How to Properly Wear Elastic Headbands on Long and Silky Hair

Some hair textures may be naturally rough, making them much more difficult to style, but for women who have long, silky hair, your hair days may be less dramatic than those with wavy hair. Taming thin, long, silky hair is easy; in fact, you can run your fingers through it effortlessly and not worry about using thick lathers of conditioner to keep your hair flowing. Tying and styling straight hair, however, can become quite a challenge since naturally silky hair tend to damage quickly when tied or set in a tight bun.

Needless to say, for long, silky hair to stay straight and flowing, tying your hair in a ponytail or a bun is highly discouraged. Doing so will only cause a crease to form and make your long, flowing hair look curly or wavy. These creases are difficult to fix and may even lead to split ends and other forms of hair damage later on. One of the many common ways to fix hair creases is to use a hair straightening iron regularly but that too can cause other hair damages on its own.

With hair straightening irons and chemicals out of the picture, what do you do to protect fine, silky hair? 

Believe it or not, the best way to take care of your hair is to go natural. No heat, no pressure, and no chemicals are necessary to give your hair the silky look and the sheen it needs. In fact, all you need to add to your hair styling kit is a wide-toothed comb and a crease-free elastic headband.

Fold-over elastics and skinny elastic headbands are the ideal hair accessories for all types and textures of hair. Elastic headbands do not leave crimps of creases behind no matter how long you keep your ponytail is tied. Since these kinds of elastic headbands do not cause crease to form, you don’t have to worry about further hair damage caused by low-quality hair accessory materials, either.

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Shopping for your crease-free elastic headbands is cheaper when done online. In fact, these headbands are sold only for $5 whereas big-name brands like Sephora sell them for $8.50.

Hair Care without Chemicals

Taking care of your crowning glory is easier than it looks. Contrary to what popular media tells you to do, you don’t actually need several types of shampoo, thick foams of conditioner and even a bi-monthly visit to the salon to give your hair the pampering it needs. In fact, hair experts encourage men and women who are conscious about their hair to try natural, no-chemical solutions to keep their hair clean, fresh, and most importantly, healthy.

You can take care of your hair by mainly keeping yourself healthy. What you eat or drink shows through the shine and texture of your hair. Eating too much oily or eating unhealthy food will often result in dry hair and an itchy scalp, while eating healthily will give you livelier tresses.

Drinking water regularly also leads to better hair, aside from giving you better skin. Who knew that hydrating yourself means getting clearer skin and shinier hair, at the same time? If you want to keep your hair shiny, make sure to drink at least 8 tall glasses of water daily or 2 liters a day. Toxins in your body are washed out by your consistent water intake before they get to your hair to do further damage.

When it comes to shampooing, experts agree that washing your hair with shampoo is best done every other day. Take note that hair shampoo consists mainly of chemicals and these, when applied on the hair at excessive measurements, could lead to hair breakage and damage faster than numerous visits to the salon. It would be best to wash your hair thoroughly with water first, before applying a dab of shampoo. When rinsing your hair, make sure all shampoo suds are gone completely, before applying a thick layer of conditioner.

Finally, when grooming or tying your hair, try not to use tight “scrunchies” or hair bands since the garter used for these are much rougher than those used in skinny elastic headbands. The amazing thing about skinny elastic headbands is that smoother types of cloth and garters are used to make them, in order to protect your hair and to keep the headband from causing friction with each hair strand.

Taking care of your crowning glory does not have to be costly or even, unhealthy. In fact, you don’t need dangerous shampoo chemicals to give your hair the shine and sheen it needs.

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For your first pack of skinny elastic headbands, choose a neutral color like black or white. Working with these colors will be easier since they occur naturally and may compliment several shades and colors.

How to Make Skinny Elastic Headbands for Your Hair

Have you always wanted to put your DIY know-how to the test by making some stylish, skinny elastic headbands for your hair, on your own? The beauty about elastic headbands, is that, you can always customize it to your heart's content and re-purpose any old elastic headband you have lying around into newer and more exciting hair or clothing accessories.

Designing your own skinny elastic headband is easy, and you can go about this DIY project even with the least of arts and craft supplies. Anything you have lying around at home may even be used for this DIY project.

For your first ever skinny elastic headband project, make sure to have your scissors, glue, felt, flower head, thread, needle and thimble and 1/8" skinny and colored elastic headband ready. Another optional accessory would include a tape measure and/or ruler.

Begin your project by cutting the headband to your desired length. It would be a wise idea to wrap the elastic headband around your head to find the proper fit. Alternatively, refer to the measurements below if you are making an elastic headband for someone else or as a gift to your friends:

Adults -- 18 inches and 1/4"
Children aged 1 year to 12 years -- 16-17 inches and 1/4"
Children aged 6 to 12 months -- 15-16 inches and 1/4"
Babies aged less than 6 months -- 13-14 inches and 1/4"

Make sure to tie the elastic headband together, afterwards. The knot should not be longer than 1/4". For a cleaner knot, glue both ends together, but make sure the ends do not exceed 1/4". If you have a needle and thread nearby and enjoy sewing, attach both ends by sewing, instead; this will make for a sturdier elastic headband, as well.

The designing process begins as soon as the headband has been formed. At this point, choose a design to go with from the web, copy a few other designs or make up your own. If you want your elastic headband to look elegant or 'flowery', use ready-made flower heads or flowerettes, fashion jewelry, and other accessories to spruce up your headband.

To attach these flower heads and flowerettes together, you will only need to use fabric glue or any adhesive that attaches to cloth well, or if you want to work with a needle and thread, sue the accessories to the headband directly.

With DIY elastic headbands, the designs and accessories you can come up with are unlimited, and the best part is, you can make as many combinations as you want for free. Flex your creative muscles with these DIY projects.

Solving Hair Woes with Elastic Headbands

Your elastic headbands may not look like much but they can do wonders for your hair. A simple elastic headband can hold your hair in place and be more functional than the usual scrunchie (which can cause split ends) and hair clips which can tangle around your hair. If you want to make your hair accessories stand out or add drama into your attire, a simple elastic headband may even be redesigned and blinged-out with flower heads and fashion gems.

If you have thick, curly hair, you can use a thick elastic hair tie around your head to keep your hair down. Wide headbands are perfect for use on thick, curly hair or on wavy hair.

If you have long, thin hair get a skinny elastic headband to add flair and curves to your otherwise, plain, straight hair.

If your hair is long, wavy, and gets all over your face, two or more elastic headbands can keep everything still and away from your cheeks and forehead.

From Etsy.com

If you have long or medium-length hair and want to make it look more dramatic for an important event, look like a fashionable flapper with a glittery headband. An elastic headband also makes for a good accessory to you boho-chic attire or Grecian-inspired gown.

And finally, if you want to hold your child's hair in place with something soft and elastic, elastic headband with flower heads and flower centers should do the trick.

New Ways to Tie Your Elastic Headbands

You might see little girls, aged 4 and below, wearing colorful elastic headbands around their heads to hold their hair in place, but you rarely find elastic headbands worn in a different fashion. Elastic headbands are not just hair accessories which you use to keep your hair down or clumped together. If you are creative with whatever hair accessories you have in your home, you can transform a simple elastic headband into the perfect accent for any nightgown or dress and even use it to reinvent your hairstyle and your overall look.

There are several things you can do with an elastic headband; just be imaginative and don't let the old designs keep your from experimenting with your hairstyle or with your hair accessories.

1. Top glamorous hairstyles with an elastic hairband.

Tie a top-bun, sock-bun, and any other bun with a stylish elastic headband to make the look extra fabulous. There's absolutely no hairstyle an elastic headband can't improve. You can use an elastic headband with casual wear or as an additional hair accessory for formal events, like weddings and parties.

2. Use two or more elastic headbands for one hairstyle.

You can never have too many elastic headbands on your hair. To capture the boho-chic or hippie look, use more than 2 elastic headbands to hold your long, wavy hair in place. Add a few peace-sign clips or feather accessories and you have yourself a peace-loving look.

3. Use it as a necklace and accessories with a cute pendant or with fashion jewelry beads.

Elastic headbands are not limited to being used as hair accessories. If you enjoy experimenting with your accessories, you could make a lace choker out of an elastic headband or make a flamboyant headdress out of it.

4. Adorn your hair with extra large "flowerettes"

Most elastic headbands for babies come with flowerettes or little clips that look like the petals of a beautiful flower. These flowerettes come in a variety of colors and design, so mixing and matching designs together should not be difficult.

5. Around your hair, yet concealed or partly concealed in a bun.

You don't need to show the word that you are wearing an elastic headband to keep your hair in place. If you want to wear your headband but discreetly, conceal it beneath a bun.

5 Fast and Easy Ways to Accentuate Your Hair

Accentuating your crowning glory is easy, that is, if you have 3 hours to prepare your look every morning before heading off to work or school. Fortunately, in today's fast-paced life, there are still a few, less time-consuming things you can do to look good and make the most out of any hairstyle you have in mind.

1. One of the easiest and most common way to hold your hair in place and still look fashionable is to wear an elastic headband. Elastic headbands come in different colors and widths, so if you have thin, straight hair, a 1/4 inch skinny elastic may be enough to put everything together; however, for curly or fluffy hair, thick 1-1.50 inch headbands should do the trick.

The best part about elastic headbands is that, you can accessorize them further with flower heads and flower centers. If you're hanging out with friends and want to look fun and funky, put on a skinny elastic and a single flower head and you've got yourself a 70's inspired look. If you're joining a formal event and want to look age-appropriate despite wearing a dress, decorate your elastic headband with fashion jewelry, such as these flower centers, and you have a sparkly, crown-like hair accessory.

These beautiful, flower center rhinestones can make your hairstyle more sophisticated.

2. For girls with long, thin or thick hair who want to look prim and proper, tying your hair in a clean sock bun is the quickest way to get rid of rowdy hair that just won't settle down. Sock buns are easy to do and there are plenty of tutorials for them on the web.

If you're feeling adventurous, try out all the other, newer ways to tie a sock bun. Hairstylists and aficionados for having perfectly combed hairstyles have managed to concoct plenty more ways to keep their hair in a bun.

3. Back in the 80's, kids with dip-dyed hair were often referred to as little rebels who wanted to assert their personal identities. The 1980's was a crazy decade, where awkward teenagers made headlines with their odd fashion choices, but if you tried to revive those trends today, people would refer to you as "edgy", in a fashionable way, and not rebellious.

Regardless of the year, dip-dyed hair is a quick way to accentuate your long, flowing tresses. It's a look that's sure to stop people in their tracks.

4. Since we are in the topic of "accentuating", wearing hair pins and scrunchies with colors that complement your natural hair color is another way to add a little oomph factor to your crowning glory. If you're a blond with blue eyes, sometimes, wearing hair clips that are closer to the shade of blue and its complementary colors will bring out the silky look of your hair and the color of your eyes.

Blue stands well against red hair

5. Finally, to further accentuate your hair, whether curly or straight, apply a dab of hair polish everyday to give it that lively luster. Some hair polish products also protect your hair from sun damage and dust, while locking in moisture to maintain gloss.

Award-Winning Hairstyles at the Golden Globes

The web has been blazing with Jodie Foster's somewhat cryptic speech during the Golden Globes (is she coming out or retiring?), but no one has forgotten about the award show's fashionable side. I like award shows because it is the best time to find out what's making the rounds in the fashion scene, as presented by Hollywood's biggest actors and actresses.

I was expecting to see more curls and side-swept hair this year, and my favorite actresses namely Rachel Weisz and Amy Adams made sure to don just that. Cleanly placed buns and cropped hair were everywhere, as well, as seen on Jennifer Lawrence and even the Golden Globe's own host, Tina Fey.

Rachel Weisz's flowing, side-swept brunette hair, with her hubby in tow

Amy Adams with side-swept curly bangs

A clean-cut look on Jennifer Lawrence

Of course, one-half of this year's presenters, Tina Fey, rode on the side-swept hair bandwagon

But within that crowd of buns and flowing, curly tresses, I found Ariel Winter from the Modern Family wearing a bejeweled elastic headband. This look gives her a more youthful and fun vibe which is perfect for the character she plays on screen.

Elastic headbands will never go out of style, as you can see on 14-year old Ariel's look. Whether you're out and about the city to hang out with friends or attending a star-studded gala, elastic headbands will never let you down. It'll keep your hair in place and add that oomph factor to your overall attire.