new thread
Hi guys,
Well, I have been lurking here for a couple of years. I love long hair, but since '91, mine has been anywhere from buzzed to shaved bald.
I had long hair in my late 20s, but cut it off because a friend thought it was too thin.
I decided that I want to try it again before it all falls out. I am slightly receding in front and have some general thinning all over my crown.
Am I nuts for trying this?
Attached is a pic from two weeks ago.
No, but don't expect super length. If you have wavy or curly hair you might be able to get a little afro thing going on, but it might not get much longer than that. Straight hair? That'd be harder to deal with if it grows slow..
Id say go for it.
It dosent matter if the hair is thining or receeding. What matters is if you find some enjoyment in growing and maintaining it. Plus, long hair men are not too common these days and you will have established a personal goal for yourself.
Ive just began growing mine out about 2.5 months ago from about double your length.
If you enjoy watching the evolutionary process of your beard growing in then im sure you will enjoy gaining some lenght on the top as well.
I have included a link to my current hair lenth, ive set my first goal date at one year with no cutting. very, very, minor trims excluded. I enjoy the evolutionary process.
Headshok
Absolutely not! I had in fact written a little bit about long hair for balding men in a thread below; see "Four Questions." In short, I feel that balding men can still grow very dignified-looking manes, based on having actually seen several such men in my area. I also feel that shaving or buzzing away hair simply on account of thinning, or the feared reactions of others thereto, isn't very "manly" any more that I can consider shaved or buzzed heads particularly "masculine." This is a decision that the affected longhair must be able to make FOR HIMSELF based on his own unique set of problems and philosophical leanings.
I have been lurking here off and on for about seven months as a "longhair in development." I have noticed once in a while hints that long hair is not worth having if it cannot meet some arbitrary standard of "fullness" or that long hair on a balding head is "desperate." These are rather disturbing to me. I myself am becoming a longhair because of certain long-standing life philosophies, which drive me to have my hair in its naturally functional form just as I have for all of my independent adult life maintained my beard to best natural advantage (but unfortunately only last May, approaching the age of 40, did I finally shake free of certain fears, many likely irrational, which kept me intermittently getting the haircuts I increasingly resented). Part and parcel of this is an innate desire to manage my resources to best advantage even as they change as I age. I would have thought that more longhairs than others would have understood this kind of philosophy and that I shouldn't have seen the apparent disdain for "balding" or "thinning" longhairs -- rather I would have expected more respect for how hair naturally changes as we age. I know that based on what I have actually seen over the years of elderly longhairs and the thoroughly dignified results that they can achieve that I, for one, will never think of long hair from a thinning head with disdain and in fact should encourage as appropriate a longhair facing such a situation. Internally, I expect that if I face baldness or thinning in later years, I will stand up for my own principles and manage the remaining hair to best natural advantage -- but still be man enough to respect the choices of other fellow longhairs who may eventually find they cannot do likewise.
how long do you want to grow it? I suggest growing it as down to the middle of you back an the putting it into a ponytail and braiding it. Look at Vinny the Samson to see what im talking about.
Since you have so much success growing your beard long (I'm a fan of yours from the Beard page), you should have no trouble growing your hair long! So what if you're receding in front--if it feels good, let it flow in the back! Can't wait to see what develops.