Really long hair styling

[Nicolette]

As the title implies, I have really long thick hair, which can be a blessing and a curse. I usually keep it cut above my belt and when it's braided, the braid is about 2 1/2 - 3 inches thick about midway. I have no bangs, but I have made it work with well placed rolls, and finger waving in the front, the problem is curling the back, one either it takes so long my arms fall off in the end and I want to climb into bed (standard formal hairstyle takes up to 3 hours) or two, I eventually say screw it and pin it up with a few scragglers and pin around it with curls etc.... The problem, is this either makes me look like a librarian with a tight little bun and some rolls across the front, or, it makes me look like a 16 year old going to the sock hop. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or possibly thoughts on some new styles, I am starting to fall into certain handful of them that I repeat... a lot.... Below is a poorly shot photo (with my built in camera just now) but it gives you an idea of how long my hair actually is. Where my hand is, is roughly the bottom of my hair with some waves in it

[Stephanie]

To get some ideas of hairstyles for long hair, you could look at photos of Sally Rand, Sherri Britton, Jinx Faulkenburg, Dorothy Lamour,etc.

An excellent way to achieve a retro look on your length of hair is to accessorize......hats, scarves/bandanas, Barrettes, Various hair flowers. Think outside of the box with accessories. use more than 1 flower and in different colors. Try using fancy or informal decorative hair combs. Where tilted hats. Look for different braided styles as well.

A great site for getting hairstyle ideas is Movie Maidens, www.moviemaidens.com

You could also maybe try sleeping in rag curlers too.

[Natalie Alvarado]

I love your hair! I have long hair as well, right below my chest.. clearly not as long as yours, but I've been sleeping with the sponge curlers in, and its pretty amazing how long the curl will stay.. just put some product in and let it dry before you put the curlers in...you can make some really nice styles with it.. i don't like to roll the curlers up to the back of my head because i dont want to look like shirley temple but it turns out really really class take care!

[Golden Browne]

moviemaidens.com = best link ever

Stephanie said:

To get some ideas of hairstyles for long hair, you could look at photos of Sally Rand, Sherri Britton, Jinx Faulkenburg, Dorothy Lamour,etc.

An excellent way to achieve a retro look on your length of hair is to accessorize......hats, scarves/bandanas, Barrettes, Various hair flowers. Think outside of the box with accessories. use more than 1 flower and in different colors. Try using fancy or informal decorative hair combs. Where tilted hats. Look for different braided styles as well.

A great site for getting hairstyle ideas is Movie Maidens, www.moviemaidens.com

You could also maybe try sleeping in rag curlers too.

[Nicolette]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I am going to post a photo shortly of a modified 'Rosie the Riveter' look I did a few days ago. I have tried sleeping with foam curlers but either because of the weight of my hair or for what ever reason, no matter what product I am using, I can't seem to keep the waves and curls that are higher up in my hair (from crown to shoulder)

I saw a hair do awhile ago and asked her how she did it, and she said she 'double rolled' with foam curlers, I think what she meant is she had one curler for the upper portion of the hair and one for the lower, any ideas before I start in on a several hour journey with sore arms and an aching head by the end?

[Nicolette]

So I added the photos to my profile, I have to admit, the first time it was hard to get the curls to stay, even if I went with thinner chunks of hair, I still had a lot of hair to pin in. But, I eventually got it down and the second time I did the Rosie look it took about 20 minutes with minimal hair products. I am going to keep accessorizing and keep working on all of it, if anything to help any other ladies out there with long hair. Best of luck and keep the tips coming!!!
Nic