how can i keep my hair healthy when it must stay in a bun 5 days a week?

im in the military and i keep my hair in a rock hard sock bun with TONS of gel and hair spray 5 days a week. i have to use a lot of gel because my hair is very thick and not quite long enough to pull the front back into the low bun i need.. then i spritz the heck outta the bun so my hair wont fly out of it.. i do this to my hair every sunday night and keep the bun in until friday afternoon where i wash and condition with suave shampoo n conditioner. i know my scalp isnt breathing and i know my hair is never moisturized properly. im scared im gonna really damage my hair. are there any products i can use or anything i can do to keep my hair healthy.

I was wondering about this. I am going to BMT in March and my hair isn't quite long enough for a bun either. Can you just wear two strand twists to give your hair a break? If not, maybe mix the gel with some aloe vera or make some eco custard to keep it from being so drying

omg i went through HELL at basic.. i went with braids and my ti made me take them out because he didnt know any better (he got n trouble for it later) but my hair wasnt long enough to do anything to it so i walked around with a poof which was technically in regs becuase it wasnt 3 in in bulk but it looked bad because i had no products to put in it. i got so much crap for it but i jst had to stick it out until my mom came for my graduation and rebraided it. i definitely think u should braid it up for basic. they wont make u take them out i jst had a special case of a new ti.. it will make your life a lot easier

I'm also in the military (Navy) our regs state that we can have our hair down as long as it's not touching our collar. I've seen women with 2 strand twists and braids. As far as the bun. I wear my hair in the same low sock bun, but instead of keeping it in all week, I take it out after a pt session to wash my hair and condition and seal with EVOO, after that it goes back in the bun lol

I'm not in the military, but I do rock buns a lot. Instead of just doing the bun once a week, take it out mid-week and wash/moisturize/oil/whatever your hair and then put it back into a bun. Also, hairspray can be very drying. Could you possibly skip that step and just use gel?

Former Air Force Reservist here. I had enough hair for a small bun and then it grew to APL. I would normally dip my scrunchi in JBCO or regular castor oil and tuck my hair into it. I didn't really care about having Donut Look of a bun. As long as my ends were tucked, my hair didn't touch my collar I was cool. I also would use gels like that Herbal Essence Tossle Me holding gel, mix in some JBCO, apply to wet hair and smooth into a tight bun, let dry and go. That gel gave me waves and made my hair lay down.

This was before my Gone Natural days. I don't think there is a natural gel strong enough to hold my hair down and not me greasy. Shea Butter doesn't hold my hair down either.

Good luck

And from one service woman to another THANK YOU

I used to do a slicked back bun a lot but it was doing my hair (especially my fragile edges) no good.

I'd suggest a couple of things. Since I have not mastered twist outs just yet.

1) I turn my failed twist out (braid outs will work also) into a successful updo. I find that by setting my hair in twists, I get some control factor and don't need to apply gel to slick it back at all. I just pin it up whatever way I'm feeling. I'll change it up everyday if I want. It's all just some minimal manipulation variation of the original twist out.

If your hair is long enough you can do a a loose bun that won't put too much stress on your hair. Or a faux bun pinned down with bobby pins. You can do it super low or high enough to cover with your hat (depending on what kind you wear).

2) The second option would be to do twists and pin them up or if your hais is long enough you can put it up in a ponytail or bun. At the end of your day you can let them hang loose!

Good luck to you!

I just put up a blog post with pictures of how I sported my hair over the holiday weekend. My twists were secured low on my head with a large hair clip.

Thanksgiving Hair

Thanks for all the info ladies! I think I will def be rocking individual braids for basic... I haven't had braids in years so this should be interesting lol

Well in Basic i had my own hair braided because i didn't feel like dealing with it (waist length thick hair in basic i don't think so!) the drill Sgt tried that mess with me about taking it out but unfortunately for her i won because i knew the rules lol i wore the bun above the collar so i didn't do a thing later on in training i took some of the braids out in the front and converted them to cornrows, i was bored.

@hdthomas i once wore one for a year straight i think and two buns probably longer,lol , but what matters is that you moisturize it at night and don't leave it in a bun at night or you can put it in a loose bun. if you feel its not breathing then just sleep on a satin pillow case without wrapping your hair up. like Summerskye said you can also twist you hair then put it in a bun that takes some of the pressure off your edges if you're worried. if all your hair doesn't fit use bobby pins to make it stay.

as long as you don't pull your hair too tight when you're wearing your bun you'll be ok. i spent most of my life in a bun or a ponytail whether my hair was loose,twisted, braided or locked it's been up and no hair damage or lost edges. i let my hair grow past my waist two times once with locks three times if you count childhood,lol. so you'll be ok

my cousin was never allowed to wear anything but a bun to school and never was she allowed to wear the ponytail down or out in school and it grew past her butt..that's a little extreme for me i always found a way to get it cut,lol but buns are good!

Re: MSTOKES2008, I'm currently In the Air Force at Luke AFB in hellish Arizona. The weather here is so hot and I had to stop pulling my hair into a bun because the dry air was breaking my hair at the site of the hairband. I would suggest a nice medium-sized braid for you when you go to BMT. You'll surely be doing a lot of training which means lots of sweat and dirt... if you have medium braids they should be easier to wash than micros that seem to cling to dirt and dust and making the take-down session that much more difficult. As for anyone else in the military, especially the AF, our rules are a bit more lax than other services and I've seen a lot more women wearing twists and such as long as they don't pass the collar. The only thing is getting a bigger sized cover for them to fit under!

Hi hdthomas,

I'm not in the military, but I wear my hair in a bun 90% of the time anyway because it's the easiest thing to do. Some tips:

1. Don't make the bun very tight where it's pulling on your edges. Also, I like to part my hair in the middle a bit, and make my bun by pulling my hair around the sides instead of straight back, it makes it less tight for me and it's easier to keep the front pulled back this way.

2. Have you tried using shea butter instead of gel? I put shea butter in my hair, then put two or three bobby pins or clips in my hair to secure the front, which is shorter than the back, and it's normally fine. I don't really mind having the front out a little, I actually think it looks cute and I get more compliments on looser buns where the curls in front are out than the rock solid buns.
If I really want it to lay down I'll put a little gel then a scarf over it for maybe 20 minutes. If you're using a scarf you shouldn't need a lot of gel.

3. Definitely, definitely take your bun out at least once, if not twice a week to moisturize at night, then put it back in a bun. I always joke about how I put my hair in a bun after I wash it on Saturday and then forget that I have hair for the rest of the week, but seriously the weeks I stop being lazy and actually moisturize it mid week are so much better for my hair come wash day.

4. Blowdrying your hair for even 10 minutes might stretch your hair enough so that it's easier to bun and for the hair to stay secure.

HTH

unfortunately i dont have anything to contribute to the question about buns, but i would like to say kudos to all you ladies serving in the military/about to go into the military. i think that is so cool! you ladies are truly an inspiration to me; i shriek at the thought of walking through a pile of leaves (it just feels yucky to me. im a sissy who wants to be a labor and delivery nurse, go figure. lol). so if no one has said it before, THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!!!! *digital hugs and air kisses*