new thread
Hello, long-haired men of the world.
My name is Dom, and I spent just over the first fifteen years of my life with a buzz-cut. (This is exclusively the fault of my family.)
Two years ago I started experimenting with "long" hair...after growing it a bit, I started doing this slicked-back gel thing. But one day I let myself part it down the middle...I kind of liked it.
A few moths passed, and I liked it so much and wanted to see so much more from my hair, that I dedicated myself to growing it very, very long. And now it's long. (Yes, I'm a rock singer.)
My family obviously despises all of this, though I do a good job of not listening to them about anything anymore.
I've had discussions with women who "don't believe that these are my natural curls" as if to say that they're jealous, but I'm not sure whether they're laughing at me behind my back immediately after.
Now, deep down, I want to keep growing it. It's become an obsession. However, with my thick, curly hair, I'm no stranger to bad hair days...and I'm beginning to have second thoughts.
So I'm going to give you a picture of me on a good hair day, and another of tonight (a miserable hair day) and I'd like to hear whether you think that it looks good, and if it doesn't, whether something should be done for me to continue having long hair that DOES look good, or whether I just need to get rid of it all again.
Thank you!
-Dom
PS (The first picture is a good hair day in early June...so I guess it's a little shorter, but not by that much. )
Hi there Dom and welcome to the mlhh:)I enjoyed reading your story and am happy you discovered the joys of having long hair.I personally wouldn't have it any other way.I can't imagine having a buzz cut head for 15 years as in my eyes its such an unattractive look.You are blessed with amazing curly hair that I feel looks fabulous!Being my hair is just straight I can't offer advice on dealing with it on those bad hair days but certainly we have guys here who can help since they are curly haired such as yourself.However I can offer you a "stand your ground" stance regarding the naysayers about your hair.Some of it likely is jealousy while others just can't cope with the fact that a guy can grow long, beautiful hair.I wish you the best and look forward to future posts from you my friend.Cheers
Mârk
The day that you wake up to look at yourself in the mirror, realizing that you are now older than a "middle-aged" man -- overweight, balding, greying, and deeply regretting the fact that you didn't grow that gorgeous head of hair of yours that you had when you were younger... THAT, my friend, is the true definition of a "bad hair day!"
I don't care how messy your hair will look in your next pic that illustrates your idea of "bad hair", I'll bet anything that most of us will look at it and see only the color green with envy!
All joking aside: please please please DON'T cut that wonderful head of hair of yours!! Your curls are awesome, your hair color & shine is terrific, and your parents made a huge mistake by ever forcing a buzz cut on you.... Just let it grow, man, let it grow & flow -- you'll never regret it if you do (and yes, girls do indeed get jealous over hair like yours)!!!
- Ken in San Francisco
Hey Dom,
Your hair looks great. Don't worry, the reason you still have some bad hair days is because you're still in the late stages of the Awkward Stage. Just a few more inches and your hair will be weighed down more, and you'll almost never have a bad hair day again. For me, the Awkward Stage was over once my hair came down to my collarbones. It might take slightly longer for you since your hair's curly and mine's straight, but still it's just a matter of time. Hang in there!
LOL Now that is a definition of a bad hair day that I can
identify with!!
Welcome: Fine looking hair you have there, keep it growing.
Hi Dom,
Welcome to the hyperboard, and I am delighted that you have found us. You have an excellent heard of thick, curly hair, and curly hair can be awesome if grown super long. By all means, keep growing it, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
Welcome abaord,
David
You have awesome hair. I love the curl and color and shine. I'm wondering how it would look long.
You can have much more regret deciding to cut off many months worth of hair on a whim then deciding to grow it long as you can always take it off with one clip of the shears if you decide you don't like it.
I say if long hair's you, go for it! :)
Your looks good! A lot of people including women are jealous of men with long hair. Men with long hair seem to be individuals. Men with long hair usually don't care what others think about them. At least I fall into this category. If you like your hair long, keep growing it long. Don't let anyone else tell you how to look.
Darrin
Hey Dom,
To tell you the truth, your hair looks totally awesome! Movie star status hair, if you want to go down that road :p ... I'm thinking of a young Charlie Sheen (when he was sane >_> ) or Johnny Depp, but even better ;D . If it looks this good now, just imagine it a year or two from now when it's even longer - it only gets better ^_~ ! And not too many guys are blessed with your type of hair... wavy/curly, but not to a degree where it's unsightly or unmanageable (it actually looks good), so feel lucky man - keep it growin' :) !
I know what you mean about obsession. It's kind'a too bad that we're now in a era where cut-trim and slicked down hair is the trend, but personally I & many here think that long(er) hair is the way to go... don't keep your hair like the guys linked YouTube video (every time I see them on TV, I cringe ~_~ ). Those girls that have those discussions with you, I think they're more slightly jealous than anything ^_~ ~
Hope eventually to see your hair longer than shorter and we're always here to help ^_^ . Welcome to the board ^^ !
Sincerely,
Eric
why on earth would you get rid of such a fantastic mane? those curls are just beautiful!
It's your hair, you're the only person who can decide if, when and how long you wish to grow it. One thing I will say (I have such straight hair but I know from people on this board) that as girls hair gets longer it straightens out a bit from the weight of itself.
Personally, I think you look great with long hair and encourage you to keep growing it. Even if for nothing other than being able to judge what you prefer from experience rather than speculation
Happy growing :)
Jarvis
Hi, everyone...I really appreciate all of your enthusiastic responses so far. It seems like it's unanimous! I really didn't expect those kinds of compliments! But, since I said I would, here's a picture from last night. In retrospect, it's actually not THAT bad, and it actually got much worse when I got pissed and combed it after taking the picture...I was just being a drama queen. But it's still good to know what all of you guys think.
Now that I've introduced myself to all of you, I will stick around, though. I'll post updates about my own hair, for sure!
Thanks for the followup pic Dom, as I agree with your assessment that your bad hair day ain't all that bad:)With more time you'll find the hair easier to deal with and the longer you deal with it the less you'll even notice that's its really work.I've had longhair for decades so its second nature to me anymore.Actually the only real time I spend on it is the henna treatments but aside from that its no big deal:)Please do post again if you desire my friend:)Cheers
Mârk
Thanks again, Mark.
This has all been very encouraging so far, and this was exactly what I needed to regain my absolute certainty that the flow must grow on! I've explored the site a bit, and I know not to apply to be put in the list yet, but you'll see enough of me in the coming months for that to happen, for sure.
I appreciate the warm welcome thus far, and I know where to go for hair discussions, for sure!
-Dom
I could live with your bad hair days! Your hair is cool whether
its good, bad or ugly. You have great hair potential.
Dom you should have no worries about your hair and how it looks, but of course it looks great , beautiful hair and a very handsome face, makes for a perfect guy.
Tom(Hairboy)
Absolutely nothing wrong with that - the curls help keep it controlled.
Dom... your hair looks fantastic! I too have curly hair, so I know the awkward phase takes some time! A little more length and you should be good to go.
Please do not cut that beautiful, curly and well taken care of hair! Listen to yourself and do what's right for you, you only live once!
Take care,
Kenny
I think it looks very good.
As a fellow curly-hair, I strongly recommend a bit of gel and leave-in conditioner- they make a HUGE difference. Put them in right after washing. And I NEVER comb or brush when it's dry- it just frizzes it out.
As to the females, I've found a _touch_ of condescension to their hang-up on my hair works very well.
With lightly sarcastic smile, I usually say something like:
"Some guys have curly hair- didn't you know that?"
"Phht. Like I'm going to sit around for a day in what- curlers? Yeah, right." (chuckle)
And I make some eye contact to push the point home.
This requires a light touch- just enough there's just a whiff of you're-putting-up-with someone-who's-a-little-slow-on-the-uptake. And the moment she drops her attitude problem, I immediately switch gears back to my friendly self. And you need to have a few lines practiced so you don't end up searching for words as it happens. Poise is what you want.
Hello Dom: You need to keep your hair long it looks really great, you have a beautiful head of hair, and you are handsome as well.
Looks superb:Keep it growing, bad hair days will disappear.
Dude your hair looks great man.. keep growing it! Just don't give into what people say, who cares what people say its your hair and body.
Question for yeah however, your hair looks very much like mine.. Crazy curly and can be very frizzy (bad hair days:P) i think we are about the same stage as well.. i have been growing for about 16 months and can almost tie it back but you know how it is with the curl :P.. so back to my question, when you get out of the shower how do you comb and dry it? I have reservation about combing in the shower.. i really hate pulling out hair so i just don't. So i combing it in front of the mirror then put some leave in conditioner. Is there anything different you do?
Keep er growing dude.
The overwhelmingly positive responses continue from all around! :P
Great to know that I'm not the only one with this hair. :p Someone has managed it before!! lol...well I'm going to hit a year of non-stop growth in January, but I had a bit of length before then, so yeah, we should be about the same.
Anyway, part of all this was that I'm kind of asking you guys what to do...right now, I almost literally don't do anything. (Don't tell anyone.) I used to wash my hair once every few days and put conditioner every day. Both of those things factored into extreme greasiness, so now I wash every day, and put no conditioner. (My shampoo apparently has conditioner in it, but I don't know if it's actually potent.) The result is what you see. I still have a reasonable amount of oil in my hair, but it's not really GREASY, and it's always clean. (Washing a dead fly out of my hair for the first time was a gratifying experience, knowing that it couldn't have been there for more than 24 hours. XD)
Every now and then I used to comb it, but I took the snapping noises and thousands of hairs showing up in the comb to be a bad thing, and so I stopped doing that. I run my fingers through it now and again to untangle major knots, but brushing and combing (especially when my hair is dry) leaves me looking like Chewbacca, so, as much as it's advised that we do it, I need results for something to prove worth my while, and combs/brushes seem to always lead to disasters. (I can show you a picture taken after I combed my hair. I think that'll lead to a unanimous "CUT IT" lol)
With regards to tying it up (down? :P) and back...now there's an interesting thing. Forgive me, those of you who like the pony tail, but the bassist in my band has the most beautiful straight, blonde hair, but he always puts it up into this little bun and I think it's just such a waste. However, for situations where I want it out of my face, I have tried it, and I'm sure I can say it was the same result as you. Not enough hair reached the elastic and actually stayed there, because it stubbornly curled back and out of the knot, leaving quite a horrifying sight. (there's a picture of that somewhere, too.)
Then last week, my aunt suggested that I put up only the top part of my hair in an "Onion" on top of my head while doing some lawn work up at the cottage. It doesn't look good, but I can safely say that it works to keep hair out of your face.
Whoops, I went and wrote a bible without any useful information. :P Anyway, we'll have to keep in touch about progress/tips. You know where to find me, and I'm sticking around!
-Dom
lol i know what yeah mean about the entire Chewbacca look.. its great haha.. I always get that after i shampoo my hair. Which i have to do every week or so.. if i don't man its just gets kinda nasty. I do condition it every time i shower tho helps with the crazy knots
When i started my hair growth i think it was right after another crappy haircut, in which they always cut off to much, not a razor shave but it was short. My hair is a bit longer then yours just never relized it with your pic. Whats cool and you will find this, as it gets longer you will be able to control it a lot better.. I usually just toss everything behind my ears now which is nice and keeps its out of my face
I am looking forward to being able to tie it back tho, almost there.. its more for my work tho. If i do tie it back im in the same boat you are atm, but its just some bang strains now.
Anyhow keep er growing dude.
Hey Dom,
I have hair much like yours, curly/wavy and all. I also have to wash everyday because of the greasiness of my hair (pretty unusual). Best tip on combing your hair: Get a separate shampoo and conditioner and condition after shampooing each night... it will make your hair easier to go through with the comb. It's amazing the difference - the conditioner relaxes the hair yet doesn't really add to the greasiness. Give it a try :) !
Also, the trick that was suggested to me when I was in the awkward stage which worked pretty good - try rolling your bangs under when putting them behind your ear(s), helps keep excess hair out of your face. I don't know if that's a problem with you, but by the looks, sounds like it ^_~ ...
Hang in there and eventually you'll get there! I know how annoying it can be for hair to fall out of a ponytail at that stage if one chooses to wear it like that. Like I did, just ignore it ;p !
Sincerely,
Eric
I agree with eric here, use a really good conditioner will help a great deal. Also be very careful when running a comb through, i work from the bottom up and grip the hair as i go, i use to be-able to just run it right through, but as it gets longer you will tear hair out by doing so. You will lose some hair that is just natural tho so don't worry to much.
As far as shampooing, i guess it depends on the hair. Mine tends to be very dry and I can't find any shampoo that doesn't turn my hair into a giant ball of frizz lol.. so generally i only do it once a week sometime once every two weeks.. the longest i have went is about 3 weeks but my hair really started getting grimy.
Good posts especially for us curly hair dudes :P
Take a look at pics of rock stars, celebrities and models to get you through the bad days. That's what I've done, and it has kept me motivated. Take a look at Eddie Vedder's pics. His hair was awesome long, and it looked a bit like yours when it was shorter.
Keep it growing, it is lovely!!
That's great hair - doesn't matter if it looks a bit untidy occasionally; a bit of extra length will soon sort that out. With wavy/curly hair it is a lot easier to get away with untidiness. Keep on rocking.
Beautiful curly long hair. Keep it growing. Very good on you! Congrats from Brazil!