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Okay, I have only semi-long hair. The sides of my hair always kinda flip outward (like John Heder style but worse) and it looks weird. Is this just because of the fairly short length of my hair? Is there something I can do to stop it and calm it? Please help me.
-Noah
Hi Noah,
What you've just described is a "textbook" case of what we call the awkward phase. So yeah, it's really just a result of it being fairly short. Unfortunately, from what you describe, it *might* get worse before it gets better. Please rest assured, though, if you are patient, you will get through it and you'll be glad you stuck it out. When i was most "awkward" i used a lot of gel to slick back my hair.. however that won't appeal to everyone...
Good luck! If you post a pick you might get more specific help from those who have been through it all before :)
One of the things people often do is trim them up but if you do
that they'll flip again as the hair grows back to that length. we
don't recommend straightening as that may cause damage. Try gels
or hair spray and if they aren't your thing I can only say to
tough it out as the hair will grow and you'll get past it
eventually.
Kevin
Not only that but straightening probably won't work
I've experimented with a flat iron, and while it can work to smooth the hair, in my experience it did NOTHING for side flips. In fact, it probably made them stick out more by retarding the tendency to curl back in.
Of course, YMMV.
As others have said, don't what ever you do trim it, as it will be worse in the long run. If it bothers you that much use gel or spray, I just left mine :-)
~ Dave
Gels, mousse, spray, some patience and absolutely NO scissors.
It's the short length. The ultimate cure is to grow it past that stage. In the meantime it will be a hassle, but you can try to stick it down and keep combing it to train it to curl inward.
To do that you need to comb from underneath. If you run the comb down the outside of your hair that encourages it to flip out, so don't do that. Instead try to bring the comb up from underneath and comb it downwards from the side nearest your head. This will tend to make it curl in. Hair tends to curl towards the comb, so to get it to curl in instead of flip out you need to get the comb behind your hair, so the teeth of the comb stick outwards through your hair. I hope you can picture that.
Also bear in mind that any change in length undoes this 'training'. So, of course, you have to keep doing this as it grows, until it is eventually long enough to not be a problem. More importantly, any trim will suddenly undo your good work, maybe not when you walk out of the salon, but certainly immediately after the next time you wash your hair.
So, if someone advises you to get a trim for some special occasion, be aware that the trim will cause your hair to flip out, and it will take a while to train it again to curl under. A trim the day before a big event will spell disaster, as it will guarantee that your hair flips out and make you feel a fool all day. The solutions seem to be either don't get the trim, or else go straight from the salon to the event.
I'm growing my hair out without a trim and the longest layer also flips up. The only thing that can be done about it is growing it longer. Eventualy it will stop flipping.
Sometimes I wear a ponytail when the flips anoy me, although it's not a full tail it helps me.