Air drying mess

[Red89]

I have given up my hair dryer and have been allowing my hair to air dry after washings. However, I have discovered that it looks TERRIBLE. I have a few cowlicks that kink and cause my hair to go crazy in many different directions. I also get a ponytail bump. (you know that line you get where your ponytail holder was?) Under the bump my hair is flyaway, while on top of the line my hair is flat as can be. I have been wearing my hair up everyday so it hasn't been a huge deal, but I'm just wondering if I am doomed to never being able to wear my hair down again. Is there anything I can do? Will it get better as my hair gets longer? I'm only at sholder length now, but I'm willing to wait to waer it down if that will help.

[sarahramen]

I have a few cowlicks in the back of my head and the front so I know what you mean. What I do, and maybe mine aren't super strong, but when hair is still wet and extra heavy use a fine toothed comb JUST on the cowlicks to make them lie how your want.

[Vanille_]

Grrr. I hate my cowlick! (by the way, DH makes fun of me for saying 'cow lick') I have one that likes to mess with my Dutch braids :( The hair is thin there so if it's really unruly, it looks like I'm going bald. There's a pic in my album for proof

[PixxieStix]

Have you considered securing your hair another way? A french twist with a jaw clip, or a small ficcare type clip to do the ponytail with that instead of an elastic?

Another option might be to wait for your hair to be 80% dry, and then blow dry it on a warm or cool setting for that last little bit to get it to look the way you want it to. It is not ideal (in terms of reducing damage as much as possible), but if your hair does not make you happy when you look at it, then what is the point?

I hope you find a way to make it all work for you. :flower:

[QMacrocarpa]

I let my hair airdry while wearing a stretchy hairband. Helps keep my hair out of my way while it's down and it helps when I want to move my part.

[torrilin]

This sounds to me like your hair is not 1a, and maybe not 1b. Most stuff that gets called cowlicks is really just curls or waves that happen to start close to your scalp.

[Red89]

This sounds to me like your hair is not 1a, and maybe not 1b. Most stuff that gets called cowlicks is really just curls or waves that happen to start close to your scalp.

I have considered this myself. I have always used a hairdryer so I just assumed that I had straight hair. However, my mom has waves and even after combing my hair out is begins to wave slightly as it dries. I always thought this was just what happened to air dried hair. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know a lot about hair and I'm still learning about my own. I'll look into my own possible hair type. Thanks for the advice. Do you think a slight wave would fare better when longer?

[Long_hair_bear]

I braid mine in two braids when it's wet. I personally believe it helps seal in moisture with my oils. :D Also, the next day, when I take the braids out, my hair is always soft and wavy.

[Katleen]

I have the same problem you do, and I also thought I had straight hair until I visited LHC...

My canopy is much straighter than the underlayers, and when I let it airdry it usually ends up in a mess as well. I'm almost at APL, but it is still impossible to wear it down, I'm hoping with some length it will be okay.

For now I think wearing your hair up will help, and as said above, if you're really not happy with it, you can blowdry it once in a while, no?

Good luck with the growing!

[Annibelle]

I have given up my hair dryer and have been allowing my hair to air dry after washings. However, I have discovered that it looks TERRIBLE. I have a few cowlicks that kink and cause my hair to go crazy in many different directions. I also get a ponytail bump. (you know that line you get where your ponytail holder was?) Under the bump my hair is flyaway, while on top of the line my hair is flat as can be. I have been wearing my hair up everyday so it hasn't been a huge deal, but I'm just wondering if I am doomed to never being able to wear my hair down again. Is there anything I can do? Will it get better as my hair gets longer? I'm only at sholder length now, but I'm willing to wait to waer it down if that will help.

Is the "ponytail bump" there before you put it in a ponytail? If so, you might be a wavy. I went through this just two weeks ago. (ETA I thought I was 1b, but as you can see from my sigpic, I've gotta be at least 1c, maybe 2a.) Here's the thread:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=85063

When I didn't comb my hair after the shower, and scrunched instead, my hair became wavy! (See post 26.) I've been doing that ever since and it's still wavy! :cheese: I've had good hair days every day since then. It's the first time in five years that I've liked my hair. :o

Maybe you're having the same issue. When my hair was shoulder-length and shorter, I, too, had cowlicks all over the place. Maybe they would've been waves if I would've stopped combing them in an attempt to beat them down! :D

[jojo]

I have a cowlick too in the front, so understand your pain there. Your hair is still only fairly short and it is an awkward length as for me it never laid right, but I promise you once it gets to APL and on its way to long it will be a lot better. I would suggest not using a pony as your every day style but getting some jaw clips and doing say a peacock twist or even half ups. A style I liked at this length was to get my hair into say 4 sections at the back and then twist them upwards and clip in place, on damp hair you will get lovely waves with this too!

[AnimaSola3o4]

How long is your hair? If you twist it up when it's close to being dry, and secure it with a jaw clip, it'll end up wavy and pretty. YMMV of course, but it was my go-to when my hair was a bit shorter. Now I have to actually bun it to get the same effect.

Can you wear your hair down while it dries? Also, use scrunchie while you're at home and no one is gonna see you, they don't leave a ponytail line. :)

[Jessykins]

i also get a kind of pony tail bump..even though i never wear pony tails . it is a bit annoying. that and one half my hair flicks out and the other half curls

[spidermom]

Yes - length helps. For example, I discovered that what looked like a terrible cowlick at shorter lengths is a spiral curl at about APL.

[growfro]

I feel I've finally been able to somewhat master the art of air drying :)
I have stravey (straight/wavy) hair one inch from BSL. I shower in the morning with S and C, lots of C, and put it up in a loose small towel while I get ready for work. After about 15 mins, take it down and comb it with a part where my front cowlick begins and comb it straight. Then, put it all on my right shoulder until it's dry, finger combing to tame the frizzies throughout the AM. Also, if you'd like to add more waves, I twirl the ends around my finger very gently while it's drying.

When it's dry, it turns out looking like straight hair turned to soft S waves towards the bottom. Maybe you could try that on a lazy day and see how it works for you!

[sfgirl]

My hair is actually really curly/ wavy if I don't comb it right while it's drying. I like have to consistently comb mine with a wide tooth comb, and than when it is about 80% dry, I start using a BBB. Also, when it's about 50% dry, I use a shine serum (however, it has cones, so once this bottle's done it's coconut oil for me). As long as I do this, my hair stays pretty straight. I don't know if this would work for you, but if I don't do it' I get really weird curls.

[Red89]

Thanks for the advice! I'm thinking that I have wavy hair, so I'm going to let my hair grow longer to see what happens with it

[ladonna]

I'm one of those who thought I had wierd looking frizzy straight hair, then I found over my short time on LHC that it's fairly curly... and then I ruined it with chemical dye the other day, back to the wierd looking hair.
I just recently have been able to let my hair air dry with out it looking unhappy, I'm between apl and bsl.

[delsh]

Another one telling you to hang in there! You might be in for waves when your hair gets a bit more length. I have photos in my album that demonstrate this - when my hair was shorter than say, shoulder length it flicked out in all sorts of awful ways, looked messy and generally drove me nuts! Just a bit more length allowed the "flicks" to turn into waves.

I also think it takes a while to find the right air drying routine for everyone - I can't brush mine or run my fingers through it at all, after I'm out of the shower. That breaks up my wave pattern and it just looks frizzy. So keep trying! Changes to routine take some getting used to :)

[MaryMarx]

Have you tried letting it dry in a loose braid?

[palaeoqueen]

I'm another one who thought they had frizzy, weird straight hair but it's turning out I have waves... definitely try enhancing the wave and see where that takes you. I find that a tiny bit of oil scrunched in does wonders for my waves. No brushing or combing though once you're out of the shower!

[jacqueline101]

I wash mine in the day time let it air dry loose. Then spray on detangler and work out knots with fingers then use a wide tooth comb or pick like you comb a perm with. Then once the tangles are out and hair is dried smooth then style.

[gracenotes]

My hair acted the same way air drying when my hair was your length. Damp bunning has helped now that my hair has gotten much longer. I'm not sure that will help you at shoulder length though. I do know that a lot of the problems I was having drying at that length came from the fact that I was treating my hair like it was straight, rather than wavy. Perhaps a washing method that enhances waviness (like CO), and avoiding combing while your hair is drying will help? A leave-in conditioner (even just a little of your regular conditioner) scrunched into hair also cuts down on frizz. Hope this helps!

[Moonlake]

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[Red89]

Have you tried letting it dry in a loose braid?

I shower at night. (I work in a nursing home during the day and a horse stable in the evenings, so no way am I going to bed like that!) On wash days I've started letting my hair air dry down for a little while before putting it into a braid just before bed. In the morning I braid it again with as little touching as possible and I have found that at the end of the day it is pretty wavy and not at all frizzy except around my face where my breakage is.


I'm going to keep trying different things to see what happens as it grows.