Anybody know what is appropriate when it comes to hair?

Ok I just started using fire and noticed that after smacking myself on the side of the head accidently,that a portion of the hair where the poi made contact had singed some of my hair off. My hair was pulled back into a cotton tail(sorta like a pony tail only on the last part where you would normally pull the hair all the way through and be done, you leave it in partially).I know many of y'all have had the hair on your heads singed off before, but I was just wondering if wetting my hair down before I burn is a good deterant for singed hair or what? I was also interested in knowing if certain shampoos/conditioners and other hair products could cause your hair to catch fire more easily.If y'all out there happen to know anything that could aid me in the prevention of singed hair could y'all please give me a heads up?

If you have long hair its always a good idea to have it Wet when spinning. When your hair is wet its harder to singe.
You could also wair a hat.
I wouldent spinn if I had hair spray in my hair, gell may not ignight, but hair spray will.
(But lets face it its not the 80's anymore, big hair is out)

Good Luck,

~Fire Spirit

freshly clean shaven is de only way, muahaha

seriously tho, NO HAIR spray, umm, pretty much anything with alcohol innit or anything that dries your hair out(which includes most gels). Getting wet before you light up is always a good idea, unless your covering it up..

or you could wear a toque etc.

I don't use gell or hair spray, and didn't think they where to good. I once say a man blowing fire, he must have had spray in his hair cus he looked like Bob Ross (The TV Painter). When he blew his whole head went up! I couldent believe it, when the flame went out a second later, he still looked like Bob Ross, but with an inch of black sizzlys on the outskirts. Kind of looked like a burnt marshmellow.

Wet hair, up in a bun, or pony tail would be the beast thing, onless you wear a hat There you have it.

I wear a wool felt beret, Erica wears a bandana, Doug just braids his down flat, Syve has a leather skullcap (but no hair to protect), and Sarah wets hers down. I do find that if my bun sticks out too far, my chains catch on it, so i usually braid mine down, then wet it (in Summer) or use the beret in Winter...
DO NOT use styling products when you are going to be lighting up!
Keeping your hair well conditioned will marginally reduce its flammability, but not to where it makes a difference if you are practising appropriate hair safety.

Ok, I'm kind of going off point here, not all the way, but a little bit.

Question about those hair revitalizers/dyes advertised on tv. You know the type, stuff by clarol or something. Do those actually work? Would they work on near black hair? I feel like doing something with my hair, though I don't want to pay to have it bleached than dyed. I also don't want to mess around and do it myself, it'd look like crap. I miss having colored hair, this black stuff is nice, but I feel like something different again.

Ummm, to bring it back on topic, would such hair catch on fire easier ?

Or if your a guy, the standard military cut works good to. THats what I have. My hair is half an inch long, dosn't touch my ears or collar, and I have no side burns.

I have a ceaser cut. I can't stand anything touching my neck, or sideburns. It's long enough to spike. My hair is really curley (sp?), so I only have about a week of prime spiking time till I have to use a whole lotta gel to keep it up.

Other than that, Hat's are a plus while spinning. Long hair, have a wet bandana, or put it in a bun.

Cheers,
Kinudin

I always wear a bandana now when I twirl after having exactly the same thing happen to me when I was twirling as what happened to you - 'cept I singed my badly enough that the ends poking out of my bun all melted together...!

I have a question to add too - Does anyone have any great ideas about what to do with hair that has braid extensions when twirling?? You know when they add fake hair to your own hair and braid it further down past the length of your own hair?
I have just gotten my hair braided like this today and I'm kinda concerned about the fact that the fake hair seems to be almost entirely flammable!
Has anyone here had this done? What did you do with the braids?
At the moment, all I can think of is to plait the braids and put them down the back of my shirt (they go almost to my waist) - but I find that this limits being able to move as freely as I'd like, cause it annoys me having my hair tucked under my collar....

Any ideas Hoppers?
Rach

maybe you could soak it in water then put some sort of sheath of cotton cloth over it? It would probably look wacky I dunno.

Id think with wet hair+wet cloth over it you would have pretty good protection.

How long do those crazy braid extensions last anyways?

some shampoo's and conditioner's put silicon in the holes of your hair i don't know if thatd stop your hair burning or encourage it. pyro_tech is right were a bandana.

Not sure how long they'll last Astar...I've been told different amounts of time by friends that have had them - guess it depends on how fast your hair grows, cause they start to look messy after a while - two months I think sounds about right....
My friend who's a hairdresser needed a head to do them on for some hair expo thing, so she did it on mine and I have to sit still on a stool all day tomorrow while she demonstrates the styles you can put the braids in once they're done... I think I'm gonna get bored quickly!

As soon as the fire ban stops around here, I will try your idea and see how it goes...thanks!
Rach

P.S Aurora - Do you have heaps of hair? If you find that regular bandana's dont keep all of your hair covered under it - do what I did - I bought a piece of material that I like and cut it into a much bigger square to fold over into a bandanna - then i put my hair into a messy bun, tied the bandana over the top and instead of having the triangle part out and flapping around I tucked it into the knot at the base of my neck...all hair covered and no problems then! I never used to wet my hair, I just covered it up.....

I had all my hair cut off..

ALL OF IT? I don't believe you! No way???


WET HAT = HAPPY HAIR

Ohhhh...here we go!

Wet is good but it dries out fast. Keep a squirt bottle with you and redamped between sets.
If you have a hat, make certain it is worn tight on the head or that it is somehow tight to you, or attached. Not good when the hat brim gets thwapped by the poi.
There are also the hair socks for long hair. It is like a sheath for hair, hollow cotton tube and you feed really long hair through it. They generally have draw string ties at both ends so that you can tighten and tie it down.
DO NOT put your hair in a bun, unless it is low on the head at the nape of the neck. I have done this in rehearsal and had my poi wrap right around it. Same goes for nods.
There is also pomade, hair mud and the really thick goop for hair that is not flamable. Gels and hairsprays definately are. Most shampoo's and conditioners, even those made to leave a residue, are not flamable but they also won't protect you either.
This is also an interesting idea that is good for your hair....if you don't mind the slicked back look, you can actually dampen your hair with olive oil. It acts like VO5 as a hair conditioner and protects your hair from going up in flames.

As for styles for long hair, really braids and plaits are the best, dampen them first so they hold the moisture to the core. You can bind them at the bottome and tuck them up and under themselves. IE: when you braid your hair, pull out a bit at the base of the head, leaving a bit of extra room. Continue braiding to the tips. Tuck the tip up and under the braided part on the head and secure with a safety pin. This limits the amount of exposed hair. French Twists work similarly.

And about the dying black hair, you really do have to bleach it first. I have never known anyone to have success without doing that first, no matter what product they are using. However, many goth stores now sell the "lightening and bleach" kits which are pretty safe and not as damaging as clorox and not as expensive as a salon. You might want to look into those.

Good luck all!

I have to admit that I have singed my hair many times when spinning fire. This explains why I've had a few meetings with a pair of clippers.

Wetting hair and wearing head e gear like beanies (aka toques) is always gonna be the best option.

Having said that, I have also spun fire on many occasions with hair products in. One festival that comes to mind was the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler last season. I was sporting a big mohawk (about 4 inches tall), layered blonde on top with my natural brown roots. As, the festival was sponsored by Garnier Fructis, I had my mohawk styled everyday by them.

It may have been just my luck, but my hair never went up in flames or singed regardless of how much hair spray I had up there **touching wood**. That's with spinning and breathing fire.

I like to take elmer's glue and make crazy liberty spike patterns with my mohawk.Once they are glued they ain't getting set on fire.

I must say I love having a mohawk.

Yo Pyro-Tech........

......extentions can get difficult to twirl with cuz of a new lengh.....but the best way i found was wrapping my hair in material (im already a material-head-piece freak). Or just dunk it in the water too...thats ok.....just don't worry bout it too much man......you get used to it after a while!

I hated worrying about my hair while twirling so i just got dreads.....they are so much easier to handle....but still with the head material....cuz i love it...or yeah wetting your hair (and it feels good in summer hehee )