Did you look like a cyclone warning the first time you tried to do your hair? Of all the mysterious things about womanhood, the secret to a good hair style is perhaps the most elusive for crossdressers. Many of us enjoy long hair just once a month, and often without the nurturing guidance young girls get while growing up.
If you wash your hair twice a week you’re already above average for a guy. Never mind conditioners, blow drying, styling gels, mousse and a bag full of other hair essentials. So where does the confused crossdresser get started?
Find Your Crossdressing Hair Style
The first thing to decide is whether you’ll be wearing a wig or styling your own hair. For some, genes have already made the choice for them. Some things to consider:
Advantages of wearing a wig while crossdressing
If you opt for a wig you’ll find three wonderful things. Firstly, your hair can be as long as you want right away without waiting months and years for it to grow. Wigs are also better for those who crossdress part time, and need to be fully male the rest of the time (dress codes at work, for example). The final advantage to wearing a wig is variation – you can have a blonde bob one day, and long brunette curls the next day.
Advantages of crossdressing with your own hair
For the last few months I’ve been growing out my hair – I’m recovering from my wig phase :). Going natural has it’s own advantages. Firstly, there’s no need to worry about your hair flying off. Getting your hair styled in a salon is tremendous fun – my trips to the salon count among my favorite few hours in the month. If you’re sensitive to the heat your own hair is much cooler than wearing a wig.
For this post I’ll provide a few crossdresser hair tips for those going natural. Look here for more information about how to wear a wig.
Crossdresser Hair Tips
Wash your hair a few times a week with a high quality shampoo. Many of the grocery store brands will leave your hair oily, or strip off too much oil. Personally, I use Nioxin, which you can find at Costco, in your favorite salon or online. Try not to wash too often, otherwise you’ll deprive your hair of natural oils.
Condition your hair every time you shampoo. 2 in 1 hair products are faster to use, but less gentle on your hair. Again use a high quality salon brand like Nioxin, their conditioner is the best I’ve ever used. It has a light mint scent and causes your scalp to tingle all over while conditioning. It’s also okay to use conditioner when you haven’t washed your hair.
Condition the ends of your hair. Don’t pour all the conditioner on your scalp, that will leave your hair heavy and give you the ‘drowned rat’ look. Definitely not sexy! Use most of the conditioner on the ends of your hair, which is most susceptible to split ends and drying out.
Don’t brush your hair when it’s wet. That tugging sensation you feel as you try to brush out your knots is hair being removed from your head. Pulling out your hair is not a good look.
We’ll leave the styling tips for a future post. If you have a crossdresser hair care tip you’d like to share, please leave a comment below and let the other ladies know what has worked for you.
Hugs,
Vanessa
