Our Favorite Ouch Free Hairstyles For All Hair Types

Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read  

Our Favorite Ouch Free Hairstyles For All Hair Types

Some days I feel like creating a cute hairstyle but am not in the mood for the headaches that come along with it. Most of the time my hairstyles don’t cause me pain, but some days my head and scalp is more sensitive.

On these days, I need easy hairstyles that won’t hurt my head. I’ve come up with a few go-to ouch free hairstyles and created tutorials for them. These hairstyles also work great on hair that hasn’t been washed (oh, I totally understand the pain of washing and drying hair!). Read on to learn about our favorite ouch free hairstyles.

This fishtail braid is simple and quick to create

Will These Ouch Free Hairstyles Work for All Hair Types?

These hairstyles will work for all hair types. If you have thicker or more fine hair, you may need different clips or hair ties. My ideas are what works for my hair type, which is currently on the thicker side, long, naturally wavy and dyed. If your hair type is different than mine, simply use my ideas as a launching board for coming up with your own styles. Inspiring others is always my aim in my projects and creations.

This rounded claw clip works great for low ponytail hairstyles

Practice Makes Perfect

Also note that practice makes perfect. Not everyone can style their hair perfectly in a certain way the very first time trying it. I always have ideas and do some experiments until I get it right. When styling your own hair, concentrate on creating what works for you and your hair type. Using the right hair tools can be helpful. For sensitive scalps, I love my Tangle Teezer brushes and the FHI HEAT Unbrush.

I go back and forth between the two depending on what my hair and scalp feels like and depending on the hairstyle I am wearing. My dog, Minnie Pearl, (with super long hair) loves these brushes too. I have mini versions of each brush just for her!

A metal clip hairstyle never hurts my head

Listen to Your Hair

Listen to your hair when thinking about how to style it. Trying to make your hair do something it doesn’t want to do never truly works. I pay a lot of attention to the weather since my hair is very reactive to certain environments. Your hair can also be very telling of your overall health. If you are noticing hair loss or hair thinning while styling, talk to your doctor.

My metal bow hair clips are some of my favorite

When your hair starts doing things that it doesn’t normally do, your doctor can order some bloodwork to see how your overall health is doing. Many insurance companies will cover a once a year physical and we take advantage of this every year. Learn more about proper hair care and how diet affects your hair from the Harvard Medical School here.

Now for the hairstyles. While I’ve written directions on how to create each ouch free hairstyle, watching the 1-minute video tutorials will be helpful for you. I’ve linked to each from our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden and included them below.

If you haven’t washed your hair in a couple of days, sometimes that can be helpful when styling hair. If your hair is freshly washed, my hairstylist gave me a tip years ago. Use dry shampoo! It helps soak up oil on unwashed hair but also adds grip to freshly washed hair for easier styling.

Low Pony or Half Up with a French Round Claw Clip Bow:

This hairstyle can be created with any rounded claw clip. Either brush your hair into a low ponytail and clamp it in OR pull back the front sides of your hair and clamp it in. The one I used was a little heavy and would work best on thicker hair if doing the half up hairstyle. If you have more fine hair, the low ponytail would be your best option with this rounded claw clip.

The rounded french claw clip half up hairstyle

My bow rounded claw clip came from TEMU and was about $2. Search “bow claw clip” on TEMU and use this link and my code afe55197 at checkout (for new app users only) to get 30% off. TEMU sells out of certain things quickly, but here is a link to a similar round claw clip on TEMU that cost $0.14 at the time I wrote this. Their prices are great on so many things!

Use my code afe55197 for 30% off for new TEMU app users

Similar rounded (also called french round) claw clips can be found at the following retailers:

See my video tutorial for this round claw clip hair style below OR via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:

Half Up Hair with Metal Clip in Bows

My hair tutorial for metal clip hair bows has been doing well on my TikTok account @carolynjbraden. The only thing I forgot to tell people was how the metal clips work. I used these metal clips as a kid and assumed everyone knew how they worked.

The metal bow clips have a latch at one end that has two small metal buttons on either side. Push in on the buttons at the same time and the clip will release. Practice with these clips before putting them in your hair as some of my viewers got the bows stuck in their hair.

Similar metal clip in bows can be found at the following retailers:

See my video tutorial for this metal clip half up hair style below:

Hair Down with a Fishtail (I’ve also heard it called “Fishbone”) Braid

For this hairstyle, I straightened my hair (I love this $20 Conair straightener) and used a styling comb to pull out a small section of hair by my part. I then fishtail braided that section of hair. To fish tail braid, separate the section of hair into two parts.

This is an easy fishtail braid hairstyle

Pull a small strand of hair from one section to the other side. Then repeat on the other side. You are basically just pulling small strands of hair from one side to the other. I secured the end with a tiny, clear plastic elastic band.

I added some hair rings using this kit I bought on Amazon to make it look “island-y”and beachy. I use Beachwaver Braid Balm to smooth out flyaways.

I love this braid balm for flyaways and more!

My video (COMING SOON) shows you how to do it in detail or see this article on hair.com by L’OREAL.

Half Up Beachy Braid with Ring Clips

We wrote up a full tutorial for this super easy, cute and beachy messy braid hairstyle and created a video. Get the full article with photos by clicking here. I used the same hair rings in this tutorial as I used in the fishtail braid style above.

This messy braid style turned out to be a very cute and easy hairstyle

Watch the 1 minute video below for my beachy braided crown half up hairstyle tutorial:

If you loved this article, we know you’ll love this one too: How to Get a DIY Salon Blowout with the Dyson Airwrap Styler

Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.