Butch Hair Products

I know I've been writing less about fashion these days and more about identity, butchness, transgender stuff, etc.  And I *love* writing about identity.  But you know what, butches?  I still want to keep you looking good.

To that end, this post is all about hair products for short-haired butches, bois, MOCs, dykes, etc.  Back in March, I wrote two posts about butch haircuts, complete with pictures of hot BW readers.  One was about fauxhawks and the other talked about pomps, shags, buzzes, and other dykealicious cuts.

First, the five basic genres of butch-relevant hair product:

• Gels: Clear stuff you squeeze out of a tube.  Sticky.  Comes in lots of holds and finishes (firm, not firm; shiny, not shiny), and usually contains alcohol, which is problematic if you have super dry hair.  Make sure you get a kind that doesn't flake.
  
• Glues and pastes: These come in a variety of textures--sometimes hard and in a jar, sometimes creamy and in a tube.  They're opaque and can literally feel like glue.  In my experience, these give a stiffer hold than gels.  Good for thick hair and longish fauxhawks.  For a really strong hold, wait till your hair is half dry, then style it, then blow-dry it.  (At least, that's what I'm told.  I'm too butch to own a blow-dryer.)
  
• Waxes: Hair wax usually comes in a jar and can make your hair feel, uh, waxy.  It's best for very short styles and medium-to-fine hair, and is best for dry hair (not dry meaning "not wet," but dry meaning non-oily hair).  If you put wax on oily hair, it will look like you haven't washed your hair since the start of baseball season.
• Pomades: From what I've seen, these are basically like waxes except that they make your hair shiny and (in my experience) are harder to wash out.  Like wax, pomade won't make your hair hard or crunchy.  The cheapo ones feel (and look) like Vaseline. 
  
• Mousses and creams (or "cremes"): Mousses look like Cool Whip, and creams/cremes look like hand lotion.  Most don't offer stiff holds, but they're good for making frizzy hair calm down.  Also good if you have curly hair and don't want your product to take the curl away.
  

A few months ago, I asked readers for butch hair product recs.  There were five clear favorites and many runners up.  The right hair goop for you will depend on your hair's texture, cut, and look--but your butch brethren have suggested some places to start:

Plenty of butches swear by got2b ultra glued ($4.72/8-oz tube; 0.79/oz).  One reader says, "I put a tiny bit of water in my hands and maybe a nickel size amount of the glue product, rub together, and spike!"  Some, people mentioned got2b blasting freeze spray and plain ol' got2b spiking glue (minus the "ultra") as well.  I've used the "ultra" version; I was expecting a glue, not a gel (since the words "ultra glued" are on the front--but admittedly, so is the word "gel").  It left my (very thick, naturally wavy) hair wavier than I prefer on fauxhawk days.  Let your hair dry a little before slapping this on, or else it won't hold well.  Smells great, though--clean and fresh.

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Bed Head Manipulator was a huge favorite--recommended by more readers than any other hair product.  I've never tried it, partly because I haven't liked other Bed Head products, but given the number of rave reviews, I'll give this one a shot soon.  $13.49 for 2 oz ($6.75/oz).

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Bumble and Bumble's Sumotech is pricey, but unless you have very thick hair, you won't need to use very much.  Starting at $25 for a 1.5-oz jar, this rings up at a whopping $17/oz.  I prefer Bumble and Bumble's regular gel ("the multi-talented sculpting medium"), which is still pricey at $25.99 for a 5-oz tube ($5.20/oz).  I used it for years--it smells terrific and leaves your hair soft enough that your fingers (and hers) can run through it.  The only Bumble and Bumble product I've tried and disliked is their texture hair UNdressing creme.  It gave my hair the best texture ever (seriously, it was like magic), but if I touched it at all after it dried, it flaked off my head in a downy powder.  I'll pass on the faux-dandruff, thanks.

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American Crew (or "Crew") makes several varieties of butch-friendly hair products.  Readers varied on which ones they favored--it depended on their haircut and hair type--but the three most popular were Crew Fiber ($11.99 for a 3-oz jar, which means $4/oz), Crew Pomade ($16.72 for 3 oz, or $5.57/oz), and Crew Firm Hold Styling Gel ($17.92 for 15.2 oz, or $1.18/oz).  One reader (who evidently has more experience with Crew than I do) writes, "Crew Defining Paste and Crew Forming Cream work very well for a fauxhawk or messy look.  Their Fiber works best for a spiked look, and Pomade is good for a flat forward with a small flip on the front if your hair is 1 inch long or shorter."

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Crew also makes the d:fi line, which caters to a hipper client base than the "classic" American Crew products do.  D:fi even has a separate website from the Crew site, complete with stylish twentysomethings striking trendy, unsmiling poses.  If you're inclined to give d:fi a shot, start with d:struct Pliable Molding Creme ($12.15 for a 2.65-oz jar, or $4.59/oz), which is good for fine hair and reportedly smells like pineapple.

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And some runners-up to check out:

• Imperial Barber products, particularly their pomade
• Hawleywood's Layrite Super Hold Pomade
• Short Sexy Hair Hard Up Gel (which is reasonably priced if you buy the giant 16-oz size, as Hard Up devotees tend to do)
  
• Redken Work Hard Molding Paste
  
• Aveda Brilliant Retexturing Gel (for a piece-y look)
  
•  Murray's Superior Hair Dressing Pomade
• Garnier Fructis Survivor Tough it Out Glue (my new favorite--super cheap, plus the hold is strong, straight, and non-flaky... if a bit crispy)
• Johnny B. Mode styling gel (I want to try this.) 
• Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shaping Cream (I'm not sure why you'd want to shape tea trees, but whatever.  One reader says, "It works magic on your hair and has a fragrance that attracts the ladies.")
• Hair Cubed Microfiber Hair Thickener (This stuff is wicked expensive, but one BW reader insists that if you don't have very much hair and want it to seem like you have more, it's worth every penny.) 
• Schwarzkopf Osis + Dust It Matifying Powder (That's right--powder.  This stuff is weird, but interesting.  You apply it to dry hair, then style it.  It can even grip a longish fauxhawk.  Good if you're not a morning showerer.  Left my hair frizzy by the end of the day, though.)
  

Feel free to post more recommendations in the comments.  Happy styling! 

Want to make a short instructional video on how you style your butch hair?  If I choose yours, I'll post it on Butch Wonders and enter you in a drawing to win a small (but awesome) prize.  Videos should be under three minutes, and brand new (never posted online before).  Send submissions to me here.