new thread
Hello fellow ragmops (past, present, and future)! Six months to turming 40, I have made a decision to grow my hair long for the first time in my life!
As I sit here in the beginning stages of the lovely ragmop stage, with the back of my hair curling around to my ears on both sides, and the sides flipping out - and it's not even that long yet( even though it has been plastered with leave-in conditioner, followed by industrial-strength gel, followed by mucho-mega hold hair spray, but, alas, to no prevail - can you say Prince Vallient......) I began to wonder............
It seems like there's alot of support from my longhair bros and sisters who are past the ragmop stage ( may I applaud you for your conviction and your advice - I think I am past the hate-it point and realize that most everyone goes through it-thank goodness for baseball caps),but I, as well as I am sure, my fellow ragmoppers, would get more light-at-the-end-of-the-mopstick motivation if you would share with us your own ragmop horror stories, and your perseverence and conviction to get through that dreaded stage which we all must come to terms with in our own way.
Yes, it is extremely hard to deal with at first. I, in just the past week or so, have been feeling better about dealing with it, as I know it is just a phase (albeit one of the most crappy phases one could go through), and hopefully when that stage is over, it will be worth it, and I will be a stronger person for going through it( I just hope I don't end up looking like Little Orphan Annie with my red hair!)
One question I would like to ask is if whether or not blowdrying my hair in the morning would make any difference, or if it's not worth the trouble - as I did make a purchase of a new baseball-style hat that I am going to learn to love for the next eight to ten months!
Another thing I would like to know is if you had any idea of what your hair would look like long, once you started to let it grow out, and if it was different than what you imagined it would be like when it was short.
Who were your role models, and how close did you get to the look?
Fellow ragmoppers, who are your longhair role models?
If I had to pick role models for whom I can wish upon a star and hope my hair comes out like, it would be Antonia Banderas, Shaun Michaels the WWF wrestler and Fabio. Has anyone ever seen any pictures of Fabio in the ragmop stage?
Is it possible to have wavy and puffy hair in the ragmop stage, and have it come out semi-straight when it gets long?
Well, thank you in advance for any imput you have - you are doing myself, as well as countless fellow ragmoppers a greatly needed service!
I lift my drum of gel to you in salute!!!!!
I am 41 and have been growing my hair out now for three months. When I got my last hair cut, I only got a slight trim, so I had about two months grow then. Each week now, my mop seems to take on new character. First, flipping up and out on the corners at the back, then, swelling large around the ears. I have thick hair with a slight receding hair line, but no male pattern baldness. I pretty much laugh at myself in the mirror. I shower about an hour and a half before I have to leave in the mornings. That gives my hair time to dry enough on its own that I can style it with some hair spray. I am not blowing it dry. I wash every other day, but rinse with water every day. What Ive come to see is what at first appears "bad" is really just different. As soon as I get used to the different look it's not so bad. Of course, as soon as I get used to it, it changes!
Why is it so addictive?
I don't consider it addictive, but do consider it to be a part of my identity. The comment about women not liking it may be true with about 45% of the women, but more often than not, they prefer long hair, at least in my experience. It also looks much better than short hair in my opinion...
-J
25 years old as of December 2nd, 2000. Got a problem with that?
I think it depends greatly on the woman. My last girlfriend was 39 and she had no problem with it. She did say that she thought I would look nice with short hair, but she liked my long hair too!
Hey, I'm 41, and I just started growing my hair long last August. I started wearing a redneckish cap the first of the year (thanks for the Xmas present, bro!) and now I freak out if I forget to bring it to work. I am also shampooing every other day and I'm trying to find something biodegradable but also kind to my hair. I also put a little something in it after washing it like Flat-Out or VO5 Sheer Hairdressing. It helps to get a brush through it with less tears.
I am starting to realize just how long this project is going to take and my capricious nature is challenged as I try to shore up the crumbling foundation of my original motivation. But here's a new one: I haven't had long hair before, so why not at least see what it's like? And I mean LONG hair, like uniformly down my back past the shoulders.
I musta had pretty short hair because I am still in the "wings" stage around the ears. Patience, patience, patience.
Charlie
Why dont you just braid your hair? If your too lazy to do it yourself I'm sure a wife girlfriend or friend would do it. It causes no damage to your hair, might even help it since you wont be brushing/combing/blowdrying/stressing it. It won't come out in the shower either when you wash and stuff, you can redo it as often or as little as you want. Wait 6 months or a year and you'll be all the way thru the akward stage, without ever having an akward stage. Then you can take it out and have huge hair, kickass, or just keep long ass braids. Consider it, try it, if you don't like it, no harm done
I was lucky during my nasty in-between stage. I went to a high school where the principal didn't care about hair length on guys, but she did hassle guys who tried to grow a beard. Go figure. Anyways, a large portion of my junior year I had the nasty, poofy in-between hair. Luckily, though, I was clueless enough that I didn't realize exactly how bad it looked. By the end of the year, it had gone out of the really bad stage. What happened next was really wierd: my hair was straight down to maybe the bottom of my ears on the sides and then below that it turned into these tight ringlets about an inch across. Definitely that wierdest stage, but much better than the afro hair. As I had the hair longer, it settled into nice waves. It was really interesting seeing the stages my hair went through. That was one of my goals in growing long hair, in fact. To see what my hair looked like long. I thought that it would be a shame not to ever know. And once I found the length I liked, I've kept it that way. When it starts getting longer than a few inches below the shoulders I don't like it, so I'm keeping it around there. Anyways, hold on and eventually you'll make it out of the ragmop. I did, and I love my long locks.