Hair Care

[Spot's Meow]

Sometimes, like when watching other women fix their hair in a public restroom, it occurs to me that I am very low-maintenance when it comes to hair care. I am also pretty low maintenance when it comes to fashion, meaning I don't care about it at all and just pick whatever clothes are on the top of the drawer. So not messing with my hair too much doesn't surprise me.

It seems to surprise other people though. It came up last time I went to get my hair cut. The hairdresser asked me when the last time I got it cut was. I said over a year. She seemed shocked and said that my ends looked very nice for not being cut in so long. I told her it was probably because I don't use a blow dryer or any product in my hair. I wash my hair at night, let it dry before I go to bed and then wake up the next morning and brush it. And that's it. I rarely even put it in a pony tail. So I would guess my hair sees very little stress.

She almost passed out from the shock of this news. The look on her face when I told her that I've never even owned a blow dryer was priceless.

I have dyed it about 3 or 4 times in the past (about a year or so apart each time) but I stopped because I don't feel comfortable doing it…I don't like the idea of chemicals in my hair, it grosses me out.

What I usually do is let my hair grow out to about the middle of my back and then get it cut to my shoulders. This cycle repeats about every two or three years.

So how high or low maintenance are you with your hair? You would think most guys would be low maintenance because they have such little to work with, but they are often the worst offenders!

How much effort do you put into the whole thing in the morning?

 

[Cali]

Let's see... haven't had my hair cut in a year but know it could do with a bit of a trim although it doesn't look too bad. It is currently at the longest it has ever been - when it is soaked wet it just touches my waist. Haven't dyed it in two and a half years.

I wash it every morning (it looks awful when I wake up) with dimethicone-free shampoo & conditioner. Instead, I use shampoo & conditioner containing henna and honey. I do blow dry it but that's because it takes an age to dry if I don't and I will not go outside with wet hair, especially when it is cold!

At the moment my hair has never been in such great condition (I attribute this to being dimethicone-free and not dying it), despite the blow drying. It also helps that I tie it up only when I am brushing my teeth or if I'm doing housework. I have hardly any split ends.

Oh - and I carry a hairbrush pretty much everywhere with me because as it is so long it tangles like crazy, even if I am sitting perfectly still.

 

[blablover5]

You know, I put little to no effort into mine but I just seem cursed with split ends.

I do about as much as you Spots, only wash every other day or so and never use a blow dryer or put it in a ponytail (we shall never speak of hairspray) but I still get terrible split ends.

On the plus side though, my hair has a slight wave into it and if I want it to be wavy I just don't brush it and if I want it to be straight I do.

 

[Trippy]

I'm high maintenence hair...sorta. I colour it every 4-6 weeks (I do it myself, semi-permanent hair colour). I buy fairly pricey stuff for shampoo/conditioner (John Frieda) but try to buy it on sale. I wash and blow dry my hair once a week, and use a straightening iron too. I have a trim twice a year, and trim my own bangs when I colour my hair. I have a few split ends and am due for a trim.

I'm an ex-hairstylist, so I'm kinda vain about my hair

 

[jamestyler]

When my hairs longer I put very little effort into it. Its washed. Leave it to dry... done. Though a lot of women refuse to believe I don't use hair straighteners. One even started a heated argument over it.

Right now I'm growing it back... in the current transitional phase it just needs slicked back and all is good. though before then because my hair demands to stand up on end it needed a lot of time and maintenance to make sure I didn't look like Doc Brown.

 

[Garrovick]

I never do any thing with my hair except wash it in the shower and get a weekly hair cut from the cute lady at the baber shop. It's kept about an inch long and the way she cuts it it only needs combed after its washed. Some times i'll look in a mirror and poke at it with my fingers. Other than that - It's just there.

And I'm 58 and it STILL won't turn gray. Just a few gray hairs show up it the light is right.

 

[Cali]

I also forgot to say that I don't use hair straighteners either - my hair blow dries straight.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Hair care, for me, means shaving my head every morning in the shower. And every couple of weeks, I trim my goatee.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

Get it cut every 4-6 weeks. No color, no perm. Wash at 4:30 AM with Prell, brush it in place while wet, get dressed & go to work. Its very short & severe with a fair bit of gray.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I love my hair It's very curly and very willful, like me, apart from the curly bit?!
I wash it every other day, it likes 'Herbal Essence' at the moment but likes to change every month or so.
It's quite thick so does need a short initial blow dry but I like to leave it to dry naturally to encourage the curl. It's shoulder length, I trim it myself, as it's curly it hides any mistakes I make
I did go through a phase of using straighteners but it was really unhappy with that. It does not see a hairbrush as it tends to frizz. No split ends.
I do colour, I'm currently 'rich chocolate' but use good quality gunk.
It basically does what it wants but we're both happy! Oh God I am ruled by my hair

 

[Mr. B]

I don't have an elaborate hair style so I spend very little time on it. I get a haircut every 6-8 weeks. I wash it in the shower every morning and comb it, that's it. No hair spray/gel/other crap.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Get it cut every 4-6 weeks. No color, no perm. Wash at 4:30 AM with Prell...

Why would you wash your hair just before going to bed

 

[nevermore]

I'm about middling. I do dye it, and have for about a decade or so. Wash & condition every morning. I have a few different shampoos and conditioners which I cycle through, because it's very fine and tends to get weighed down if I use the same stuff all the time.

However, I cut it myself and do not own styling products of any sort other than some clips for when I fuck it up when I cut it. I basically just brush and go. Again, my hair is fine and straight, so even if I were inclined to do more, it wouldn't last past the first breeze.

 

[JonathonWally]

I get my hair cut every 2 weeks. I haven't used a brush or comb in years. I keep it short.

I own 6 different kinds of "product" depending on what I want it to do though..

Been thinking about dyeing it again, I'm bored and I miss the stupid colors. But last time I bleached it it got all fucky.

Any advice on how I should bleach it this time? What should I use?

 

[Trippy]

^describe "all fucky"

If you cut your hair that often, bleaching it once will only last two haircuts anyway. Use a Loreal bleaching product...they tend to go the less 'orange' shades

 

[JonathonWally]

^describe "all fucky"

If you cut your hair that often, bleaching it once will only last two haircuts anyway. Use a Loreal bleaching product...they tend to go the less 'orange' shades

Turned orange and became like hay. Couldn't do anything with it, all split and crap.


And ya, that's the beauty of keeping it all short, if I dye it bright pink, I don't have to worry about dyeing it back, I'll just cut it off.

 

[Garrovick]

To add tot the way women arrange their hair.

How many do the "pony tail" thing with the baseball cap and the adjusting strap in the back?

I'm amused every time I see that. (Almost as bad as those black high heel boots that make hoof noises with every step.)

 

[JonathonWally]

I'm amused every time I see that. (Almost as bad as those black high heel boots that make hoof noises with every step.)

Out with you. Black high heel boots are fantastic.

 

[Trippy]

Yes, some products have more peroxide than bleach, thus the 'orange' shade. The more expensive the product, the more bleach is in the package. Loreal has one that has more bleach.

 

[thestrangequark]

I have a lot of thick, straight hair, and it's pretty manageable. I'd say I'm in the middle: I get it cut about every 3 months (I have a bob), and pay a fair amount for the cut, $75 including tip. I trust only one woman to do it right. I usually trim my own bangs between cuts, though. I wash it every two or three days, but I pay a fair amount for my shampoo and conditioner, it's the only stuff I can find that makes my hair feel soft and shiny and is not tested on animals. I almost always let it air dry -- I think I blow it out maybe once every three or four months. I never color it, at least not since I dyed it blue in high school.

Most mornings I don't even have to brush it, just get up and go. I'm thinking of growing it out again, though. Before I cut it to a bob 8 years ago it was past my knees, a mere 6 inches from my ankles, and thick all the way down. I don't intend to grow it that long again, though, just to the middle of my back. I just miss putting it up.