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I'm growing out my hair for the missions trip I am going on. It will be much easier to pull back into a ponytail than to try to fix short hair everyday and it will also decrease my chances of getting lice, if I can pull it back (lice is a very real potential issue given the type of work we will be doing and I'd like to avoid it, if possible). Anywho, my hair is right at that transitional stage of still being too short for a pony, but too long to really style. I am considering a thinning b/c I have SERIOUSLY THICK hair...as in it looks like a poof ball currently Other than thinning and possibly coloring, I really don't want to mess with my hair too much (in the form of altering it), but if I don't do something soon I *KNOW* I will end up cutting it all off Suggestions???

Can you post a pic so we can see what you are talking about? When is the trip?

I always like little pig tails when hair is too short for a ponytail.

My friend started wearing those headbands that are one big loop when her hair was too short for a pony tail and too long to leave down for zumba. She still wears them now, even though she could do a pony.

Have you tried pulling the sides back?

Clips, head bands, barrettes.. bobby pins, all work to keep hair under control.

Those and my flat iron..

I know you don't want to mess with it, but the flat iron works wonders at taming hair that has a mind of it's own.

Let us know what you decide.

I'm growing out a pixie cut...I wear a lot of cute, elastic headbands.

I have a lot of hair with a mind of its own.

Bobby pins are helpful. You can stick them in strategically to get it right and you can't even see them.

Another option is to cut it all off - go for a really short cut for the trip. How would you look with a short spiky cut?

I have a chubby face, so I think short and spiked is out for now (until my fat butt decides it's treadmill time). I leave for Ethiopia at the end of May, so I have two months until it's go time.

Here's a picture that is from a couple of weeks ago. It is hard to tell the exact length, because of how it is styled and my hair has grown a little since then.

I was thinking pigtails for days that I am not at work. Because of the texture of my hair the big loop bands don't seem to want to stay put

I've been using barettes, clips, headbands, and clips but I'm not really sure *how* to style my hair. It seems very unmanageable right now, unless I want to do the flip-out thing (like the pic) and even that is difficult sometimes I also use my flat iron...sometimes twice or three times in a day, if my hair is being really difficult. I may have to go to a fall back style where I twist the top and sides and secure with bobby pins...that's if I can get it to stay

Thanks for all of the ideas everyone...maybe the pic will help.

ETA: The pic would be helpful

[This message edited by Mama_of_3_Kids at 7:54 PM, March 23rd (Saturday)]

I love that haircut that you have in the picture. If my hair was straight I'd have it like that. It's too bushy and curly for that.

I definitely think with a few strategically placed bobby pins or cute barrettes it'll look really nice.

I think a short cut will work as long as you have volume on top and keep the sides flat.

[This message edited by kernel at 10:36 AM, March 24th (Sunday)]

I've actually had that cut before

Thanks AN. I'm going to play with it this week since I'm off work.

Mo3K, you're beautiful!

(Sorry, no advice on hair cuts, though.)

Thank you, okay. I am trying very hard to work on my self-esteem, hence the shirt. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and when I see myself, I don't see beauty...I see overweight Mama with PCOS (and all of the lovely things that go with it ). Do3K says that I am more beautiful now than I was when we met (I was 15 and a whopping 95lbs). I try to believe him on this, but considering my weight has skyrocketed over the last 15 years, it's hard to believe. Sigh....

Mama - Your hair is so cute! You could try a couple of different kinds of hairbands to see if one would work for really difficult hair days. I can't use the stiff plastic ones or the regular elastic ones, but the kind that are flexible metal with teeth work for me. See if one or more styles work with your hair texture.

As for the self esteem thing? Two things I want to mention.

1. Accept the compliments that you are getting with a simple "thank you." Don't let your brain throw the "but that's not what I see" stuff in there, whether it's out loud or just in your own head. Tell those thoughts to shut it! Throw them away like the spam messages they are.

2. When you start picking yourself apart, imagine saying those things to Dora. I know - you would NEVER do that or allow her to do it to herself. So don't allow yourself to do it to YOU either, mkay?

You are beautiful. Truly. You have a luminous smile and one of the kindest faces I've ever seen.

I have a friend with much thicker hair than mine, and when hers was that length (also growing out) she used to pull inch or so sections back, like toward a ponytail, and then twist and do a bobby pin X over each piece. It's hard to explain, but looked super cute. From the front, it was all pulled back, and in the back it was like a mess of curls because it was all twisted and pinned.