Hi all, I've been lurking here for a while, and haven't seen an answer to this question as of yet (though there's lots of posts here, so I may have missed it).
The problem I'm having with my hair is that it tends to hold a shape way too well. Meaning if I wear a hat, the hair on the top of my head will be pressed down and have that "hat hair" look basically forever, or until I dunk my head under some water.
Same goes for sleeping, or basically anything where constant pressure is being applied to my hair (such as resting your head on your arm or something).
Now I see tons of people (females mostly) who can wear a hat, and when they take it off, their hair just falls back to normal, or if they don't wash their hair in the morning, it looks exactly like normal.
What's the secret? Do I just not have the right hair style, or is it just because other people use something like hairspray?
Any help/insight is appreciated.
Oh, and even though I don't really post here, I love reading through this board. Kudos to whoever started it!
how long is your hair?
My hair comes down to just below the top of my shoulders now (I'm at about 15 months). I don't use anything in my hair other than shampoo/conditioner, and it doesn't make a difference if it's on a day I shampoo, or only condition, or if I use nothing but water in my hair.
If I wear a hat for even 1/2 an hour, the hair on the top of my head will have the hat hair "pressed down" look to it for the rest of the day. Or if I have my hair dry by tucking it behind my ears, the part curled around my ear will "permanently" have a curl/wave there.
I think the problem will begin to go away as it gets a little longer. if possible you could also try experimenting with a looser hat. oh yeah, one other thing--let it dry hanging down then push it behind your ears once it's dry. That helps avoid the wings/flips.
If I let it dry hanging down normal, then my hair takes that shape, and I can't get it to go behind my ears normally, because of the shape it's holding.
Try using a styling brush. it's a cylinder with bristles all the way around it attached to a handle. when you get out of the shower, after conditioning your hair, leave it wet until you are ready to comb it. blot it with a towel, comb it out with a wide tooth comb, blot it with paper towels and while it is damp, brush the sides with the round brush so the sides curl in. you have to rotate the brush so your hair wraps around it while you move it down. it will take a little experimenting and a few trys to get the hang of it for your hair. if your hair is wet and conditioned it should be okay but if it wraps too tight it will pull. stop and back the brush out a bit and resume. you should have sides curling in but as they dry they will straighten out and not flip. the thing that's kind of a hassle is that you have to let your hair set this way until it's dry which takes around an hour before you shake it out. but it worked for me.
well, i think everyone has, or has had, problems with hat hair and bed head but there are key factors that affect these things:
hair length and
stuff that people do to their hair.
I mean, some people spray their hair, iron it, curl it with irons and other things so it's kind of molded in place. Most guys don't do these things and anyway, they are all bad for hair.
the women you see probably have hair that's so long, they can just shake out the hat hair. Gravity works with both sexes fortunately.