Post: #1

Alrighty gentlemen, I have a few short tips and observations from the world of hair. I have been growing my hair out on and off since 2007 and have hit upon a system. Currently have ~19months of hair on my head (enough for a decent ponytail).

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Here's ten easy tips for maximizing your head of hair.

Tip 1:
Cold showers, my man. The more you shower your hair cold, especially if it's relatively fine hair (my hair is fine and blond), the more it will thank you. Start warm, wash clean, finish cold.

Tip 2:
Shampoo roughly once weekly, every other day at the most. Don't be afraid to use a lot of conditioner, especially if it's very sunny or cold outside.

Tip 3:
Never use a blow-dryer. Never brush when wet. Strain water out of your hair with your fingers or blot gently with a towel.

Tip 4:
Vegans usually have disgusting hair. I chalk this up to some lack of nutrition. On the converse, my border collie has the glossiest coat I've ever seen on a dog, and it's for one good reason. She hunts around fields and chicken roosts and sucks eggs. Eat at least two eggs and something fatty on a daily basis.

Tip 5:
Dirty hair is strong hair. Dirty hair looks better than you think it does. In a pinch, cold-wash your hair and face in the sink, no soap. Don't be afraid to be a greaseball.

Tip 6:
If you can't grow a beard, or have a noticeably weak jawline, don't grow out your hair. I have a fairly weak jawline but a respectable beard, so it works.

Tip 7:
Trim if needed. Not recommended for two years.
Don't trim your bangs during the awkward stage. Trimming the mullet back a notch is acceptable. Wait until you can tie it back comfortably, then trim the split ends out of the bangs.

Tip 8:
Long hair draws attention to your neck, shoulders, and face. It doesn't work well with a pot-belly. Hit the gym. Get your swell on.

Tip 9:
Some places have very hard water. Always wash your hair in cold soft water or use a "clarifying shampoo" every week or two. Once you clarify, all the deposits on your hair will be gone and it will be soft and flossy. I only use it when I want to look especially fly. Don't do it too often.

Tip 10:
Low ponytail = badass
Loose hair, thrown back from face, neck exposed = studly
Slicked hair, trimmed, pulled behind ears = champion
Long, straight/slightly wavy hair, piled around shoulders = Charlemagne.

High ponytail = bad
Wavy, wide hair = shitty

Basically, anything that drastically increases the width of the front profile of your face makes the overall shape rounder and more effeminate.

Hope you guys make some use of this. I don't care if long hair is popular or not, it's a distinctive trademark that women take notice of. However, I have noticed that men wearing buns seems to be all the rage in men's fashion magazines, which I find puzzling.

Now that I tie my hair back, I get fewer "your hair is really long" comments and more "you look really good" comments. This is because the year-long (awkward) transition stage from crew-cut to lion's mane is a pain in the ass, and people seem to measure the length of your hair with the degree it obscures your eyes.

I'll post examples of badass long hair when I get back.

Post: #2

I'm slowly growing my hair back out... but I keep cleaning it up on the back and sides while I grow the top out.

When I had hair down to my back in high school and first year of college, girls couldn't keep their hands out of my hair. They want to touch it, feel it, tell me about how they wish their hair was like mine, etc.

But I was a square dude then. If I had long hair now... oh man, oh man. Long hair game would be where I'd be at.

Post: #3

I had long hair for over ten years, only recently did I it.

Although I had locks, and but I'll give some pointers as well.

Keep your hair neat.

Conditioners are your friend if you don't like your hair falling out.

Never towel dry your hair, causes more damage than you realize (and takes moisture away)

If you want locks, just remember the longer they are..the more maintenance.

Although I disagree on the cold water, I think warm water is just fine.

I will say this, bitches love long hair it's almost like cat nip to them.

Post: #4

I'm on the shampoo every other week tip and my hair looks better than people's hair who wash their shit everyday.

You'd think that not washing your hair would make your shit greasy and smelly but it doesn't... In fact it does the opposite. My hair doesn't smell and rarely gets greasy. It got a natural shine (not grease) and looks more voluminous and healthier then when I cleaned it daily.

Post: #5

(03-15-2012 12:50 PM)sine wave killer Wrote:  Never towel dry your hair, causes more damage than you realize (and takes moisture away)

How do you dry it then? OP says don't use a hair dryer.

btw, Hades:

Post: #6

(03-15-2012 02:59 PM)Enfant_Terrible Wrote:  

(03-15-2012 12:50 PM)sine wave killer Wrote:  Never towel dry your hair, causes more damage than you realize (and takes moisture away)

How do you dry it then? OP says don't use a hair dryer.

I air dry it. It's pretty easy now since I have an afro, it was much harder when I had locks.

Dry your hair the wrong way when it's long and it ends up smelling like mildew.

Post: #7

(03-15-2012 02:42 PM)the chef Wrote:  I'm on the shampoo every other week tip and my hair looks better than people's hair who wash their shit everyday.

You'd think that not washing your hair would make your shit greasy and smelly but it doesn't... In fact it does the opposite. My hair doesn't smell and rarely gets greasy. It got a natural shine (not grease) and looks more voluminous and healthier then when I cleaned it daily.

I'm interested in your method. Do you not wash it with water or soap for a full fortnight? What sort of hair do you have? I notice that sometimes my hair seems too dry and a little frizzy on the top, but this is less noticeable with cold showers.

(03-15-2012 02:59 PM)Enfant_Terrible Wrote:  

(03-15-2012 12:50 PM)sine wave killer Wrote:  Never towel dry your hair, causes more damage than you realize (and takes moisture away)

How do you dry it then? OP says don't use a hair dryer.

btw, Hades:

I strip out most of the water with my fingers and let it air dry. If you're in a hurry, you can use a very thick towel to gently compress and blot your hair, but no rubbing action.
Rubbing a towel on your wet hair (as a habit) will make your hair look mangy. You'll also have to trim more often to make it look decent.

Post: #8

I've been growing my hair for a few months but I don't want it ponytail long. Anyways, I have very thick, curly and nappy hair, but I'm growing it to style it more straight and glossy. The ONLY way I can do this with my hair is by blow drying it everytime I want to style it. I've gotten to a point where I even blow dry it 4-5 times a week because it looks amazing when I do. But I realized my hair is extremely dry and nappy now, WAY more than before (and it was already pretty bad). But I have no choice... wtf do I do?

I've tried eating eggs every morning, drinking loads of water, cold showers, not brushing ,etc. But it's too thick, curly and nappy. Unless I blow dry it, then it's exactly how I want it!

Dilemma.

Post: #9

Had long hair for nearly 20 years!!! Served its purpose well i guess.
But soon as i turned 40 i cut it all off! Best move ever. Makes me look so much younger and the amount of women i have scored with shorter hair compared to my long locks, can`t even compare.
But agree with all the hair tips by HADES - nutrition plays a massive part. Eat plenty of almonds, consume some flaxseed oil daily and quality protein foods - your hair will thank you and so will the girls!

Post: #10

Comb it out before showers. Switch up shampoos and conditioners every few days. Use Infusium leave in conditioner. Trim the ends every 2 months. It'll look like shit for 2 years until you can tie it back in a tail.

Post: #11

Can't wait to become completely financially self-sufficient so that I can grow my hair out as long as I want. Right now I look like a circa-1964 Beatle, about as long as I can get away with under the current boss.

I dig this data sheet, good job.

Post: #12

@hades. of course it gets wet when i shower and all of that noise, i just don't shampoo it for weeks on end. i don't even count anymore. i'm asian and white so my hair is naturally thick and black but it's kind of got some waviness to it. but yea, my hair never gets greasy or stinks, it has no scent at all and has a natural shine. when i do wash it though, it's usually with conditioner. i also put coconut oil on my hair nightly.

Post: #13

(03-15-2012 12:39 PM)Hades Wrote:  Tip 1:
Cold showers, my man. The more you shower your hair cold, especially if it's relatively fine hair (my hair is fine and blond), the more it will thank you. Start warm, wash clean, finish cold.


Tip 3:
Never use a blow-dryer. Never brush when wet. Strain water out of your hair with your fingers or blot gently with a towel.

I dont blow dry my hair but I find I would always have to shower early on in the morning because it would get so wet it would literally take hours to dry. I dont even do cold showers, cant imagine what itd be like to have cold water on your head all day. How warm is your house, is this an issue for you?

Post: #14

Try nioxin. It worked well for me.

Post: #15

Thanks for this. So I've had an undercut for a year now but havent cut it in a while. I have like 6-8 inches on the top with like half an inch on the sides. Should I blend the sides with the top as I grow it out?

I work in professional conservative setting so I slick it back with pomade everyday and no one has any idea how long it is. It is a mess without pomade though. I tie it with a top-knot if at the gym or late.

Post: #16

The US Army did some studies which showed that having longer hair increases your perceptive powers:

Quote:In the early nineties, Sally [name changed to protect privacy] was married to a licensed psychologist who worked at a VA Medical hospital. He worked with combat veterans with PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. Most of them had served in Vietnam.

Sally said, “I remember clearly an evening when my husband came back to our apartment on Doctor’s Circle carrying a thick official looking folder in his hands. Inside were hundreds of pages of certain studies commissioned by the government. He was in shock from the contents. What he read in those documents completely changed his life. From that moment on my conservative middle of the road husband grew his hair and beard and never cut them again. What is more, the VA Medical center let him do it, and other very conservative men in the staff followed his example.

As I read the documents, I learned why. It seems that during the Vietnam War special forces in the war department had sent undercover experts to comb American Indian Reservations looking for talented scouts, for tough young men trained to move stealthily through rough terrain. They were especially looking for men with outstanding, almost supernatural, tracking abilities. Before being approached, these carefully selected men were extensively documented as experts in tracking and survival.

With the usual enticements, the well proven smooth phrases used to enroll new recruits, some of these Indian trackers were then enlisted. Once enlisted, an amazing thing happened. Whatever talents and skills they had possessed on the reservation seemed to mysteriously disappear, as recruit after recruit failed to perform as expected in the field.

Serious causalities and failures of performance led the government to contract expensive testing of these recruits, and this is what was found.

When questioned about their failure to perform as expected, the older recruits replied consistently that when they received their required military haircuts, they could no longer ‘sense’ the enemy, they could no longer access a ‘sixth sense’, their ‘intuition’ no longer was reliable, they couldn’t ‘read’ subtle signs as well or access subtle extrasensory information.

So the testing institute recruited more Indian trackers, let them keep their long hair, and tested them in multiple areas. Then they would pair two men together who had received the same scores on all the tests. They would let one man in the pair keep his hair long, and gave the other man a military haircut. Then the two men retook the tests.

Time after time the man with long hair kept making high scores. Time after time, the man with the short hair failed the tests in which he had previously scored high scores.

I decided to grow my hair long and grow a beard, gonna go for that Shiva hairstyle look.

Post: #17

Those studies were, drunk thread disregarded, still debunked by snopes dot com.
I won't post links, but still. They exist.

Post: #18

(03-15-2012 12:39 PM)Hades Wrote:  This is because the year-long (awkward) transition stage from crew-cut to lion's mane is a pain in the ass, and people seem to measure the length of your hair with the degree it obscures your eyes.

Yeah, tell me about it. I grew out my hair for around 20 months from a buzz cut, and didn't get a single haircut. I don't remember what I did to manage it. I think I just didn't give a shit.

I think there are multiple awkward phases. I look my best with a #0-#2 buzz, and then when it's shoulder length. And in between, there are a few good ones, but for the most part, I look horrible.

I shaved it off a few months ago. And when it grew back, it started getting awkward real quick. Around the time it was 3-ish inches. A quick haircut fixed it, but a month or two after, it was bad again. And by the 4 month mark, it was just sloppy. It fucked with my mojo so bad I decided to shave it off again. I felt like a total slob and barely approached.

Now I look like a zen monk.

Anyway, how did you deal with the awkward phases? I have straight hair, but it's very voluminous, so when it's around 3-6 inches, it's just all over the place, and weird/nerdy looking.

Post: #19

A bump, as I notice Hades never did make it back to post his pictures of badass long hair. I've decided to grow mine out. I always have mid length hair (can pull the front down to below my eyebrows), and have never gone longer. My hair is VERY thick - Whenever I get it cut the girl always says it is the thickest she has ever had to deal with.

Currently my hair is about 5 fingers long. I don't know whether to keep the back trimmed at all whilst the top grows out, or whether just to let it flow long and free and deal with looking like a damn hippy for a while. I'm hoping that in another 3 months I'll be over the worst of the awkward stage.

I think someone mentioned it above, but I'm going initially for the Cullen Bohannon length/Jax Teller length initially. I've also been growing the Jax Teller style facial hair for the last 6 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to start giving that a bit of shape in another month or so.

Anyone with more tips/moral support and encouragement, don't be shy!

Post: #20

(08-06-2015 07:20 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  A bump, as I notice Hades never did make it back to post his pictures of badass long hair. I've decided to grow mine out. I always have mid length hair (can pull the front down to below my eyebrows), and have never gone longer. My hair is VERY thick - Whenever I get it cut the girl always says it is the thickest she has ever had to deal with.

Currently my hair is about 5 fingers long. I don't know whether to keep the back trimmed at all whilst the top grows out, or whether just to let it flow long and free and deal with looking like a damn hippy for a while. I'm hoping that in another 3 months I'll be over the worst of the awkward stage.

I think someone mentioned it above, but I'm going initially for the Cullen Bohannon length/Jax Teller length initially. I've also been growing the Jax Teller style facial hair for the last 6 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to start giving that a bit of shape in another month or so.

Anyone with more tips/moral support and encouragement, don't be shy!

Thick hair let to grow long can be hell to manage. Best tip from when I had long (and exceptionally thick) hair is to not use any form of shampoo. This just causes it to go dry and all over the place. To keep it looking decent during the day in the 'awkward in-between stage' as alluded to by posters above, I was a big fan of the humble hosepipe. Just rinse it- something about cold water with no chemicals seems to keep it in check.

Also, get a sweat on. Then rinse cold. Looks way better than if you ponce it up with shampoo and conditioner.

My buddy has just grown his out, and it looks great. Took him about a year I guess, it's shoulder length now. He started in winter and used a hat to cover it up during the first stages.

Post: #21

(08-06-2015 07:46 AM)roberto Wrote:  

(08-06-2015 07:20 AM)H1N1 Wrote:  A bump, as I notice Hades never did make it back to post his pictures of badass long hair. I've decided to grow mine out. I always have mid length hair (can pull the front down to below my eyebrows), and have never gone longer. My hair is VERY thick - Whenever I get it cut the girl always says it is the thickest she has ever had to deal with.

Currently my hair is about 5 fingers long. I don't know whether to keep the back trimmed at all whilst the top grows out, or whether just to let it flow long and free and deal with looking like a damn hippy for a while. I'm hoping that in another 3 months I'll be over the worst of the awkward stage.

I think someone mentioned it above, but I'm going initially for the Cullen Bohannon length/Jax Teller length initially. I've also been growing the Jax Teller style facial hair for the last 6 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to start giving that a bit of shape in another month or so.

Anyone with more tips/moral support and encouragement, don't be shy!

Thick hair let to grow long can be hell to manage. Best tip from when I had long (and exceptionally thick) hair is to not use any form of shampoo. This just causes it to go dry and all over the place. To keep it looking decent during the day in the 'awkward in-between stage' as alluded to by posters above, I was a big fan of the humble hosepipe. Just rinse it- something about cold water with no chemicals seems to keep it in check.

Also, get a sweat on. Then rinse cold. Looks way better than if you ponce it up with shampoo and conditioner.

My buddy has just grown his out, and it looks great. Took him about a year I guess, it's shoulder length now. He started in winter and used a hat to cover it up during the first stages.

That's the concern mate - it's a long process, and I might just look shit at the end of it. I think long hair looks good on the right blokes, but you never know whether you can pull it off until you get there. Plus friends and family tend to be negative, either just because mates take the piss, or because family has a certain vision of how you fit and who you are, that may not necessarily be congruent with how you see yourself. Only time will tell I guess.

Post: #22

There's only one answer really...

Buy a wig

Post: #23

I have hair down to my chest right now. The number 1 way to grow your hair is to not get a hair cut. Ever.

Post: #24

(08-06-2015 11:48 AM)MidniteSpecial Wrote:  I have hair down to my chest right now. The number 1 way to grow your hair is to not get a hair cut. Ever.

How have you found people respond to it? Did you trim up the back and sides whilst you grew out the length on top at all?

Post: #25

Haven't reread the thread, still have the hair. I'm not even that sure how long I've had it.

I know I haven't posted pics of my hair yet, or if I even promised to do so, but I'll think about it.