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I have always been fascinated with men who heavily gel their hair back into a ponytail. I attended a conference last week in Washington DC and was part of a roundtable discussion with a man whose hair was so sleek, you could see your reflection in it. I would love to talk to any long hair who really enjoys "greasing up and slicking back". Anyone in the site into doing this to his hair or who also enjoys this type of long hair style?
Guilty as charged...I love having long hair, it is just that I have naturally curly, unruly hair. If I just brush it back into a ponytail, it looks nice for about 2 minutes. Then the clown-like tufts begin to stick out.
When I had more hair, I would style it into a shoulder length page-boy , using blow dryer and hairspray. Now, only enough is left around the edges for a ponytail, but it is still as unruly as Tombstone on a Saturday night.
So...I gel it back into a ponytail. Sometimes I blow dry the ponytail straight, other times I go for the contrast of severe, slick and tight "north " of the hairtie and wild and curly "south" of the hairtie.
Gel is the enemy in my books, I hate the stuff.
I'll second that. I stopped using the stuff when my hair was heavy enough to not 'afro' on me, I'm in the last part of the awkward hair phase and think hair is generally much nicer to have gunge-free hair.
Part of my problem is that I sort of have these "wings" that are right at the corners of my forehead that aren't quite long enough for a ponytail yet. I prefer to have mine in a tail, otherwise it gets everywhere, and looks messy (I do have to keep at least a semi-professional appearance). This comes from having thinning shears used on my hair before I started to grow it out. The result: overall long hair (below mid chest after a couple of years since it was just above earlength to start with) with some strands still going through the awkward phase.
I use aloe vera so that I get rid of the gunk feeling. It disappears into your hair, and I assume it helps condition it, too.
Just my two cents worth,
Ghiolla
I don't heavily gel my hair, but as I have wavy/curly hair, it helps to put something on it to keep it calm. If I don't wear it in a tail, it goes everywhere, and I feel rather unkempt. What I tend to use is a pure aloe vera gel (no colors or additives) and it works great to avoid the gel/crunchy hair look. Ususally, though, I only do this when i really need to have my hair looking especially nice at work.