|
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:
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.  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).  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.  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."  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. And some runners-up to check out:
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.
13 Comments
Mini-entry time! I just found a site (via Lifehacker) called Simple Desktops that boasts tons of minimalist computer desktops (free!). A few struck me as especially butch-appropriate, and I thought I'd share them with you. After all, why shouldn't your desktop look as effortlessly stylish as you do? Celebrate the start of the week with a new desktop look. Why not? Here's a boxer shorts desktop:  ...And this one is understated... yet super gay! Perfect as we ease into Pride season:  This is just cool:  Butch specs:  Perfect for the butch who's part Clark Kent and part Superman:  Just nice and simple:  This is probably my favorite one: glasses and a tie pretty much sum up my signature dressy look.  Anyway, hope y'all had a swell weekend. My DGF and I got to spend much of the weekend with our buddies C and D (a butch-femme couple, though not strictly so), and it was way fun! We BBQ'd tri-tip, went on a three-mile hike, and drank a bunch of coffee while our dogs played in the sun. I don't think I realized how much I needed a break. Now I'm actually rested(!) and looking forward to the week(!!). I forgot how nice that feels. In addition to the fabulous fauxhawks I catalogued yesterday, readers sent in a bunch of other butch hair pics. Most non-'hawks fell into one of three categories: pomps, buzzes, and shaggy cuts. Let's take them one by one. Pompadours (or "pomps") have been around for a long time. The main idea is that your hair is brushed up from your forehead in a way that makes your head look kind of tall. Think Elvis or Morrissey. Guys often wear them with big ol' sideburns. But in my opinion, you don't need sideburns to rock a great pomp. Pompadours also go well in combination with fauxhawks, and often the same haircut will allow you to style either one.
From Ashton Kutcher to Zac Efron, many Hollywood men have adopted the shaggy-haired look for varying lengths of time. Personally, the idea of having my bangs falling in my eyes ranks right up there with having long hair. But if you're less sensitive (read: wimpy) about this than I am, the shaggy look might be for you. These BW readers are rocking it.
Some minimalist butches like to shave off nearly all of their locks, going for a buzzed or nearly-buzzed look. I even heard from one buzzed butch who has a standing appointment with her barber every week. That's dedication. Justin Timberlake and Robert Pattinson can pull off the look with aplomb. Here are some BW readers who can do the same (or better!).
Of course, many butches' hairstyles don't fall neatly into any of the categories I've talked about. Below, I've made a slide show of some of the other pics I received. (I had trouble with 4-5 of the photos, so apologies if you sent in a pic and aren't here!) Some may inspire you to try a new style. Others may inspire you not to try one. I love seeing the huge range of butches brave enough to show their 'dos to the world. You guys rock! In a comment to my last post, someone said that I must have the hottest readers on the planet. Admittedly, I've got to agree. So, of the haircuts I featured yesterday and today, which are your favorites? Are there any styles I haven't covered that look great on butches? A few days ago, I put out a call for butch haircuts, and received nearly 100 photos! The most common 'do (by far) was the fauxhawk (also called "fohawk"), and I decided it's worth dedicating an entire post to the style. First, let's take a look at some examples of your basic fauxhawk:
As you can see, most of the time, the hair is a bit longer on top than on the sides, then brushed up to achieve a "mohawk"-type look. If it was shaved on the sides, with a stark line of hair running down the middle of the head, that'd be a mohawk. See, here are some readers' mohawks. Nothin' faux about 'em:
Fauxhawks are one of the wonderful things we butchy queer women share with our gay male brethren (along with barista jobs, librarian jobs, and really cool eyeglasses). Aside from looking cute and trendy and gay, fauxhawks are versatile. You can wear them long, like these:
Or short, like these:
Or somewhere in the middle, like these:
Another advantage of fauxhawks is that, because your hair isn't completely shaved on the sides, you can just part it on the side and brush it over for work rather than spiking it up in the middle, if you want to look more mainstream. Then it looks a lot like a run-of-the-mill guys' cut. Fauxhawks have now been in style for almost a decade, and their fashionability shows no sign of waning. Will we look back on fauxhawks in 20 years the way people look back on mullets today? Who knows. Keep reading BW and I'll let you know when you need to nix it. For now, they look great. Want to see a few more fauxhawks that readers sent in? You know you do. These two demonstrate how a loose, spiky, intentionally misaligned fauxhawk can look terrific:
And these two show how thick, wavy hair can work as a fauxhawk or partial fauxhawk:
And here are some more! (I don't have room to share all of them, but I'm squeezing in as many as I can...)
If you want to try out a fauxhawk, make sure you go to a stylist who knows what he or she is doing. For example, my hair is very thick and hard to cut. My awesome stylist spends about an hour on it, and thins it somehow (magic?). I used to go to a barber. He took 20 minutes and I left with a hard-to-style overgrown buzz cut. Asking for recs from dyke friends can be helpful, and it's good to take a picture to help show what you want.
My next few posts will talk about other butch hair styles and give you some leads on hair products. I know it can be hard to get a good dyke haircut, so don't hesitate to post your thoughts and questions in the comments section. In the past 24 hours, I have received some emails, comments, and Facebook messages alerting me that my boots post didn't mention Dr. Martens. (There are, of course, Docs in the Butch Store, and I'll add more tonight.) I've been less of a Docs fan since they moved production from the UK to China, but still, they are undeniably and iconically butch. So I thought I'd add a little follow-up list of my favorite Docs styles and colors. Enjoy!
...So what are your favorite Docs? |
|
RSS Feed
