Long hair is something that many people hope to get. But it's more than just "long hair/don't care"-- it can be a real b*tch to take care of sometimes. It can be a huge struggle to maintain beautiful locks, and these long haired Redditors are going to tell you why.
u/blue_penguin3 asked: Girls/guys with extra long hair, what are your struggles?
Underbits.
My hair used to be 33"/ 84cm long. It usually took 30 minutes to brush. I had to braid it before sleep or it would take much longer than that.
My SO at the time would roll over in bed onto my hair and I'd be trapped. The shower drain. Hair would find its way into my underbits and I'd have to very carefully pull hairs out of my most sensitive parts. So much shampoo and conditioner.
That's one way to dry it.
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The fact that it takes forever for my hair to dry, but if I use a blow dryer I end up with frizz and static. I would cut it but the last time I did that I ended up looking like I stuck my finger in a wall socket.
Normal people with long hair: It takes so long to dry the hair
Me, a metalhead: headbangs like a crazy windmill on cocaine to the sound of my favourite songs
My hair: dries
So THAT'S how that happens.
In the shower. Hairs fall out and get stuck in you butt crack and clog your drain.
That is why you comb/brush your hair before showering this way most of the loose hair is removed.
Ouch.
When I toss and turn in my sleep and end up pulling my own hair.
I solved this by bunching up my hair as if I was going to do a ponytail and I just lay it all on the top/kinda behind my pillow. It also saves time in the morning too because it stays roughly untangled if I lay it in a straight line along the top of the pillow. No more pulling.
You tell 'em.
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People asking when I'm gonna cut it, I'll cut it when I feel like it.
Tbh, I forget that people need haircuts. I just never think of it. I once forgot for 2 years, my mom finally said something after all the shedding happening at home. Only then I realized my hair was already at my butt.
That seems unpleasant.
I have closed my pony tail in my car door before.
Have definitely gotten my hair caught in my window more than once.
Teenage rebellion.
Funny thing: Pretty much every girl I've talked to (whose parent won't let them) want to cut their hair incredibly short as soon as they go to college. A surprising amount of guys I've talked to (whose parents won't let them) want to grow out their hair past their shoulders.
Leave me alone!
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I think you need a haircut. Why don't you get a haircut. You should cut your hair. How long do you even want it to be? You can't grow it forever. When are you going to cut it?
My aunt and grandmother's constant refrains. Basically they think the only sensible length for hair is ears to shoulders. Halfway down your back is excessive.
So much maintenance.
Black guy here. The biggest thing when I had a big fro or when I was rocking a high top, people do not realize how much black hair can compress or how much maintenance is actually involved. I had a foot tall flat top at one time it could compress down to like two inches.
Getting high and keeping it high meant a lot work. It took for ever to dry, pool days, beach days what ever I was dripping, dripping for hours. If I didn't pick and towel the f*ck out that sh*t it could stay wet for days.
The real struggle.
My friend has really long hair and her struggle is to remember to put her hair around her neck in bathroom so that she doesn't pee on it.
Try not to follow the bad advice given here, because you don't want to get the results that these guys did.
U/Duckerton375 asked: What's the worst advice someone ever gave you, but you still followed?
The workplace can bring a cornucopia of terrible advice. Don’t follow these unless you want to get fired.
​Bad jobs are usually not worth it.
Stick with a job no matter how bad it is. I stayed with a terrible job working retail, dealing with horrible customers and sexual harassment. I was told I wouldn't find anything better.
"No, no, you misunderstand. I said you wouldn't find anything better at making you feel like complete garbage."
This gets really creepy really fast.
frustrated workplace GIFGiphy"After you put in a job application, you need to call them at least once a day every day until they hire you."
Note: this did not get me hired. It got me called out by the HR person I was calling and forbidden to ever contact their facility again.
I work for a law firm that employees over 1500 people in the home office alone. Once I received a call from the building security saying, "Insert Name is here to speak with the owner." Well we are run by a committee so that's odd. Found out they just applied for a job and wanted to talk directly to the person that would potentially hire them. Told him the firm will contact them to schedule an interview. They refused to leave without "talking to the owner." Had security escort them out of the building.
​This is absolutely not true.
"Sleep is for people who do not want success" great words from my uncle, it almost killed me.
Now I may be oversleeping.
​Interpersonal relationships are also a big breeding ground for terrible advice. Don’t listen to any of these.
Heartbreaking.
My father always tought me and my brother that "having friends is bad and in the end they will never be there for you" so everytime I told my father about my friends he would get kinda mad and give me the advice to stop talking to them.
Now I am afraid of people and have several trust issues, thanks dad.
​This won’t end well.
A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditorGiphyIn the fifth grade my teacher was talking about bullying, then she said "if anyone tries to bully you just agree with them." So the next time I got bullied I agreed with the bully and they bullied me more.
Dude one time I saw an anti bullying video that told the victims to just BE NICE TO THE BULLY. Like the bully was hurling insults and the victim was smiling and complimenting him. My first thought was about how much I hated the mere thought that this would work. My second thought was of how the people who came up with that method had clearly never been bullied.
​Oof.
When I met my now wife at the age of 19, one of my coworkers said that it's very important to start at the bottom with presents and work your way up, she still has the socks I gave her on our first anniversary on the wall over our bed as a reminder...
I'm still trying to teach my boyfriend about good presents and bad presents. Biscuits from the supermarket = bad present. Cheap unbranded laptop battery from China as my only present = bad present (and only lasted 2 months). Anything off my 7-page wishlist = good present. It's literally a list of things I want to receive as presents.
​Can tell you from experience that this is a bad idea.
Had a falling out with some friends. My husband recommended I reach out to an old friend who ghosted me suddenly in a manner that induced some pretty severe abandonment trauma. Went for it anyways because "it's been so long, surely they changed". Am now experiencing the same things as last time.
When you follow bad advice, it can lead to mistakes that you just can’t come back from.​
Buying a house is tricky.
for sale dancing GIF by Lisa VertudachesGiphy"Buy a home now before the prices go up!" -my FIL in 2006.
We bought in 2007 and paid $259,500 for our 1,300 sq ft house (we really couldn't afford it and had an 80/20 so we had 8% interest for one loan and 6% on the other) and in 2008 it was worth $97,000 so refinancing wasn't even an option. We watched all of our neighbors walk away or get foreclosed on but we kept paying our bills and as of this very moment our house is worth $462,000. I'm so happy we stuck it out, we both worked our @sses off and the house will be paid off in 2 years.
It worked out for us, it's a horrible idea. Especially since 1300 sq ft houses are $460+k
My heartbreaks for future generations, I honestly don't know how people are going to afford housing in the future.
It’s there for a reason.
"Never apply for any government assistance."
Cue years of suffering trying to work full-time with a painful disability. Quit a particularly terrible job, and wanted to apply for food aid until I could find another gig; a friend with lots of DHS experience recommended I apply for Social Security "just to get in the system." Turns out my disability was bad enough to get accepted the first time, which I wasn't expecting. Really could've used that support, oh, the 30+ previous years of my life.
Credit is important to have.
I was told to not get a credit card until after college. I was super fortunate to have my college paid for so I had no loans, car paid in cash, no credit card or anything to start building credit. Found myself out in the world at 22 years old with a credit score of 0.
So while a lot of this bad advice came from trusted people, oftentimes they were too misinformed to give that advice in the first place. Don't trust the word of one person--do your research, and make decisions for yourself.
It'll be way better in the long run