High ponytails are the worst offenders for causing hair breakage and stress, especially if they're pulled tightly. If you need to have your hair up regularly and can't get away with a few 'down days', try to switch between high ponytails and low, loose styles.
Tight ponytails can stress the hair follicles around your hair line and eventually pull out the hairs. Traction alopecia is usually temporary, but if it continues over time, inflammation might cause long-term problems with the follicles and prevent future hair growth.
When it comes to a round face shape — the higher the 'do, the better. That's because height at the crown of your head will help balance out the roundness in your cheeks, says Cho. "If you want to elongate your face, you should bring the focus upward," she says.
High ponytails are the worst offenders for causing hair breakage and stress, especially if they're pulled tightly. If you need to have your hair up regularly and can't get away with a few 'down days', try to switch between high ponytails and low, loose styles.
The best ponytail for a round face
When it comes to a round face shape: the higher the pony, the better. See, the height at the crown of your head will help balance out the roundness in your cheeks, says Cho. "If you want to elongate your face, you should bring the focus upward," she says.
Here's the deal: Anytime you pull your hair straight back, it keeps people's focus at eye level. But when you pull your hair up in a high ponytail, your hair is more on a diagonal in line with your cheekbones, drawing others' eyes upward and instantly creating the illusion of a different face shape.
Traction alopecia is hair loss that's caused by repeatedly pulling on your hair. You can develop this condition if you often wear your hair in a tight ponytail, bun, or braids, especially if you use chemicals or heat on your hair. Traction alopecia can be reversed if you stop pulling your hair back.
It seems counterintuitive but sometimes bringing all your hair up can, in fact, make your face appear slimmer. "Line up the angle of the ponytail with your cheekbone and top of your ear to create a clean symmetrical line that will give an uplifted effect," says Lopez.
Do it super straight and sleek, or full, messy and voluminous. You can use your low ponytail as a blank canvas for hair accessories if you like! Low ponys work perfectly with barrettes, pearl hair pins, ribbons, scrunchies, and headbands. Keep scrolling to see tons of great ways to style low ponytails!
The height of your hair allows you to look thinner and slim down by drawing the eye upward. Giving your hair a wavy or curly affect is another great way to make your face appear thinner. Long, loose, voluminous waves that frame your face can narrow your look.
A high ponytail is a hairstyle that has all the hair gathered and secured into a section on top of the head. Casual + sporty + elegant = it's unbelievable how versatile this ponytail hairstyle is!
This hair growth myth is related to the very real observation that certain braiding styles, weaves, or extensions that put significant tension on the scalp can lead to hair loss. Braids and ponytails on their own won't damage your hair or slow down the growth, especially if you don't pull them tight at the scalp.
Braiding can help keep your strands moisturized. Braiding your hair at night actually helps lock in moisture which would otherwise be released into the air or the fabric of your pillow when hair is loose. Oiling your hair before braiding not only locks in moisture but deeply hydrates the roots too!
But unfortunately, braiding hair does not speed up growth rate. Your hair grows at a rate determined by genetics, while lifestyle factors like your diet and stress levels can cause thinning and breakage. But the way you wear your hair is not a factor in your hair growth rate.
Most hair ties crease and dent your hair; then, leave you with funky looking hair after taking it down after a workout or out from your messy bun. Whereas scrunchies are much more forgiving and made out of fabric, which prevents breakage and is less damaging to your hair strands. So scrunchie wins this time!
Delicate ends that are already prone to breakage tend to suffer the most, since updos are often secured with bobby pins or tight elastics that can create new split ends and fray current ones even further when used on wet hair," explains Shafer.
While placing hair in a bun through the day can cause breakage and excessing pulling, wearing it to bed for the promise of no-heat waves is worse. As you roll around in bed, the traction at the roots gets stronger, causing more friction through the night.
Long straight hair
While many people associate long hair with youth, keeping your hair long and stick straight can actually make you look older than you are. Pin-straight hair puts your face front and center—including all those little lines you're trying to obscure.