I have been reading all the stuff about hair toys and ways to put your hair up. I have never been real good at that. I love the hair sticks though they are really nice and you don't see a lot of people with them My hair is thick and curly, BSL when wet. Do you think I would be able to use them? I am bidding on an inexpensive pair on ebay and I am sure I will splurge and get some from here some day, but I'd need to save up.

Absolutly you'll be able to use them!!!  I have thick hair, too, and wear them regularly.  My hair isn't quite as long as yours so I usually use Amish hairpins to secure the bun and add the hairsticks more for decoration than for holding the hair.   You can check out my hairstick collection in the LongLocks Collections thread.

You'll just have to experiment with styles until you master them.  At your length, most will be accessable to you.  I'm almost there...the key is practice, of course.  Sometimes you'll wind up with beautiful accidents!

So, start looking for cool & crazy updo's to dream about and practice!!!

I'm so excited, I've never used them and I need something cute, painless and easy to use to put my hair up so it looks cute. With the summer coming I am sure I will want to wear it up more, especially now that I have definitely decided to grow it real long.

My hair's pretty darn thick too, though wavy, not as curly as yours... but honestly? I don't think I'd be able to manage my hair at this length (1/2" above tailbone) without sticks. All it takes, like Sakina said, is a little practice, and you'll be whipping up fancy looking, practical updoes in no time.

As a tip, if you don't want to spend much money but have some sort of sandpaper (or even a spare nail file)... all but one of my sticks, I made myself using a 1/4 wooden dowel I got at a hardware store...  cut into 6" lengths, sharpened a bit and sanded, (and some were painted with nail polish for color) and they work beautifully. I'm still saving up for a pair of LL hairsticks too, though... LOL.

Yeah, those sticks are beautiful. Maybe when I start selling some of my paintings I'll treat myself!lol I have found that scrunchies (while they are my hairs best friend) kinda poop out on me rather quickly. it doesn't take long for the elastic to stretch to where I have to double or even triple it in order to get it to hold my hair back. Not to mention, while convenient, there is only so much one can do with a scrunchie. Does any one else have that issue with scrunchies?

I definately do. even when I first get a scrunchie (even the smaller sizes) I have to double-wrap them, otherwise they slide right out.

It's like I need loads of them. I keep one in the shower so I can put it up and not get soap in it, I got one on my night stand (that I'll need to replace soon. I use that to pineapple, I have to double it and because of my length I have to get a small elastic and ponytail the ends of the pineapple. But those smaller elastics would never hold the bulk of my hair. Then I keep one in my purse which I also need to replace, that one is stretched out. They just start out snug enough but after a few weeks holding my hair they are all stretched. I think hair sticks might just be more practical (except for sleeping) I also think that having any kind of small scrunchie fit too snugly presents a problem for my curly hair. While a straighty might just be able to slide it out, if I did that curls would get wrapped around. Even now I kinda have to be careful and I still might break a few.

They aren't exactly scrunchies, but they are small terry-covered elastic bands.  I actually buy them in the children's section.  I have been meaning to take a picture, but I'll give a brief description and then post the pic later if I can.

Make a small ponytail with just the front section of your hair, about as much as bangs cover.  Divide that in half.  Take a side section of hair, as much as you would if you were pulling the hair of your face.  Using the side section and half of your original ponytail, make another small ponytail.  Repeat on the other side.  Take the two small ponytails and combine them into one at the back of your head.  Divide that one in half, and repeat with two more lower sections of hair.  Combine those ponytails into one along with whatever hair is left.  Band the rest of your hair into a whip.

This makes a kind of diamond pattern on the back of your head.  Since I have so much gray around my face, what I get are diamonds of white hair on top of dark hair.  The last time I did it, I was wearing black and white.  I used a white band, two blacks, one white, two blacks, a white, a black, a white, and a black.  

My hair is aaaalmooost waist length (about two more inches), so it took a lot of bands.  You have to be careful to get the ponytails absolutely smooth with no stray hairs or you can end up with a mess, especially when you try and take it out.

As far as scrunchies go, I no longer use them at all.

About a year ago, I discovered that even velour scrunchies were causing serious breakage. I have extremely fine, thin hair, so I stopped using scrunchies immediately.

Now, I use metal-free hairties and my hair stays in a single braid. I actually just ordered a pair of LongLocks Hairstix for the rare occasion that I do make a bun style.

I don't think you'll have any problem using hairsticks (my hair is BSL too) but I warn ya that they are tricky to master at first.  ;)  Good luck.

Thanks! I am really looking forward to trying. II thought scrunchies were the safest thing in the world for hair. I guess there are a whole lot of things I'll have to learn in order to grow my hair as long as I want to. Now I'm thinking my ultimate length my be tailbone or hip length. I did actually out it up today in a claw clip, for a little while anyway. I kind of twisted it and pulled it up to make the messy little twist with a bunch of curls on top of my head. It was cute. But I can't sleep in anything but a scrunchie.

I used scrunchies when my hair was about mid back, but as it got longer I found them to be less effective.

As for determining when you can use hair sticks, I usually suggest starting with a pencil.  It should be sharpened, but the the lead should not be too pointy (you don't want to injure yourself with it!).  If you start with your hair already in a pony tail, you can make a bun with shorter hair as the hair elastic will hold the hair in place easier.  Then twist the pony tail into a rope and when it starts to twist onto itself, allow it to wrap around the base of the ponytail.  You may need to use some hair pins to hold the ends secure.  Slip the pencil into the bun by starting at about 2 o'clock and stick it OUTWARDS thru the hair of the bun, when about 1/2 way thru, spin the pencil around (grabbing some of the hair that is not part of the bun) so that it is now pointing to 8 o'clock.  Slip the pencil on thru the bun, and voila! You have made a bun!