Short Hair Vs. Long Hair

Short hair and long hair each have unique benefits, and the choice often comes down to lifestyle, personal preference, and maintenance needs.
Long hair offers versatility in styling. From elegant updos and loose curls to sleek ponytails, long hairlong hair provides endless options to experiment with different looks. It’s perfect for those who enjoy intricate braids or want to accessorize with clips and bands. Long hair can also serve as a shield during colder months, providing warmth and comfort. However, maintaining long hair requires commitment—it needs regular trimming to prevent split ends, deep conditioning to avoid dryness, and more time for washing and styling.
On the other hand, short hair is low-maintenance and trendy. It’s ideal for individuals who prefer a fresh, modern look without spending too much time on upkeep. Short styles often accentuate facial features, providing a bold and youthful vibe. While short hair can be styled creatively, it may limit options compared to long hair.
Ultimately, whether to choose short or long hair depends on your personal style and how much time you’re ready to invest in hair care. For those embracing long hair, proper care routines can enhance its beauty and keep it healthy. 🌟

As someone who lives in an area where three seasons of the year are just different flavors of blistering summer heat, my own personal reason for keeping hair long is different from most: hair long enough can be braided or tied in a bun and stay out of one's face without the use of a tie, clip, scrunchie, or any other easily lost/forgotten hair-holder whereas shorter styles either need to be trimmed frequently or secured to stay out of the way. It serves as its own tie (with no actual tying, just friction) and has held itself in a braid long enough to more than cover some grueling 12-hour work shifts. Oddly enough, it seems to tangle less than it did when it was shorter.

Team short hair for me!

I shave my hair to 1/8 inch every weekend!  It makes washing hair a 30 second affair.  And drying consists of little more than toweling off in the shower and by the time I am dressing, my hair is completely dry.  By the way, what is a comb?

Eric

Long hair for all genders in our household. We trim each other's hair using one of those plastic crea-clips. It looks very gimmicky. Was gifted to me by a coworker and turned out to be perfect.  I haven't been to a hairdresser in years (oh and how they love to cut hair short). I find that you can turn long hair into short hair but not the other way around Overall, for us, long hair is LESS maintenance. We both wash, condition, apply scalp oil (homemade), and occasionally blowdry (dyson blowdryer was an investment, but dries even long hair quickly).  I grew up with short hair and, let's just say, never again. I should note that having wavy hair also is a challenge with shorter hairstyles for me where weird curls stand out.

I am very low key with styling. Primarily, it's hair down, braid, low bun, high bun, ponytail, half up with a clip in the back for special events  I also use silk scrunchies of all sizes.

Personally, I feel like I am saving money and time by having long hair.

Long hair, here. Mine is very curly, so when dry, it's a bit past my waist, when wet, it's almost past my hips. I find it warmer in winter, because I can wear it down, and cooler, in summer, because I can pull it up, off my neck and back. Short hair is hotter in the summer, to me, because it clings to my face and neck - and super short looks awful on me. Short also isn't warm in winter.

Long haired fella here.

I spent my entire life with short hair. I have THICK wavy hair that grows relatively quick. Many years of at home barbering with a buzzer had me looking pretty clean.

As I have gotten older I realize that I have a little bit of a recession near me hairline. I do not believe I have the balding gene that half the men in my family have so I have decided to grow out my hair. I have grown it out to the middle of my shoulder blades and have found this length to probably be my maximum due to how much additional work my hair has become. My hair HOLDS water and I do not blow dry nor have interest in making my morning routines longer. I will probably get it trimmed to my shoulders in order to keep a bit of mass that can be tied back. I enjoy the insulation my hair provides in the colder months plus the ability to style it if I feel it. I had my hair braided for my wedding and got many compliments from guests on it which is neat coming from a guy's perspective.

I'm excited to get a little grey/white to my hair and see how it looks long.

I found short hair to take a lot of effort. Frequent washing, time to get it looking tidy.  

Long hair needs washing once a week at most.  It's also easier to go no poo with long hair.

Long hair is quick to put up, even if I don't have time to comb it, I can use a stick to put it in a bun and it looks like it's deliberately messy.  The messy bun is very fashionable in these parts.

I started shaving my head 30 years ago, so my vote is for no hair.

Yup! Like r mentioned, I typically only use shampoo once a month, in the summer, and sometimes can go 2months, in the winter. The rest of the time, it's just water and brushing/combing, as needed. I also do my own trimming more easily, when it's long. I couldn't maintain a short cut, without frequent trips to have someone else do it, so it's definitely more economical, for me.

To help keep hair out of the drain, I brush all the loose ones out, before getting into the shower. Those brushed out hairs go into the garden or compost.

Hair long enough that I can do a low pony tail with a hair elastic. Light bangs that I can trim myself, just to frame my face better.

1. I can't *stand* hair blowing in my face. I have a poor blink reflex in my left eye - so if hair starts blowing in it, I start ignoring danger signs and end up with a scratched cornea.*

2. My hair is extremely fine, slippery, and has minimal natural wave to it. Almost no clips, pins, decorations etc will reliably stay in, except the smallest, lightest, most grippy things.

3. Pink tax on hair cuts is huge, and I'm very sensitive to all the smells in most hair shops.

I'd consider going for Eric Hanson's option, but that would freak out the family and it wouldn't keep me as warm as my current approach does.


* After the last bad cornea scratch, my optometrist said I wasn't allowed out on the farm without safety glasses on. Doesn't improve my looks any, but I haven't had a scratch since. I try not to wear them if I'm going to town, but if it's blustery, I'm safer with them on.

Nother fella with long hair here.

Had long hair for 20 years now and …

It’s cheap, haven’t paid for a hair cut for 20 years, haven’t trimmed it for at least 10. At some point I’ll work out what split ends actually are but honestly I don’t really care.

It’s simple, most days it gets combed morning and evening. If I’ve got really dusty or smoky it gets washed in plain water. No shampoo for years.

It’s great for signalling. If I’m on a working day, hair is tied back in a low ponytail. If I’m not working, hair is down and I look like Hagrid, do not bring work problems to me. If it’s a special occasion; weddings, funerals, interviews it goes into a simple braid.

I originally grew my hair out because grandad lost his at 21, so if I got that gene, then I was going to have HAIR while I still had hair. As it is my younger brother is much thinner than me on top.


Short hair was always a pain at school. WTF is hair gell? What style do I want? What shampoo works best?
Screw that, long hair is simpler.

I go back and forth. In the average year, I buzz my head in March or April and that's that. Occasionally I have an interview or I'm going to my kid's wedding or whatever and I cut my hair again to look neat. And occasionally I skip the year's shearing time.

Over my adult years I've gone to both extremes - I tried hard as a teenager to get my hairdresser to cut it short enough. I wanted a pixie look when big hair was fashionable, and Andy kept cutting it too long! I managed to get a short cut just before I left home for college.

(source)

Not me - how I imagined I'd look

Then over the years I've alternated between having really long and really short hair - often associated with a life change like changing jobs. I found long hair much easier as it meant I didn't need to train a hairdresser. Also I hate having people fuss over me and the worry how it might turn out - I would say it was fine just to escape from the stylists chair! It has to be long or short though - if it isn't long enough to be tied back it is a real pain!
After I moved up here I bought some clippers at a tabletop sale and started cutting my husbands hair, and then a friend supervised whilst I did my own. I went from waist length plait to a #3 buzz cut, which surprised my customers a bit! Having done it the once, I now cut it myself every two or three months when I feel it getting shaggy.
When I have long hair it is almost straight - I never needed to iron my hair and I was briefly on trend! I much prefer it short however - a rub with a towel and it is dry, no need to comb, if it sticks up a bit I give it a rinse and a towel dry and that seems to tame it again.

I love that so many people feel the same way I do about mine-- I like it long and pulled back. When I was young my father insisted that if I wouldn't wear my hair "down and pretty" it had to be cut off, it was a waste. (not sure what was being wasted, I never was able to convince my hair follicles to turn off the tap...). Now I grow it to keep it out of the way, without participating in that whole "need a monthly trim"/product/need to wash out product cycle, along with care skills I don't have, and don't forget the random disaster when your normal hair cutter is away and the replacement makes you look like David Bowie on a very creative day!

I would love to buzz my head... my daughter shaved hers a few years ago when she passed her college entrance exam (local tradition) and she was gorgeous and elegant. I, on the other hand, have a head that looks like a potato when it's shaved and it's not a great option....

Did the long hair experiment once, never again.  

I let mine grow for 3 months, then I take the trimmers and cut it off.   I stopped barber shops and such maybe 4 or5 years ago.

I'm six feet tall. When I tilted my head back my hair used to almost touch the back of knees. It's now two feet shorter- and a hell of a lot thinner- without being cut. A hairdresser friend of mine once told me that when you get older everything breaks down and falls apart and the first thing to go is your hair. Depends on the dust and sweat and type of work of course, but I keep mine in a plait, usually wash it every three days and trim the split ends every twenty years whether it needs it or not.

Perfect solution = long and short hair combination.  It took me over 50 years to solve my hair problem, it's way too thick, very curly underneath but straight on top. Hairdressers hate me because most are clueless on how to cut extremely thick hair.    

I always have to have it long enough to pull back off my face or well, I would have no face, just too much hair. So I finally discovered the "undercut" which is a almost shaved head in the back, underneath.  I now literally have half the amount of hair.  With a low ponytail nobody would know of the undercut.  High ponytail in the summer to keep cool shows it off and now and my hair dries in one day versus 3, ha.

I will get this cut once a year going forward - every spring. By this time, it's November, my hair is about 2 inches long underneath and provides warmth.

Google "undercut" to get some fun ideas for patterns you can shave in as well.  

Lynne Cim wrote:Perfect solution = long and short hair combination.  It took me over 50 years to solve my hair problem, it's way too thick, very curly underneath but straight on top. Hairdressers hate me because most are clueless on how to cut extremely thick hair.    

I always have to have it long enough to pull back off my face or well, I would have no face, just too much hair. So I finally discovered the "undercut" which is a almost shaved head in the back, underneath.  I now literally have half the amount of hair.  With a low ponytail nobody would know of the undercut.  High ponytail in the summer to keep cool shows it off and now and my hair dries in one day versus 3, ha.

I will get this cut once a year going forward - every spring. By this time, it's November, my hair is about 2 inches long underneath and provides warmth.

Google "undercut" to get some fun ideas for patterns you can shave in as well.  

I've been trying to talk my lady into this forever  I love that look.

I only had it short once: 1/2' long cut myself, using the width of my fingers as I went about cutting it before my second oxy acetylene class.

Then I went and took a music teaching contract up in Thompson MB, so keeping it short enough that it could dry quickly was best

That was 20 years ago. Maybe I will go short again once it goes grey -- 60 and only a few stands but mostly pooless

I have hair thick enough for more than one person and like cold climates and often braid it in front, keeping the ears covered -- looks like a long beard and I call it the Smurf style

I was cheering for our bald poster! Bald is bold! Makes you stand out among us long haired freaky people 😂

Hair today, gone tomorrow
… the long and short of it

Up until high school (1963-67) I was buzz cut by mom - easy peasy hair care
When the long-haired Beatles came on the scene I started letting it grow. When it was just barely down over the top of my ears I had to put up with crap from one of my math teachers (they were also restricting girl’s skirt length in those days…). Joined the Navy after high school and it was back to buzzed… until a progressive commander of the Navy allowed us to grow it a little longer…

Back home from the Navy and I started letting it grow - big, wavy, bushy, but continued to get it trimmed by hair care folks who mostly never listened to what I asked them to do. When I did find an ‘attentive’ and caring person, seems like they all moved on to other things/places…

Then, one day after losing yet another favored hair carer, I ran into a guy with hair down to his knees… hmmm, me thinks, why *AM* I cutting my hair? so I let it go & grow (took a little crap from my boss early on in a business setting who, though tolerant and permissive, pulled me aside one day and said, jeez Jeff your hair’s longer than most of the gals here… (c. 1997) and I’ve let it grow ever since

After about 12 years, it had reached my butt (and some to my knees when wet), and that’s as long as it got. Long about 2000, got my wife to teach me to braid it - necessary because, as an Adult Scout leader, we had to frequently take swimming tests (once a year at Summer Camp ++) and swimming with untied hair is untenable.

It’s pretty much always braided these days as, especially on windy days it’s wispy and ties itself in tangly knots + plus it’s more manageable in a braid and easier to keep out of the way of what I’m doing.

On seeing the movie Avatar, it occurred to me leaving it long may be more in line with what nature intended, after all it’s what ‘came with the kit’

Beard: on returning home from the Navy I started letting it grow and have only shaved it off twice since then - once for Halloween and then (secretly) the night before my wedding - totally surprising everyone (figured my wife otter see what my mug really looked like) but it totally freaked out my two sons (who were aged 10 and 7 at the time - the youngest cowered behind mom… ‘who is this stranger?’)

- I mostly keep it trimmed, even though once when it was pretty long, my sons encouraged me to let it go for the ‘Gandalf’ look, long enough to tuck in under my belt. At the time I was doing a fair amount of ‘tradesmen’ work, and found a long beard made it difficult to see the tools in my tool pouch… back to trimming

The main reason I like a beard is not having to shave… scraping my face every day, yuck, did more than my share of the that. Not to mention the time and expense and the who-knows what kinda gicky poo-roducts. Of course trimming it takes some time - trimmed it more frequently between 2011-2017 while working a post-retirement hobby-job at a live entertainment venue as part of the tech production crew, but, since then, only trimming a couple of times per month just to be presentable when out in public… mostly a home body these days

Yep Jeff I loved your description !

Then I could envision a board book with 10-12 pages

You tell us in gifted vivid imagary

Ra Kenworth wrote:Yep Jeff I loved your description !

Then I could envision a board book with 10-12 pages

You tell us in gifted vivid imagary

Nice, thanks Ra
Full disclosure: I hail from the "Long-Winded" Tribe"

jeff Swart wrote:

Full disclosure: I hail from the "Long-Winded" Tribe"

🤣

I had a part Northern Irish grandfather who could tell mean takes about driving Morris Minors up very steep muddy hills

As the son of a farmer who had a set of clippers, I didn't have much say in the early days.  Then in university (when I was in the city where there were actual stylists, not just barbers, I tried a few things, but could never get used to hair touching my ears so the sides were generally short.  I remember switching stylists from one gal who did a good job but had a boyfriend to one I fancied...she was not nearly as skilled and I got tired of the poor job that was done.

I would often let a winter beard grow, so purchased clippers for the Easter rebirth.

We moved in 1998 and our family income was cut roughly in half initially, so rather than spending what I'd been in Saskatoon ($15 every three weeks), I decided it made sense to cut it ourselves and save the dollars.  We started with one of the longer combs in the set and I got my wife to do it...then shorter combs and I'd do it with her touching up...then shortest comb and maybe she'd look...ultimately, no comb and I deal with the parts I can't see by feel.

I never have to deal with hair in my face / eyes / mouth and I have no concept of windswept hair on my head.  When I used shampoo, I used very little, and it didn't take much time to look after.

Those who claim hair for insulation apparently don't live far enough north...there comes a point where you need something insulating on your head (except for the cool teenagers who also aren't wearing gloves / mitts, sneakers, ripped jeans and whatnot...).

I've also survived long enough to not really care what anyone else thinks and I've been married long enough I'm not attempting to impress any of the female gender.  It's a really easy lifestyle.  It also has the advantage of people driving you crazy (crazier?) can't lead you to pulling your hair out since you can't grab it anyway.

I have loved seeing all the responses here!

So growing up, I had what I would call normal length hair from a young boy through college (twice!) and off to my first year teaching at age 26.  By normal, I mean that after a roughly monthly haircut, the hair could be parted, but with just a bit of difficulty.  In college (first time) as I was away from home and didn’t know where to get my hair cut, it got a little longer than usual, meaning that it went a little down my neck but never touched my shoulders.  By the time I started my second degree, I was working outside all the time in the heat so I got it cut a bit more often and a bit shorter, but nothing terribly more drastic than earlier.

After my first year teaching, I was up in Chicago visiting my then girlfriend (now wife) and out of boredom one day when she was off at work/med school, I walked to a local Target and bought a set of hair clippers with an array of different length guards.  I walked back and once my wife returned I asked what she would think if I shaved my head.  She didn’t care but she wasn’t going to do it for me and I didn’t think I could do it myself.  I therefore asked her roommate and she agreed.  We put on the longest guard (1 inch) and I got the closest cut I ever had and I loved it!  That was in July.

Actually it was so short that I didn’t cut it again until October by which point it had grown out a bit.  It was homecoming week and that day it was faculty weird hair day so I brought my clippers with me.  Near the end of my second hour psychology class I asked if anyone had a study hall the next hour.  I was met with many non-committal answers.  But then I pulled out my clippers and explained that I needed someone to shave my head and all of the sudden, every student had a free period the next hour!  One girl did have a study hall and agreed to shave my head, so during the next hour (my prep hour), I took a chair outside the building facing the school courtyard and the girl got ready to shave my head.  Apparently word traveled to virtually every student at school and the courtyard was full of students who suddenly didn’t have to go to class immediately!  I got my head shaved and someone took a picture that appeared in the yearbook the next year.

From there I began shaving my head more often.  I did have short but not shaved hair when I got married (June after the school shaving incident).  Initially I shaved it at 1/2 inch, but quickly that became 1/4 inch, the shortest guard I had.  That set of clippers lasted until last May.  I was clipping my hair but the guards weren’t fitting properly on the clippers, having lost the edges that once held them on.  I was closely trimming when the guard touched my head, the guard fell off and the clippers directly touched my head!  At that point I had no choice but to simply shave everything off, almost right down to skin!  Some of my students were a little disturbed.

I had to order new clippers and these came with 1/8 inch guards which is my new standard.  I keep it so short that it stays permanently bristly, which is exactly the way I like it.

Team short hair, borderline no hair

Eric

Last haircut by a barber was 35 years ago, just before high school yearbook photos. When short, my hair has a mind of its own, I never did have a crew-cut though. Once it was just about long enough to sit on, and since then whenever I start pulling my own ponytail while shifting in a chair/car/bed... it gets 6 or 9 inches cut off. I wear it up most all the time, since I don't like it in my face, and I am too often around machinery to want to have to think about it.

At this point, however, the whiteness, and thinning on top of my head offer little sun protection, and the ponytail isn't as full as it used to be... so I'm considering shorter... which might be shoulder length and still long enough to be tied-up? I sure hate sunburn on the back of my neck though, even if I don't get it where the shirt tags rub, that's something. It might be another ten years before I'd want to try actual "short hair" again.

Get yourself a decent wide brimmed hat Kenneth. I had two neighbours who used to wear those American style little base ball caps. One died from a cancer that started on the top of his ear and the other died from a cancer that started in his cheek. And I watched my mother die from melanoma at 57. Wear a proper hat! Our Bunnings stores- I suppose the equivalent of your Walmart- sell wide brimmed straw hats for six bucks, although I wear Akubra- Australian rabbit fur, although they're getting to be stupid expensive as Myxo and Calisi virus have drastically reduced the number of rabbits. Still have enough to infuriate me when I stroll around the vege beds some mornings and see what they found tempting overnight.

Working out in the tropical sun, I’ve gotten in the habit of wearing a brimmed hat….often a straw cowboy style hat. Have to protect my ears and face from the sun. As a result I switched to having really shorthair several years ago. I find short hair to be far cooler when wearing such a hat. I just tell the hair cutter to give me the Judy Dench look. I really don’t care if it looks stylish or not, but thanks to Judy Dench, people say it looks cute. I think they are just saying that to be nice. Ha. But regardless, I prefer short hair at this stage of my life, really short hair.

I’m a soap person. I shower every day and use soap to rid myself of the sweat, mud, dirt, and body odor that builds up over a day’s work. That includes washing my head, which also gets very sweaty and dirty when working in the fields. I can smell myself at the end of the day and just can’t imagine climbing into a clean bed smelling like that. There’s no way I’m stopping at our local coffee shop first thing in the morning on my way to the farm smelling like my livestock and a compost pile. Hair tends to hold odors, so short hair is easier to wash each day.

I will add one detail/bit of advice/warning to my post above.  The day I shaved my head in class, I was talking with students in 6th hour (last period) and I mentioned that I wanted to shave my head with a razor right down to skin.  I half joked (maybe 1/4 joked) that I wanted my hair so completely gone that my scalp would be shiny and that on a bright, sunny day I could bend over and blind people with the reflection from the top of my head (I find that exaggeration and a bit of shtick is a great classroom control technique!!).  

One student offered me a warning based on his personal experience doing exactly what I was proposing.  He made the following comments/observations:

1. The skin on the very top of the head has never seen direct sunlight.

2. That patch of skin is the whitest, least pigmented skin one one’s body.

3.  That patch of skin will face directly at the sun at the exact time that the sunlight is most intense.

4. As a result of the 3 previous points, that skin will burn in mere minutes (maybe even single-digit minutes) during bright, sunny, summer days, exactly the time when I am likely to be outside!

5.  These burns will be severe and will hurt for some time.  Most people who will burn will do so far earlier than they realize as they can’t actually see that patch of skin!!  This student was speaking from experience!!

With all that in mind, I completely gave up the idea  of shaving my head right down to skin.  My student’s suggestion was to leave a little bit of hair to shade the skin and save it from the burn.  As a teacher, my job is to influence students, but sometimes the process works the other way.  This was one of the best pieces of advice any student has ever given me in 28 years of teaching.

Therefore, my practice and my suggestion to others is to do exactly as my student suggested:  leave just a little hair.  Even just 1/8 inch of hair really protects my scalp from sunlight—it’s almost like a sunblock that never needs to be applied and never wears off.  And hair that short is incredibly easy to care for.  I literally can use a single pea-sized drop of shampoo to wash my hair every day.  Showers can be a mere 5-minutes long.  And drying consists of simply toweling off my hair while I am still shower and the hair is completely dry by the time I start putting clothes on.  And I have absolutely no need whatsoever for a comb, brush, etc.

Go team short hair!!

Eric

I wholeheartedly agree Eric.  I've never shaved my head, but find that without a comb on the clippers, it still isn't down to bare skin.  Winter clippings are always interesting - for a day or two after, getting a toque off is a bit like pulling apart a square foot of Velcro.

For warmer parts of the year, I have a Henschel Hat - from the site, I think I have the Original Aussie Breezer.  It was available at Lee Valley at one point...unfortunately, they haven't seemed to stay as a supplier.  Anyway, it covers the bare head, has a strap so I can keep it on in the wind (there's always wind at the acreage), and the mesh helps release heat from my head.  It doesn't work that well with hearing protection though...sometimes I substitute for a ball cap when I have the ear muffs on.  At least that protects my ears.  I definitely feel it on a sunny day if I'm in a pool or similar and don't have my hat on.

I still kick myself...I needed to get the Henschel to replace another wide-brimmed hat left on an airplane...sigh.  That said, this is a better hat, although I've had it long enough that it's kind of grungy and salty at the band.

Derek Thille wrote:  It doesn't work that well with hearing protection though...sometimes I substitute for a ball cap when I have the ear muffs on.

I have a favorite wide brimmed farm hat. It's been mended *multiple* times, but it fits and does it's job, except for when I need hearing protection.

My ear canals are unusually small, so I have never found in-the-ear protection that works. So I now have a larger, fairly floppy, wide brimmed hat that *does* fit over my large, over-the-ear hearing protection.

Even long haired people need sun protection! Since there are a few noisy activities that also need to be done when it's sunny, it was a matter of finding something that would work.

For those people with gorgeous, thick, long hair that still has colour in it and who still give a rip what it looks like- I've worn my hair in a plait for well over forty years. In the early days I often wore it loose- always working in the sun- and the hair on top ended up lighter in colour- sun bleached to some extent- but still dark brown underneath and a whole bunch of shades of brown and blonde- and a few grey hairs even in my twenties- in between. I used to treat myself occasionally and wash my hair in neutral Henna. It has to be neutral unless you like being orange. Mix the powder to a paste with water, work it through your hair and cover with foil or clingwrap or an appropriately sized plastic bowl. Please note at this stage your head looks like you have been dragged backwards out of a pit full of duck poop- it's not a good look. But! When you rinse it out and dry your hair, it really highlights every colour in your hair and makes it shine, and when you braid it, it looks awesome. There was a time when such things were important to me.

I actually bought some natural (orange ) henna for the few grey strands I have but haven't used it yet. Thanks for the tips! Can a plastic bag be used (tied tight across the front hairline, over the ears and knotted at the nape? I use those when I shower and don't want to wait 3 hours or so for my hair to dry. But then again, maybe the plastic needs to be in contact with the hair?

For this organic farmhand, rental homesteader, market gardener, etc., it's lowest maintenance, lowest hassle. I buzz it when the weather gets hot in June and then again in August, which also keeps it clean. Otherwise I just let it grow

Sorry Ra- as a permie you are sort of obliged to weave a bag out of cattail roots or bindweed Plastic bag should work fine- just don't tie it around your neck- it gets resally hot and clammy in there If it isn't neutral Henna though, your hair will be screaming from the rooftops orange.

Su Ba wrote:

I’m a soap person. I shower every day and use soap to rid myself of the sweat, mud, dirt, and body odor that builds up over a day’s work. That includes washing my head, which also gets very sweaty and dirty when working in the fields. I can smell myself at the end of the day ... Hair tends to hold odors, so short hair is easier to wash each day.

So in your case to remain poo-less requires plenty of soap and shampoo ;-)

I went with henna for a while, used lemon juice for the acid, and left it on for HOURS - but it was never orange - more a deep auburn. But, I'm also a natural red, and was only trying to cover the weirdly splotchy gray. Once it evened out, I cut my hair to chin length, taking off about 2ft, and trimmed off another inch, every month, as it grew. That first cut was in February, '17. Now, it's my new naturally growing mix of colors, ranging from mostly chestnut reds to a little bit of white.

Carla Burke wrote:I went with henna for a while, used lemon juice for the acid, and left it on for HOURS - but it was never orange - more a deep auburn. But, I'm also a natural red, and was only trying to cover the weirdly splotchy gray. Once it evened out, I cut my hair to chin length, taking off about 2ft, and trimmed off another inch, every month, as it grew. That first cut was in February, '17. Now, it's my new naturally growing mix of colors, ranging from mostly chestnut reds to a little bit of white.

I didn't need to add anything to the henna I used to use other than water to make a paste.
Last time I did it I was staying with a friend in Sydney at her sisters expensive house in an expensive suburb. I had green goop all over my head and dribbling down my forehead. Someone mentioned that a well known actor lived across the narrow street- feller by the name of Stuart Wagstaff. I said I was going to meet him and ask him to pose for a photo with me and my Harley. I knocked on the front door which was open. He called out Who is it? I said It's Jay, Stuart. He said Come in come in. I did- he was chatting on the phone, sitting with his back to me in front of a beautiful timber book case, his feet up on the desk. I was wearing a biker vest with badges and patches and crap all over it, green goop on my face and a tupperware bowl on my head. He glanced over his shoulder, went pale and whispered I have to go now and hung up the 'phone He was very nice, posed for photos with us- but ruined it by calling the sound of my Harley an "infernal racket"

You should try the henna again Carla- your hair sounds like it would look awesome with those colours high lighted. I have to say though, cutting two feet off your hair to chin length sounds like you shaved off an impressive beard