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Fellow longhairs,
I am trying to find a way to arrange my hair so that it looks neat and appropriate for a professional setting. Right now it is the same length on sides and back, an inch below the bottom of my ears. In the front it's long enough to reach my mouth when I pull it down. My hair is brown, thick and coarse - it has a bell shape when I just wash and dry it.
When it was shorter I was using Pantene mousse to "paste" it down in the morning. I would shampoo each morning and coat it with mousse while wet, then comb back and let air-dry. During the day some strands would break loose and then I'd look messy, but sometimes I could paste them down again with water. I would try not to move my head too much during the day to avoid loose strands breaking free. At the end of the day I'd "break" the hold by running my fingers through it.
But now it's long enough in back that the mousse does not keep the ends in place - they tend to curl up and point outwards on each side of my head. I think that is a ridiculous look that I want to avoid. I do not want to cut it as I am trying to let it grow out. My hair is not long enough for a ponytail, I don't want to wear a bandana, and I cannot wear baseball caps.
What else can I do? Is there some hair product that I can use that will make my hair slightly tacky so that it will stay together without "hardening" like mousse or gel does?
Please advise. Thanks,
Robert
Robert,
A couple of things come to mind - there are some wonderful water
based waxes and new products that really to provide longer lasting
hold at these hard to manage lengths -
Aveda's Self Control and Sebastian's Xtah Hair Taffy both do
good jobs on a medium-to-high hold requirement like yours.
You might want to consider one of the newer pomades (Aveda's
Brilliants Anti-Humectant or I*C*E hair wax (don't let the name
fool you - it's not like the old "flattop waxes" at all)
Last, don't rule out something so simple as a set of hair pins
or a good hair clip - when I was growing mine out the only way
to control the nape area was to slip a couple of hairpins (not
necessarily "bobby pins" - technically, hair pins are thinner and kind of "spring loaded" - depending on your hair texture.
Hope this helps,
BobbyT
Also don't rule out headbands or bandanas, although headbands will give you a cleaner more professional look than the bandana. Not all headbands are the frilly kind. A plain black or tortoise shell works nice.
BobbyT -
What is a pomade? How is it used? I looked at something similar
in a store and it was a tiny vial of a waxy substance that sold
for about $12! That seems to be expensive.
Would I have to coat all my hair with that wax? If so, how would
I remove it?
Are there any kinds of hats that you can wear? Are there styles of hats that you would feel appropriate to accompany the style of the rest of your attire? Some bald men who don't want to appear bald in public, for example, build up a collection of hats so they'll have one that they feel "goes with" just about every style of clothing they wear.
Such a solution may be one for you, until your hair grows out past the awkward stage.
Hi Bill
I would LOVE to find a baseball cap that I could wear. The fact is
I have a large head (hat size 7 3/4) and the common adjustable caps
do not fit me. I would have to find a larger, fitted cap and after
years of searching I have never found one.
I thought you were avoiding baseball caps for fashion reasons! Well, it turns out I can't wear them either, or any other hat that doesn't have a chin strap underneath. A hat will stay on most people's heads because its band, as you pull the hat off, slides against the grain of their hair. I have curly hair and the curls not only turn up but also greatly reduce the friction around my head. So any hat without a chin strap, if it weighs anything at all will simply fall off my head, and if it has a bill or brim will blow off my head in the gentlest of breezes. So both the hats I own have chin straps, which I tuck up into my beard so they don't show much.
However, I mainly rely on bandannas, which I have in a variety of colors so I can match whatever shirt I might be wearing. I have really bulky hair and I live in a very windy place, so it's actually a rare day I can go outside without one. I fell into using bandannas by necessity, but I've now grown accustomed to using them and have actually grown fond of them. Hey, they've become sort of like a personal trademark! :-)
You could get it braided frome front to back like some of the rappers.
this is convenient and looks unique. I've seen Madonna wearing her hair like this in a video. It is like7 rows of braids against your scalp.