Hi, i'm a 45 year old bagpipe playing pagan Coeliac (pronounced silly yak) living in Scotland but soon to be emigrating to Bulgaria.  I'm trying to grow my hair, it's about BSL now, the photo on my profile was taken about 2 years ago. I found out that untreated Coeliac Disease really stops hair from growing, it used to be so dry and brittle and just break off if i grew it but now it's coming on in leaps and bounds.

Just reading up on hair sticks, i'd never heard of them before yesterday and i've been practising with chopsticks all day. I've surfed the internet all over for diagrams but i'm no better off than before so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also, i want to buy a boar bristle brush but don't know if i need hard or soft bristles, i figure this is probably the best place to find out. Any advice appreciated.

WEll, gotta go to work know. It's 18.35pm over here in the UK and i work packing newspapers on the night shift..........groan.

Welcome!

A bagpipe player - cool!  I've always been facinated with bagpipes.

As for using hairsticks, once you get the hang of it you will wonder what was so difficult!  Depending on the thickness and length of your hair, it might be easiest to start by putting your hair in a ponytail with a hair friendly hair tie.  Then take the pony tail and gently twist the hair.  As you get the twist to work down the length of the hair, it will try to start curling around the base of the ponytail - that's what you want it to do, then continue to wrap the hair around until the bun is formed.  Long hair may wrap around the base several times!  Tuck the ends under the bun and secure with hair pins if it does not stay by itself.

Now for the hairsticks.  Start by inserting the hairstick at the 2 o'clock position of the bun, pointing up and away from the bun.  Gently place the point of the hairstick against the scalp and twist it around so that it is now pointing at 8 o'clock.  Doing this will pick up some of the scalp hair and help secure the bun.  Now, using a sewing/up and down motion pick up some bun hair, then some scalp hair, etc until you are all the way through the bun.  Voila!  You have a hairstick in your bun!  A second stick can be inserted to make an X or run parrallel to the first stick, which ever suits your fancy.

Hope this helps a bit!

Welcome to the boards!  This is a wonderful place to grow hair to its fullest length.  Goodluck and Happy hair growing.

Welcome!  If I understand you correctly, you've got a digestive disorder?  Over here its called celiac (see lee ack) and is an inability to digest glutens.
There's a lady called Bette Hagman a.k.a. the Gluten-free Gourmet.  She has a whole series on cookbooks you may want to try out.

I hope your treatments are going well, good to hear your hair is growing well now.

Do you circular breathe while playing bagpipes?
Do you follow a particular pagan path?

Glad to have you aboard!

Hi again, work finished and i'm off to practise the pipes. Thanks for all the tips, i'm going to practise with the scrunchie/hair stick theory, i'm gonna suss this if it kills me, yup i got Celiac Sprue, a gluten/wheat intolerance, it sure do like to dry hair out. I can almost hear my hair growing now i'm gluten free.  I follow the hedgewitch path but leaning these days more towards pantheism.
http://www.silly-buggers.sillyyak.co.uk/caspipes1.jpg Me, playing ma pipes oan the Braes.
http://www.silly-buggers.sillyyak.co.uk/cassiepipes2.jpg

Cool pic of you with your bagpipes!  Thanks for sharing it.

IOh mi god, went out today and saw some hair sticks in Claires Accessories in town, went a bought a cheap pair (look like chop sticks) and galloped home (pedalled actually) and i've been practising for HOURSzZZZZZZZZ. It is no use, i'm useless with hair sticks. Totally gutted, i was dying to show them off tonight at work but hey ho!!
I've surfed the net for 'how to' picture by picture instructions, i just don't get it. I do the pony tail and twist my hair but the 'tucking it under' part............tuck it under where?? giggle. >:(...i am thinking bonfire after work tonight if i cannot get this right............argh!! Help meeeeeeeeeeee.


On another note:

Got to ask, What is Sagbraw in your signature BikerBraid?

Plus
Anyone know which is more suitable, a soft BHB or a hard? Anyone recommend a brand with a good reputation?

The "tucking under" is tucking the ends of the ponytail under the bun hair that has already been twisted around the base.  If the ends of your hair are thin, you may be able to twist it enough to actually hold the bun with out any thing holding it in place!  But most people find using a hairpin or two to hold the ends under the bun will work best.

Here is a video clip that shows a gal putting her hair into a bun:
http://www.handmadehairsticks.com/BasicBunInstructions.html

SAGBRAW is a 6 day, 400 mile bike trip I make each year.  It crosses some of the most beautiful parts of Wisconsin.

Hello, it is very nice to meet you :) Cool picture of the pipes!

The video may save me and my hair sticks Biker Braid, ha ha, i'm watching and watching it, if i can get the bun right the rest of it looks easy. THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH for the video ::) ha ha

Hi Panpeus, very pleased to meet you too. :D

Welcome. I love your pipes picture. Is that where you live?
Good luck and happy growing
Meg

Welcome SillyYak.  Keep trying with the hairsticks...even I finally got them to work, somewhat.  I still use those mini-clips around the edges of the bun along with the hairsticks to keep it all together.  
The bagpipes pic is a winner!

I did it, i finally sussed it. I watched that thar video and did the hair stick thang again and again and i've since done a Jane fonda Aerobic workout (beginners), a walk oan the Braes wi ma doags, cycled inta toon and had a wee dram and the hair stix are STILL IN.

Biker Braid its done and dusted, i've finally sussed it. Went into Claires and got 4 more pairs of hair sticks..........yipeeeee.

Congrats!  Many of us find the bun and figure 8 bun to be one of the easiest hairstyles to do with long hair.  I wear a figure 8 bun most days with one or two sticks to hold it in place.

Y'know what?  I don't know what all the fuss is about with these hairsticks, they're DEAD EASY. ::) ha ha, i've practised all weekend, i can do really loose buns and once the stick's in that's it, i could do a marathon and they'd still stay in. Got my eyes set on some gorgous neon hairsticks in your catalogue. I've already hit every store in town and bought about 8 pairs but none of the quality of the ones on here.

I bought myself a Boar Bristle Brush, almond oil and Rosemary essential oils and made up a nice mix, the lovely thing about hair sticks are they keep the ends of your hair safe (unlike a pony tail) and i can keep the ends in nice smelling oil. When i release the hair stick.............viola!! a gorgeous herbal scent wafts round the house/bar.

I'm now so bad i want to wear all my hairsticks at once  ;) as i just can't choose which set to wear.

I think i'm probably the saddest person on this board. ha ha

By the way, has a poll been done to see how many of us are Leos? (all those manes etc). I'd be really interested to know how many red heads/blondes/brunettes etc too as most of the pics i see on here are of redheads.

Going walkies now........which hair stick?? Gad!!

Hi there, nice to mee you!  Nice pipes!  I have a friend in Dornoch who is a pipe player too! 8)

Hi, SillyYak. I'm LJ, welcome to the board. I am a newbie, too. I love reading your posts, I can almost hear your words in my ear as I read them on the screen. So why are you moving to Bulgaria? And since you've mentioned it, are you leaning towards classical or naturalistic pantheism, if you don't mind me asking? Congrats on the hair stick epiphany! I have too many layers to make sense of a hair stick yet, although I did make a sorry, shaggy bun the other day with a ball-point pen...

Welcome SillyYak! Isn't it awesome when you get a bun to stay absolutely GLUED? ;D It makes me so happy.
Anyway, welcome to Longlocks and it's really nice to meet you.

Anais

Greetings and welcome, SillyYak.

How cool that you play bagpipes! I think those things sound awesome!! Being of Irish decent, I also like the sound of uillean pipes.  ;D

Sorry to hear about your celiac disease.  :-/  I seem to have been learning a lot about different digestive disorders lately. My boyfriend is phenylketonuric, and I am slightly hypoglycemic.  :P  Such is life...

You'll no doubt find a plethora of resources and tips for growing your hair here...some are bound to work around your diet.

Oh and just for the record, I'm light brunette/auburn and a Capricorn.  ;D

Best of luck and happy growing.  :)

LJ
Quote:

are you leaning towards classical or naturalistic pantheism?

I'm a naturalist Pantheist i think.  http://www.qsmithwmu.com/naturalistic_pantheism.htm if that website is anything to go by. I think everything natural is sacred. Although i do envision  different gods/goddesses to focus energy and myself.

That's an awesome link. I have to spend some time reading through that site with the thinking cap on. There are not a few ladies on this board who are actively, spiritually "seeking", so I reckon there might be a few threads in our future of a philosophical nature!

Welcome Silly Yak :) :)

cool bagpipes, and love the landscape in the background of the pic.

Was totally ruthless and cut about 1 1/2 inches off my hair last night. There's now no split ends. I'm going to start monitoring my hair growth with pictures from this afternoon on the other thread as soon as i can figure out how to get this camera to work............BIKER BRAAAAAAID???/Well, she's helped me with everything else!! ha ha

I want to be able to sit on my hair in about 3 years time. ::)

SillyYak  Hey that's great!  I took off 3 inches the other day, had to get rid of the last of the hair color I had in. Now I can comb it without and problems. ;D

That's the one benefit is the comb will go through now. But it takes soooooo long to grow baaaaaaack :-/ :'( If only i'd looked after it better in the first place.

Hey ho!! At least now it's getting the best treatment and it shows. My husband brushed my hair yesterday and even he commented on how shiney it is and he NEVER notices anything about me. ;D

Your hair will grow before you know. When you treat it gently, you will need to trim less...which means even more growth. All the ideas you'll learn hanging around here, practicing styling and obsessing about nice hairtoys make a good hobby! ;D

BTW, I love your cloak.

It's gorgeous isn't it?  My husband bought it for me for my 44th birthday. http://www.sillyyak.co.uk/Frankhedge1.jpg Here he is wearing it.  ;)

Hi and welcome!