If Moses could part the Red Sea ( Parting Hair )

Talkc

Here is the problem. I have always been lazy with my hair. When i had it short i just slicked it back. Now that i have it long, i just wear it in a ponytail.

However, I would like to wear my hair down ( met someone cute, would like to look nice ).

And I have no idea how to comb my hair like a normal decent human being.

I'm trying to part it in the middle and I can't get it to part evenly.

SO ... how do you part hair? What is the big technique or secret that you have that I don't?

Please help... I only have until tonight to get this right.

Richard_Dastardly

Parting down the middle is as about as awesome as a ponytail. By which I mean it's not at all awesome.

Just look at pictures of dudes with hair texture similar to yours, find what you like and try to emulate it. Of course, I'm assuming you're a dude.

Talkc

Yes, Im a dude.

And honestly i dont know where to start with it all. Ive never done anything special with my hair before.

Are there any good websites i can look at with hair examples?

Or should i honestly rush off to the hair salon?

Thylacine

Generally it is also easier to comb(not brush) hair when it is wet/damp and part it then.

Depending on your hair type, different things too. I'm a girl, and I have long hair. I haven't brushed it since I was a kid though it was straight then but has been curly since I was a teen. Generally I just use a pick or wide toothed comb when I get out of the shower and let it air dry. You mileage may vary. Me and another friend can get away with it because she has super straight hair and mine has nice natural curl. My other friend has weird as wavy hair and can't. *Shrugs*

tl;dr - all hair is different. Just experiment til you find something tolerable.

Edit: Going to a hair stylist isn't a bad idea if you can find a decent one. I'd look for a stylist/cosmetologist rather than a barber though. Your mileage may vary with them too. Your best bet may be to ask a female friend to recommend one.

wasted pixels

Rush to a hair salon, yes. I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but you don't seem to know enough about your hair to get it to do what you want even if you DID know what you want. Go to a salon. Tell them what you've told us. They will help. They're the fucking hair whisperers. They will take care of you. Go.

Talkc

I go to a professional stylist usually ( to keep my hair looking decent ) but i can never manage to get my hair looking as good as it does straight out of the chair.

As far as the type of hair i have, i have very very straight hair, down to my shoulders.

I honestly just want a softer look than the ponytail tonight, so i dont look like some mobster. I havent been on a date with anybody in a year so im nervous as hell. I mean i really hate to have to go to my mom and say "Fix my hair". Its like a rite of passage. You grow up, you learn to comb your own hair.

Im going to go search for some online guides to combing hair. Maybe there is a video on youtube.

Edit: Or i guess ill go to the stylist.

EggyToast

I got a lot more females interested in me after I cut my hair. Which sucks, because at that point I was dating my now-wife, so I was entirely "off the market." Had a pony-tail from age 17 through 22, which is, like, prime dating age. It's actually surprising how many women will see a dude w/ long hair and assume the worst.

I even had a "date" with a girl that was very low-key, I just hung out with her and helped her with some homework, so we could actually meet for once (met her online, this was back in 2000), and the first thing she said when we spoke online after that was "I didn't know you had long hair." Really bugged her.

Arguably, you're going on a date with someone who is cool with it. My wife obviously thought I looked good enough when we met and liked it, but even she admits that I look a lot better with a shorter cut. It just seems that dudes, with their big ol' heads, typically don't look good w/ long hair. Especially if that hair is super-straight. Part of it has to do with the fact that lots of guys in the media with long hair are rockers, and I get the impression a lot of women assume that dudes with long hair are looking for a couch to sleep on and a girl to mooch money off of while they explore some dream. Regardless of how true it is, I'm surprised at how many people I've run into who hold that prejudice.

The other bad thing is that, speaking as a dude who had long hair, you don't really have options. You can wear it in a pony tail, or you can wear it down. And when you wear it down it typically just does its own thing and doesn't look good, so you just put it back again. When I went to my HS prom, I had it braided by a friend.

So, my advice is, assuming you don't want to cut it all off, just wear it in a ponytail. Put it back, dress up, shave. This person has already seen the ponytail and is, hopefully, OK with it -- don't try to mix it up. Sadly, dudes do not have the hair options available to them that females do.

Sheep

Richard_Dastardly wrote: »

Parting down the middle is as about as awesome as a ponytail. By which I mean it's not at all awesome.

Just look at pictures of dudes with hair texture similar to yours, find what you like and try to emulate it. Of course, I'm assuming you're a dude.

Don't let Conan here tell wrong. Comb over ain't always the way to go.

EggyToast

Oh, to directly answer the parting question -- the best way to figure out how to part your hair is to muss it all up when it's wet and move it about with your fingers in a mirror. See if any natural parts appear. If you find one, use it -- simply take your fingers and spread the hair away from the part. Using a natural part lets your hair stay parted essentially indefinitely, unlike trying to force a part. If you have very straight hair, after you find a part, you can take a comb to the main line and go from there.

If you have no natural part, pick a side and see how it looks. Move it around. You just take a comb and flip along the line of the comb. As said above, DON'T go down the middle -- you end up looking like a goth rocker since it will end up in your face. Since you're talking about softening up, I assume you don't want to look like a goth rocker.

Sheep

I recently went from a comb over to basically parting it down the middle, slicking it back, and tucking behind my ears.

Just get it wet, brush it all the way back, and right before it dries, part it where you want to part it.

Eventually it will start doing that on it's own.

Talkc

Okay, well i went to the stylist, and got my hair cut a tad shorter ( off my shoulders ) and styled nicely. With the shorter cut its more wavy and looks nicer.

The stylist gave me similar advice that i found here, wet my hair down, then look for a natural part... mine is in the middle.

So now i look good and am ready for the date in about 20 minutes. Thanks for the advice everyone.

oldsak

EggyToast wrote: »

I got a lot more females interested in me after I cut my hair. Which sucks, because at that point I was dating my now-wife, so I was entirely "off the market." Had a pony-tail from age 17 through 22, which is, like, prime dating age. It's actually surprising how many women will see a dude w/ long hair and assume the worst.

Wow, my experience with long hair is the exact opposite of yours. I've grown my hair out long several times and found that it attracts quite a bit of female attention. Maybe it's just me :winky:

Hope your date is going well, this advice is more for the future. You can "train" your hair to part pretty much anywhere as long as you use a comb to part it when it's wet consistently and in the same place. I parted long hair in the fornt when I was younger, but grew to prefer parting it kind of to the side as I got older. It really depends on what works for your face. Don't be afraid to try it different ways before you settle on one.

Talkc

Well the salon was a great idea. My date commented on how much he liked my hair.

Very pleased with the result. Now if i could just keep it looking good.

Thylacine

Practice is the key. Stylists can do so well because they have done this over and over, know all the products you should use, have seen all types of hair and they also have the advantage of being able to work on your hair while standing behind/beside you. Doesn't sound like much but it makes things ten times easier when it's not your own head. I went to an esthetics course at a cosmetology school, and these people don't start out good...I mean they had to practice on their dummy heads a lot!

But, don't get discouraged! You only have to worry about all of those things for your own hair so with some practice it will become easier. Hopefully you asked your stylist what kind of products to use/they used on you, and how to use it. There are a billion hair products...I have no idea how to use 99.9% of them.