secured like a normal bun. dunno what i do wrong.   :-[

I saw today that cashier lady at grocery store had her hair in a beautiful and very secure-looking french twist. I couldn't help noticing that the quality of her hair was totally different from mine: coarse and matte.  :'( Which I took as another proof that this slippery yellowish thingy hanging from my scalp is hopeless.

But I'll start practicing making a crown braid today.

Valerie and BB-Actually I've always wanted to wear
a double french braid-parted in the middle with 2 braids
on each side (is that a Dutch Braid?) But I need to master the single one first.

wrote on Nov 12^th, 2004 at 4:34pm:

Valerie and BB-Actually I've always wanted to wear a double french braid-parted in the middle with 2 braids on each side (is that a Dutch Braid?) But I need to master the single one first.

2 french braids took me a while to master, it just never looked neat, but now I love to run around with my hair up like that.  I'm sure it's a little 'young' for me, but I don't really care.  

[quote author=styg link=1098982533/0#13 date=1100270454]i've problems with braided buns ... they never feel well secured like a normal bun. dunno what i do wrong.   :-[/quote]
I put my hair in a ponytail holder before braiding it. That way I find it to be even easier to pin up and keep up than a regular bun.

wrote on Nov 12^th, 2004 at 11:14pm:

I put my hair in a ponytail holder before braiding it. That way I find it to be even easier to pin up and keep up than a regular bun.

i do that too  :-[
i dunno, i think i have never found a good way to wind the braid around the holder, it seems never tight enough  ???
and on top of that, i find a hairstick + ponytail holder very uncomfy. must be just me.