new thread
I'm currently visiting my parents and having a great time playing hair adviser to my dad. He's been growing out his wavy to curly hair for about 15 months now and finally listened to me about trying conditioner. He doesn't want to fuss with his hair so had always been just a shampoo only guy. After the first conditioner attempts he incredulously told me how it didn't hurt to comb out his wet and newly washed hair anymore and how he now loses much fewer hairs while combing.
His resistance to conditioner was somewhat of a mystery to me. My father tells me he used to watch a longhaired friend at the gym fiddle with his hair for 10 minutes and use a bunch of products so I guess my dad was afraid of some slippery slope that sucks all longhairs into being product junkies. It may have happened though. Dad was so proud of his first headband bought from a dollar store- a Halloween leftover with a black cat head on it that he went back and bought four more in case they break so now he won't go without such a practical item. His sense of wonder at the usefulnesses of headbands and conditioner has me laughing. Yes, people use them because they work.
I am loving seeing his progress on each visit, you get a better perspective on the growth be being away than seeing day to day hair. My father has wonderful curls at his collar that we didn't know he would have. His white hair is stunning but the brown mixed in with the grey is a surprise. When shorter we didn't know he had any brown hair at all. When my mother and I first noticed the brown strands we thought he had gotten motor oil in his hair and needed to wash it out.
One thing that I have become aware of during his growth is that there is a dearth of hairtoys designed for older longhairs. No ponytail bands blend in with white and grey mixed hair. The clear ones are okay but the silicone is too grippy so we have been looking for the regular skinny elastic ones that slide off more comfortably. White bands make his hair look dirty, black stands out too much against the white and the other colors are all too bold. I think I'll get him a silver tail cuff and see what that looks like though I can't really picture that working either. Any other suggestions are very welcome.
Elizabeth
That's great news to hear about using conditioner, that stuff goes a long, long way ( I wash my hair with it, so moisturising ^_^ ).
What is wrong with black hair ties against white hair? I'd love to have something like that because it'd stand out so well.
Dear ER,
When I met him, my partner had short, mousy brown short hair. I thought he was an attractive man, so encouraged him to let his hair grow enought to show his assets.
Over 14 years, I suppose as a consequence of our friendship, his hair is now silver, with a hint of the brown underneath at the back. Much to my surprise, it is now between 18" - 22" long.
We have found the Celtic Silvert clasps with a French mechanism very effective in keeping hair from flapping in the brreeze.
He also uses multiple seamless ties in black and they also look good when he wants to exercize max control.
I am an old geezer too at 72 y. o., and I use the Celtic clasps, but also use Gollan's bee butt technique, but since my hair is thinner than his, I have discovered that I can secure my bee-butt bun with two toothpics.
Caledonian
This is a great story and congratulations on your progress and your dad's progress of course. yes the hair tie situation is not good--another problem is that the vast majority of them are designed for women, or at least anyone with a head of full thick hair.
Very nice to hear your father is growing out his hair. I often wonder if my own father (who turns 70 in August) would ever attempt such a feat. Unfortunately I do not think so. I imagine he's overly concerned as to what the neighbors, strangers on the street, and people at his church would think. I hope when I'm 70 I care less about what people think of my appearance than I do now.
Vince
Elizabeth,
Best of luck to your dad in his longhair journey...sounds like a pretty cool guy!
Brett
That's awesome that you have the chance to help you father on his longhair journey! Unfortunately I'm not much help when it comes to the ponytail band issue, though I can see your point about some of the colors. I would think that pale blue would work well, but I really have little sense of color/fashion so I may be totally off here.
I'm in the same boat as your dad with the headbands too. I remember being shocked at their usefullness. And here I thought they were just something people wore for decoration!
Mouse
OK this may be a stretch for him yet but try temple braids. I love em. And when they are long enough you can pull them back and use a small band or cloth to tie them together in the back thus they are the head band. I am 50 and this works well for me.