Others' opinions of long hair.

[cobden 28]

What do forum members find that other people - ie those not with long hair or an interest in long hair - think of their having long hair?

Do you ever alter your hairstyle to go along with someone else thinks, or do you always have your hair as you want it?

Just asking, because my husband thinks i should have my waist-length hair cut into a shoulder-length bob and have blonde streaks put in:eek:. NO WAY! He did suggest I might look better with a fringe, which I was thinking of having done anyway and which I had cut into my hair on Monday of this week. Not got round to taking any photo's yet, though.

[Madora]

I don't let anyone influence me when it comes to my hair.

[cobden 28]

I've had a full fringe with long hair before and know it suits me, but NO WAY am I prepared to go through the physical pain of blonde streaks for anyone!

[A. Correira]

I will admit that I take my husbands opinion to heart. But I do what I want, not what he wants. He never can tell me a specific style I should do because he doesnt really care that much. He did say that APL hair and waist length are about the same to him. I usually can tell if he likes things when I do them. Like I got a full front bang that I love and he now randomly says things like "I still really like your hair". He lets me make the decision :)

[lapushka]

I don't let anyone influence me when it comes to my hair.

Same here. It's my hair after all!

[gillybeanxo3921]

kids in my school really appreciate it. It's a trend :)

[Amygirl8]

Since I still attend school, I find that most people really do like long hair, it's really popular nowadays especially waist length and longer.
I've had a couple of friends pester me about cutting it but that's either often jealousy of just joking around so I don't really take that to heart.
My family didn't like it mostly because when I was younger it caused trouble for them, now that I take care of it myself they don't care so much.
I wouldn't change my hair for anyone though. I don't think anyone I know outside of my family has ever seen me with short hair, it's always been LHC-standard long, so it's just part of me and my identity now.

[natural80]

When I had long hair [MBL] people used to say, 'Oh, I wouldn't have my hair that long.' So I got tired of hearing it and cut it. I'm bald now. Now, those same people think I'm crazy because I cut all my hair off. You just can't satisfy anyone.

[torrilin]

No one who actually cares about me has opinions on my hair beyond "you should be happy." and "clogged drains are unacceptable."

Since long hair makes me happy, and I keep after the drains, we're all happy.

[dmilton]

My hair is currently hip length, and my husband has started saying that it is getting long! He likes long hair, but he's starting to think this might be too long. I plan to grow to classic length regardless :) He'll still respect it and support me. I have also been making more of a fuss about my hair lately which is likely related to his noticing of my hair more too. My dad jokingly threatens to cut it off with their kitchen scissors, but he and my mom love my hair long.

[dwell_in_safety]

Everybody loves my hair, though most haven't seen it down in a year. My girlfriend's the only one who knows how long it actually is. Ha! But I've always been encouraged by everyone around me whenever I decide to grow my hair long. :) (That's been most of my life.)

[door72067]

no one ever says anything, so I really don't know what they think

I do have one friend who LOVES layers and chats up her latest layered cut all the time but she's never said *get layers* (I am one length, almost at waist)

[Sillage]

Same thing here Door-- no one ever comments on my hair, LOL.

[ScarlettAdelle]

My grandfather thinks my hair is too long (I'm about an inch or so from classic at the moment) and should cut it back to waist or BSL. He also thinks I should always wear it in braids like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. What he doesn't get is that I have curls, so my hair puffs if it's that short and just put in braids *sigh*

Others think that it's a waste of time for me to keep my hair long as I always keep it in a bun.

No, I don't listen to them. I enjoy having my hair long and I love looking like anime character on the rare occasion that I flat iron it and let it fly in the wind. At the end of the day, it's one of the few things that sometimes makes me feel pretty, and I refuse to give it up.

[DancingQueen]

I don't think you should let others decide, if you don't want that hairstyle. You can listen to their suggestions, but ultimately, the decision is yours. You don't ask him go loose/get a beard, to get longer/shorter hair, etc. :)

[SnowWhite]

My friends and family love that I'm growing my hair!
My mom encourages me to grow it whenever I feel the urge to cut it again.
The only one who complains is my brother. He doesn't really care and when I say I want to grow my hair Hip length he says I'm crazy. But then, it's my brother :)
I will grow it long anyway.

[iluvlovelylocks]

I have had so many friends and family members tell me what to do with my hair. I had it at hip length, some didn't like it there, some did. I got it cut to my shoulders, most didn't like it there, some did. I dyed it black, some liked it, some didn't. I put highlights in, some liked it, some didn't. Finally, I am at a point in my life where I do what I want with my hair and I don't care what ANYONE says! If I like my hair, then that's that!

[iluvlovelylocks]

My friends and family love that I'm growing my hair!
My mom encourages me to grow it whenever I feel the urge to cut it again.
The only one who complains is my brother. He doesn't really care and when I say I want to grow my hair Hip length he says I'm crazy. But then, it's my brother :)
I will grow it long anyway.

Lol, I have a little brother who is ten, and he told me that he likes my hair long, but that I need to cut bangs :) Brother's are so silly!

[spirals]

No one talks about my hair but me. They are sick of listening to it, by the way.

[rtree721]

I don't care what anyone thinks of my hair except my boyfriend. He likes long hair, long being a relative term. Really, he doesn't like bobs and everything else is fine. I would still cut my hair short anyway if I felt like it. He would accept it. But friends and family... if they don't like my hair then it doesn't bother me because at any length you will find someone who doesn't like your hair. I only get negative comments from people who are jealous (won't name any names :P) and everyone else seems to either not mind or they like my hair.

[jojo]

Its my hair, only i have a say in how i wear it!

[Kelikea]

I get compliments on my hair, like different styles I do, or just comments on the length or that it is pretty. One person is always saying that my hair is her "goal length". My family all seems to like my long hair, and my mom also has long hair, although she usually keeps it between waist and bcl. My husband likes long hair and braids, especially. He doesn't like it if it is "in the way" but it is almost the longest its ever been and not in the way yet, since I have been keeping it up or braided. I ask him about getting bangs or highlights, or coloring, but he always say that he likes it the way it is, natural, and that he likes my forehead, so no bangs. The only problem is that it sheds a lot and gets everywhere, so I have to be careful to pick up after brushing and styling.

[Nique1202]

When I cut my BSL to pixie, people thought I had absolutely lost my mind and tried to get me to keep it long (except my hairdresser, who was champing at the bit to have fun with it). The girl in the next chair at the stylist's nearly fainted on my behalf. But, I also inspired a lady I saw regularly at the bank (working retail, had to get change daily) to cut hers from about apl/bsl to a deep a-line bob above shoulder length, through my "courage" in having it cut so much. (I didn't see it much as courage, I just wanted a change and if I didn't like it, I'd just grow it back out instead of maintaining. Which is what I'm doing now, but at least I took the chance in the first place!)

Basically what it comes down to is that I am the only one that can make decisions about my hair. It's my body, it's my head, it's my appearance, it's my choice. That's really all there is to it, for me.

[KittyBird]

I don't care what other people think. If other people don't like that I'm growing my hair long, then that's their problem. So far I've only had positive responses. My parents think it's nice with long hair and my friends think it's cool that I want really long hair, though they think I'm a bit extreme when I talk about maybe wanting knee length. When I told my ex (then-boyfriend) that I was going to grow my hair down to my butt, his first reaction was "Awesome! Can I take a nude picture of you when it's that long?" :D

[Eireann]

My husband loves my long hair. When I talk about cutting it short, he objects, though it's ultimately my decision. Still, I want to be attractive to my partner, so in that sense, I take his opinion into consideration.

[SerinaDaith]

My husband likes A line bobs with wild colors. I prefer longer hair since my natural curl means that unless want to flat iron every time I wash I will look a mushroom or a triangle head. I have started going natural and figure that when hit about APL I may bleach about 1/4 inch of hair at my nape and hit it with something fun for both of us. But when I told him that my last cut (to kill the last ex pixie layers) would be my last he pouted. I told him it is my hair. He likes long hair he just hates that I wear it up all the time now. He also hates it when our littlest 1 and 3 DD and DS pull at it so he gets the undo's really the bottom line is that he loves me not my hair.

[pepperminttea]

SO is dropping hints that my hair is "peculiarly long" and "Why don't you cut it?" He lightly joked that he'd take clippers to it while I was asleep. He's been gently but very firmly told that the hair's part of my identity and it is staying, and if it does try that, he will lose the ability to procreate. :twisted:

[spidermom]

No one says much about my hair other than the occasional compliment. I think my husband is annoyed with long shed hairs sticking to him or his clothing, but he doesn't give me a say in what he does with his hair (which is very short), so he doesn't tell me what to do with my hair (other than keep it confined in the kitchen).

[MaryO]

My mom and sister are of the opinion than no one over the age of 30 should have hair longer than shoulder length. They think it makes everyone look old. I used to agree until I found LHC! This site really converted me! My husband loves me with long hair but I am expecting some flack from my mom and sister when it starts getting long (still a way off though...) But I have cut my hair way too many times because they think I look better with short hair but I'm done with that now. As long as I stay on LHC I won't cut!

[clairenewcastle]

SO is dropping hints that my hair is "peculiarly long" and "Why don't you cut it?" He lightly joked that he'd take clippers to it while I was asleep.

If I had that said to me it would make me very nervous as my mother used to threaten to cut my hair when I was asleep.

[jacqueline101]

I don't care what people think of me period let alone my hair.

[Iscoria]

Hi! :)

I've only gotten positive comments on me growing my hair long and the majority of the people I hang out with think that long hair suits me the best.

I often ask advice from my boyfriend/family etc on how to wear my hair, so I guess I alter my hairstyle to go along with what other thinks quite often. But I never wear my hair a certain way only because someone else prefers it that way.

[MrsGuther]

What do forum members find that other people - ie those not with long hair or an interest in long hair - think of their having long hair?

Do you ever alter your hairstyle to go along with someone else thinks, or do you always have your hair as you want it?

Just asking, because my husband thinks i should have my waist-length hair cut into a shoulder-length bob and have blonde streaks put in:eek:. NO WAY! He did suggest I might look better with a fringe, which I was thinking of having done anyway and which I had cut into my hair on Monday of this week. Not got round to taking any photo's yet, though.
I think most people are pretty opinionated, regardless of the subject matter. I tend to disregard any comments made about my hair, because frankly, I am not here to decorate anybody's world. It's my hair and Im growing it long for me. I know it's not 'fashionable' or the 'in thing' right now to have hair past my butt crack but I reallllllly could care less.
Oh, and did I mention my husband is in love with not only me, but my hair too? Hehe. So I guess you could say the only other opinion about my hair which I actually care about is his. He has been very supportive of me growing my hair and all the stuff involved in the journey.

[pepperminttea]

If I had that said to me it would make me very nervous as my mother used to threaten to cut my hair when I was asleep.

If I wasn't sure he was joking, I would be worried too - I think the fierceness of my response rather took him aback. I hope your mother wasn't serious though, that sounds awful. :(

[Woods Nymph]

I can't say as I've ever gotten negative attention because of the length of my hair, not that I would care about that. I wear my hair up 99% of the time, so when I do wear it down, people I see on a regular basis (i.e. colleagues) will urge me to wear it down more often. But when I wear it down, it's for me, not them. :D

[patienceneeded]

I teach in a middle school and it seems that half the female teachers on staff and more than half the students have hair that is MBL-Hip length. Hair is long on most people. Heck, a decent number of guys around here have hair that is "skater" or "Bieber" instead of the traditional men's cut. No one has ever commented on my hair beyond the "wow, it's getting long." Actually, come to think of it, I've only gotten compliments from students and staff.

Random strangers don't approach me to make comments, I think it's the "don't mess with me, I teach 13 and 14 year-old teens vibe" that radiates. Either that or strangers are too busy noticing my adorable 5-year old sidekick (DD) to pay any attention at all to me.

Either way, it's my hair and I'll wear it how I want. Other people's opinions are only opinions. I am strong enough to not let it bother me.

[spirals]

Gotta love those sidekicks. :D

[DarkCurls]

I keep my hair the way I like it... at least now I do.
I do get a lot of comments -- my entire family thinks I'm aiming for "too long", my mother wishes it weren't curly and occasionally suggests I color it. But oh well. People will always have opinions, and I'm used to not being part of the majority by now.

[MonaMayfair]

The only negative comments I've ever had on my hair were when I henna'd it and people couldn't understand why I wanted red hair. Now I'm over it, I can't understand it myself, but I liked it at the time.
No-one comments on the length, it's only just past waist, and that's really mainstream.

[Amorice]

My FH loves my hair long and generally supports whatever I want to do with it (colors, etc). The only thing he's ever commented on is bangs: he's wary of how they'd look on me (even though he's never seen me with them). But, its attatched to my head, so its my decision what to do with it, and he respects that.

My mom has been trying to get me to donate it for a few years now; she grew her usual pixie down to almost APL and couldn't handle dealing with it (understandable if you haven't had long hair in decades), donated it, and wants me to do the same. I initially thought about it, planned to grow my hair long enough that I could donate about 8" and still have BSL length afterward. But then I bleached it, and most places won't take bleached hair (or if they do, they throw it out). She seems to have given up, but whenever I visit, she always thinks its "too long", and tries to make an appointment with her friend to give me a trim. Um.... no. She did that once when I'd gotten a trim a week before; I had fresh, healthy ends and everything!

[CurlyCurves]

It makes a bit upset when people say they prefer my hair straight/straight hair over curly, but apart from that, I don't really listen to people's opinions about my hair. I usually get complimented on it, thankfully.

[battles]

I don't care what anyone thinks, but I do love when my boyfriend appreciates what I do with my hair. I will take his suggestions into consideration but only do what I really want to do. :p His reaction when I cut bangs and face framing pieces into my hair was adorable.

[RileyJane]

i used to.... but then i realized my natural hair is WAY better than any other fake-color, extensions, or heat styling tools, and ive noticed that even thou my co-workers and friends laughed at me for wanting to grow my natural hair out the healthy way, a year later the same girls are running to me asking how to help their hair, so i just keep on doing what im doing... :) (and most of my guy friends say they prefer a girl with long hair, but then again thats just their personal perference, every person likes different things)

[einna]

I do respect DBF's opinion, but I would not do anything drastic just to please him. Luckily for me, he likes my hair LHC style; virgin hair with some length. However, he probably wont like it if I grow longer than waist (he does not like anything "to extreme" hehe), but hair grows slowly anyways, so he might get used to it and even like it. I dont plan on growing longer than waist or maybe hip anyways though, but you never know... LHC seems to change peoples minds about goal lengths ;) Mine has already changed from BSL to MBL to wanting to try waist, lol.

[PixxieStix]

My entire family is happy that I am growing my hair out again, I had long hair growing up and my senior year decided to cut it all off/shave it because of issues with my trichotillomania (I thought if I didn't have hair, then I'd simply stop pulling, WRONG!). But, I am finally, after 8 years, at a place where I am happy with myself and working on my hair pulling. Honestly, I love having a shaved head (bald), it is so refreshing, but my husband likes me much better with hair, and if I'm going to have hair, well, I want my long hair again! So I am aiming for tailbone since that will be the longest it's ever been (milestone wise).

Sometimes I get comments from my mother about how she wishes I'd grow out my natural hair color (I naturally have aurburn hair, but henna because I like more red in it, like my hair was when I was younger before I damaged the hair follicles so much.) I told her I'll grow out my natural color when I start going grey/silver, I really hope to be rocking hip or tailbone length silver white hair when I get older.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

My hair isn't really to that 'oh my gosh, your hair is so long, why is it that long?' stage, since it's only a little past BSL. However I do get bored with my hair sometimes and will mess around with sometimes admittedly different styles to forestall the urge to cut it.
A couple of weeks ago I was going for a mussed look and started using homemade saltwater spray to give my wurls more definition and my MIL said it looked really messy and like I was trying to let it dread up or something. She asked if that was 'in style' right now, and started grilling me about how could I possibly brush it that way. I told her I never brush my hair anyway and instead use my fingers or a comb because my hair is not straight, and that I liked this style because it seemed like I could go longer between shampoos this way. Of course then she had to know when my last shampoo was. She recoiled in horror when I told her it hadn't been washed in about 5 days, lol. To be fair I did go home and wash it afterwards.

[Mayflower]

I don't think I ever got a nasty remark on my hair -and if I did, I probably just don't remember it. Sometimes a guy will say something nice about it, but most of the compliments regarding my hair comes from girls; friends and strangers. They'll say something about the thickness or the length and usually ask for advice on growing it long, and since I love giving advice I bombard them with tips and tricks.

Oh wait. My family used to make negative comments on the colour, but that never stayed with me longer than 5 minutes, so nope don't care about other's opinions.

[czech it out]

My friends and family are really supportive of my long hair/goals for the most part. The notable exception is my mom, who has this strange bias against long hair. She seems to think that damage and splits will happen after you reach a certain length, regardless of care. So, anytime she sees hair past waist length, she will make a negative comment even if it doesn't actually look damaged. Mine isn't so long yet, but she says it makes me look like I'm still in high school (Gee, thanks mom!) and always pesters me to dye/cut/otherwise change it. Of course, that's not going to happen.

[shutterpillar]

I do care about what my husband thinks about my appearance - he is my husband, and I want him to find me attractive. Fortunately, he finds very long hair attractive and is actually the one who encouraged me to grow it out instead of hacking it off like I do every summer. I always wanted long hair, but thought it would be such a pain to upkeep. Turns out, shorter hair was a bigger pain for me.

As for my friends and society in general... I personally could care less what they may think of my desire to grow tailbone length hair. :shrug: It is said many many times on this forum "i'm not here to decorate your world."

[AutumnLocks]

DH is the only person who's opinon I consider when I decided what to do with my hair. Most of my family like it long. With a few exceptions long hair has been my signature for many years. When I had it nearly classic length and it was colored strawberry blonde I got lots of attention because of it. Some of the attention wasn't always positive either. The negative stuff always seemed to come from women I worked with. I would hear a couple of women in particular saying stuff when my back was turned like...Look at her with all that hair! She thinks she's something!! I chalked that up to jealousy because they weren't able to grow their hair long.
So nope....I don't let other people dictate how I wear my hair.

P.S. My step-mom who's hair is about shoulder length and in a bob told me one time that if she were able to take care of extra long hair she would let hers grow to her knees! So she is one of my biggest fans when it comes to my long hair...;)

[HintOfMint]

Aside from two comments on the condition of it (my ends didn't survive my first New York winter), the attention I've gotten for my hair has been largely positive. A handful of Rapunzel comments either. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have grown it this long if I weren't getting positive comments along the way.

I'm very attached to the length now, so I'm able to withstand the odd comment from a well-meaning friend that she prefers waist length over tailbone. She always states though that it's her own opinion and since I like to have longer hair, I should obviously keep it longer.
However, it's really the opinions of others that make me hesitant about growing to classic. There, I said it. I'm not proud of it but there it is.

[longNred]

My hb wouldn't dare ever say such a thing to me. That I should get a particular cut, color, or style. He'd get a mouthful for quite some time if he ever did too... And he knows this. He's always fully supported anything I've done to it. Lovingly calls me "ms. Cleo" and asks me to tell his fortune when I have a satin wrap on it. Says I make a beautiful cone head when it's loaded with henna, piled on top, and wrapped up. And comments on how cool a new braid looks. Everyone else in my life has only had nice things to say about it, but I've always had "long hair" - not by LHC standards though. I plan to keep going. One friend always questions "why", to which I just ask "why not?"

[Olga-Freya]

Once one girl used to say that I should try to cut my hair shorter. "If you scared to have short hairstyles, try a waist length for a start, maybe you would like it", she said. Oh, yeah, like I would give up half of my length just for experiment.
Another girl, my friend, once mentioned that I had a gorgeous length, but my ends looks awful. I thought over her words and realize that I really need good trim.
Soon after that I started to learn about long hair care, trying new hairstyles and discovered this forum :)
So, if person respects my choice to have hair I like, I might listen to her/his opinion.

[SleepyTangles]

When my hair was a disaster - in comparison to now, at least, poor thing... - I often followed other advice. I thought other probably knew something I didn't: after all, their hair was so beautiful, they surely knew what was going on!
Well... wrong.
I tryied many thing, most completely wrong and unbearable in the long run - like layers and bobs. Now I trust way more my experience, and more importantly I have defined and applyied my taste to my own look (when I was a teen the only thing I wanted my hair to be was less miserable it could be, that didn't leave much space for personal tastes).

Speaking of which (my taste), it was deeply influenced by Renaissance and Romantic/Orientalist painters, Fantasy litterature and Storybook illustrators. Others ofter mistake your refusal to follow their advice as a lack of opinion/fear to try...
Quite annoying, because usually a strong statement on your own opion on beauty sound harsh and rude to "helpful" friends.

[whitebengal]

The only person who I let advize me on hairstyles is my mom. She had long hair when she was younger and has mid back now. Shes an amazing braider so i learn from her and let her braid my hair quite often! She has always liked my long hair! I do have some friends who want me to chop all my hair off into a pixie cut and donate because they say i get too much nice comments and i don't fit in as well with long hair. I dont want to fit in! I like my long hair so im not gonna let anyone change that! :)

[starry]

My hubby to be wants it long- when I cut off the dye damage he was a little miffed just because he wanted the length, now he says it looks heaps better because the condition is near perfect. My hair is a shoulder length mullet sort of deal right now and I get compliments from his family about how soft and healthy it looks. We're (hubby and me) just waiting for it get longer, patiently trying to enjoy the growing journey.

My dad is a fan of long virgin hair so he's all up for my growing journey, I have my mother's support, she prefers hair like mine virgin, hmm who else, oh when i had the dye damage, i never got compliments from acquaintances. After I cut it all the opinions came out of the woodwork- it was thin, it was frazzled... That sort of thing I guess I'm fortunate regarding those around me and about them not being rude with their opinions.

I sort of feel like a few other people on here, ill listen, I'll think about what you have to say but ultimately it's my friggin hair and its my choice..

[silkreel]

My boyfriend loves my hair long and I admit there is a part of me that keeps it long, after I consider cutting it to a more manageable APL, because he loves it so much. But if I really wanted to cut it or grow it, I'd do it despite his opinions. As for everyone else, no way do I let them influence me.