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Synnovea
March 31st, 2014, 12:52 PM
How on earth do you do it? I spent the last week in Portland, and noticed that the natives don't rock umbrellas there. Everyone seems to be content walking around perpetually damp. In fact, it was kind of funny to hear that an umbrella in Portland is the mark of a tourist.

For those of you who live in very wet climates, how do you deal with the rain messing with your pride and joy? It seemed impossible for me to keep it dry and decent looking even when I put it up because of the wind.

harpgal
March 31st, 2014, 01:58 PM
Some of the most beautiful hair I've ever seen has been in Seattle and Portland. When I'm out in that neck o' the woods, I wear a jacket that has a hood. I also wear the same jacket to sail in, so it is wind and water proof. I don't have any trouble carrying an umbrella, but the wind does make it hard and rather than be a "Mary Poppins", I simply use my hood. You will also see a lot of hoodies out there.

rosaacicularis
March 31st, 2014, 02:02 PM
I always love my hair the most when it has been rained on! It wouldn't do if I worked in a business run by someone who has strict ideas about hair, but thankfully I'm free to let my hair get wet. If it's really awfully rainy, and I don't want it soaked, I just put up the hood.

Quixii
March 31st, 2014, 03:12 PM
I live not far from Portland, so similar amount of wet. My buns/updos don't get much disturbed by the wet. :shrug: I choose not to wear it down/in a ponytail/whatever if it's raining, knowing my hair isn't fond of it.

And I sometimes use an umbrella. :p

ExpectoPatronum
March 31st, 2014, 03:16 PM
I live in northern northern California (Humboldt County) and it rains a lot up here...In fact, it's pouring as I type this!

I just stopped caring about my hair getting wet. Rain makes my hair really soft. Plus, I keep it in updos a lot so it's not too bad.

Verdandi
March 31st, 2014, 03:30 PM
I grew up in a city in Sweden with a LOT of rain (in December one year we only had about 15 hours of sun), and it never bothered me. I sometimes remeber to keep my hair dry for the sake of my hairtoys as I don't mind my hair getting wet (I never use products and my updos look the same dry or rained on), but mostly I just don't care about the rain (or the hairtoys, If I wouldn't wear them when it's a chance of rain, I'd never get to wear them at all :p ).

I spent the recent weekend just sitting at a friends balcony in another town, amazed by the fact that he had sun and that it was dry outside, so yeah...I'm just used to everything being wet :shrug:

Larki
March 31st, 2014, 03:34 PM
Well, I'm from Sacramento, which is not particularly rainy, but it does rain a lot during the winter. I never keep my hair down when it rains, I usually braid it to keep it from tangling, since in Sacramento you rarely get rain without wind.

dancingpoet
March 31st, 2014, 03:38 PM
As long as I'm going somewhere that it doesn't matter if my hair is wet, I don't mind my hair getting rained on. It actually does make it extra soft, and if it's already up, it's not a big deal. As long as it's not pouring so hard that when I get wherever I'm going I have to ask for paper towels to get the extra water out... which has happened a couple of times. In fact my hair will have it's best natural "waves" (if you can call them waves...) when it's damp after being washed and then it gets lightly rained on. As long as I don't brush them away... they disappear so fast.

Saldana
March 31st, 2014, 03:59 PM
I live in Portland, and I guess you just get used to your hair being damp. I hate going to bed with wet hair, so I usually just wash it in the morning and go to work with it wet. Some days it takes most of the day to actually get dry. And regarding umbrellas - I do have one, and actually carry it in my transit bag all winter - but I didn't get it out even once this winter. All of my coats and jackets have hoods - I just flip my hood up if it's raining hard enough to merit it. *shrug* On the plus side, when I'm at home (Portland area) I never have static in my hair. I was out in Bend this past weekend (east of the Cascades in the rain shadow) and my hair actually got static-y. Hate that.

VJG
March 31st, 2014, 04:39 PM
Really? My hair loves humidity. I live in a very dry climate which causes static and tangles. Whenever I travel somewhere humid my hair is softer, wavier, and better behaved!

FallingDarkness
March 31st, 2014, 04:41 PM
I live in Portland! And it's true. It's rare to see umbrellas around here lolz. Updos help with the rain, and I'm sure that if your hair is protected like that, then it won't be damaged or messed with. It keeps your hair pretty tangle free, too, so that's how I deal with the rain. Plus updos are better for your hair in general! :)

Rosa Harris
March 31st, 2014, 04:59 PM
South Georgia here - it's not only wet its a high humidity area - even in the depth of summer. In the summer it is just going to be soaked from sweat if you spend the least time outside. On the rain issue tho, I have this little plastic hood/hat that fits in my purse that I can always pull out and tie on. We used to tease kids about being afraid of a shower if they ran in the rain to get out of it, tho. That was sorta mean.

Aderyn
March 31st, 2014, 06:00 PM
I live up in Northern Washington so I definitely fit in this category of being in a wet, humid climate! Umbrellas are quite rare (especially due to the wind that oftentimes accompanies the rain). I wear my hair up all of the time, so just pulling a hood over my head when it's raining is more than sufficient. Weather proof jackets and hoodies are much appreciated around here. I will strategically choose my hairtoys on days when it's suspected to rain (i.e. not wearing a crazy long hairstick, typically I just go with a Flexi-8) so it doesn't get caught in the hood.

Prior to wearing my hair up and when I don't use a hood, being damp is really just something I'm used to as I grew up around here. If I wear it down, uncovered and it's particularly rainy, though, once my hair dries I tend to get a bit more frizz.. the perks of having fine, curly hair in a humid environment! How some people manage to do NW/SO in a wet climate is beyond me, though.

MadeiraD
March 31st, 2014, 06:04 PM
Rain bonnets are my good buddy, I also appreciate their retro 60s styling

TrapperCreekD
March 31st, 2014, 08:26 PM
I live a bit east of Portland, closer to the Cascades, so we get even more rain (!). I'm not really hat person; I'll sometimes wear a stocking hat but they're kind of a hassle with hairsticks, so hoods are my go-to when it rains a lot. Drizzle or very light rain, I don't even bother, damp hair isn't a huge deal. The animals don't care if every hair is perfectly in place (it never is anyway :rolleyes:), they just want their food! :laugh:

RoseofCimarron
March 31st, 2014, 09:00 PM
I live in Eugene, OR, and I'm so used to the rain I really don't care anymore! :D I just put my hair up with some acrylic hairsticks (luckily there is a well-known acrylic hairstick maker in town :wink:) and walk out into the rain. What's funny is when my hair goes into this weird oilslick mode where, even when it is completely clean, the water will just coat it, bead off, and run down my face. I see a lot of people wearing hooded jackets and carrying umbrellas (usually with the University of Oregon logo on them!). We get some humidity in the summer, and I can handle that, except for the fact that my hair and nails grow at astronomical rates (that is not always a good thing!). I just wonder what this summer will be like since my hair has gotten more curly over the winter.

Oh, what do you know, it's raining outside...

rachel1031
March 31st, 2014, 09:57 PM
I live in the PNW and hoodies are basically mandatory here! Seriously, there is no point in having a coat without a hood. I don't even understand why they sell them. But also, short hair or long, most of us have hair styles that can take a little rain.

Indoors with my hair in pin curls, listening to the rain outside.

spidermom
March 31st, 2014, 10:00 PM
Rain makes my hair soft, also. I don't mind using an umbrella, though, and I do when it's pouring rain. Also, I have a hair dryer for times I don't want wet hair.

sumidha
March 31st, 2014, 10:14 PM
I live in Northern California, close to the coast, and I either roll with the wet hair (it's always up in a bun or braid in the rain) or wrap a scarf around my head and neck if I want to stay dry, or if it's really cold. Hoods are never big enough, they either tug uncomfortably on my bun or constantly slide off my head.

It was pouring rain today and I wore my boyfriends giant hoodie under my jacket- and still had issues with the hood sliding back. >.<

Synnovea
March 31st, 2014, 10:57 PM
I love that y'all embrace it. I lived most of my life in southern California, so I'm very used to a dry, warm climate. Now I'm in the bay area in northern California, but it still doesn't rain here like it does in the PNW. I suppose I'm just too adapted to a drier climate, but I loved Portland, and I could see myself living there, if only I (my hair)could get used to how wet it can get.

maskedrose
March 31st, 2014, 11:19 PM
I grew up in the PNW...and I love the rain and what it does for my hair. I just moved back to my beloved state after living on the east coast for a few years, and my hair is so much happier. It got so damaged from the super dry, cold, windy winters in Upstate NY. I rarely cover my hair when it rains, and I've actually gotten some of my best curls after my hair has been saturated with rain and I've let it dry without touching. Legit 2c/3a spirals that I cannot, for the life of me, replicate any other way.

truepeacenik
April 1st, 2014, 12:10 AM
Synnovea, today it rained like the PNW.

Danu
April 1st, 2014, 12:35 AM
@}-`-}-,-'- príobháideach -'-,-{-`-{@

Synnovea
April 1st, 2014, 12:59 AM
truepeacenik, it sure did! This California drought has been rough on us, but today we got some much needed rain.

Lydialove
April 1st, 2014, 01:10 AM
Seattle area, here. I don't even notice what the weather does to my hair if it's particularly windy, or if I spent more than the usual amount of time trying to be pretty. If I don't want the damp I put on a hood or a hat. Umbrellas get blown about too much to bother with most of the time.

emilia1992
April 1st, 2014, 03:11 AM
I live in London, where heavy rain is usually accompanied by strong winds (thus blowing the rain up inside the umbrella). I just plait my hair and go, otherwise my hair ends up wet and tangled at the same time. And sometimes I tuck the braid inside my jacket, because there's nothing worse, rainy-day-hair concerned, than having wet, tangled hair caught in the frame of someone else's umbrella! :slap:

LongHairLesbian
April 1st, 2014, 12:17 PM
While southern Ontario winters are usually freezing (my hair hates it! It fills with static and knots), the spring, summer and fall are usually quite wet and/or humid. I don't mind my hair getting a bit of rain on it, and it's in a braid most days, so no harm done. There are a lot of things I dislike about a wet, humid climate; you almost never feel dry, the air feels thick and heavy, the temperature always feels warmer than it actually is (and when it's the cold season, it always feels colder than it actually is, super fun!). But it is much better for hair than a dry climate. Moisture in the air means moisture in your hair, which helps it stay hydrated and healthy. I think it's why so many people around here grow their hair long; it doesn't dry out and break off as quickly as it would if it were consistently exposed to dry weather.

Ellethwyn
April 24th, 2014, 03:21 PM
Hey I live in western WA. I recently moved here from Sacramento,CA area. My hair and skin is loving the humidity here. I don't own an umbrella. The rain here in the puget sound area is such a fine rain/mist most of the time. A nice raincoat is all one really needs.

"there is no such thing as bad weather only inappropriate clothing."

I love that quote:)

Rosa Harris
April 28th, 2014, 03:20 AM
I grew up in the PNW...and I love the rain and what it does for my hair. I just moved back to my beloved state after living on the east coast for a few years, and my hair is so much happier. It got so damaged from the super dry, cold, windy winters in Upstate NY. I rarely cover my hair when it rains, and I've actually gotten some of my best curls after my hair has been saturated with rain and I've let it dry without touching. Legit 2c/3a spirals that I cannot, for the life of me, replicate any other way.

wow maybe that is why Mom used to catch rainwater in a barrel outside and then save it to use in her hair-tea rinse? She's a curly too. I always thought it was just some Roma susperstion/magic stuff

tigereye
April 28th, 2014, 03:53 AM
We don't rock umbrellas here. The wind kills them almost immediately, being right on the coast of the North Sea. If I wander around in my sailing jacket, I get too hot running around. If it's been wet a couple of days and my hair hasn't dried properly, I do wear my sailing jacket, just so it isn't sitting perpetually soaking wet for three days in a row. But for the most part I don't really care if my hair is wet. My scalp hair dries fast enough, so it's just my length that stays damp. I just make sure to use a waterproof and VERY secure hair-toy the whole time, unless it's a sunny day with no sign of those fluffy white clouds hailing bad weather to come.

But yeah, as a mostly-straight haired girl, I get beautiful waves with my wet hair drying in a nautilus.

jeanniet
April 28th, 2014, 02:21 PM
I live in the north SF Bay Area. Less rain than farther north, but we do get quite a bit of fog/overcast and a lot of wind coming in off the ocean. I think most people in this area--and especially around my town, which is very accepting of individualism--just shrug off a certain amount of frizziness and hair going wild. You can't avoid it, so might as well go with it. If it's raining, I have an umbrella. I don't like hoods much, and if I'm walking the dog in the rain I need an umbrella to help keep my legs a little dry. If it's really windy, I put on a Buff to keep my hair contained, or put it up.