Hi everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself - my name is Cynde (pronounced Cindy) and I'm from Santa Barbara, California.  I just stumbled upon the forums today, and can't wait to read it!  It looks like there's a bunch of great people with great tips here.  :-D

So the short story of my long hair: I've had straight, long hair up until I was about 17.  I never really styled it except to pull the sides up into a holder at the top and spray the heck out of my bangs, as was the hip thing to do in the 80's.  At 17 I cut my waist-length hair to an a-line bob.  I never changed the style for over 10 years but  I never got tired of it.  It is still my favorite cut.

About 2 years ago I had back surgery, and after 3 months of recovery my hair was down to my shoulders.  So I thought "what the heck, I'll just grow it.  If I don't like it I can cut it again."  The in-between stage was grueling.  I did layers, lightened it, but I never really liked it.

But now my hair is almost to my waist again.  A couple of weeks ago I started experimenting with updos.  I used the cheapo version of the Bandostick that Scunci makes to secure my hair.  (A bandostick, if you don't know, is a single hairstick with an elastic holder on one end.)  It worked but somehow it felt like cheating!  So I started practicing with chopsticks.

It was frustrating to learn how to secure the styles, but since my boyfriend LOVES pull my sticks out (how annoying!), I got a lot of practice.  My favorite so far is the French twist.  Just today I got it down from 3 sticks to 2.  

Thinking I deserved better than chopsticks, I found LongLocks.com and ordered my first set of REAL hairsticks a couple days ago.  I can't wait for them to get here!!!

So that's my story, and now I'm off to read the forums.  TTYL!

Cynde

[glb]HELLO & WELCOME, glad you're here! :D[/glb]

[glb]Welcome[/glb]
A warning! Reading this board is highly addictive. :)

Welcome from another back surgery survivor!  Hope your back is doing better now - it certainly sounds like your hair is doing great!

Be sure to share your "tricks" with your newly found hairstyles - we all love to hear about them.

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us  :D

Welcome welcome! :D

Thank you!  Such a warm welcome.  I'm very glad I've found the board!  :-D

Welcome khrome!  Always Nice to meet new people on the boards.

Welcome!  :)

Khrome, you can do a french twist with hairsticks??
:::Bow:: BOW:::: bow::::::: You styling goddess, you!

Welcome to the boards and many blessings

Anais

wrote on Jun 28^th, 2005 at 6:31pm:

Khrome, you can do a french twist with hairsticks??

yupyup!  And I'll post pics when I get my 'real' sticks in the mail.  I found out the sticks I ordered are 5 inches or less, so I've been practicing with the very tips of the chopsticks only.  I've finally been able to hold a twist using 4 inches of 2 sticks.  

It was the one 'do I HAD to learn.  So I guess it's true - if there is a will there is a way!  I still need lots of work on the other styles though.

Cynde

As promised, here are the pics of the LL sticks I got yesterday - "Blush Simple"!  They are beautiful - thanks Susan!  BTW, these are the first set in my new-found obsession.  

http://www.loopfree.net/gallery/khrome
(then click on Hair Stick Collection)

Cynde

:::clap, clap, clap, clap:::

Beautiful!  Your french twist is FANTASTIC!!!!  So smooth and perfect.  The sticks are the perfect accent for you.  Thank you for sharing!


[being slightly snoopy ....... I love the fairy pics - especially the ears!]

Thanks so much!!  *blush*  The twist was a little off IMO, but I was too excited to get a picture taken.  

I'm glad you liked my elf ears!  They were very fun to wear around.  :D

Cynde

Belated Howdy here!  Fabulous, I'll go practice now *snork*.

Welcome - another Californian (Oakland) ...gabi

[glb]Welcome! [/glb] 8)

Beautiful twist and hairsticks!

Add another belated welcome from me. :) I look forward to reading your posts...Good luck on your journey to longer, healthier hair!

Oooooo Khrome!  

I'm totally jealous (hair envy!)  I wish I could tame my hair into a french twist.. *pout*  Alas, I think I waited too long to teach myself and now my hair's too long too...

Ahhh well!  :D

Welcome to the boards.. (I know that's late... *lashes with a wet noodle*  Ooooo the shame!)

wrote on Jul 4^th, 2005 at 4:21pm:

... I'm totally jealous (hair envy!)  I wish I could tame my hair into a french twist.. *pout*  Alas, I think I waited too long to teach myself and now my hair's too long too... ...

How long is your hair?  You might still be able to do it.  All the instructions I've read said you have to have BSL or shorter.  But I just fiddled until it worked.

First I started from the basic instructions here:
(click and scroll to the section Instructions For Do-It-Yourself French Twist)

Read that, and practice with that.  Once you start getting it, you'll find that the bulk of your hair ends up on one side of your head.  To remedy that, start your roll to the side of your nape (if you roll counter-clockwise, start on the right, clockwise start your roll on the left.)  Then, when you roll, go diagnally to the other side of your head.  What this does is makes your hair pocket centered in the middle of your head in a space that is the shape of an inverted triangle.  You'll see in a second.

Next, keep rolling your hair to the tip.  Now, normally you're suppose to fold the whole ponytail over.  Instead, start at the tip, curl it around your thumb, and roll your hair down (forward) in a sort of verticle bun.  Keep rolling until you reach your head.

Now grasp the whole bun and flip it under the fold, using the fingertips of both hands to tuck it in.  Keep pressure with your palm on the back of your head so that the whole thing doesn't pop open.   Once it is in, if the bun is lumpy you can flatten it by pressiing it from the outside of your fold.

So now what you have is a bun that is hidden by a fold of hair from one side of your head.  Use the hairsticks as you would secure any other bun.  Because your hair is coiled,  it should hold a lot better that way than seaming it up the side of the fold as in most instructions.

Good luck!  :D
Cynde

The longest hairs are tailbone length on me, Khrome.  I know I know.. I should have taught myself earlier while I was still at waistlength or so...

But!  C'est la vie!   ;D

I bought a french twist clip (I think it was Goody) at the store... basically a huge claw clip with one flat side, and the other curved  to grab the hair.  It's not exactly a french twist, because I just sort of loop my hair up and down a few times and stick the clip in.

Even if I could do a french twist, I'm not sure it would look right.  It's rather bulky to have all my hair piled up on my head nowadays, so the buns (regular and figure 8) work best still.