Messy bun for thin curly hair?

I am seventeen years old, about 5 foot 2, and work at a family restaurant. Our dress is very casual ~ jeans, a restaurant T-shirt, and sneakers. I have thin, kind-of frizzy, wavy-curly hair just below my shoulders with straight angled bangs. My hair looks thick when down, but when it is up in a ponytail it looks thin and boring. I have figured out a way to make a nice messy bun (put it in a ponytail, then put bobbypins through certain strands). It makes it look curlier and keeps it out of my face. But I am afraid it makes me look too old. I don't want to look like an adult; I want to look like a cute teen! Do you think that it would look to "adultish" or "librarianish"?

I got the messy bun idea from http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip1000... although my hair isn't as shiny and is messier looking because of a little frizz.

Messy bun for thin curly hair?

- Read the book and visit the sites below about curly hair. I did and my once horrible curly hair is now virtually frizz-free ringlets. Now I get compliments on my hair all the time! Straighten your hair- be happy for a day, learn to manage your curly hair- be happy for life!

- To style your hair using the curly-girl method you will need gel, a leave in cream, and conditioner at the minimum. Some less useful, but still nice stuff would be a blowdryer, a diffuser (reduces frizz in curly/wavy hair when used with dryer), and a microfiber hair turban (to dry wet hair while sleeping or in the morning).

-The main philosophy of the curly-girl method is to not use shampoo. This may sound unhygenic but it has actually made my hair less oily and dandruffy. Most shampoos contain some of the same chemicals found in laundry detergent (sodium laureth sulfate, sodum lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, etc.). They dry out curly hair. Also you shouldn't brush your curly hair dry because it damages the hair and makes it poof.

- Massaging of the scalp with conditioner to remove dirt is all that is needed. It will clean everything but super clingy silicones (cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone are examples). Then rinse and spread conditioner on the outside layer of hair and the hair at the nape of your neck. Gently comb tangles out with your fingers or a wide toothed comb and rinse with cold/cool water.

- Do not brush/comb your hair after this point because it wil disturb the curl pattern (make sure you already have a part). It is also important to use gel on sopping wet hair and scrunch the hair with your fingers. Make sure gel is evenly distributed everywhere in your hair. If you use too much you can always scrunch out the crunchy texture later.

- Use paper towels or an old t-shirt to gently scrunch some of the water out (generic towels can make hair frizz). You can either let your hair air dry or wait ten minutes and then use a blowdryer with a diffuser. Dry until your hair is almost dry, and then let air dry the last bit. Do not touch the hair while it is air drying or it will frizz!

- Use a moisturizing conditioner, such as Desert Essence Organics Italian Red Grape Conditioner (found at health food/organic stores) or Activate Hydrating Conditioner (drugstore). The combo of products that I use daily is L'Oreal Out of Bed Weightless Texturizer (comes in a black-colored tub) and then Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Gel or Body Envy Gel, but there are more conditioners, gels, etc. on the websites. The products I recommended are my personal favorites and contain no silicones or drying alcohols.

- "Strictly Curls" is a book about curly updos and such. Curly hair looks good long with LONG layers. I like to sweep hair back with 2 crisscrossed bobby pins after parting my hair to the side. I also like to wear my hair half up and leave out individual curls to frame my face. I think buns are fine, but sometimes it depends on your face shape.

- Your hair may seem worse at first, but it is just adjusting. This may take a couple weeks to begin working. Before you decide to quit shampoo, do a final cleanse with shampoo and stop the use of any products with silicones in them. Hope this helps!

curly forum, shopping, and info.-

www naturallycurly com/curltalk/viewtopic php?t=97420

products, care, and more info. about curly hair-

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based on the book-

www ylcf org/gotcurl/

book-

"Curly Girl" by Loirane Massey

(replace the spaces with periods in the website addresses)

Messy bun for thin curly hair?

hmm...this is a hard question!! Some of my friends have curly hair with straight bangs like you described....and when they wear their hair in a pony, its usually frizzy!! But, when they wear it in a bun..its soo cute! so i would go with the bun idea! and i definitely dont think you will look like an adult!!

Messy bun for thin curly hair?

Have you thought of using some of those hair combs????

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and may be a more trendy way to keep your hair up while your working. Then you can work the curly hair up over the top of the comb, or do the whole bun thing and buy a couple of bobby pins with some cute lady bugs or sparkley rhinestones near your bangs to get a whole new spark. Have fun with it