Neck Hair: Friend or Foe?

[PixxieStix]

Alright, so my fiance finally fixed whatever was wrong with my computer and I can now upload pictures again (hooray!), and I was so excited to see what my hairdos look like from the back, and of course, to get some action shots of new hair toys, but when I started looking I noticed that I have these deep V shaped patches of hair going down my neck on either side.

Long story short, I don't like it. It looks so messy to me! No wonder my hairstylist always used a buzzer on the back of my neck when I had short hair, the hairline at my nape is crazy!

How do I deal with this? As my hair gets longer will it be less noticeable, and the nape hair will be less fly-away-y? Does anyone else have this issue? How do you deal with it? Does anyone here keep it buzzed off, or pluck it? I'm even considering electrolysis or having those hairs transplanted elsewhere as a means of tidying up my hairline. Help, I am now back to being very self conscious about my hair. :(

Here is a picture of what I'm talking about:

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/sakoria/My%20Hair%20Journey/100_3357.jpg

How to deal with/get rid of this?

[summerstarlet]

I get this a LOT. Most of mine was breakage though. I used to wear necklaces to bed and it would snap the hair. Thankfully I don't do that anymore and those scragglies have grown so I can almost put them up with the rest of my hair. I hate the feeling of those loose hairs when I put my hair up, it's irritating.

[Vanilla]

I get this a LOT. Most of mine was breakage though. I used to wear necklaces to bed and it would snap the hair. Thankfully I don't do that anymore and those scragglies have grown so I can almost put them up with the rest of my hair. I hate the feeling of those loose hairs when I put my hair up, it's irritating.

I actually stopped wearing a necklace 24/7 as well because of my nape/ neck hairs were always getting tangled and broken. They are starting to grow back and get long enough to put in my updos.

[Amber_Maiden]

That is really really normal. Most women have it, I think, from what I've seen. And yes, I have it as well. Mostly that hair seems to reach a shorter length then most hairs I have. No, I won't buzz it or laser it off, etc. I think it's fine to have. It's normal.

[Beckstar]

Mine is always like that no matter the length. Mine curls into springy spirals (like the rest of my hair does only tighter). It used to drive me nuts when my hair was relaxed and I tried to wear it up. I thought about either buzzing that part or having a slight shorter layer underneath so it looks like it was done on purpose.

[lostchyld]

My neck looks exactly the same only with darker hair. I've never minded except when I was maintaining a pixie cut. It definitely interrupted the pixie cut, I've never thought it mattered with longer hairstyles. My ends are pretty flyaway too.

[Kira94]

I have it too. It makes me slightly self concious about updo's, even though I know most other people have it. I don't care enough to take it off though, so there it stays. :)

[truepeacenik]

If it bugs you, shave it.

But it is normal, and to my eyes, softening.

[Madora]

I've always shaved it off because I like a tidy neckline.

[dwell_in_safety]

Mine forms little ringlets, typically. I enjoy it more often than not.

[Beckstar]

Mine forms little ringlets, typically. I enjoy it more often than not.


Sometimes it does bug me because it curls perfectly and I wish the rest of my hair look like it does.

[cwarren]

My hair is like that too. I just never bothered to shave it because I don't want to have to keep shaving it every few days. And I'm afraid of what it would look like when it starts growing back and I "forget" to shave it...

[Chetanlaiho]

I didn't like it, had it shaved off, then when it started growing back in, it was even worse xD

[spidermom]

My nape hair forms little ringlets, too, but I don't think it grows quite as far down my neck as yours does. I've seen that complaint around here before, and some people shave those hairs, but I don't think I could stand the itchiness of shaving, personally, so I'm glad it's not a problem.

[Long_hair_bear]

Mine has that too and I don't mind it too much. I'd rather it not be there, but not enough to shave it.

[ratgirldjh]

Mine does the ringlets too - but it is weird because it never grows very long. Oh and it always gets wet (or oily) when I take a bath since it is so hard to put up!

[long]

I have it too and it grows down my neck a little bit. It is darker and curls more. When I had short hair it was shaved off. I don't want to shave it and be stuck with having to shave it all the time.

[Kitsu]

I like mine, my DB calls it baby hair and pets the tendrils :3

[jacqueline101]

I have them also but I leave them alone and let them grow. I can almost put them up in a hair do.

[excentricat]

I have it too. I don't like mine, but I like the idea of trying to maintain it shaved off or trimmed pretty even less, so it stays.

[Honestwitness]

I have the neck hairs down the sides, too. If I didn't work in an office job, I would let it go natural. However, I agree with Madora. I like a tidy neck hairline, so I trim the neck hairs with electric clippers. I don't actually shave. I just trim the hairs very close. They don't really look too bad as they grow out, so I let them grow until they're about an inch long. Then I trim them close again. I do this about once a month.

[pepperminttea]

I have them too, they're the curliest part of my hair; when I shower with a cap on, they'll invariably escape and become damp ringlets. :)

Try to make peace with them. They're a part of you, just like the rest of your hair.

[holothuroidea]

I have a straight across neckline and I always thought I was "not normal." Hair stylists would comment about it and say stupid stuff like how it made their job easier.

If I were you I'd let those hairs hang around, but it's your neck so do what makes you happy.

Your hair is beautiful, by the way, it looks so healthy and shiny and the color is gorgeous. :) I think that updo looks really easy-elegant, like you were just born to be fabulous.

[Tisiloves]

I don't really have any, I have a few very short (half inchish) curly transitional hairs and then normal hair.

[1nuitblanche]

Neck hairs like those are normal. I'm pretty sure most people have them. I think they are look very soft and feminine on women when we have our hair up.

[PixxieStix]

Thank you all so, so much for your responses. I feel really silly for going into a near panic attack over something like that, I guess some wounds just haven't quite healed yet.

Madora and Honestwitness, thank you very much for reassuring me I am not the only one who would do this, and I'm glad to know it's not a gigantic hassle if I decide to go that route.

So thank-you everyone for your perspectives and insight. I am relieved that I am not the only one, and if so many other people have the same thing going on and I haven't noticed, most people out there probably don't notice my neck hair either then. :flower:

[summerstarlet]

I actually stopped wearing a necklace 24/7 as well because of my nape/ neck hairs were always getting tangled and broken. They are starting to grow back and get long enough to put in my updos.

That's what I stopped doing too. I think I stopped close to 6 or 7 months ago which is really sad because I have a necklace that I love to wear that my ex-DB bought me. Such is life :)

[chou]

Oh my goodness, I am so with you on this! I have the this issue but about 5X worse than you do and with very dark hair. The growth is thick near my hairline at the back and tapers to a visible, dark fuzz down my neck and shoulders, and extends as far forward as the back of my ear. I think it's unbearable. I get this shiz waxed at the Indian salon down the block which lasts much longer than shaving and buzzing and gives a more natural, stubble-less appearance. They don't come too close to what I consider to be my "real" head hair, they just remove the straggly and (what I consider to be) unattractive hair growth down my neck.

[AnqeIicDemise]

Mine grow toward my face. It disgusts me and drives me nuts. I haven't decided what to do. I used to shave but that's tedious.

[Annibelle]

I have it... girls in middle school said it was gross and that I should shave it, but SO thinks it's fabulous and I don't think about it anymore. I think it looks fine. :)

[AnqeIicDemise]

Oh my goodness, I am so with you on this! I have the this issue but about 5X worse than you do and with very dark hair. The growth is thick near my hairline at the back and tapers to a visible, dark fuzz down my neck and shoulders, and extends as far forward as the back of my ear. I think it's unbearable. I get this shiz waxed at the Indian salon down the block which lasts much longer than shaving and buzzing and gives a more natural, stubble-less appearance. They don't come too close to what I consider to be my "real" head hair, they just remove the straggly and (what I consider to be) unattractive hair growth down my neck.

Now here's an idea! I have the same problem. You can tell some of the stuff I deal with from the avatar, right behind the ear. I used to curl the bits in an effort to make them look pretty but they lose the curl too quickly. It is this annoying, dark, scraggly growth.

Hmm.. I should get it taken care of next time I go in to get my brows done. :D

[Lissandria]

I have this too! I only wear neck jewelry now if my hair will be up, in the hope that they will grow longer. You are definitely not alone. I just love your hair, btw. :)

[B-L]

I HATE IT! :mad:

I've always had neckhairs but since I started using castor oil it has grown a lot!!! I've now stoped using it on that part of my head but I don't know if that will do much difference.
I think I'm going to shave it!!


Yuck!!
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/917/bild222l.jpg

[Iolanthe13]

Wow, had no idea people were self-conscious about this :( I like mine - they form ringlets. I think they look sort of elegant, actually, since the back of the neck is such a pretty place on most people...yeah, I'm weird.

[Changling]

I think they look kind of cool. they remind me of dancers for some reason (guess they often have their hair up?).

I always called them kitty whiskers :)

[MonaLisa]

Wow, had no idea people were self-conscious about this :( I like mine - they form ringlets. I think they look sort of elegant, actually, since the back of the neck is such a pretty place on most people...yeah, I'm weird.

I like that part of body too! It's so beautiful! :)
I used to like little hairs there, but recently...they've got..worse.. or well grew somehow, there's more of them..maybe because I'm more hair-aware, treat it good so they don't just break off, and yes, castor oil and other growth enhancers..hmm..
It's not only that they visually bug me...but they also cause tangles there..they are fine and shortish and growing to all sides..and I often have little hell knots there with the rest of my hair..
I would never wax them, it sounds freaky, it's still hair, head-hair...
shaving...hmm..less freaky, but kind of inconvenient..gotta choose lesser evil..

[oktobergoud]

Foe, definitely! I just have so much of it and I have had a pixie for years (it's just chin length right now) and it was always a pain to get rid off.. had to shave it every 2 weeks or so!

[Changling]

In one of my favorite movies, Paprika, the main character, a business woman named Atsuko Chiba, was drawn with these, which I thought was an awesome little detail, I'll try to post the pic:

http://superfanicombsx.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/atsuko-chiba.jpg

[rena]

I grew up hearing mine called "sprigglies" XD.

[NymphSpirit]

I love those! But I understand the fact that you don't like them, in fact a friend with waist long hair shaves her nape to achieve a perfect curved hairline. And I'm sorry but those hairs mostly have very short terminal lengths, they're like the baby hairs around your forehead, they stay that way.

[Quetiepi]

MIne have grown long enough to be put up with the rest of the hair on the occasions when I do wear it up. When it was shorter, it would tangle easily and get matted. Now that it's longer I don;t seem to have that issue any more.

[Miss Catrina]

This is probably really weird, but I kind of wish I had neck hair scragglies. I just like them.

[turtlelover]

I think it would look weird and not natural to shave up too far. Perhaps removing the VERY bottom of the wispy region wouldn't be a bad thing if they grow waaaay down, but otherwise, I think it would look odd to shave it unless you had a short haircut.

[perkidanman]

My hairline goes down more than halfway down my neck in two stripes....i'm almost a werewolf! XD

Made the mistake of shaving it off.....now it's a full 10 inches shorter than the rest of my hair. Egh, took forever to grow it long enough to put up.

[melusine963]

Mine does that too. Have you seen the BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' (the Colin Firth one)? It's been a while, but I seem to remember Jane's hair doing the same thing. I always thought it looked very tidy, but hers may have been artistically curled. Either way, I like it so I wouldn't be in a rush to get rid of it. Imagine what the akward growing out phase would be like if you buzzed now.

[noelgirl]

I don't mind mine - I kind of like the wispiness. On me it curls a bit, so it looks very soft (and it doesn't go down my neck very far, so usually it only comes out of an updo that's a bit worn in anyway).

[Sammich]

I don't really have any.

[Maktub]

I think it's normal and I don't mind it al all, it looks natural :)
IMO, shaved neck hair looks weirder

[Dorothy]

You might try leaving them out of your bun in a purposeful way, as two wispies going down the back of your neck, as a way to learn to love them. I think they soften things and look whimsical this way.

[ktani]

I do not think it looks terrible at all. It think your hair is lovely, all of it.

It is your choice how you want to deal with it, whatever you are comfortable with doing.

When I had build-up on my hair, in one case from the linden flower tea, my nape hair on one side appeared not to grow and it would all curl underneath and tangle. On close inspection (s&d) it was breakage, not lack of growth and there were no splits there.

Since I no longer have build-up on my hair with catnip use and more recently also the mineral oil/baby oil, my nape hair no longer tangles. The "no zone" as I used to call it nape hair on that side grew in beautifully, long enough for me to put it up in my hair.

[AndreaPetrea]

I envy those of you with the neck hair forming ringlets. My neck hair is straight and it looks so silly! Some of it is quite long, but no matter how hard I try to get it to stay in an updo it always finds a way out :rant:

I tried waxing it once with those little cold wax strips for... other parts of the body. FAIL. I was left with sticky wax and a sore neck and only a few hairs were removed.

A couple of photos:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=7568&pictureid=128006

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=7568&pictureid=128005

[Maktub]

AndreaPetrea, I actually love how that looks ! So feminine and delicate !
I think your updo wouldn't look as nice without those little hair !

[pink.sara]

I kind of like mine?! :o

It is the only bit of my hair that will ever form a wave or curl, it's always shorter and finer so escapes from updos without a clip or pin but I mostly make it curl and leave it there :shrug:

No ones ever called me a Yeti for it so I figure it's normal, particularly with having really dark hair.

ETA: after seeing the pics you've added it looks pretty! It's feminine and doesn't go down nearly as far as I pictured it when you first posted! Totally normal :)

[PinkyCat]

I have them. Mine are curly. And if I'm not careful, they will ball up into little brillo pads. I'm not particularly nice to them either - they get ripped through and broken off with reckless, resentful, vengeful abandon. Iv'e even gone so far as to wax them off.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=7960&pictureid=122294

[holothuroidea]

Andrea- That is so beautiful! The way it follows the line of your neck (which is a long and beautiful neck by itself) is so graceful.

[AndreaPetrea]

AndreaPetrea, I actually love how that looks ! So feminine and delicate !
I think your updo wouldn't look as nice without those little hair !

Aww, thank you :blossom: But maybe it looks better in photos? I'm always bothered by my neck hair. Especially when it shows from the front. And my mother always comments. "There's some hair there that you didn't get in your updo. But don't worry, it will get long enough and then it will not look as silly". NO, it will NOT get "long enough" to stay in an updo! It's NECK HAIR! Argh, my stubborn mother. And my stubborn hair.

Sorry, rant over :D


Andrea- That is so beautiful! The way it follows the line of your neck (which is a long and beautiful neck by itself) is so graceful.

Thank you so much :blushing: Maybe I should stop fighting the poor hair...

[AndreaPetrea]

PixxieStix, how do you get your neck hair to stay in your updo? It looks good!

[heidi w.]

It's normal, even on men, to have this. It's how hair grows. If you dislike it or need a neater line, you can shave it off, but I wouldn't worry about it.

heidi w.

[AndreaPetrea]

And I forgot (I always forget something): PinkyCat Please don't wax them off, they're beautiful!

[PixxieStix]

PixxieStix, how do you get your neck hair to stay in your updo? It looks good!

If my hair is two or more days old, it usually sticks by itself (because I re-do the hair until it sticks!), or I use a single bobby pin just to tuck those hairs in.I have mostly decided to live with them for now, as I don't so much mind a few whispies, so much as it seems like the hair goes down the neck several inches beyond the rest of my hair line. It's the stuff more towards my shoulders that I think is bothering me, but not enough yet to get them waxed off. Yet. :D

[Chromis]

I shaved mine off in highschool for JROTC, but it turned out the real military didn't really care too much so I have not since I've grown my current head of hair. Mine don't go very far down my neck and normally can be mostly coaxed into updos. They are annoying though when I am doing something intricate and they keep escaping! I typically like my updos on the sleek and "severe" side. No face-framing or softening allowed. I don't have the hair or the face for it, it just looks like frizz rather than something purposeful on me.

I only wear necklaces when my hair is up and do not keep any that catch on my neck hairs. I also make sure they get a bit of conditioner and oiling along with the rest of my hair to make sure they stay long enough to put up.

[AndreaPetrea]

If my hair is two or more days old, it usually sticks by itself (because I re-do the hair until it sticks!), or I use a single bobby pin just to tuck those hairs in.I have mostly decided to live with them for now, as I don't so much mind a few whispies, so much as it seems like the hair goes down the neck several inches beyond the rest of my hair line. It's the stuff more towards my shoulders that I think is bothering me, but not enough yet to get them waxed off. Yet. :D

I had to look again to see what hair you were talking about. It's not bad! And I'm envious that you can get most of the hair to stay up. My neck hairs grow downwards, and even if I used 192847 bobby pins they would slip out within minutes. They're Hair Houdinis!

Should you decide to wax: Don't go for cold wax bikini strips :D

[Sushi144]

I have many of them. ^^ Not only on my neck, but all around the hairline. Drive me nuts because they won't stay in my hairdos ! But I keep them. I just basically can't shave any of my hair.
I'm quite phobic about shaving and cutting. :p

[Sushi144]

AndreaPetra, it looks so elegant on you !

[heidihug]

My DH finds my wispy neck hairs to be "sexy". I rather like them, as they're lighter colored and floaty, unlike the rest of my hair. I would never consider shaving them off, even if they were darker. Just think how that would look growing back - yikes!

[turtlelover]

I forgot to add that although I would never shave mine, a couple of times a year I trim a tiny bit of the lowest portion of mine so they will form into cute little wispy curls -- being that those hair NEVER would grow long enough to put in my updos anyway! Thinning scissors works well for this and keeps a wispy, natural look. This might not be such a good idea w/ straight hair, but for my super curly nape hairs, it solves the issue of them frizzing out of my updos and driving me nuts and is honestly a much nicer look, though I'm probably the only one that would ever notice anyhow!

[AndreaPetrea]

AndreaPetra, it looks so elegant on you !

Thank you :)

[vatikagirl]

I too have those baby ringlets on my nape, I just leave them alone. I guess the best way is to tuck them under longer hair, when doing an updo.

[error]

I actually love nape of the neck hair patterns! my hair at the nape goes to one centered sharp point , I had no idea till this one time i shaved a bunch of my hair off (teenage years LOL) But yeah that is when I first started noticing how different peoples hair lines were at the nape and I think you have a very interesting one that will look great in soft loose up do styles .

[Cimorene]

I have the wispy neck hairs, too. Used to drive me crazy when I had short hair; in fact, one of the reasons I started growing my hair out was to disguise my neck hair! :o But I think it's normal.

If yours still bothers you, maybe you could try wearing buns/updos a bit lower on your head to help hide it.