5 Time saving ways for men to style and deal with long hair

It’s commonly known, that typically, the longer your hair gets the more time it requires to look after it and style it. It takes longer to wash, dry, and if you want a more voluminous style.

Some quick tips for saving time are; try styling your hair in a way that allows your to wash it less, comb your wet hair back tightly and let it air dry to lock in shape with minimal effort, occasionally hair headbands or hats to keep your hair tamed/hidden, and get occasional maintenance trims to keep your hair healthy.

1. Try washing your hair less

From my experience overwashing can also affect hair health and make your hair greasy faster. Creating a cycle where you need to keep washing it every day.

And while you should wash your hair when it gets dirty, over-washing may strip your hair of its natural oils, making it more prone to damage and greasiness.

It takes a while to find the right balance for your hair, but if your hair doesn’t look dirty or greasy it’s sometimes ok to skip a day or a few between washing. It really depends on you and your lifestyle, if you’re a really active person and your hair constantly gets sweaty or dirty, then it is still important to wash it, rather than leave it dirty.

But I found that the less I wash my hair the less frequently I need to. On average I wash my hair 4-5 days out of the week and that works for me.

I know it’s hard with longer hair. It’s constantly moving and requires you to touch it so much more that is just gets greasy faster. So here are some tips to help your wash your hair less to try to keep it healthier:

• Personal hygiene is still important, but you can still have a shower and not use any shampoo or conditioner. Rinsing your hair with just water still helps to cleanse some of the dirty and greasiness. Which is a great alternative for days when your hair doesn’t feel as dirty.
• The less you wash your hair, the less you need to dry it and style. Which can be a big time saver. So if you’re second-day hair game is good and you’re hair isn’t dirty, try using a shower cap to avoid wetting your styled hair in the shower.
• Use dry shampoo. Dry shampoo is typically a powdery spray or just powder, that helps to absorb excess oils, reducing the appearance of greasiness in your hair and helping to make it look cleaner. It’s a great way to extend your hairstyle for a bit longer.
  One thing that a lot of people don’t warn about dry shampoos though is that the spray ones have aerosol and drying alcohols in them, and while they make your hair look thicker temporarily, excessive usage make your hair thinner. However, one really good dry shampoo that I like and hear is not damaging for the hair is the label.m Dry Shampoo.

2. Tightly comb your hair into place a let it dry naturally

One of the most useful hacks I found for styling my longer hair was to just comb my wet hair back after gently towel drying and let it dry naturally.

It’s super quick to do, and then you can just continue on your day while it dries. Depending on your hair length, drying time can vary, however, if you leave it to dry, it helps locks in that shape which usually takes a lot of heat and time to achieve with a hair dryer.

So if you use a gently wet brush or comb, this can be much less damaging for your hair.

How to comb your hair back right:

1. After a shower, lightly towel dry your hair.
2. Apply suitable pre-styling products to your hair and work it through evenly. I like to use the Label.m Thickening Tonic. I find it to be the most effective at keeping the combed hair locked in until drying and providing the most natural finish.
3. If you comb your hair back tightly into shape and don’t touch it until it dries, it helps to lock in that shape.

After it dries fully, feel free to run your hands through your hair to mess it up for a more natural-looking style. This is a great time-saving hack, especially when working from home or if you’ve got a longer commute, as it will usually dry before your first interactions at work. And also is great for casual days off.

Helpful product recommendations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Get a headband or hair ties or wear headphones

When I’m growing out my hair, having something on to keep my hair pinned back can really help tame unruliness and reduce styling effort. On days working from home, I sometimes just like to brush my hair back and put on headphones and let my hair dry naturally.

One thing to be aware of is that sometimes if the headphones or headband are pressed down too tight when your hair is still drying, it can cause a little bit of headphone hair. However, you can adjust them to reduce that. And besides, I like to go with it, as it often adds a bit of an extra wave to my longer hair.

Alternatives for wearing headphones are you could wear a headband or if it’s long enough, use some hair ties to tie it back.

Drying your hair fully or partially before putting the headphones or headband on can help reduce the headband hair. And if you’re using a hair tie, it is good to fully dry your hair first, as tying up wet hair could lead to extra tangles and breakage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Wear a hat or beanie

On some days when you are in a rush or just want to chill and not spend 30 minutes styling your hair. Just chuck on a hat or beanie. This helps to hold your hair out of your face and covers it up in case it’s a bit dirty or messy.

Hats can be a good styling tool to force your hair to dry in a pushed-back position or at the very least, just keep your hair controlled. When sometimes I’m not having the greatest hair day or am just in a rush, for medium-length hair sometimes I like to comb my towel-dried wet hair firmly into position and then put on a hat until it dries. This forces your hair to dry in a locked-in shape, which can help you to get your hair out of your face and save time styling.

So get out there and buy yourself a good hat.

Check out some options on Amazon:

 

 

 

 

 

Just on a side note: although hats can be great. Like everything, use them in moderation, wearing the hair all the time or too much can sometimes contribute to hair loss.

5. Just cut it

I know cutting your hair seems counterintuitive. However, getting a trim every few months can really help your long hair game, for several good reasons:

• The longer your hair gets, the older the ends get. Making them more prone to damage and breakage. Split ends can work their way up the hair and affect the strength and thickness of your hair. Getting maintenance trims, cuts the damaged ends off, helping to keep the rest of your hair healthier and stronger.
• Getting a small trim can help to add better proportions, shape and texture to the hair, which can make it easier to achieve good-looking styles.

If you got this far, chances are that you are still struggling to deal with your grown-out hair. And maybe it’s better to just cut it shorter again.

I spent 2 years trying to get longer hair, and the whole time was a bit of a waste.

There are a lot of influencers and models out there with perfect long hair. And I thought “I want to try to grow out my hair like that, at least once”. It took me several tries, however, when I finally got there I realised it wasn’t for me.

Something I learnt the long way… Is that most of the images and videos you see online of guys with long hair, are of guys who have super full heads of thick hair. And in reality, everything has different hair types and not everyone has as much hair as that. So, long hair isn’t for everyone. I have a reasonably full head of hair, so I thought maybe it would suit me. However, because I have very fine hair, even when it’s long, it doesn’t look voluminous, rugged or good in general. The weight of the length just made my hair flat and limp. And because of the weight and lack of structure, it would move around too much, causing it to get greasy much faster. And almost no product could really help me deal with it well.

So after much deliberation, I decided to just cut my hair short again. Long hair isn’t for everyone, there are lots of realistic variables to consider. So if you’re battling your long hair, think about your hair type, density and environmental factors to decide whether it is actually suitable. Chances are, if you have thinner or finer hair types it will be much harder to achieve good styles with long hair.

 

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.