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Keeping (longer) hair in place without it being stiff?
So I'm growing my hair out and I'm at the awkward stage where it's too short to tie back, but too long to just let loose.
I mostly use a metal hair band, which is fine enough, but I'd like an alternative that isn't hair gel that makes it all very stiff and feeling like I'm wearing a helmet.
I've tried a hairdo cream, but at least the one I found smelled very strongly (perfume, not chemically) and it made my hair look oily and wet.
So my question is, are there products I should try that let me keep my hair out of my eyes (I usually just comb it all to the back) in some semblance of order while not stiffening it up?
keep it simple, wear a hat
I can't stand wearing hats for a long period of time, unfortunately
Sorry, no idea about product that would help, when I had long/out-growing hair I used a variety of hair pins, hairclips, shawls, different wraps with fabric or small braids (+ clip to fasten them).
I can't stand hats, unfortunately. And I have to wear a mask with a strap over the head at work, so it can't be anything too complex. I've got a bunch of hair pins for non-work use, though!
I've used Pinaud Clubman Styling Gel for almost 30 years. A small amount, on a wet hand massaged throughout your hair. Style, let dry. It'll be stiff at this point. Run your brush through your hair again. Your hair will still stay in place but also be soft to the touch now.
Oooh, thank you for the idea! I'll have to see if I can find it here, but perhaps I can use that with the gel I already have.
I'm also just now realizing that perhaps me having chosen the extra strong hold gel is at fault for how stiff it gets x.x
Fwiw the "stiffness" is absolutely part of the hold of hairspray and gel. Brushing through it is the main solution IME but expect a less perfect hold
Also conditioning your hair can add weight and reduce flyaways before you get to the styling stage. Should make styling easier
As for scent, check both the men's and women's sections and look at the scents some. I think there tends to be a wider range on the women's side (but I don't buy a lot of mens holding gel so I'm less familiar with that category specifically) and less "musk" smelling stuff.
Also you can look at the type of hold, light or medium might work better.
Yeah, I'm not worried about it being perfect, I just don't want to look like a troll doll after a couple of hours, lol
The nice thing though is even if you do kind of troll doll you should be able to comb or brush through it again and the hold will still work decently
I find styling mousse works pretty well, it's firm enough without being heavy or greasy, and doesn't give that wet gel look. I have long curly hair (3A) and use VO5 Curl Defining Mousse, but there's so many to choose from.
You could also consider different hairstyles like braiding/plaiting?
Once my hair is long enough to tie I'll have a basic bun/ponytail, just gotta wait for it to grow enough
Have you tried molding paste? Styling fiber? Texture putty?
To be honest, I dont know the difference between those, they have varying degrees of holding power and shininess.
I would say if you dont want stiff helmet hair, just take a bit of the product in question on your fingertips and massage it on your scalp, so the product goes on the roots of your hair and holds it in the right orientation without covering the whole hair.
Yeah, I was standing before the hair product aisle and i had no idea what everything was, hah.
...it's been a very long time since i started keeping my hair natural, but back when i used styling products nothing really held its form which wasn't crunchy...
...would you consider a stretchy cloth hairband?..they work great holding my hair back and are super-comfortable...
A worry with the cloth headbands is they tend to conflict with the arms of my glasses, or just look silly