Okay, hairsticks are my secret vice -- I have several pairs of chopsticks I use, two pairs of longlocks sticks for special occasions, and a pair of plain rosewood ones for "hair, get out of my way!" on a daily basis. All the other hair boards I've been on, I've been the /only/ person who adores them, so I haven't had anyone to ask this of before, sooo...

What style do you prefer to have the stick portion be? By this I mean, smooth and straight, spirally, textured slightly...? Personally, I've found ones that are textured some how (my wood pair has irregular slices taken out) tend to hold my hair in place better for a bun, although smooth straight ones work best for a french twist.

And am I the only one who likes to wear ones that are perhaps a little long for her hair length? All of my hairsticks end up with about .5"-.75" free on either side of my bun/twist/whatever, and several different vendors have told me that's too long.

I've never tried square sticks. o.o; I don't think that would hold my hair up at all -- and if the end wasn't pointed adequately, I wouldn't be able to get it /into/ my hair.

I also don't care for the square ones.  I have to twist my hair extra tight to get them to be firmly in, which isn't ideal.  I also do not like the thicker round ones, same problem as the square ones. Texture doesn't seem to matter, as my hair is wavy and tends to stay up pretty much by itself.  I like the ends to stick out so my pretty hairsticks show!

I love my beautiful longlocks hair sticks, of course, and wear them everyday after work.  My bridal sticks are my favorite because of the frosted glass and softly painted flowers that go with everything in my closet! The lightly etched, pearly white bone stick is beautiful peaking out from my bun.

I daycare little ones 6 days a week and need to keep my hair away from the glue, paint, and art sizzors

I use a colored pencil and an artist's paint brush most of the time.  It is handy to have the pencil within reach and the paintbrush holds my hair up well.   

I'm so glad I finally found some pretty hair sticks! 

I tried some plain ones, they worked, but had no style at all  

The children love my paintbrush and pencil and they go nicely with my "teacher" skirts.   One of my moms has decided to let her hair grow because I have so much fun with my hair 

I'm probably going to be one of the folks that will swear by the square stix...  I got a pair for X-mas that happend to be square and they're one of my favorites for work right now - they never move/budge/shift...  and on the days my hair has to stay up (I'm an engineer) they work so well!  (for those curious, I have long, very straight and thin hair)



Question for folks while I'm here :  thoughts on using the single sticks? (like the Asian sticks).  They're gorgeous!, but I'm not sure how to put up my hair to use them...  (they seem strange for just the normal bun, and I also got one of these for X-mas)   

When you're done does it look kind of like a high ponytail just held with a stick? I don't know if I've done it correctly 

I use a single stick to hold my bun quite often.  I also use unmatched sticks when I want to use a pair of sticks.  I've also been known to go to a store that stocks lots of oriental items and buy chopsticks to use in my hair (some are very pretty and inexpensive).  I will use a chopstick to go with another single stick.  Let your hairsticks make a statement about you! 

More important for how well sticks stay in my hair is how I put them in - I have it easier in some ways because my hair has so much texture, it often will naturally stay in place almost on its own - but I've put many people's hair up in sticks - especially people who claim they can't put their hair up in sticks - Tree included at least once...though not recently (but I brought all my sticks on a trip we took together and she's been hooked on longlocks ever since!   ) - and what I've found always works (no matter how short or thin or slippery or fine they think their hair is) is this method:

when you make your bun (or most other stick styles you are trying) place the stick slightly inside of the bun (or 'do) by about 1/4" or so and angled to the outside of the bun.  Then push the stick towards your scalp, gathering a little bit of the hair that is pulled against your scalp under it, then flip the stick so that the pointy end is going through your bun and the other end (decorated if it's from this site!) is left pointing out of the top of the bun - then repeat for the other stick on the other side - I frequently use either an X formation, a + formation or a parallel formation (one right below the other in the same direction) to get the best hold on the bun or do.  I do this on virtually all of my updo's that I use sticks for, and I've never had a one come down (or on anyone else either!).  On smaller buns or updo's you can do this with just one stick and have it stay fairly well too!

I also use the method of starting by pointing the sticks the opposite direction I ultimately want the sticks to go.  I have also found that when your hair gets longer and you have multiple "rounds" on the bun, you need to weave the stick back up into the bun to catch each "round".  With this method I can hold my waist length hair in a bun with a single stick.

    A  CALL FOR HELP!!!

Hi everyone I am new to the message board. Nice to meet you all - I have read the previous postings for some time.

I am quite a new Hairstix customer and having some trouble with hairstyles. I can get my hair in a bun by holding it in a pony tail with a snagfree elastic, I then twist this, but have to use a bun net over the top. I insert the sticks behind the pony holder / bun for stability.

I cannot get my hair held in a bun without a net otherwise it slips down and looks a mess. The twist starts to fall as I place sticks in, and the ends will not tuck underneath neatly, they are too bulky.

I seem to have bits of hair slipping out everywhere even though my hair is all one length (mid-back and thick). Also I am finding it difficult to actually 'weave' the sticks in and out of the hair. How do you do this, can your hair be too thick for this?

I cannot recreate any of the styles featured in the Gallery without getting frustrated and giving up.

I'm sorry to be complaining and miserable but I love my Hairstix and want to be wearing them every day.

Does anyone else have these problems?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I would be very grateful for any help. ???

Louise, is your hair straight, soft, and slippery? This could be a factor if your hair doesn't hold very well. I agree with Rapunzel that you should braid your hair first.

Sometimes it may be hard to get the hang of a new thing, but believe me, practise makes perfect! When my hair was just mid-back length, I still had some layers and I couldn't braid my hair without bits sticking out, so I would do a french braid. Then I would wrap this into a bun, and it stays much more securely than a normal bun, so you could try this method as well.

I also don't weave the stick through my hair. If you read Space_Cadet's post I'm sure you'll understand what I mean when I say put the stick at the edge of the bun and then push it outwards, then turn it around and push the stick through your bun. You won't have to weave at all. Sorry if my explanation isn't very understandable! But Space_Cadet has posted very good instructions for this.

Good luck