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I have noticed that as my hair is getting longer, it is also getting more akward!
One would assume the complete opposite situation but not in my case. Basically, as my hair is getting longer my curls are getting thicker/heavier/larger and thus, once tucked behind my ears don't hold very well anymore, i have noticed. As soon as i tilt my head the bangs keep slipping out and i have to keep tucking them repeatedly. I didn't have this problem a few months back. It is almost getting unbearable and is the reason why i am wearing a ponytail about 85-90% of the time now, if you can believe.
Another observation is that when i straightened my hair i didn't have this problem, everything sat behind my ears fine.
This explains why guys with straight hair have it easier than curly heads, in terms of getting through the awkward stage quicker.
Why don't i simply wear my hair over the ears instead of tucked behind? well that is even more worse. My bangs are just overgrown in my face and i look like cousin it, i can't even see where i am walking sometimes, that's how bad it is. I really think that my harline my have something to do with it. My hair, at a centre part, has a natural tendancy to fall right over my face and eyes, and that is problematic for me. I do prefer the look of hair tucked over the ears aswell but it is just impractical for me. I believe this was a reason for the demise of Helgast's beautiful long curly mane.
I also believe that tucking hides some of my length and isn't showing my mane to its full potential, since all the hair is at the back of the head from below the ears further.
Right now i am kind of lost for what to do about this. I can just wear a boring ponytail for the next few years and hope that when my hair is eventually long enough(like 20 inches long) that it won't be a nusance and will sit behind my ears because of gravity which will pull the weight down and thus stop it from falling from the ears like how it does presently.
The easier and more daring option, which i have seriously considered a few times, is to get bangs. I really do like bangs(fringes) and they are a good emulation of my favourite 80s rock stars hairstyles, but there is also a level of maintainence as they must be trimmed and maintained every month or two. Also, i still enjoy to wear the ponytail style, especially for work, and i'm worried it might look wierd with bangs somehow. There are also different bangs you can get. You could get curly ones or brush them straight. Some are parted to the sides and some brushed straight down over the forehead.
I think looking at pictures of long haired men with bangs(mostly 1980s rockers) is a good idea to see the different styles and find one that would suit an individual. The last thing i would ever get is a mullet though, lol, that would just be a waste of hair and would probably look ridiculous on me :p
I would be curious to see how Fallen Angels deals with his curls. How are you wearing them most of the time? tucked or untucked, and are they posing a problem for you like they are for me?
I have tried bobby pins , to secure my bangs, didn't find them to be much help at all. Headbands are ok but aren't appropriate in many social sitations. As for hats, beanies etc, well that just defeats the point of having long hair, if you are going to conceal it all the time. Been there , done that already.
I guess you all probably think i'm whinging or nagging over my hair yet again but this is something i have thought about for some time now and as my hair has gotten longer it hasen't got any less akward, infact more awkward.
While I can't offer the insight of someone who had the exact same problem, I can empathize with you. Right now, my hair seems to be at some sort of point where it doesn't feel like staying back where a month ago or so, it was happy to cooperate. I unfortunatly, don't have it long enough in the front to hold all of it in a ponytail. But yeah, I know how annoying it can get when it's flopping in front of your face at the worst possible times.
All I can say is I'm gonna wait it out, so I guess just sit back and hope it doesn't get worse.
Even though my own hair is on the straight side, it too became more awkward as it got longer. In fact it really took around 2-1/2 years for the back to stop flipping.
Well, if you look like Cousin "It," then I was the "Thing." :-0
Mine did and still does to a great degree, hence I just have a thin band ala the Native American Indians which holds all out of the way very well. For the time being,you might consider trying something like this just to see if it works-out for you or if you even like the look?
Not such a bad option at all, especially if you like that look. (They sure liked it in the 70's-80's and then styles changed. But, styles DO come back.) Perhaps you could take a photo of yourself and do a mock rendering on the photo of how bangs would look on you just for a kind-of "visual idea." And yes, looking at and studying photos of the Rockers of the 1980's and just how they did it is a great idea. I never saw a single one that was not a success. Why so many are against this look today eludes me completely.
No way! Hair is a very important thing to us and does take alot of thought, especially while toughing-out the Awkward Stage. I sure can understand where you are coming from. Funny, but the Awkward seems to get worse and worse and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, and then suddenly one wakes up one morning and all seems to have fallen in place! It must be that tiny fraction of a 32nd of an inch that tips the scale.
Your own hair to my eyes looks fantastic right now, and because of the curls, I don't even notice an Awkward Stage. All looks normal............and it looks great! :-)
Justin
Hi Jus, thanks for the encouraging reply.
I could get a headband thingo but i don't really enjoy wearing them and they are not appropriate in many social situations.
I have bandanas but rarely wear them aswell.
I'm thinking that when my hair is super long(20 inches or more) my hair will sit behind my shoulders and rest on my back, rather than in the front how it does now. SO i will be easily able to just throw it behind my shoulders. You really don't know the experience until you actually grow your hair out to that length and find out. All i have to do is persevere, keep growing and get more length.
Well, I do "cheat" a bit by wearing glasses sometimes (not just for hair, of course - I'm painfully shortsighted without lenses of some kind), and the glasses keep my bangs to the sides.
However, I do wear contacts when I'm not sporting glasses (glasses are more of a laziness option than anything), and then my hair DOES go in my eyes far more. However, I simply push the bangs aside and walk on; pushing them away isn't annoying to me, but rather confirms and enhances the longhair experience and image to me. I don't tuck my bangs behind my ears very often because the rest of my hair doesn'hang down enough for this stye to look anything short of like a homicidal abused circus clown. lol.
I know this probably doesn't help you, man, but that's what I do...I just stick it out. I also know that when my hair falls, pushing it behind my ears will be simplistic, because the hair won't have to "fit" behind the ears like now - it'll simply flow over the ear and hang down to the shoulders with the rest of my hair. So, I suggest not getting a fringe until your hair/bangs is a bit past shoulder-length and you can see how they react to being put behind your ears with the added weight. You should be pleasantly surprised.
A fringe might be cool, but the maintenance is awful, and what a pain it would be to grow out again were you to decide you didn't like it anymore...
Yes, that is what i was thinking of aswell. I have to think in the long term and not always just about the current situation.
As my hair gets longer it will drop more and start trailing down my back rather than sitting on top of the shoulders, as does currently. I do believe with extra length that i will be easily capable of simply lifting the mane and just throwing it behind my shoulders and let it rest on my back. I guess another 10 inches approx for that. The thing is , i don't know about you, but my hair morphs and transforms so much with each inch. It was only like 2 months ago that i couldn't tie my own ponytails, my mum had to do them for me cause my hair was still a tad too short. Now i tie my own with ease. Best to leave it, wear a pony, tough it out, and enjoy the long term results. Added length should solve this problem.
Curly hair is definately a bigger challenge than growing straight hair , hehehe. And i actually thought i was completely out of the awkward stage, foolish me :P
I agree, bangs are a temporary quick fix but the maintainence is annoying and if i don't like the look, well....i'm screwed.
I don't know about this, but im guessing maybe you can be going into a second awkward stage, since you have curly and thick hair. Everyone has different awkward stages, I myself am not close to getting out of the awkward stage and i am almost at 10 months. I have very thick hair that is also causing major problems at this length. i only have one question...
what is your goal length exactly? and if you reach it, would you plan on keeping it that way(cutting every now and then to keep that length)?
I ask this because i have an idea that just 'may' solve your problems once your hair is long enough, but im not too sure.
Yes, read my reply to Fallen Angel's post. I do think the problem will be non-existent with added length. My hair goal? my short term goal was shoulder length and now i plan on atleast mid back. However, i plan on growing longer and have no reason to cut my hair. If i didn't have curly hair i would go butt length for sure :)
my hair is really thick and curly too (granted not as curly as yours..) and I also have the same problem of pushing hair behind my ears, and due to its thickness it falling out again whenever i lean over or anything. I personally wouldnt have a problem with wearing it in a ponytail 90% of the time as shoulder/ponytail-able length is my goal..
my advice.. don't get bangs! if you end up not liking them think about the time it would take to grow them back out again.. more hair in face that you cant get in a tail! I still personally believe that long hair on men looks a lot better when it is just allowed to grow naturally the whole way. Forget fashion cuts!!
And for now.. just live with the problems impracticalities that your hair presents with the knowledge that the problems won't last forever :-)
A second awkward stage? I guess I'm not sure I fully understand, as my hair really isn't curly at all, just slightly wavy. So you're saying that even though you hair is well past chin length (the typical awkward stage), it's really curly and not long enough to "weigh it down", so it always falls forward? That must be annoying...
Bangs isn't such a bad idea. As a fan of metal and the 80's in general, I do like bangs. I think I prefer even-length hair all around, but there's no shame in having bangs. Plus, it keeps some hair out of your face. I don't think I'd ever do it though, tbh. And like someone else said, if you decided you didn't like it, it'd be hell to grow it back out. Maybe you should take the 2-week approach, sort of like alot of people on here recommend doing before you cut your hair (even though that usually applies to all of your hair =P ). Make that a month approach or something. Haha. So it'll give you alot of time to think about it, or change your mind if the situation works itself out.
Nah man not at all, that's what this place is for! Longhairs ftw
Hi there, I've got straight hair with bangs and that's enough of a nightmare to deal with so unless you really, really, really like the style and think you would like to stick with it for a very long time I'd caution against cutting and try to stick it out. I see you intend to carry on growing - I find that the longer the rest of my hair is, the more inappropriate straightforward bangs look with it. I tend to go from cutting it to a "I can see where I'm going" length and then spending the next however long growing them out to chin length and this is not a very pleasant process. When the rest of my hair is at its longest I find I need to graduate the sides to avoid the unnatural look of way short bangs and way long hair. The other problem is are you going to trust a hairdresser to do this for you? I wouldn't with my straight hair - if my hair was curly I'd be doubly doubtful that they could do a good job. If I was also a man I would multiply that distrust by a factor of about 100!! At least! It takes me a while to cut my hair - curly hair is so much more difficult because you never know how its going to take the cut until its too late! Yikes!
For myself, my hair looks best with chin length bangs that have been braided in with the rest so that the ends of the bangs take on some of the kinks from the bangs. This seems to make them stay out of my face and since your hair is curly in the first place perhaps you will find this section of the hair more co-operative when it gets to your chin or slightly beyond in its natural state. I know you want to avoid damaging your hair but perhaps on more desperate days you could get those straightening irons out as a special treat.
