Hair care for MEN (well I guess anyone else too)

Henroid

So, up 'til fairly recently I had been the general long-haired hippy (only with curly hair) and have decided to cut it short and keep it that way. A problem arising though is that my hair frizzes out like a damn horror movie showcase every time it dries out from say a pool, shower, or heavy rain.

I need a method of preventing this or stopping it. I do want to avoid use of hair gel, as I've heard it will damage the hell out of your hair in the long run, and while we're on that anything with similar effects would be a no-go. I need some guidance here!

Fizban140

What do you mean frizzes out? Just some randoms hairs stick up, because that is what happens to me. I wait for my hair to dry and then try and straighten it out with a little bit of water and just pat it down with my hand sort of. It isn't perfect but it is better than nothing.

If someone has some real advice though it would be great.

Rikushix

Take a picture.

Invisible

The only hair gel you need to worry about are the ones that contain alcohol, as it will dry out your hair. And even then for it cause serious (IE noticeable) damage you would have to use a lot of it, all the time and not routinely wash your hair. There are a lot of gel products out there that will actually moisturize your hair and don't cause any harm.

Improvolone

I get great results from hair wax (I use some Tigi stuff I was given at a convention). When my hair is still a bit wet, I rub a small amount on my hands and run it through my hair, givving it a nice waxy coating. It feels gross, but once I blow dry it while combing it flat against my head in all directions (couple minutes tops), things are gravy.

Henroid

Fizban140 wrote: »

What do you mean frizzes out? Just some randoms hairs stick up, because that is what happens to me. I wait for my hair to dry and then try and straighten it out with a little bit of water and just pat it down with my hand sort of. It isn't perfect but it is better than nothing.

If someone has some real advice though it would be great.

Your avatar is a good example of what happens. I do tend to mat it down with a bit of water repeatedly over the course of say an hour, and this is the result:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/henroid/camwhore/selfhaircut09.jpg

Dioltas

A good leave in conditioner will go a long way in situations like this as a preventative measure, especially given the picture you provided.

Rami

Eh, your hair looks really nice. Wax is definitely the way to go if you want it to keep it's shape. It will cut down any frizzy hairs and won't make your hair concrete; it stays pliable and still feels nice to the touch.

I have very similar hair to yours and it was very long until recently as well, I just got the cut you have there about 2 weeks ago. The guy just told me to blow dry it and then use a little wax and it's been working fine. Make sure you use a matte finish wax, though the wet look can sometimes work.

Henroid

Tell me more about this hair wax nonsense.

Rami

You buy some wax and put it on your hair. I'm using this atm.

After you wash your hair, style it and blow dry it. Keep maintaining the style with a comb occassionally as you dry it. Then when it's dry get some wax on your fingertips and run your fingers in and out of your hair in a fairly quick and random/messy fashion until you've covered everywhere. If you do it right it will keep your hair smoothed down and hold its shape without being hard like gel often leaves it.

I suggest starting with a dry matte wax. You can always ask your nearest barber or whatever for suggestions.

PeregrineFalcon

Henroid wrote: »

So, up 'til fairly recently I had been the general long-haired hippy (only with curly hair) and have decided to cut it short and keep it that way. A problem arising though is that my hair frizzes out like a damn horror movie showcase every time it dries out from say a pool, shower, or heavy rain.

So cut it even shorter, ya danged hippy. :P

Use a good conditioner, I guess? It's been years since I had anything even approaching that length of hair.

jthm

I have the same problem as you with my hair going mental when it dries. On the plus side, I'll never be bald.

A couple of tricks I picked up:

Olive Oil. Use it, Love it. This sounds retarded, but take a few tablespoons worth of olive oil and rub it through your hair. Let it sit for between 30 mins and an hour, then shower to remove the excess. Be careful when you sit down and rest your head against something, or wrap a towel around your head when it is in there. Repeat this process once a day until your hair starts behaving when it dries, then back off the usage to a once or twice a week maintenance. Don't ask me why, but this works. If i had to guess it would be something about restoring a decent amount of oil to the hair. I've been told it works even better if you gently warm the oil beforehand, but I just wing it at room temp.

Conditioner. Use it, twice. Condition while you are actually in the shower, then let your hair dry. If it starts to frizz out, take a small amount of your conditioner and apply it as a leave in treatment. It will start out feeling greasy, but dries quickly, and acts as a very mild gel. I'm not sure if it matters, but I use Garnier Fructis and havn't had any problems using the conditioner as a leave in.

Good luck.

Henroid

I don't think I'll be doing that olive oil thing. I don't think I'm that in need to resort to home-remedy sort of things. <.<

I'll try out the conditioner thing though, and then if that doesn't work out I guess the wax.

radroadkill

I have crazy frizzy hair and ued to live in Florida.

Seriously? Olive oil based styling products with NO alcohols and NO silicones.

Also: hair treatments involving henna. There are some that use a white henna that doesn't change the color but give you all the benefits (shine, strength, weight without weighing it down, protection).