Okay so I'm bored and I don't know if this has been posted before, but I was just wondering if you think that you are treated differently when you have long hair as opposed to when you have had shorter hair?  I've noticed now that my hair is getting longer, people have been treating me in a more romantic way and for some odd reason, men seem to approach me much more often now.  Aside from things along that nature, I also get kind of negative reactions.  People (strangers!) come up to me, pull on my hair, then procede in asking me if it's real.  Also if I wear my hair up in a ponytail, people actually ask me if I'm wearing a hair piece or they'll ask if they can touch my hair--for what reason I don't know!  I don't know whether to be insulted or not so I just let it roll of my shoulders... :) And all the people that for years told me to grow my hair long are now telling me to chop it all off so it'll be short again.   I don't know what to make of people and my hair, but I was just wondering if any of yall have been noticeably treated differently with long hair?  Wow this is kind of long ---guess being tired I didn't even realize I was rambling! Sorry

When I first began growing my hair, I was very self-conscious of it. I probably acted differently, thus people treated me differently. Now that I've had it long for about five years, I'm much more comfortable with it. I just seems natural today. I don't notice anyone treating me differently. I do dress and act very conservatively, which probably helps. About the only non-conservative thing about me is my hair.

I'm sure women have a much different experience when they grow their hair long compared to men in general. There will always be more people reacting negatively to long hair on men as compared to long hair on women. 

I think it makes a difference if you behave differently after having long hair. Then people would definitely treat you differently because they'd react differently to you as a person. My attitude changed a lot after having long hair, mostly in the confidence department, and felt a lot more feminine. So for example, people may not be treating me nicer than before but I might be more persuasive than before.

Anais

      Before a dog found our home, my wife would get stopped all the time along the street by guys asking if she needed a ride. (Nice folks, I guess, but they never asked me when *I* was alone!) She was basically ignored before she had long hair. Only family members hassle her about its length, esp. a couple of my daughters.

Well, I suppose it's too late, but I hope you changed your mind, Tally. Friends and family always will compliment a new 'do, as they think they must say something if it's an obvious change. But the true indicator, IMO, is what unprompted strangers will say. Oh well, if you view long locks as "trouble", you may as well not have them. All the best, Bob

Personally I do think that some people treat you differently because you have long hair. From experience I have noticed that most men seem to be more attracted to long hair, not all of course but I think most do. My boyfriend loves my hair and he would probably be distressed if I talked about cutting it. But a lot of guys notice you when you have longer hair…amoung the other things they notice, I don’t know why though.

I'll just add in my comments here...even though I don't have long hair (yet!).  I know a lady who has VERY long hair (classic), but it is not in good condition (it's bleached and always looks fried to me).  However, she always gets attention because of her hair.  IMO it's because of the length of her hair (obviously not it's condition or anything else).  So I guess ppl do treat her differently because of her hair.....can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing though

I have to say though that total strangers stop me on a regular basis and compliment me on my hair colour. I usually start extolling the virtues of henna. I must have bored so many ppl!!!  I really should get T-shirts printed........ 

Here's a http://tinypic.com/fxwls7.jpg - picture of my "after" henna next to my "before" henna . My hair is a dark brown. I think the most important thing is to do a strand test to avoid having weird chemical reactions between the old dye and the natural henna.

Anais

Anais..I didn't know you did a henna!!!! When? Good on ya

Sugaree, I HIGHLY recommend henna, not only as a hair dye but as a treatment for your scalp and hair. If you have dark hair, then you would not get alot of colour change (henna does not lighten), but you would get amazing firey red highlights in the sun.....red like you wouldn't believe!

As long as you use body art quality henna, you should not get any reactions to anything.  The reason why henna has a bad rep is because alot of the commercially available hennas are mixed with other things and are not pure.  The "other things" react badly with some previously chemically dyed hair.  But, I would still recommend doing a hair-ball test, even with pure henna.

The benefits of henna are many! Includes:

• Amazing colour that NEVER fades.
• Reduces hair-loss
• Provides a healthy alternative to chemicals.
• You can do it yourself and vary the mix to suit you
• stronger, thicker, shinier hair

I personally would never be able to grow long hair if I hadn't made the switch to henna. 

So, Sugaree, make sure you use only pure BAQ henna.  You can get more info from http://www.hennaforhair.com - www.hennaforhair.com (I swear, I am not the owner of this site!!!! hehehe)

It's been really strange; I'll be 50 in January and just got my 3rd (not a very good track record, I admit) divorce and I have had more dates and some very persistent ones at that than I ever did when I was younger and single with short hair.  I seem to be getting a lot more attention with my hair longer, but I agree with Anais, I feel better with longer hair and I'm not looking for a relationship, in fact, I am avoiding them for a while and I think attitude and self-confidence is as much a factor as length, but I am very attracted to long hair on guys so what do I know?

SF

But it is flattering to be my age and still get the nice feedback.

I've always had "nice" hair, I guess... lots of natural (grease? haha) shine to it... so people were always on me about that...

But I get more comments from people that already know me, because I'll wear my hair up for a few days (bun style), and it isn't very thick...so it doesn't LOOK long...and then I pull it down and people go WHOA.  Which is funny, because my hair isn't THAT long.

Most of my boyfriends prefer long hair.  I imagine it has something to do with getting attention from guys... but there are other aspects about me personality wise that have MUCH more to do with who I date.

Hmm....Fran I'm not really sure what to say here. I agree with most of what you have said and I think you are an intelligent well-spoken/written lady, however.......

I was married at 21 too, and am now 33 (today actually!) so I've spent my entire adult life as a non-single (also counting the years before I was married and just dating my now husband).  I have always taken pride in my appearance and I like to look pretty/sexy when I am out with or without my husband. It just makes ME feel good and I am happy and comfortable when I know my hair/outfit/makeup are looking good.  I am not at all interested in being with any other men, however I DO seem to attract some interest and I am always flattered when I receive attention from other men (and women).  This is understandable isn't it? I mean most people feel good when they are complimented (be it on physical attributes or on their intelligence/personality etc).  Of course my husband loves me and always says I'm beautiful etc, but it's also nice to hear it from others.

So am I a bad bad person?   Happily married but also happy to be admired by other ppl? I have also admired a handsome face, nice butt etc. from time to time

Anyway, I know that this is a fun and lighthearted topic, but you just had me thinking there......

Miss Rini!! Happy Birthday!!!

My hair isn't all that long yet (just below shoulders), but I have noticed lots of attention from men since I have been wearing my hair in two braids....I think they think it is cute, so I get a lot of smiles, unsolicited conversations, and heads turning. It is something I noticed, not something I have looked for.

Woohoo!

Happy Birthday Missrini!

Yay!! Thanks girls   It didn't really seem like my birthday though...just another day in the life of.  I did buy myself some nice Lindt chocolate though when I went grocery shopping  and my husband took me out to dinner too.  33 is kind of an interesting number though...

Fran, I don't want to debate you on this. I actually agree with what you are saying (in principal), however the SAD reality is that people are influenced by how a person looks before they get to know them as a real person. How you look is kind of the "advertising" for your "business". I just find that it is easier to get ppl to come up and talk to me if I'm looking good....even if it's for the wrong reasons....then you can really get to know each other and the whole superficial thing falls away.  I enjoy meeting people, and my business requires that I network with other industry-related people, so looking good is very important to me.  Using your attractiveness is powerful I think.  I certainly don't base my self-worth on it, but I'm happy to use it as an assett for as long as I can.  I know that I am an intelligent, creative, assertive person inside, and so do those who know and love me, but complete strangers can't and don't know that from the outset.  Maybe one day somebody will come up to me and say "gee, you look intelligent", but I'm not holding my breath

Well I'm glad you asked   Henna is probably one of my favourite topics!!

If you are going to use henna, only use the BAQ (Body Art Quality) henna.  Horror stories of hair turning green are usually those involving commercially sold "henna" which has additives, some of which are not even listed on the box.

One of the many wonderful properties of henna is that it does even out your hair colour.  Before my first ever henna, I had been using chemical dyes (why why why??) and was getting intense roots, but faded lengths. It was always very uneven.  My first henna came out totally even and for the first time in many years, I had hair that was pretty much all one colour.  Incidentally, you should always do a test on harvested hair (from the shower, brush etc) before you do your whole head.  I was impatient the first time though, and just went ahead and did it, even just one week after my last permanent chemical dye treatment   Lucky for me, it was all good.

Henna won't make your hair lighter, but it will make it red, make no mistake.  Just what shade of red depends on: your starting colour, how long you leave the henna on, the freshness and quality of your henna, what you added to your mix, how many applications you do and so on.  Everyone gets a unique shade, but it can be controlled by manipulating one or more of the above factors.

Your grey hair will be lighter, and maybe even a bit orange at first.  Personally, I like my lighter "highlights" where my grey was, but some people don't and prefer to use a bit of indigo to tone them down, or just re-apply the henna to those areas a few times to saturate the colour.

I recommend doing your research and an excellent place to start is hennaforhair.com  Go to the mixes page and read up on what everyone uses in their mix to achieve the colour that they want.  Take note of their natural colour and grey percentage to get a good idea of what your hair will turn out like.

I hope you do decide to go on the henna journey Fran....it has been totally hair-changing for me and has been the main reason I've decided to grow my hair.  I am more than happy to answer any other questions you may have

Incidentally, I just saw a photo of myself today and my hair looked soooooo shiny and glossy, that it almost looked fake!!! LOL  My hair would never look this way if it were chemically dyed.

Henna is the BEST thing for your hair.

There are no chemical dyes that are "gentle".  They all do damage.  Henna, on the other hand, not only does NOT damage your hair, it actually improves it's condition and texture.

No problem about the questions...happy to help!

I was wondering if you could tell me the url of that site that said henna dries out your hair.  I'm always interested in the sources of mis-information   Henna does the opposite of drying out your hair. It's the closest thiing to a permanent conditioner that I've ever seen.  I don't have to condition my hair hardly at all now....it's quite amazing to me as I always had to use TONNES of conditioner before.

As for brown, I add cloves and Amla to tweak it towards brown. Works a treat for me.  Others use a little bit of Indigo, others use coffee.  I guess it's experimentation. 

I have very grey/white roots in the front and top of my hair and my hair grows fast. So every 3 weeks (when my hair has grown to see obvious white roots), I put full strength henna on my roots only with a tint brush and then mix up full strength henna with  conditioner or yoghurt and slop it on the rest of my hair (just as a treatment).  It's quick and easy for me to do it this way.  You could just slop it all over your hair though if you wanted to, it definitely wouldn't hurt, but you'd go through more henna and thus spend more money.

Henna is permanent. It does not fade....at all.  I found this quite astonishing at first, as chemical dyes always faded for me....even if it just faded a bit, it looked "old" and I didn't like it.  Henna stays rich and true for ever.  It does not wash out.  It covers grey hair amazingly well (especially with repeat applications to increase the depth of colour)  See the grey hair section on the hennaforhair site.

First time henna users are always ecstatic because they've never seen their hair look so good.  Long term henna users are just quietly happy and have become used to being spoiled (like me!)

Yes Fran, that is correct.  Your result would be more subtle than if you had lighter hair.  You would still have some gorgeous flame red highlights when your hair is in sunlight though

I don't know of anyway to strip henna that would not damage your hair.  You could bleach it out and re-colour over the top if you really wanted to....but then it'd be pretty brutal!  If you were not happy with the colour, it would be far better to do another application using different ingredients in your mix.  You can apply henna as often as you want without causing damage.   This is great news if you are trying to achieve a certain colour and need to experiment a little.

Good luck!

On topic (not that henna isn't fascinating...no really

I've never had short hair, so I can't do a then/now comparisson, but now I'm older, and most people who had long hair when they were younger have cut it, I get more of my school friends saying how lovely it is when they see my hair which is nice.

As far as men go...I don't have a boyfriend so it can't work that well lol.  I normally get the "wow your hair is long" from them, and that's it.  But then, I'm fond of wearing tight red shirts and low cut tops so I should be glad I'm not attracting men as they would be the wrong kind!

It would be nice to be noticed for my hair, but it's usually an after-notice, not attention seeking.