I’ve had hair long enough to sit on, in a one-length cut. Now, my hair is near my waist and it’s layered. I’ve spent most of my adult life either with long hair or in the process of growing it back out after the latest mishap that caused it to be a lot shorter than I would prefer.
I have the kind of wavy hair that tends to go its own way. It’s the type of hair that announces to the world that it’s owner just climbed out of bed and never combs it. So I deliberately wear it wild since neatness is a losing battle. Occasionally, it’s really looking good and then I never want to wash it because I know that with the next shampoo, the problem child will be back.
There’s long hair and then there’s long hair. For some, long hair is just below the shoulders. For others, it isn’t long until it’s in the middle of the back or longer. The listed hairstyles can accommodate hair from shoulder length to longer, blunt cut or layered and straight, wavy or curly.
One of the decisive things that can dress up or down a hairstyle isn’t the hairstyle itself, but the accessories that accompany it. The same hairstyle can be used for a casual situation as well as for a dressy occasion just because of which accessories you’ve finished it with.
These are some of the suggestions for your long hair:
1. Down:
Whichever way you choose to do this style it will also be the foundation for any other style you may choose to put it into.
This can be the easiest way to fix your hair. You can scrunch it with gel and allow it to air-dry, mousse it and blow it dry either straight, or with a diffuser, or shape with a brush or your fingers, or just blow it dry upside down putting some volume into it. When I air-dry my hair, I often also curl the ends and the bangs with a curling iron and fix with hairspray. I usually only do this once for that entire washing. I wash my hair twice a week, unless the weather is freezing, then it’s once a week.
http://www.lalooks.com/
http://www.suave.com/
2. Simple Ponytail:
Just pull your hair back, either combing it smooth, or leaving it messy and fastening it with your choice of accessory. I’ve used barrettes, clips, thin band scrunchies or fancy beaded bands. Plain elastic bands don’t work for me. My hair needs industrial strength fasteners.
You can place the ponytail on top of your head, at the back of your head, at the nape of your neck or on one side. You can also do two ponytails on each side of your head, either low or high on your head, or one on top of the other at the back of your head. You can also take the end of the ponytail and fasten it with a barrette underneath
at it’s base. Or you can wind it around itself, forming a ballet bun on top of you head and fastening it with hairpins.
This particular hairstyle can also be an effective way of controlling your hair when nothing else will work and you just want to yank it all out.
3. French Braid Pony Tail:
This can be a very dressy, feminine do or a very casual messy do. This is also a very good style, especially, for layered hair that’s not long enough for a simple ponytail or braid. Start at the top of your head and weave a braid down to the nape of your neck, gathering the side hair into the braid as you proceed. Then attach your choice of
accessory. Then fluff or comb out the ponytail below the braid, depending upon whether you want it straight or not.
4. French Braid, Braid:
Do the same as for the French Braid ponytail, just continue braiding until you’ve reached the end of your hair then fasten the accessory. You can also take the braid and tuck it underneath itself and attach it to your nape with a barrette, making an attractive bun.
5. Simple Braid:
As with the simple ponytail, pull the hair back and then braid it either high on your head, in the middle in back, at the nape or to one side. You can also braid two at each side of your head, either high or low. When you’ve finished the braid fasten it with your chosen fastener, then leave it to hang down or coil it or tuck it under and fasten it with hairpins or a barrette as a bun.
6. Half-up, Half-down:
There are several ways to go with this style. You can pull both sides back into a barrette or clip at the back of your head, or braid it and fasten it. You can also pull your entire front back over the top of your head and clip with a barrette or a clip. You can also braid or twist the sides before you fasten them in back.
7. Sides Back:
Pull one or both sides back, depending upon the look you want and fasten with clips, barrettes, hairpins or a hair-band. You can either pull the hair back straight or twist or braid it before fastening it to the side.
8. Hair Coiled or Braided and Clipped or Scrunched: This is the one style I’m not able to do because my hair is too thick to stay up.
This style can be very tailored or very casual depending upon how you do it. One year, when I was in Belgium on a tram, a woman got on with her hair wet and an absolute mess. She first combed it all out smooth. Then, she combed it to the back of her head, spun it into a long coil and then twisted it up into a very smooth bun and firmly clipped it at the back of her head. In less than fifteen minutes, she left the tram looking completely professional and ready for work. You can choose to braid your hair instead of twisting it.
I’ve also known several others who would just take their hair and twist it up into a loose coil at the back or on top of their head and wrap a scrunchy around it.
9. Hair up in a Clip:
Next to having your hair down, this is the easiest, depending upon how neat or messy you want this to be. You can either carefully comb or loosely pull back all of your hair and twist it up toward the top of your head and fasten with a decorative clip, leaving the rest of the hair to flow over the clip and your head.
You can do this with straight hair, wave or with curls.
Sources:
http://www.lalooks.com/
http://www.suave.com/
