Maybe a wierd question - hair, how long is too long?

ACBlinky · #1 08/26/2007, 02:11 AM

Just curious. I have very long hair, nearly to my waist, and recently a friend of mine said to me that it's almost overwhelming and it's overdue for a serious trim. I had short hair for a long time, and it took ages to grow out (years). It's a bit of a PITA to care for, but I absolutely love having long hair. It's healthy and well looked after, not ratty with split ends or anything, so I see no reason to cut it. I don't want it to grow past my waist, but my friend tells me that even where it is now (about 3" shy of that point) is too much and I need to lop off about 6-8" -- she tells me right now, all people notice is my hair, not the rest of me. I'm not so sure about that as I wear it back in a ponytail or barette quite often, it never covers my face.

My husband has no opinion, sweet man that he is, he says 'hey, it's your hair' (though I think he prefers it long) and my mother, father and grandmother are no help either -- I get the impression they think if they say 'cut it' that I'm going to go back to short hair, which they all hated.

Any preferences guys and girls? How long is too long when it comes to hair? Is long hair attractive to you, or do you think that too much hair can dominate a person's looks?

dinoman · #2 08/26/2007, 05:36 AM

I'm with your hubby, its your hair! Do with it what YOU want, I know a few people with pretty much the same deal, keep it braided back into a really long braid and I think its cool because I'd never be able to grow my hair that long! Its a TON of work to take care of hair that long!

Personally, I'm doubtful that there is anybody but your one friend that thinks its too long and she's just blowing a bunch of hot air

UH_OH_5_OH · #3 08/26/2007, 07:49 AM

I am soooooooooooooo not the person to ask about this !!! LOL !

Satori · #4 08/26/2007, 08:00 AM

On a woman? The longer the better.

Gary Majchrzak · #5 08/26/2007, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Satori
On a woman? The longer the better.

unless it's on her chest

Satori · #6 08/26/2007, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
unless it's on her chest

Jeffrey Porter · #7 08/26/2007, 08:07 AM

Mine is shoulderlength, Been thinking about cutting it off, then some say keep it. People are really no help.

But seeing as how your in Toronto, why don't you hitch a ride with Poukie down to MACNA and we can both have our hair cut off. Sound like a plan? We'll just keep UH_OH away from the trimmer.

monicaswizzle · #8 08/26/2007, 08:58 AM

Well, several replies come to mind, but seriously it really is your hair and you should do as you please.

My personal taste run the gamut from bald as UH-OH is (too bad more women don't have the guts to shave their heads) to so long that it can cause difficulty walking. If the person is comfortable with the amount of hair they have, it can look great no matter what the length.

Now, color is another matter. One of the black women who works at my daily gas stop has hair down her back that is all in neat cornrow type braids that alternate between the natural black and bright purple. Totally awesome! Have you tried just one strand of bright green from roots to tip? It would set the rest off very nicely.

As to whether or not they notice any of the rest of you, who cares? If any of the rest of you is noticable, I can assure you the men you meet notice. If the rest of you is just "plain" (not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you), well, they probably notice that along with the great hair.

Final vote--If you aren't going to shave or dye it orange and white, leave it exactly the way you want it.

monicaswizzle · #9 08/26/2007, 09:03 AM

Jeffrey--

I am a wee bit older than you (as in about 26 years older), so shoulder length hair on a man was a bit more of a big deal back when I had it. I really wore it long just because I liked it that way, but lots of people had other opinions on why I did it.

#1--While walking down the street in the Philly area I had a barber come out of his shop and rail on me for "trying to put him out of business".

#2--While talking to a fellow long haired male friend he confided that he wore his hair long because it was just the perfect way to tell everyone to [CENSORED]

Very odd. I always thought it was a matter of personal taste and the like.

mikenmick · #10 08/26/2007, 09:13 AM

Im a 38yr old male with hair down to my a#$.has been since i was a teenager.its your hair if they dont like it they can lump it

Pea-brain · #11 08/26/2007, 09:17 AM

Long hair looks good on most girls. I say you should keep it.

Dan

TOURKID · #12 08/26/2007, 09:19 AM

female here. I too have spent the last 5 years growing my hair back out. leave it if you love it! past the waist is probley too much, but long healthy hair is beautiful!

I love that I can do ANYTHING with it now. curl it straiten it, pull it back, get a good charles angels thing going, whatever.

Misled · #13 08/26/2007, 09:29 AM

Your hair!!! Whatever YOU like. Mine like Jeffrey is shoulder length. I let mine get pretty long before I cut the ponytail off. The hair is then given to Locks For Love to make wigs for young girls that have to go through chemo treatments. It's the least I can do!

Satori · #14 08/26/2007, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Misled
Your hair!!! Whatever YOU like. Mine like Jeffrey is shoulder length. I let mine get pretty long before I cut the ponytail off. The hair is then given to Locks For Love to make wigs for young girls that have to go through chemo treatments. It's the least I can do!

That's what I did with mine too.

dc · #15 08/26/2007, 09:51 AM

LOL, friends what are you going to do with them? My friend insists I should cut off my hair to real short. Now the last time I did that, I hated it, Dan hated it, even my kids hated it. It's not even long, barely to my shoulders. Even tho I tell her she was the only one on the planet that liked it, she brings it up frequently. Drives me crazy. Sometimes friends should shut up.

You obviously like it long, or it wouldn't be long now. So keep it.

Sk8r · #16 08/26/2007, 09:58 AM

You like it. But does it dominate your life? Are there things that would be fun that you lay out of because it would a) take two hours to dry your hair b) tangle it and you don't like working the knots out c) salt it or otherwise dry it or abuse it, and you won't risk it.

I've never known but one person who made the decision to go short that regretted it. Thing about hair---as long as you're young, it's a renewable resource: you don't like what you did, just wait: it'll regrow. Comments from those who liked the change: "I feel so light!" "I can run my fingers through it." "My scalp can breathe!"

Just make sure you're living life, not supporting your hair as the dominant life form.

Thurge · #17 08/26/2007, 11:27 AM

I personally love long hair on a girl and hate short hair (shorter than shoulder lenght). I would say that if you have a problem sitting on your hair then it might be time to trim a couple inches off, but hey its your hair and if you want it knee length and can keep it healthy go for it.

ACBlinky · #18 08/26/2007, 10:20 PM

Wow, I didn't expect so much feedback, thanks guys! I'll tell you what - my husband likes it (I just asked), I like it, and though this might seem strange, people actually seem to be nicer to me now - men hold doors open for me more often, things like that. As I said, I don't want to grow it more than waist length, because it will just be too hard to care for (it's already quite the ordeal to wash and dry compared to when it was short) but I don't think I'm going to trim it or cut it.
Every once in a while I have this evil little thought about my friend: maybe she's just jealous? I know that's awful, and it's probably not so, but she has been trying to grow her hair past her shoulders for ages and can't - she has to keep cutting it because it gets split ends and tangles. I guess she's going to have to learn to live with mine, because it's probably going to stay this long for as long as I can manage it. Thanks for the reassurance everyone!

Sk8r · #19 08/26/2007, 10:30 PM

I'll tell you a funny one, at least.

In one week I---
---rolled my hair into the open window of my car while turning: fortunately in a less-traveled intersection. I couldn't see what I was turning toward...

---was washing my hair in the sink and trapped it in the trap. Really snarled. I lived alone. I was upside down in the cussed sink, and finally managed to reach a drawer where there was a scissors. I cut the lock that was trapped, then in a fit of temper yanked it every which way and cut it all off an inch from my head.

---This was the Age of Aquarius, and I immediately rued my fit of temper, so I bought a wig until it grew out.

But it was so durn liberating, just to whack away at it....

dc · #20 08/26/2007, 10:58 PM

I'm jealous of everybodies hair! I've always said I'd be the first one in my family to go bald. I have thin hair, Dan and Pat have thick curly hair.

mltmtascp · #21 08/27/2007, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ACBlinky
Just curious. I have very long hair, nearly to my waist, and recently a friend of mine said to me that it's almost overwhelming and it's overdue for a serious trim. I had short hair for a long time, and it took ages to grow out (years). It's a bit of a PITA to care for, but I absolutely love having long hair. It's healthy and well looked after, not ratty with split ends or anything, so I see no reason to cut it. I don't want it to grow past my waist, but my friend tells me that even where it is now (about 3" shy of that point) is too much and I need to lop off about 6-8" -- she tells me right now, all people notice is my hair, not the rest of me. I'm not so sure about that as I wear it back in a ponytail or barette quite often, it never covers my face.

My husband has no opinion, sweet man that he is, he says 'hey, it's your hair' (though I think he prefers it long) and my mother, father and grandmother are no help either -- I get the impression they think if they say 'cut it' that I'm going to go back to short hair, which they all hated.

Any preferences guys and girls? How long is too long when it comes to hair? Is long hair attractive to you, or do you think that too much hair can dominate a person's looks?

My hair was once that long "Wish I never Cut it"