>>50862846Mostly I just keep it straight, or do it in a tail if I'm feeling lazy or if I'm going to be outside with wind. Wind is my nemesis. Anything more intricate leads to tangle city.
When I do a tail, I usually offset it to a side, especially if I'm going to the gym, so I can get it out of the way more easily. I floof up the tail for special occasions though, I actually have a little doohickey that bumps it up and out a bit, looks pretty cute, pain in the ass to get out, though.
For me, my main consideration is that my hair is very thick, dense, and coarse; it's too heavy for a lot of product, and tangles pretty badly if it gets stripped of oil. I naturally get a lot of body and "floof" from sun exposure, but that also strips a bit too much moisture, so I need to counteract that. My hair is a bit atypical to most, with special care considerations on one end, but shortcuts I can take on the other, so don't take my word as advice to follow without getting an opinion from someone who actually does that for a living, or just experiment with what your hair does well with. Besides maintaining moisture, my hair is actually low maintenance enough that I'm a good candidate for Locks of Love, and I've donated twice.
I've found a few shampoo and conditioner brands that keep my hair lubricated and smooth enough to work with enough and maintain volume. My current favorite is a japanese brand I get from what's essentially Don Quixote, made from horse oil. I imagine you could get something similar from a bunch of other brands, but I get a kick out of the relative weirdness of the product.
I've gotten it styled a few times, but honestly I'm just too lazy to maintain it, and don't like the feeling of deciding what I'm going to do based on my hair.
LOTS of brushing, though, I have four different textured brushes that I cycle through whenever I'm killing time.
I can get it longer, but that starts getting annoying to move with, and is heavy as fuck besides, so I keep it cut.
