What do you call this and how do you get rid of it?

[september]

All my life I've been stuck with this hair "thing" on the right side of my forehead. It makes my hair spread out in that one spot and I can't put it down! Really annoying, I have no idea what it's called and how to get rid of it.
Here is a little illustration I drew in Photoshop :D

http://i37.tinypic.com/157ymms.jpg

Maybe someone will know what I'm talking about.

[Shorty89]

I call them cowlicks. I don't have very strong ones but I know other members who do. Some try using aloe vera gell or some product to get the hairs to lay flat, but often there isn't much that can be done. Although, I've heard that as your hair gets longer they flatten out. Maybe someone with cowlicks will pop in and answer your question better.

[TaraBella]

Hi,
Yes, indeed, that's a cowlick. I have two rather BIG and nasty ones right at my hairline in front. As I like to wear bangs, I have had trouble getting the hair to lie flat.
There's really nothing you can do to correct them (believe me, I've tried everything and talked to everyone I could think of!) If you let the hair grow out long, it won't be much of an issue (when I didn't have bangs they weren't as noticeable). But if you want bangs, and your hair is fine and straight like mine, you just have to live with them :(
Alternately (and I'll probably get yelled at for typing this!) but a blow dryer and brush MAY work to control them slightly.
Just my 2 cents...

[Carolyn]

Yes it's called a cowlick. Funny name huh? :D Mine isn't in the front but at the crown in back. Growing your hair longer should help. The weight will help keep the hair from popping up and waving around. You can use product like a styling get or aloe vera gel. The dirtier my hair gets, the worse the cowlick is. There is nothing that I know of that you can do to change your growth patterns. You just have to learn ways to deal with it.

[TaraBella]

It's absolutely a cowlick. I have two at my hairline in front. As I like to wear bangs, and my hair is fine and straight, it gives me devil of a time. However, I like bangs and have just learned to live with it. If you can get some of the "non-cowlick" hair to fall over it, it often hides it and makes it a bit more manageable.
If you let your hair grow out, it will take some of the "whoosh" or "whirl" out of it, but keeping your hair short will make it that much more obvious.
(Please don't yell at me for typing this!) A blow dryer, round brush and some hair gel MAY temporarily make it more manageable, but the effects don't last long. I had very short hair when I was younger, and one of the reasons I wanted to grow it out was because of all the cowlicks I had all over my head!:o

[Isblå]

I have a cow lick in the front of my hairline. I find that if I make the part at that spot it looks OK. I never succeeded in changing the growth pattern so a centered part will most times look quite odd on me.

[Kirin]

Yup cowlick, other than pasting it down somehow, its difficult to conquer. Its the pattern of hair growth in that area that makes it up.

[Xandergrammy]

Definitely a cowlick. I have one in the middle of my forehead and at the back of my head. I'm 53 years old and have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it. My advice is to play around with your hair and find ways to peacefully coexist. :flowers:

[LawyerGirl]

Love the illustration, btw. My DS and his dad have the same cowlick in the same spot. It's funny to think that DS has my eyes, my nose, and his dad's... cowlick.

[Elphie]

I have two at the front of my hairline. You're better off working with it than against it. I keep my bangs sideswept and slightly off center, the cowlick naturally keeps them apart. The other one I manage by making sure it's damp and aimimg my blowdryer at it to help straighten it. I don't use any curling brush or product on it, it tends to make it worse . It's still part of my bangs, so I don't worry too much about blowing it dry to get it to behave.

[spidermom]

What used to be cowlicks when I had short hair are now long spiral curls. Length definitely helps.

[MermaidGirl]

I have this weird hair cleavage/cowlick-y thing on the right side of my head at the back of my crown. Its not too severe though (I've seen some cowlicks/hair cleavages that were HORRIBLE!) and even though my hair is fine (so doesn't weigh much) and is only BSL, the "weight" does help keep the hair from sticking up. What I do is just make sure to comb it down very well with a fine-toothed come when it is wet and that is enough to make the hairs in that area lay quite flat and you'd never know I had the hair cleavage/cowlick thing going on! On day 2 after wash day, I usually have to spray it down with some water and comb again because if I lay on it, the cleavage/cowlick comes back!

[Toadstool]

I have two cowlicks at the front - they part my fringe in opposite directions. I don't think you can get rid of them, but I also think it's nice that our hair has character and we are all different. It would be boring if everyone had the same hair.

[joyfulmom4]

I don't have a cowlick, but I always thought ones along the front of the hairline were kindof cute. Some people have a knack for styling their hair around them to look really nice. I like the way they sweep the hair up and back from the forehead. My hair growth pattern is for the hair in front to grow straight down over the forehead. It's difficult to wear my hair swept back from the face. It always falls forward over my eyes. Growing long helps me to keep it out of my face (or wearing it up does too). Perhaps growing out length would soften the look?

[Laila23]

Hey, have you tried parting your hair so that it follows the pattern of the cowlick?

[iris]

I have one too, also on the right side of my forehead. I quite like it, actually, it gives nice volume and makes my hair frame my face better - it doesn't fall in my face, but a bit away from it. I let my part fall where it naturally falls (slightly to the right, just left of the cowlick) and layer my hair a bit on the left side to make it fall away from my face there, too. On the right there's no need, the cowlick makes it fall nicely there.

I think the best way to deal with cowlicks is to just let them do what they want to do, and try to find a hairstyle that works with it rather than against it. A good hairdresser will work with the cowlicks rather than against them. You can use them to your advantage.

[Islandgrrl]

I have a couple: one in front, pretty much over my right eye, and one at the nape of my neck on the left side. I don't even fight them anymore. Pointless.

[LutraLutra]

I'm part woman, part cowlick and part hair cleavage. Plus I have a widdows peak - not sure what they're called outside the UK, but it's when you have a pointy bit on the hairline above your nose. :cool:

[vampodrama]

I have them too. one on the middle of my head and two at the nape. when I had short hair, the neck was such a pain because the hair had to be buzzed off, literally. otherwise it stood up (cos the cowlicks go upwards there). only at around 4 inches started my hair to go downwards again, and even now, at 26 inches I have bumps at my nape where the hair wants to go upwards.

[Drynwhyl]

I don't have them, but my (also very long haired) friend has...The thing is that she tried to cut it off, and now as they grow, it looks kinda funny, sticking up :D
Just let it grow out, it won't be noticable.

[baobhan sith]

Gawd knows how many cowlicks, double crown, and widows peak. And people ask me why i obsess over growing and keeping my hair long! I used to have fine hair, which made it worse because the weight didn't keep it down very much and it sprang up and separated, but i found that keeping it tied back in ponytails seems to have calmed them down a bit.. i don't do them MAJORLY tight, so i'm not sure if it has really moved the follicles much (i've heard it can do though) and it might just be weight, but mine aren't even noticeable at all now (yes i know... i've just cursed myself :)) I'm BSL now (bra-strap length).

See, i'm learning!

[neon-dream]

Ohh I have cow licks!
When your hair gets longer it makes them less noticeable :)
xxx

[burns_erin]

Besides working with the cowlick, you can try making the other hair do what the cowlick is doing. Like I have one in the back that when my hair was shorter made it stand up funny. So I sleep with all my hair as vertical over my head as possible and that gives more lift to the surrounding hair so the cowlick blends better.

[hipmama1970]

I have cowlicks in the hair right at the nape of my neck. Now, they don't stand out at all, because they're weighed down by and covered up with hair.

When I was in high school in the 80s, I had really short hair on the back and sides. Then, the cowlicks were very obvious, like spiral crop circles on the back of my head. It really used to embarrass me!

[HairColoredHair]

I'm part woman, part cowlick and part hair cleavage. Plus I have a widdows peak - not sure what they're called outside the UK, but it's when you have a pointy bit on the hairline above your nose. :cool:

In the US it's a widow's peak as well. ;) I've got one from my mum, but it's not that noticeable.

I have a cowlick from my dad right at the temple, but it hasn't caused me any trouble since my hair's gotten long enough to weigh it down.

Patience!

[Tangles]

My hair falls flatter on one side than on the other, but it can be alleviated by simply drying it in the opposite direction from how I'm going to part it. I remember I used to have a really bad cowlick that I gelled down with hair gel daily (as a teenager) and one day it wasn't there anymore. Hair is strange.

[jojo]

What used to be cowlicks when I had short hair are now long spiral curls. Length definitely helps.

me too, mine are doing this too. My texture here is more curlier in general here, must be due to the changed hair position thingy.

[almmaaa]

I have no clue sorry.