Hair Tie Travails

[RobynD]

Wonder if anyone else has ideas. So my hair is fairly long but not past my shoulders yet more like to the top of my shoulders. I'm starting to want to wear my hair up a lot and use banana clips with success, alligator and claw clips with partial success, hair ties sometimes with less success.

I have long enough hair to wear ponytails no problem but my hair is both very soft (thanks hormones) and thick and its hard to keep hair ties in place all day. The slide down and the whole thing starts to look messy.

Add to this that i am just not that skilled in doing my own hair yet, and i am frustrated. My stylist does things that amaze me with flat irons and curling irons and bobby pins etc. and she is like, "you will get the hang of it" I find it really hard to put bobby pins in the back of my hair, mirror or not.

Any one experience this sort of frustration and have an ideas?

[IdontEven]

I gave up and wear my hair down all the time. It looks messier but I prefer the feel of it down - I've learned to let the wind do what it's gonna do and fix it when I get inside.
Claw clip on my bag strap or hair tie on my wrist in case I want to keep my hair out of food or I need to look down AND have both hands free. It doesn't hold forever but long enough to accomplish one-off tasks.
I get that it doesn't work for non-casual environs or extended physical activity; sorry!
Just get used to looking messy, having hair in your mouth, and having large areas of vision obscured (oops sorry I didn't see you there!  ). On the upside, it gives you something to hide behind if you're​ having a moment.

Or start practicing buns and braids, tons of vids on YouTube!

Skip the flat-ion if at all possible (they're super bad for hair, mostly). Good luck, and enjoy your hair! 

[Jin]

Patience. Let it grow a bit longer.
I know it is fun to have an up-do part of the time.

I had some luck with letting it get a bit dirty, as in 3 or for days between shampoo. gives the clips and ties something to grab onto.

Try a high, girly pony tail. gravity is less of an issue.

Braids just take a lot of practice. I have better luck staying away from mirrors and doing it by feel. then check the result in a mirror.

[ainsley]

So, when I have an elastic or hair tie in and it starts to sag or droop, I will grab the pony tail hair and split it in half and pull outward.  It tightens the hair tie/elastic closer to your head.

Braids just take practice and is a mental game.  You gotta wanna...that is what I found.

I hate banana clips, my wife loves them.  My hair just doesn't work with them, I think.  Claw clips work good.  I make a pony tail, then twist it until it curls up like a piggy tail, then claw clip it and make sure I grab hair tight on my head, too.  Stays all day.

Once you get the hang of these things, though, reapplying is easy and not uncommon.

[RobynD]

Braids just take practice and is a mental game.  You gotta wanna...that is what I found.

Once you get the hang of these things, though, reapplying is easy and not uncommon

Thanks yes, Braids are hard and i keep practicing. I love how Youtube people make everything look so easy. I will improve over time though.

[LizK]

Mine is at the point where I can ponytail or clip it up but I tend to just let it do its own thing until I get really sick of it then a messy ponytail unless I am going out...I do tend to just brush it and push it over my ears but that is not normally very effective in the long term. In the Summer it is going to have to be up...wasn't quite long enough this summer but next...it sure will be...I noticed I have a heap of really fine dark hairs all along my hairline that are definitely new...nice surprise

Liz

[SadieBlake]

It's now nearly 2 years since my last trip to a traditional barber, my normal mo had been to cut short about every 6 months because i simply didn't much care about appearance and when I began to have a real inkling I was going to transition i simply stopped making those trips. Then last December when I started hrt and came out at work I began tying it back in a ponytail but it was another 4 months before the bangs began to reach the tie in point and soon after I scheduled my first girl haircut with a wonderful stylist at the Judy Jetson shop.

I've been able to afford one repeat visit to touch things up and hope to get back soon after my GCS, here's how I'm handling it for now.

I use the thicker ties (labeled firm hold) and make the loops absolutely tight. I know this can pull a bit at the hair but my stylist says my hair's in great shape. So long as those loops are right it will stay in place all day except a few flyaways. Usually I'll also add a decorative tie which also reinforces the main one.

When I know I'll not need the tie back to hold all day or can redo it during the day I use a decorative tie that doesn't hold as tightly or claw clips because I figure those do less damage. A couple of months back I began to play with doing a French braid which doesn't stay as tight but still keeps it back effectively all day. I use a detangler spray to help make it more workable for doing this and like to do the braid wet so that the hair will be wavy when it comes out. ** Braiding wet has to be done gently, wet hair is more prone to damage**. I like to practice this braid dry so as to build skill without damaging my hair. For shorter hair you can braid each side of the head but for this I know I need outside help from my GF.

I'm looking forward to having another year's growth to be able to use some different styles, I want to be able to do a braid off to one side for instance.