Topic: Hair Talk (Bangs!)

This is a continued message between @Teksetter and myself (others are welcome of course) but the point is for our convo to not be topic related from the initial news article.

Hi teksetter, hopefully this works.

I missed what you meant on the marker thing. I thought it was maybe to say the “fan” part was the change. I get it now, so I hope I can mention a few things that work and the big secret (the world is full of fake hair!).

On the second bit I mean it surprised me, but between extensions, weaves, and straight up wigs ~ there is so much that isn’t real. ~but that doesn’t mean it isn’t really you’re hair.

What I mean is no one thinks twice about projecting some identity on their clothes, shoes, hat, even car~ so (as it works for you) add ins or add ons can be time savers or fixes when quick swaps, thinning , etc is a problem.

For me to get the best bangs, beyond the perfect cut, it’s also a question of how much hair is bang and how much gets put up (or brushed any way but toward the face) So fuller bangs can be as easy as having less in a donut(s) etc.

If it’s new for you, comb any tangles out starting slow near the tips and work up to the scalp. This minimizes pulling out hairs (further thinning) and split ends. Likewise shampooing twice, and conditioners start making a big difference as do the quality (ie higher price)

Lastly, if you are growing out you can’t try too many products or accessories.
Everyone is different.

I’ll write back once I know this works/this was any interest to explain a little; but I really do get it~ I’ve grown out a number of times from very short so I’ve seen both worlds if you will...
It can be less than fun esp w/o any help, but if you have the right clips, cream, spray whatever it’s not so bad. I hesitate to say use x or y etc. because that was my problem I got stuck on a single product and it was just ok for my hair, whereas another was great.

Best to you! It’s been great chatting
~~~~ no pressure to continue if this is enough of course.

@Dr_G_Lemaitre wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write! I really appreciate the tips and encouragement, and for being let in on the Big Secret. 😄

I want to write a proper reply but I’m recovering from my 2nd Covid Shot (Pfizer) - I had it yesterday afternoon and this AM woke up with a fever, aches, and I just barely kept from horking! I called out of work. I’m feeling better now but will turn in early tonight. I guess my immune system really reacted to the vaccine, which is a good thing, I’d say.

So reading your post I realize right away I’ve been brushing wrong - I never bothered to comb out the ends first. I’d just grab a wet brush after a shower and go to town, starting at the roots. Is it better to use a comb or a brush? I think I could use a beginner’s guide to long hair 😅

Also I was just thinking I should buy a donut as I’ve never tried one.

I did schedule a cut in May, now that I’m nearly vaccinated. I’ll ask my stylist friend if she has any suggestions. I’m afraid there’s really only so much I can do - when brushed out dry my hair looks like Gilda Radner’s old SNL character Roseanne Rosannadanna. The hair shafts are just so thin and wispy, thanks to living with testosterone for the first 40 years of my life. Awful stuff. But we can’t go back in time, so I’m just trying to make the most of it now 👍🏼

Thanks again Dr. G!

@Teksetter
Lol I had to look up the SNL ref ~ so funny! It’s nice to be able to have a fun view on ourselves. Hope you feel good soon and nbd to write anything or whatever.

I realized my silly “long hair 101” might have been misleading so JIC:
Clarification
When combing out tangles or whatever,
Imagine the hairs’ length related in analogy to the alphabet. So A= root right at the scalp, z= tip at the end of the hair.

The beginning strokes should be like
“X y z”
Then “v w x y z”, so on gradually building in length. (So much easier IRL)
Soon “m... z” Starting in the middle and going to the tip.
So a full stroke A to Z is performed only with the hair pretty well knot free.

Going z to a is (usually ) a big no no. Of course but I kinda wrote it like that. Eek!

My recommendation isn’t quite universally agreed on, and hair types do change things~

I find brushes and wet hair just pulls all my hair out~ so if you have an expert, do trust their advice as the best for your hair type~ Really poofy curly sorts use leave-in creams etc to great benefit to the hair and skin but it isn’t a bad idea to get many opinions and see what works. My mom did everything wrong w/my hair so it was tips from nicer “plastic-mean-girl” types that I’m passing on.

That and a pair of adorbs old church ladies.
One had a hair piece the other a hat to deal with their super thin (bald) heads. I realized the one with the piece (cheap wig) totally fooled me and was way happier too.

Sry my reply was 1 line in that mess~
(Hair type is a major part of it etc. )~ eg I know a curly girl who barely gets a knot so she never uses a comb. I only lightly brush.

@Dr_G_Lemaitre
I can tell you really are a kind, compassionate person, and thank you so much for sharing some of your story with me! I'm genuinely pleased to be thought of as a friend, and the feeling is totally mutual!
Of course you can feel free to delete your post, and please don't ever feel obligated to share anything that makes you uncomfortable. Also I'll do my best not to be insensitive in our convos (thanks for teaching me that abbrev!) in the future.

To reciprocate, here's a little backstory for me...
I have lived as an out trans woman for over 4 years now, though I don't exactly advertise the fact online. As a matter of fact, I barely have any online presence other than NL! I don't use social media and I never even came out here until Kate Gray posted an article about GLAAD awards for diversity in games earlier this year and I felt brave in the comments.

I'm out of time now (lunch break), but I'll follow up tonight. Have a great day, Doc!

@Teksetter @Dr_G_Lemaitre I might be intruding here, but I suppose you'll let me know. My fur is naturally very curly, up to a certain length, at which point the infinite fractal mystery of frizziness takes effect. I haven't tried some of the methodology that our Doctor of Bangs mentions here (though it seems almost everyone has urged me to through the years!), because I gave up on the whole matter pretty early and keep it short. (Shock, horror! Life is complicated enough as it is, though...) Leave-in creams work only to a very limited degree for me.

I'm glad you've been vaccinated, Teksetter. Bonne chance! I still want to reply to your other messages, but I'll do so in the chit-chat thread.

@COVIDberry @Teksetter
Oh yes the the frizz wars lol
Hey all styles are beautiful covidberry! I could really go on about non convergent geometric series its nice you mention the concept though~ It’s a ‘fun’ bit of maths~~ on how eg your fractal hair’s volume is easily bounded yet its area diverges.. but on hair styles, If you are happy there’s no need to change it. Of corse if you ever want to experiment, a -little- heat (straighteners/rollers) or doing a cream type if oil let you down or reverse etc might work out. But I’m not too much of an expert.
Short can be the cutest anyhow (if that comes across ok).

Esp to teksetter : srys ~ watch out for donuts too.
Even the good ones can be bad. There are different types made with a sort of plastic net-Brillo stuff. It can shred and frizz up your hair. A spendy brand (I cant recall) that came recommended etc took all my trust away, maybe there are good ones~ buuuut:

Rolling up a sock (smooth material) and cutting off the foot is the way to go. There have to be vids on the web for diy sock donut if this doesn’t make sense.

Pins bands net etc are more important bc these are a bit more slippy but nbd.

Hmm. I do spend a bit too much time obsessing on hair. Lol.

@Teksetter
I’ll have to go back to check the article. Ty

Maybe It’s odd but old ones from anyone but esp corbs (here on NL) were nice lighten up reads for me. Usually reviews for games I’d never play. Lol. I also get Kate being a welcome addition. Just fun, relatable maybe too relatable.

@COVIDberry
I for one certainly don't mind my favorite furred (but decidedly UN-frizzy) blueberry from joining the chat here. Bienvenue! (I had to look that up, as my French lessons in school faded as soon as I started studying Japanese. My capacity for foreign languages is sadly limited!)

I remember short hair and do dearly miss how low-maintenance and inexpensive it was! I could go back, I suppose, but now long hair is like part of the armor I don each day to convince people of my gender. Plus in a way, I like having the freedom to play around with hairstyles now, as I never allowed myself to earlier in life. Who knows - maybe in another 5 years I'll tire of the work and expense and go shorter, but NOT if it's going to get me "sirred" all day.

@Teksetter This is why you have to like NL, Its not like twitter were everyone is rude every which way.

@Dr_G_Lemaitre
Yikes! Thank you for the heads up about donuts, as my hair is shredded enough as it is! @_@;;
I didn't consider that those foam rings could actually do damage. This is a harsh world I've blundered into.

Re: advice you posted earlier, I think I followed what you meant about starting to brush out the hair ends (XYZ) first, then in progressively longer strokes, working out snarls until finally you can brush from root to ends smoothly. Brushing from Z to A never once occurred to me.

To keep my Roseanne Roseannadanna hair at bay, I've tried a few types of curl creams, gels, and mousses, and even an anti-frizz serum. My favorite product was probably a mousse that was the most expensive of the bunch (of course). Maybe I'll save that for special occasions! I will definitely consult my hairdresser on products next month.

If you haven't found Kate's article about the GLAAD Awards for Games yet, here is the link:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/01/hades_ikenfell_and_...

In retrospect, learning that day that the creator, lead musician, and main character of Celeste were all trans was an amazing, happy shock for me! It seems silly, but just that little bit of validation helped lift me out of a very stagnant stage of my life and get my groove back to an extent. I'd say that is why representation and inclusion in media like games can be such a positive force.

@Snatcher
Hey thanks for joining! And I wholeheartedly agree - the vast majority of the community here seem really decent folks, and the mods are attentive and keep things from getting out of hand.
I'm grateful! I have no tolerance of toxicity when basically I'm here for my daily fill of Nintendo news and nostalgia.

@Teksetter @Dr_G_Lemaitre I've opted to reply to some previous messages here to avoid tangling our fur hair - our threads! I hope you won't mind...

This was very illuminating! These centuries-old depictions of ono and Yōkai I've been viewing are astounding, fantastic. Truly élite! One gets a hint of this from Okami (which I've just barely played), but here I see that the unique styles of Japan extend well into the past. The intrigue deepens!

I don't want to treat you like our in-house Japan expert and pelt you with questions... but I can't resist asking something here. Real, authentic Japanese titles can sound humourously verbose and breathlessly earnest in exactly the way you've reproduced here. Are the Japanese generally aware of how these sound in translation? I understand that the rapid-fire cadence of Japanese makes this sort of construction fairly normal, but I wonder if this aspect of the language is ever exploited for effect.

Je vous remercie pour votre aimable bienvenue (thanks for the kindly welcome)!

(I'm going to perch myself over my lunch before I respond to Doctor G's meaty science and hair talk...)