Long hair tangles

[django]

Hi Divas! I'm new to the website and just want to say how much I love reading everyone's posts and advice! Thank you!
Here is one of my two primary skiing problems (the other is a boot issue for a separate post!):
I have long hair, almost to my waist, very fine, fairly wavy. I have either worn it in a ponytail, a single braid, or two braids when I ski. I invariable end the day with a huge, matted nest of tangles at the nape of my neck. I do wear a helmet. I do keep my tail/braids tucked into the back of the jacket, but have also tried keeping them out. All the same - big ol' dreadlock on the back of my head.
Anyone else experience this and/or have any advice to fix the problem?
I have no plans to cut my hair, so that isn't the option I'm looking for.
TIA for any helpful hints!

 

[altagirl]

I also have long, wavy, pretty fine hair and two braids has always worked for me. I only get the knots if I have a single ponytail or braid. Maybe try putting it in two ponytails and then braid that (so there's an elastic at the top and bottom of the braided part). That seems to really hold it in place.

The other thing that seems to help is wearing a thin helmet liner under my helmet.

 

[Sheena]

My hair is not super long (just below my shoulders), but I have had the same problem.

I second the advice about using a helmet liner. That seems to prevent the tangles for me.

 

[Shellski]

I also do two braids, starting from under my ears with a non-snag elastic at the top and bottom. I don't have overly long hair, but it is very thick. Before I braid it, I comb through leave in conditioner which helps protect it through the day. The only trouble I ever have is if one of the elastics slips off, so I keep a couple of spares in my pocket.

 

[num]

My hair is thick, curly and long. I usually keep it in two pigtails, and sometimes in braids. I keep my pigtails more toward the back of my head than the side, and I keep them ouside of the jacket as I've found that inside they rub against the cloth and the friction starts dreadlock action for me. Leave in conditioner is a must for me. I keep hairties in my pocket like Shellski, cuz it really sucks when a hairtie decides it's had enough and busts open, letting half your hair loose in the middle of a run.

Have you ever tried looping the braid and tying it at the top again? Or wrapping a silk scarf around your hair in a bun? Could tuck that under your jacket and the silk would cut the friction down a lot.

 

[Lori_K]

Another gal with long, fine hair here! I'm a big advocate for the leave-in conditioner. I use it all year round out here.

I put my hair in a single braid. I do notice that there's always a few strands that escape by the end of the day, but it's never been a tangled mess with the braid.

Las year I had it in a pony tail that flopped outside my jacket. It was snowing that day, and I also took a snow sample once or twice. We stopped for a quick snack break around lunch, and my pony tail was a giant snowball! It was very funny, actually got a picture of it on someone's cell phone. Ever since then, I've stuck with the braid.

Can you french braid? (I can't). That might work better to keep the braid tighter.

 

[altagirl]

Can you french braid? (I can't). That might work better to keep the braid tighter.

I actually have much worse luck with knotting when I french braid than when I use regular braids.

Lately, I've just been going with pigtails, basically behind/below the ear, and haven't had any knotting problems. Maybe it depends on how your clothes fit, but I just tend to get the knotting problems at the nape of my neck, so as long as I have my hair snugly away from that area, it prevents knotting.

 

[pinto]

I get these, too. Pigtails help, but if it's really cold out, I leave my hair down because it keeps me warm. Then I just deal with the tangles.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

I'm a braids gal.

My seriously weird friend suggests a dew rag!

 

[lil mountain girl]

i used to have REALLY long hair . . . which i used to put into 2 braids.

it seemed to work ok . . .

have you tried multiple braids or cornrows?

i did the multi-braids a couple of times and really liked it because it kept things tight, you could still wash your hair, but they stayed in for a few weeks (at least i opted to), so it saved time too!

good luck!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Similar problems here. I'm letting my hair grow out for Round 2 of donating to "Locks of Love," so I've got about 7 more months to go before I can hack off 10". Don't laugh, NVG, the dew/do rags work! I wear a wide variation of same under helmet, depending on outdoor temps. In northern New England, that usually means a full helmet liner/balaclava combo. Trick seems to be not allowing the hair to fly around whatsoever. I used to wear braids when mine was much longer years ago, tried to tuck them into an inside layer somewhere.

 

[persee]

Oh geez. So I'm not the only one with this problem. I once left my hair totally down and it just became a big rats nest. Since then I usually put my hair in a pony tail or a braid at the base of my neck, but no matter what the hair right at the nape gets all matty and it's quite painful to comb out. I'll have to try the 2 pony tail/braid next time out to see if it makes a difference. Makes me almost want to shave off the hair from the bottom inch of the nape of my neck like I did in high school.

 

[lindseyinalaska]

I just cut my hair but I had super thick long hair. I was kinda lazy and put my helmet on then threw my hair into a messyish bun below. it never gave me problems and i don't remember it being tangled.

 

[snobound]

I do the two braids thing too. with really thick, curly long hair I have to. I do the two french braids (yup just like when we were little). carry xtra ties. it's the best i've found so far.

 

[tradygirl]

Similar problems here. I'm letting my hair grow out for Round 2 of donating to "Locks of Love," so I've got about 7 more months to go before I can hack off 10".

That is so cool! I'm doing the same thing. I usually let my hair grow long and then chop it off anyways, so this time I figured I'd let it grow a little longer than usual and donate it to a good cause in the process! Do you just have your regular hair dresser cut it for you when it's time to get the 10" cut?

Back on topic - I usually stick with the pigtail-braid, but I've noticed this season since my hair is longer than usual that it's harder to keep it tucked into my jacket. On cold days I wear a balaclava with my helmet and that seems to help keep everything in place. I'll have to try the ponytail/braid combo (with two elastics) to see if it helps.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

That is so cool! I'm doing the same thing. I usually let my hair grow long and then chop it off anyways, so this time I figured I'd let it grow a little longer than usual and donate it to a good cause in the process! Do you just have your regular hair dresser cut it for you when it's time to get the 10" cut?

Yes, regular salon - most of them have done this before. Take 2 elastics so you can section where you want the cut done. Remember, there's (I think?) either a 9 or 10" minimum. They have to cut it off super-clean, then it gets banded with a regulation (non-hair) band so you can put it in a zip lock and mail to Locks of Love.

I'm just way totally lazy when it comes to haircuts anyway, so this works for me. Good luck! I seem to be on the "2 year plan"

The ponytail-into-braid works better than regulation braid, but I have issues with where the band hits, as it messes up my helmet fit. In the meantime, with full head covering(s) beneath helmet, things aren't quite as messy.

 

[django]

Tangle update: Skied yesterday for a few hours and did the two braids, with a hair-tie at the top and bottom of the braid, nice and snug. I also put on some stuff I use to groom my Standard Poodle that is supposed to keep mats down, a slicone based product called (coincidentally) Ice on Ice. I also ended up wearing a balaclava because micro-shards of ice were snowing down on us (we had a white Christmas - it was beautiful!)
Anyway, after the skiin, we went snowshoeing to give our dogs a treat.
At the end of the day, no tangles! Yipee. I need to start the process of elimination to figure out if it was the combination or one factor.
I'm just so glad I'm not the only one!
PS: Locks of Love is so cool. If my hair grew faster than an inch a year, I'd do it, too.

 

[Greeley]

I have waist length thick wavy hair and the only way I can wear it with a helmet is in 2 tight braids starting behind my ears. I do usually leave the braids out of my jacket unless it is snowing hard. When I tuck them in my jacket on powder days I usually get more tangles around the neck.

 

[persee]

So I tried something different when skiing yesterday. Normally I wash my hair the night before so it's not wet and freezing when I go out to ski in the morning. I always pull it into a single ponytail at the nape of my neck (so my helmet fits) and I always have a knotted matted mess at the nape of my neck after a dya of skiing. Yesterday since we didn't plan to get first tracks I washed my hair in the morning and let it dry naturally until we got to the slopes (it was about 90% dry then). I then pulled it back into the typical ponytail. Skiied a normal day and when we left the area I took the pony tail out... Lo and behold when I ran my fingers through it was not all matty/knotted!

Dunno if this will be a normal thing but I think I'll have to try it again.

 

[pinto]

So I tried something different when skiing yesterday. Normally I wash my hair the night before so it's not wet and freezing when I go out to ski in the morning. I always pull it into a single ponytail at the nape of my neck (so my helmet fits) and I always have a knotted matted mess at the nape of my neck after a dya of skiing. Yesterday since we didn't plan to get first tracks I washed my hair in the morning and let it dry naturally until we got to the slopes (it was about 90% dry then). I then pulled it back into the typical ponytail. Skiied a normal day and when we left the area I took the pony tail out... Lo and behold when I ran my fingers through it was not all matty/knotted!

Dunno if this will be a normal thing but I think I'll have to try it again.

Wasn't it cold having even 10% wet hair?