Anyone else get 'wings?' (photo)

[ashamanjababu]

I have gotten these little short curls just above my temples for about as long as I can remember. When I was a girl, people used to really make fun of them, but now I have learned to embrace them, mostly.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=8115&pictureid=105832

This is going to sound really silly, but I haven't realized until just recently that having these little wings is partly the result of breakage. I think I'm just genetically programmed to have much weaker hair in those areas; the hair there is different from the rest of my hair, and it breaks much more easily. Still, I'd like to keep it less damaged and maybe get it to lie a little smoother instead of looking like a duck about to take flight.

[cloud29]

I've got them. Somebody once called them horns. lol. I always think its a result of frizz, since they seem to come out in humidity. But, I also think it is important that we just take care of them as best we can so they they can grow out with the rest of the hair. Just curious, do you have many different textures throughout your hair?

[ashamanjababu]

They do pop up a bit more with the rest of my halo, but not only then. I have some coarse hairs and some hairs that are more medium over my head, but none as fine as my wings. Maybe they need more protien?

[TinaDenali]

The hair around my temples is 'baby fine' and I do get wings like that if the weather is humid or I let it air dry without patting them down. I've always had them, too. For me, I think it's just genetic - my grandma, my mom and I all have widow's peaks with the little baby hair there. I like it now, but I really didn't as a teen. ;)

[BlazingHeart]

I'm not a curly, so mine lay pretty flat, but I've got soft, short hairs right in front of the ear on both sides. It kind of gives the edge of my hairline a feathery look.

[cloud29]

The hair around my temples is 'baby fine' and I do get wings like that if the weather is humid or I let it air dry without patting them down. I've always had them, too. For me, I think it's just genetic - my grandma, my mom and I all have widow's peaks with the little baby hair there. I like it now, but I really didn't as a teen. ;)
I have the wings with a widow's peak as well. Are they connected?

[ouseljay]

I call mine "antennae." Mine stick out straight next to my eyes and a little above, usually 2-3 inches long. They've been growing out a little recently so they stay put better, but I don't think they'll ever get long enough to hide completely. I think they add character ;) and interest when my hair's pulled back. At least that's what I tell myself.

[cloud29]

I call mine "antennae." Mine stick out straight next to my eyes and a little above, usually 2-3 inches long. They've been growing out a little recently so they stay put better, but I don't think they'll ever get long enough to hide completely. I think they add character ;) and interest when my hair's pulled back. At least that's what I tell myself.
I'm totally on board with the adding of character. :)

[spidermom]

Mine are horns. I smother them in product; few know they exist.

[MissManda]

Yes, I get those wispies, too. They're uber-fine, a transparent blonde color, and can get really annoying at times. When the weather starts to get dry or when my hair is freshly washed, they will stick straight out or float around like spiderwebs and any application of AVG or oil will not get them to lie down. After about a day or two, though, they'll mellow out and hang in a more pleasant way, which I think looks kinda cute and when they're in that stage, they're like my wannabe bangs. :p

[Paladin]

I started noticing wings about a month ago. At that time I officially declared that I was entering the "awkward stage" of growing my mane... :cheese:


This pic is from last month, almost 5 months after my final #1 buzzcut. My hair has volumized more on the sides now so they aren't really noticable with how I style my hair at the moment haha.

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/EdwardNorth/Awkward1.jpg

[PinkyCat]

I have them too. I also have a weirdo hairline. I've actually tweezed those litte hairs out of my hairline before - which actually made it even MORE weird looking. And then letting them growback again = bizarre forehead hair! Ho hum...

[Gaelle27]

I have them to! I use to make two little braids and blend them with the rest of the hair.....

[virgo75]

I have them and the widow's peak too! :p

For the longest time I just thought they were unusually frizzy spots until I put a lot of conditioner on those parts alone and pulled them up together to see what they would do and made 2 perfectly curly little horns. :lol:


I have them to! I use to make two little braids and blend them with the rest of the hair.....

I've recently learned to do this too. The little horns don't like to go back(how I usually wear my hair):rolleyes:. So I'll make 2 little braids in the front while my hair is still damp so they can dry clumped into the rest of my hair. When all of my hair is dry I take it down and they stay with the rest of my hair.

[Sunshineliz]

I was thinking those hairs just had a different terminal length, not that they were breakage. If so, I think it's genetic. DD10 has super-fine baby hairs all around her hairline and I heard it was a genetic trait. At least a lot of DH's family has it when they're young and sometimes outgrow it.:)

But for us grownups, I have the shorter hairs around the temple and if I let them they make funny, sticking out curls.:rolleyes: If I really am breaking them somehow, are there tips to make it stop? Or is it a short terminal length?

[agoddess2die4]

I have them. They were called my "devil horns" when I was younger. :D They may not be damage, my hair has always been short and wispy there (though straight when I was young and turned curly with puberty) and I'm assuming my hair wasn't damaged when I was a kid. They've never grown longer than a couple inches my entire life but seem perfectly healthy (though how I wish they would grow....sigh)

[TinaDenali]

I have the wings with a widow's peak as well. Are they connected?

I do tend to think so... I've never seen anyone with a widow's peak who had long hair in the 'peak'. :shrug:

[Melisande]

No widow's peak but wings - definitely yes. My hair is straight but my wings curl upwards. I call them horns. I treat them very very well, oiling and massaging and preening them, but they can't be coaxed into longer terminal length. they have a short growth cycle, that's my conclusion, like lashes and leg hair - you can't grow them more than to a certain length before they fall out.

Why? No idea....

ETA: I didn't open many threads on the boards but I did open one to complain about those pesky horns (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=5282)... maybe the tips there will help someone now????

[DuckyDot]

I've had them forever. When I was in Primary School, I would come out at the end of the day looking like a mad woman!

[Ligeia_13]

My boyfriend has wings :D He has very thick, wavy hair and his wings are huge :p he always looks like he's spent the day working in intense humidity.

[growingpains]

I have these also. Mine are baby hairs and a completely different texture, that just straight up don't grow beyond an inch and a half or so.

I refer to them as my "fluff". Some days they smooth in with my hair well with no effort. Other days they stick out like crazy. Never have figured out why.

[lapispimpernel]

Oh, I wish I'd taken a picture Saturday! My wings, which are usually just horns, turned into super spirally bits down to my collarbones after a day of diving. It was pretty strange. I liked it though. :D

[gthlvrmx]

Oh god, my horns?! Oh lord, they make me laugh everyday when i look at them :) Though i am in the process of trying to accept them for who they are. Damn things never want to stay under my other hairs. But it's a result of always getting a short short short cut all around the hairline, i have these fuzzies all over the hairline like...not as intense as before but they are still there. I call it Fuzz Kingdom for right now and they are in the middle of "industrializing" after moving up from the Fuzz Village Era.

[PrincessBob]

My spouse gets them all the time

[GeoJ]

I have those wings also. Mine are not from breakage, the ends of the hairs are healthy (tapered, not split or broken) upon inspection. I usually let them be because the hairs in them are of different lengths, so unless I'm really active or it's windy they have a good chance of staying with the rest of my hair.

I don't have a widow's peak, just a thin speckling of hairs that grow there- like a wannabe widow's peak. I do have a mixture of textures, though. Most of my hairs are as my signature says, but I have some finer hairs, a few coarse and slightly straighter hairs, and a few with serious sharp bends making little zig-zags (and they are not damaged hairs- they grow out of my scalp like that).

[greeneyedauburn]

I have these too. My hair has different textures, but I've noticed it more when I started wearing my glasses frequently. When I take my glasses off, a couple hairs go with them.

[TrudieCat]

I have them, and I always have, if my childhood pictures are any indication. :rolleyes: I haven't found a good solution other than the flat iron, and since I am no longer flat-ironing, I have wiiiiiiings!

[SwordWomanRiona]

My mum has them everywhere in her hair :) I like to tease her about her 'flying curls' :D. About my hair...it's 1a F hair, so all I get is shorter strands of hair around my hairline that make themselves more noticeable when my hair's just washed, but they don't really stand up or start flying around :)

[Elph]

I have them. If they are really curly it is going to rain. If it is the end of the day I look like I have become a crazy lady - that said my mother has them as well.

Hubby has them too - we have not really let them grow (his hair is currently collar bone length but has been longer) with his we just shave that patch to a number one or two along with the hair around the bottom on his neck nether seem to grow much past about 3 inches....

[lauravmarcela]

I get these. They look terrible on me during summer and I have a round face shape and it just makes it look rounder

[McFearless]

I'm a curly with curly horns. A middle or side part hides them, but if I want pull my hair back they stick right up. Castor oil has helped me grow them a little longer, but I doubt their terminal length will let them get much longer.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

It may be caused by the hinges on your glasses. I break off a fair amount of hair that way myself, and as a result have the shorties at the temple.

[Toadstool]

I love them! Mine go spirally sometimes. No widow's peak here though.

[Nastasia]

Oh, I've got those. The hair above my temples just has a very short terminal length. My hair is pretty straight, though, so they don't stick out much. They just fall out of hairstyles and frame my face a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people had those short bits naturally, not as a result of any damage.

[dulce]

Yes,I do and have had them since my teens, and with wind or humidity they pop out.Interestingly enough,as I passed menopause they got so thin in those 2 areas on both temples.I used rogaine on those 2 areas and the hair got better there . So my theory is that genetically it is weaker hair there that some of us have and for me the hormonal change at menopause really damaged it.

[ZaBasDa]

I have wings. I've had them since I was a baby and mine are just short terminal hairs. The hair all around my hairline has a terminal of about 3-4 inches. On straight days they like to stick straight out or maybe curl up, while on curly days they might form nice ringlets or crazy nightmarish horns.

[CariadA]

I have always had "wings".

They are terminal at about 3 inches. All of my hair is baby fine, but my hair above my temples is almost see through. It feels like nothing to the touch, but is still somewhat visible. It really is finer than the hairs my little nieces had as babies.

Others have mentioned a widow's peak, which I also have. My hair at my widow's peak is much fuller than my hair above my temples.

[Heatherzilla]

I have these but mine are at least partially the result of breakage. They drive me crazy!

[ashamanjababu]

Okay, I'm glad I am not the only person who has these! Thank for the replies, all!

I guess it's likely those hairs just have a shorter terminal, although after my last super-short haircut about 15 years ago (around 3") I think I remember them growing out to at least my ear before appearing again, and my ends there do look a little broken.

[GRU]

Mine are horns. I smother them in product; few know they exist.

Oh come now, spidermom -- I think anyone who knows you knows that you have little devil horns hiding under all that hair! ;) (sorry, I couldn't resist an opening like that! :lol:)

And I'm with everyone else on that just being the terminal length -- most people have a little border of hairs all along the hairline (including behind the ears and the nape) where the hairs just never get all that long. I think it's a "transition zone" (like a hair version of a DMZ?:p) between the itty-bitty skin hairs of your face and neck and the longer hairs of your scalp. Almost like those follicles are confused about whether they are skin-follicles or scalp-follicles, so they choose to be "in-between" those two.

If you do see damaged ends, I would think of breakage from being caught in your eyeglasses.


And I had to :lol: at your pic, Paladin -- my mother forced me to have a boy-cut from the ages of 5-10 yo (long story), and my school picture in third grade shows me with straight boy-hair, with one horrible WING-CURL sticking out about 3cm off my right ear. Short hair is HORRID for someone with my curl texture... one day I'd have wings on each ear, another day I'd have one devil-horn on my left, another day I'd have a wing on just my right ear, another day I'd have a devil-horn on my right and a wing on my left ear.... it was an absolute nightmare!

But hang in there... it DOES get better once you get some length and weight on it!

[SilvraShadows]

Horns or wings, depending on my mood... I first noticed mine when my son was a baby and had the big shed. That section never grew back so I cut in layers around my face, etc, to blend them but they stayed put when the rest grew out. How I was teased all the time and hated them, the way they would stick out all by themselves. I have tamed them over the years but it would sure help my thickness if they did grow out.

[Monsterkitti]

Yup I have little curly horns :) I usually damp bun and cover with a buff though so they get flattened so I rarely see them. Every photo with my hair back as a teen though there they are :)

[Sunshineliz]

So how do you tell if that hair has a short terminal or if it is breaking? Sorry if this question belongs somewhere else, but I don't really don't know how to tell.

[Melanie Marie]

I have hair like that on my temples, but it lays flat. It's still super annoying though. My mom says it's because I pull my hair back too tightly (but I'm not entirely convinced). :rolleyes:

[Elistariel]

I get them sometimes too, just wings that stick out though, never horns.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=4940&pictureid=105899