Gym Hair
While I was at the gym today I overheard two fellow female classmates arguing about how to wear a headband successfully during a hair whipping dance class. One suggested that she should try it with wet hair, the other argued that she had tried that and preferred it dry, blah blah blah...neither way was going to look good in this particular scenario. Here is what I recommend for morning activity hair.
If your hair is curly: Try re-wetting it with a spray bottle filled with warm water and a drop of lavender oil. Spray the water (a fine mist is best) towards the bottom of the curls and scrunch up. Work your way up the hair, stopping before you get to your roots. Grab your trusty pomade, Kevin Murphy Easy Rider is my choice. Place a dime sized or less amount of pomade on your palms and emulsify until it's no longer white but has melted like lotion in your palms. Smooth the crown of your head with the pomade, and pull remainder to your ends.
If your hair is straight: Pull out the pomade, smooth the crown of your head to tame any frizz, spray hair with hair shine serum, through the ends only. Make a deep side part to either the left or the right. Sleek your hair back into a low or high ponytail depending on your mood. Finish with a light hair spray at the crown.
If your hair is short: People think this is the easiest but it's not always true, it can be a pain to keep out of your face. I recommend a bit stiffer pomade to keep it in line for shorter styles. If you have some length in the front, pop it up faux hawk style. If it's mid-length you can pull back both sides and secure each side by making an X with the bobby pins, or using a clip barrette.
If you are feeling adventurous: You can pull off a great bun if your hair is curly or straight and it really does look beautiful. Grab your pomade, smooth the crown of your head back towards the high ponytail that you're going to put it in. Pull all of your hair into a high center ponytail. Pull the ponytail straight up in the air working with small sections and tease the base of the ponytail using a fine toothed comb. By doing this you are creating a fluffy base. Grab 5-10 bobby pins that match the general color of your hair (brown, blonde or black). Using the same small sections you teased, grab the section by the base and direct towards your scalp (I start at the top and work clockwise), wrap the remainder of the section inwards toward the base of the ponytail and secure into the ponytail. Continue working clockwise around, make sure to check the rearview and use additional pomade if necessary for smoothing. If you have a lot of hair then you may be able to accomplish the sock bun. See the video below for that tutorial.
Gym hair doesn't need to take a lot of time or effort. It does need to look better than you have just rolled out of bed and dragged yourself down there. I want to know that you have brushed your teeth, combed your hair and changed out of your pajamas to be there. Maybe that's just the mom in me. As far as headbands go, any of the above mentioned styles will look great with a headband, just make sure it is a headband for an adult and not a little girl. How about instead of a headband you try a bandana rolled up and tied with the tie in the front? Cute!!
Rockabilly headband, perfect for the gym
