Parents Help me learn how to do hair!

[MerriWeather]

My gymnast has VERY long hair (almost to the top of her butt). I kind of suck at doing her hair and often let the coach or another mom do it because I just have no clue! One of my biggest issues is getting it smooth/tight. I am a perfectionist, so as soon as I get a loose spot or something starts to bubble that should be down flat, I get frustrated and take it all out.

Oh, and her hair is loosely curly. I don't use product in my own hair so all we have to work with is hair spray.

I have been doing a small braid from her brow line and the pulling it all back into a ponytail (the small braid is just because she likes it). Then I split the pony into two and make two braids, which I then twist around each other in an attempt to make a bun, use some ponytail holders to hold it down and then spray the crap out of it.

Sounds lovely, no? Ha ha.

I like the clean look of a sock bun, but DD says no way. She does like her braid bun thing I do, but I want it to be cleaner and I have no clue what I am doing. I would love to do french braids or something, but the hair starts slipping out as I am working and I get frustrated. I have only ever been able to french braid my own hair for some reason.

Any links, tips, videos?? I do make sure she does not wash it the night before, but because we don't use product anyhow, it doesn't make much difference. Is there a gel or mousse I should be putting in before starting?

 

[purpleleomom]

There was a good post on here the other day about buns (search bun pins vs bobby pins). Also, Cute Girls Hairstyles has loads of tutorials on YouTube.

 

[Seeker]

The braid bun you describe sounds fine, but you need to use products. Especially if her hair is so long, it will be heavy and will need something to keep it in place. Start with wet hair, work in a good amount of gel. Brush the hair to get it into pony tail and then use a fine toothed comb to smooth before you put the elastics in. I do something similar with my DD's hair and it looks good. I use 4-5 rubber bands by the time I'm done, plus a scrunchie. It has never fallen or come loose.

 

[gymgal]

you probably need hair gel if the hair is falling out while you are working with it. dd has very, very long hair. I have her wet it first, then I gel it, then I gel it more as I work with it. Once I am done with it, I gel it more to smooth it all down (especially the braids) and then I hairspray it. She hs very fly-a-way hair and a lot of split ends of all different lengths from ponies and braids daily for so many years.

very long hair is hard to deal with for gymnastics. There isn't much you can do besides a bun, braid with a wrap around or what I do, which is make a pony tail, split it into 6 braids, then fold the braids under the pony and hold with a scrunchy. Even this style is getting harder to manage as dd's hair gets longer but she hates to cut it...

 

[MerriWeather]

Thank you for the tips. Guess I need to buy gel! Any recommended brands? DD has suggested "trimming" her hair recently, and I'm trying to coax her to donate to Locks of Love, which I do regularly (well, every other summer as it has to grow first!).

gymgal, do you have a photo of the style you described? It sounds fairly easy.

 

[gymgal]

I hope this works. This was last year. I really like the length here but her hair is at least 6 in longer now so the braids are a good 2-3 inches further down her head and I have the loose hair a little longer too (the loose hair comes from the ends of the braids that are loose). It still works but the braids definitely flip around more, which annoys dd somewhat (but apparently not enough to get her to cut her hair!). I use the little tiny clear hair bands to secure the end of the braids. I think you can see one on top of her head coming from her forehead

 

[gymgal]

I went to edit but ran past the 5 minute time limit. I was going to add that it is easy to do but it does take a while. about 30 minutes just for the pony tail and braids, then whatever I had to do to the top of the hair too. Usually totals 45-60 minutes.

Also wanted to add that I use a regular pony elastic holder to secure the braids under the pony, making sure the little bands go beyond the elastic bands so they don't fall out of the pony with the flipping. I use one elastic for the pony, another to secure the braids to the pony, then her colored scrunchy, then her ribbon elastic you see in the pic.

Oh - dd has fairly thick hair so I have to use six braids but if your d has thinner hair, it may be better to use only 3 or 4 braids. You don't want them too thin or they will look weird. I have seen a couple girls with just three braids and it looks really nice. dd's braids would be too thick.

 

[MerriWeather]

That is really cute! I bet I could handle that. But 45-60 minutes?! Yikes, I better start getting up earlier. LOL I will show DD that one when she gets home and maybe she will let me try. Thanks!

 

[gymgal]

dd's hair is really fly-a-way so it takes a lot longer because I have to keep gelling it to keep it all together. And really, I probably can get the pony/braids done in about 20 at this point. dd has been wanting to do a french braid across the front, like the college girls and I am no good with french braids so it takes forever, especially with the fly-a ways...

 

[my4buffaloes]

Yes, you needs lots of gel!!! I tried a bun on my girls hair with no product and it did NOT work. When we used a lot of gel it stayed beautifully. A brush works better than a comb for getting it smooth too.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I can't use stuff on Pink & Fluffy as she is allergic to shampoo. I have just bought some Ballet Bun nets and heavy duty hair pins as per a recent hair post and they are fab - nothing moves

 

[vbbf]

To get my dds hair really neat i wash it first so that it is wet then i put some gel all over it and brush it. When i have put it up into a ponytail i get a toothbrush and put gel onto the toothbrush and brush around her whole head with it. That seems to work at flattening everything down. I then spray everything with hairspray.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

My gymnast has VERY long hair (almost to the top of her butt). I kind of suck at doing her hair and often let the coach or another mom do it because I just have no clue! One of my biggest issues is getting it smooth/tight. I am a perfectionist, so as soon as I get a loose spot or something starts to bubble that should be down flat, I get frustrated and take it all out.

Oh, and her hair is loosely curly. I don't use product in my own hair so all we have to work with is hair spray.

I have been doing a small braid from her brow line and the pulling it all back into a ponytail (the small braid is just because she likes it). Then I split the pony into two and make two braids, which I then twist around each other in an attempt to make a bun, use some ponytail holders to hold it down and then spray the crap out of it.

Sounds lovely, no? Ha ha.

I like the clean look of a sock bun, but DD says no way. She does like her braid bun thing I do, but I want it to be cleaner and I have no clue what I am doing. I would love to do french braids or something, but the hair starts slipping out as I am working and I get frustrated. I have only ever been able to french braid my own hair for some reason.

Any links, tips, videos?? I do make sure she does not wash it the night before, but because we don't use product anyhow, it doesn't make much difference. Is there a gel or mousse I should be putting in before starting?

here you go!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

sorry...here you go:

 

[Deleted member D3987]

sorry folks, like the coach that told the 10 year old that she sucks on beam...well...i suck at embedding. maybe one of you can clean up the duplicity?

 

[MaryA]

I have learned a lot about doing hair through youtube videos. There are a lot on there, so maybe watch a bunch, choose a few that you want to try, rent a movie and stick your DD in front of it (I always do her hair while she sits on a bar stool in front of the TV and I stand behind her, but she's getting taller so pretty soon I'm going to need to find a shorter stool) and practice. I don't know how old your daughter is, but be prepared for her hair to change on you. My DD is about to turn 13 and all of a sudden everything that used to keep her hair in place isn't working any more. The mother of a teammate who is a stylist told me that their hair changes during puberty, so I guess that must be it. So far her hair has fallen out of its "do" at EVERY SINGLE MEET THIS YEAR with the exception of the one meet where the stylist mom did her hair, and this is her 7th year competing so it's not like I'm new at this.

 

[MerriWeather]

dunno - OMG that is awesome! At first I thought he was going to cut her hair with a Flowbee.

MaryA - She is 10.

 

[munchkin3]

Not only is hairspray and gel excellent for keeping hair in place, it is also great against LICE!!!!
My daughter is the only girl in her 3rd grade class who has never had lice!!!LOL

cutegirlshair is a definite!

 

[Dr Maleficent]

I was inspired after reading the posts on "meet hair requirements" on here last week. Armed with a 6 year old with hair like Rapunzel and her first ever gym meet, I was determined to attain "yummy mummy" status in at least one domain (having previously failed miserably at baking cute birthday cakes and making her clothes). I can do a French plait, so after a practice run, she and I decided on 2 french plaits down to 2 buns, Leia style. She looked adorable. I thought she should win based on hair alone. All was going well, until those darn forward and backwards rolls. Suddenly the cute hairstyle looked like some kind of torture device, with pins sticking out alarmingly in all directions. Have now resolved to go with two french plaits, straight up (or down in her case). Perhaps I should give baking another go???

 

[MerriWeather]

You are too cute! Your post had me laughing for sure. I'm sure it looked great until the rolling began... the things we have to consider when doing hair. Sheesh!