Ways to keep hair out of your eyes?

[NickalNack]

I think I asked this in another thread, but it's easier to get a question directly answered if you just start a thread. So anyway... the reason I'm asking this is because my boyfriend and I have sometimes talked about how I would like to see him grow his hair long. He's not exactly against the idea, except he has one complaint, which is the reason he always gets his hair cut every four to six weeks.

His hair has finally reached "that time" again where it's not long enough to put into a ponytail but it's long enough to get in his eyes. He's very active and does a lot of sports and outdoor activities, so his hair covering his eyes would be a hindrance to him. Are there any possible styles or anything that keep hair out of your face during that time period? Or is there just no way around it.

[ericthegreat]

There are tons of sweatbands and fabric headbands that he could wear. I've seen many young men who have surfer length hair use them to keep their bangs up and off their face.

[GlassEyes]

Gel, gel, and more gel. Maybe bobby pins if he doesn't feel emasculated, but definitely gel.

Bandanas are also a pretty good bet.

[Pierre]

A headband, or a pair of Mini Maxes or mini Flexi-8s, or the two together, should do the trick.

[Periwinkle]

Seconding fabric headbands, bandanas etc. I'd suggest alice bands, but I guess he's probably not too into those :P

Mussing it up with gel can keep it off the face a bit but I probably wouldn't trust it as much for sporting stuff.

[patience]

My son's hair is at that stage now. I bought a do rag and a buff for him. Seems to help. He also likes to wear a baseball cap sometimes.

[may1em]

Thirding (fourthing?) the suggestion for headbands, bandannas, or buffs.

I've also seen guys rock half-ponytails.

[Shadow Walker]

Hats. I wore hats when my hair reached my eyes pretty much all the way until it was chin length. I would just push it behind my ears and then tuck it into the hat, and it worked pretty well.

[Fractalsofhair]

I'd suggest neutral colored bobby pins(to match his hair) and a hat or headband.

[demitasse]

Went through this with my boyfriend too. He just wore a baseball cap. When he was working, he tried to ignore it until it was long enough to push behind his ears. There was nothing I could suggest that didn't look feminine. He just toughed it out. I think he went through the awkward stage for about two months.

If you're boyfriend will wear headbands, by all means. I think a thin, black one right one the hairline would be fine. There are few basketball players who wear them like that one the court.

[Amara]

Hats hats hats!

[thankyousir74]

My DBF wore sweat bands all the time during this awkward phase.

[Yttrai]

My SO just got to the point where he can pony his entire head at the base of his neck, instead of higher up. (We called the high up pony the Samurai, to make it sound more manly ;))

His work doesn't allow bandannas, but that was the first line of defense. Either in do-rag style (folded in half (http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/Khayeth/Kauai%202009/IMG_1986.jpg)) or as a headband with all the hair sticking straight up (http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/Khayeth/Michigan%20trip%202008/Traverse%20City/displeasedJames.jpg) both looked dang good and were his favourites for outdoor activities.

Once his hair hit about 2 inches we started braiding. 2 french braids looks okay, 4 looks even better, and 6 looks great. It takes me 30 minutes to do 6 braids on him, and i've gotten 4 down to under 20 minutes.

An intermediate style was to take the stuff over each ear and braid those two sections, not French, just normal. Tying those two together created a bit of a natural headband that kept his bangs out of his eyes with a little spray gel. Usually we put those back into the Samurai but he left it loose once and liked it.

Good luck :)

[ericthegreat]

Gel, gel, and more gel. Maybe bobby pins if he doesn't feel emasculated, but definitely gel.

Bandanas are also a pretty good bet.

I completely disagree with using gel for any reason or any hair type. Gels usually always contain alcohols which are very drying to the hair. Especially with African hair types(I'm assuming your BF is also black NickalNack unless I'm mistaken) which is already the naturally the most fragile and dryness prone of all hair types, he needs to be especially diligent about moisturizing his hair so I would advise that gel is a no-go for him.

NickalNack, do you know how to cornrow braid? if you do it would be an excellent bonding activity for you to braid his hair! Certainly with so many young black men sporting cornrows he certainly wouldn't feel that the braids would make him look too feminine!

[GlassEyes]

I completely disagree with using gel for any reason or any hair type. Gels usually always contain alcohols which are very drying to the hair. Especially with African hair types(I'm assuming your BF is also black NickalNack unless I'm mistaken) which is already the naturally the most fragile and dryness prone of all hair types, he needs to be especially diligent about moisturizing his hair so I would advise that gel is a no-go for him.

NickalNack, do you know how to cornrow braid? if you do it would be an excellent bonding activity for you to braid his hair! Certainly with so many young black men sporting cornrows he certainly wouldn't feel that the braids would make him look too feminine!

Have you ever looked at the contents of gels? Or exactly what the ingredients are? Not all alcohols are bad, and not all gels contain alcohol.

And for that matter, there are some alochols that are in a LOT of hair products. Ever look at your conditioner bottle and find cetaryl alcohol or one of it's derivatives? It's a fatty alcohol which is used for moisturizing in MANY hair products. Others, like alcohol denat. are drying, but beyond that, they aren't all bad. I and many other curly and wavy haired people use gels, and not just expensive ones either--L.A. looks is a brand I used for a good, long time, and it was perfectly hair safe. I have used gel in my hair for years, and I assure you, it's perfectly fine.

And on a related note, I am half-black, and have mixed hair, and I am still fine using them.

[maryann]

I concur with the suggestion of gel.

[longhairedfairy]

Have you ever looked at the contents of gels? Or exactly what the ingredients are? Not all alcohols are bad, and not all gels contain alcohol.

And for that matter, there are some alochols that are in a LOT of hair products. Ever look at your conditioner bottle and find cetaryl alcohol or one of it's derivatives? It's a fatty alcohol which is used for moisturizing in MANY hair products. Others, like alcohol denat. are drying, but beyond that, they aren't all bad. I and many other curly and wavy haired people use gels, and not just expensive ones either--L.A. looks is a brand I used for a good, long time, and it was perfectly hair safe. I have used gel in my hair for years, and I assure you, it's perfectly fine.

And on a related note, I am half-black, and have mixed hair, and I am still fine using them.
Yep, it depends on the type of alcohol.:) Lots of different kinds.

[SeaShell]

probably a hat for a couple of months would be the most macho way :)

[tommiefromva]

Andre Agassi played tennis with long hair.

[Fiferstone]

Sunglasses used as headbands are also non-girly and "masculine", but that won't work for active sports. He'll have to do the sweatband thing. Again, sweatbands (perhaps with the logo of his favorite activewear maker) won't be girly.

My dear husband uses gel to tame his "owl tufts" over his ears. He doesn't have a mullet, but he does have sideswept bangs so that from the front when his hair is pulled back, it really does look like he has the bog-standard corporate boring haircut. Until you see the wavy tail hanging halfway down his back ::shiver::

[Wicked Princess]

Gels and a securely tied bandanna are what my fiance used when he was getting past this particular stage, and he would come with me on hikes and runs :)

[NickalNack]

I like a lot of you guys' suggestions in this thread. Thank you.

Andre Agassi played tennis with long hair.
And now he's bald. lol :D

[Shorty89]

My only (not too helpful) suggestion is for him to go W/O and hit the otter in an oil slick stage :lol:

ETA: I need to fix my sentence. I somehow wrote oil in an otter slick....I need sleep. :lol: