I've had pretty short hair most of my life.  I'm wondering if it is difficult to get used to long hair.  I have an itchy scalp, which is one reason I keep my hair short, but now I am trying to grow it out and I notice how HOT it gets.  I asked a couple girlfriends if their long hair was hot and they said it was terribly hot. 

Is this just something you grin and bear?  Wigs are hotter than natural hair, right?

You can always pull back your hair if it gets really hot.  Braids and various other styles that keep off of your head for the most part help a lot with long hair.  My hair is long and I can't stand it long in the summer because it gets really hot, but I can't cut it right now.

I don't think I'll take any getting used to it. My whole life I've wanted to have long hair and I'm so excited. I can't wait until the day when I have long beautiful hair than I can play with and swing around. lol.

Probably the most frustrating part of long hair is when you have lipgloss on, and it gets stuck in it.

But yeah, in summer, style your hair differently to winter, thankfully it's winter here at the moment (terrible due to HRT, and general thinning of my skin Brrrrr so cold) but yeah, in summer, tie it back =)

Yes. It takes about 2 hours to completely dry my hair after shampooing, as I do not use dryers (I use a fan). When eating meal, I have to tie my hair. Yesterday, my female colleauge at my office commented that I seem to comb my hairs far more frequently than ordinary girls.

However, I love my long hair. Those are costs to keep nice-looking hairs. As my face becomes looking more masculine, long hair is a must nowadays. It needs time and cost.

Barbie~~

I have had long hair all my life, down to my waist, except for the first 18 years of my life, but even then it was down to my shoulders usually 5 years before that.  I have never really worried about whether the odd hair gets in my mouth or the hairs that fall on the floor and have to be cleaned up.  The tangles that I get if I go to bed without plaiting my hair, or even when head gets hot and I put my hair up in a bun, so that the gentle breeze can cool my neck.  I'm always conditioning my hair, after swimming in the morning and every 3 or 4 days I will shampoo it.  So in a sense these are the sacrifices that I have to put up with (but to me they are not).  So that I can have the long hair that I love having.

I suppose, it boils down to one thing I love my long hair and the supposedly the annoyances that one talks about are not annoyances to me, in fact these annoyances are few and far between, but are just part and parcel of having long hair.

I have often wondered, why I love long hair,  I know I loved combing and plaiting one of my Aunts long hair, maybe its because I'm like my mum, she has always had long hair and I just copied her or finally its because its just a part of me, that makes me, me.  There are other women, where I work who also have long hair, so I'm not out of place in that department either.

The shortest I have ever had it is roughly half way up my back and every couple of years, I will have it cut to this length.  It feels short when it happens but it feels good and eventually it grows again.

So yes, you can get used to long hair if you want too.  It's a damn site better than being bald.

Kind regards
Sarah B
PS Long Live Long Hair

Mine is to my shoulder now and I love it.  When it is hot I place it in a bun on my head to cool off.  I also use clips to keep from eating it during meals.

Not especially I mean it takes years for it to get long so there is plenty of practice and take the changes as it gets longer. at first you do notice it touching your shoulders and back because it's a new sensation but within days you get used to it. And you notice it when they fall on the floor.

There are some inconvenient things however. As has been mentioned you might sometimes eat it unintentionally when having a meal, Especially now because with hormones it's fluffier thicker and falls in my face more. it sticks to lip gloss and when you brush your teeth it can stick to that too and get gunk in it. It entraps insects and can be a pain to brush or condition, It can get hot but I just ponytail it then it's only the back of your neck that gets sweaty.

The grossest thing is when I wake up in the morning and notice I have one of my hairs in my mouth so I'm trying to grab it and then I pull and I gag as I've half swallowed it.

Quote from: Robertin210 on July 03, 2010, 08:05:54 PM
I've had pretty short hair most of my life.  I'm wondering if it is difficult to get used to long hair.  I have an itchy scalp, which is one reason I keep my hair short, but now I am trying to grow it out and I notice how HOT it gets.  I asked a couple girlfriends if their long hair was hot and they said it was terribly hot. 

Is this just something you grin and bear?  Wigs are hotter than natural hair, right?

I have exactly the same problem. When I let my hair grow and it never grew longer than the middle of my neck, before falling out, I developed a very itichy scalp which crusted with a sort of psiorisis.

After years of trying almost every shampoo and hair treatment, I was recommended to use a Salon Shampoo. These are very mild. They don't have any medicated elements and are used by hair salons because they rarely cause any irritation.

You need to be careful what you buy. Many shampoos will claim to be used by hairdressers. the reality is this is just hype.

A Google search of Salon Shampoos returns results of all different types with this or that added. The truth is, a decent salon won't be using any of these, simply becuse the risk of a reaction on their customer's is too big.

I am using one called TRESemmé http://www.tresemme.com/Products/Classic-Care/Clean-(and)-Natural-Shampoo/

The only issue I have with long hair is I have to clean out the trap more often in my shower. I just hate standing water in the shower =/

Other then that I have curley hair, when I have it up in a tail, depending on the weather if I don't brush it out often enough I end up with a mini afro on the back of my head O.O

I have only had short hair maybe a grand tottal of 5 years were you to add it all to gather. I grew up a long haired hippy child.

You will unlikely ever get ussed to the heat that the hair holds in, part of the territory. I get it off my collar and tie it up when it is too hot.

I really love long hair when it is winter.

I used to have short hair too, which was surprisingly costly - it grew too quickly! It was styled up into spikes on top, which made for some quite radical changes when I decided to grow it long. My hair looked awkward and messy for a long while - I'd gone from gelling it upwards in half a minute every morning to having to repeatedly comb an unruly mop, and it's then when my head felt hottest and itchiest.

My best advice would be to buy a good brush. My sister, bless 'er, bought me a Tresemmé ceramic brush for my birthday (so sadly I don't know how much they cost). It has weird ionising bristles or something, and it really works. One swoop and bam, flat or wavy hair! It's also quite a large brush, so it picks up lots of loose hairs and spares you from vacuuming so often. ;P

The biggest downside I experience in having longer hair is treating it well. I opted for Tresemmé shampoo and conditioner too, partly 'cos it was cheap, and partly because I've tried too many other brands with shoddy results. Call it brand power from my beloved brush! Still, there are no guarantees and it can be really annoying if you find the conditioner wears off too soon. A nice, feminine style gets lost to the wind and you're having to pin bits of it back just to see your way ahead.

's all worth it for the feel of hair upon your shoulders, though. Mmmm. Plus, I now have much more hair for a hairdresser to style with. I'm looking forward to that. ^_^

Quote from: sarahm on July 03, 2010, 08:19:32 PM
Probably the most frustrating part of long hair is when you have lipgloss on, and it gets stuck in it.

Haha Sarah, this is definitely a peeve of mine. Let's see, what else? It gets hot in the summer but you can put it up. You use a lot more shampoo and conditioner. It takes a lot longer to do your hair. It's harder to get it all up and organized in the wind. Also, this just happened last night. When I sleep I lift my hair like on top of the pillow (I sleep on my tummy) so it doesn't get pinched while I sleep. Sure enough I woke up and I was sleeping and pinching it, lol. That rarely happens, I think I was restlessly sleeping.

You'll get used to it, I love having longer hair Meghan

I think I may have a psoriasis problem too, but my doctor disagrees.  I finally get it cleared up with short hair (number 1 or 2 buzz cut), but even with that stress can cause a flare up.  When I saw my hair starts to bother me when it is long - I'm talking like 3 finger widths, lol.

I started using TRESemmé conditioner and a leave in hair dressing to fight frizz, and I think that has helped.  For shampoos, I switch between a generic Celsin Blue and Head & Shoulders. 

My mother has a bad scalp psoriasis problem, but she perms.  A hair stylist once told me that perhaps my scalp is better with short hair because it can get more sun, but I don't know.  I just noticed how hot my still short hair is when it grows out a bit, and thought real long hair, even top of shoulders, must be hot.

Fortunately, I have no male baldness and my hair grows rather quickly, and is quite thick.  If I can just resist the urge to cut it again. 

Thanks for the comments. 

Hm. I've actually felt warmer with short hair (I think it's because I always kept my long hair tied up tightly - when it's short like now, it's kind of fluffy and forms a warm insulating layer with lots of air pockets on top of my head. Also, since I refused to use a hairdryer because of the damage it caused and the misery of the drying process, my hair was usually somewhat damp when long.)

But you should know that one thing sex hormones do is affect heat tolerance/perception. Lots of trans guys have noticed that they stop being cold all the time when they start T, and I'd expect the opposite would be true for trans women on HRT (might feel cooler/be able to tolerate heat better). Another thing that estrogen in particular does is improve skin health - it boosts skin cell turnover and reduces oil production, which can improve all manner of skin conditions from acne to dandruff to psoriasis. And sex hormones affect hair texture. So you might (no promises) find that HRT makes long hair more acceptable for you.

Quote from: Robertin210 on July 04, 2010, 10:15:54 AM
I think I may have a psoriasis problem too, but my doctor disagrees.  I finally get it cleared up with short hair (number 1 or 2 buzz cut), but even with that stress can cause a flare up.  When I saw my hair starts to bother me when it is long - I'm talking like 3 finger widths, lol.

I started using TRESemmé conditioner and a leave in hair dressing to fight frizz, and I think that has helped.  For shampoos, I switch between a generic Celsin Blue and Head & Shoulders. 

My mother has a bad scalp psoriasis problem, but she perms.  A hair stylist once told me that perhaps my scalp is better with short hair because it can get more sun, but I don't know.  I just noticed how hot my still short hair is when it grows out a bit, and thought real long hair, even top of shoulders, must be hot.

Fortunately, I have no male baldness and my hair grows rather quickly, and is quite thick.  If I can just resist the urge to cut it again. 

Thanks for the comments.

Redken (spelling?) makes a good leave-in conditioner and a nice frizz fighter.  It's also not too heavy, so it might help with the scalp but I'm not certain.  Personally, I don't use any conditioner because it makes my hair beyond oily and I haven't gone out to get redken yet so I don't use any.  I use V8 shampoo (black raspberry tea brand) and it seems to help with keeping the hair lightweight so it's not so hot.

Eeek.   Head and Shoulders ... that stuff irritates my scalp.    I've had good luck with Biolage.   I have very sensitive skin and that one has always given me great results.

I've also learned to never leave home without something to pull my hear back with.   I've had enough hair in my diet, thank you.

I love having long hair and yup, I at least think it looks pretty hot... LOL

The only challenge I ran into was learning how to style it up in different ways...
But that's been more of an adventure than a challenge 

I am a non transgendered male. I listen to Metal, but like 7 years ago, i was gangsta O.o
my hair is now down to my shoulders, but its very curly and very thick. i never had to get used to it tho, even though ive had a shaved head most of my life. i do get hot somestimes, but not too hot. the only problem is that my hair gets in my food and drinks, but a scrunci helps keep it out of my face. (you kno, the giant band thing, not a hair tie.)
i wish you luck with your transition hun. 

One of the main female markers is long hair on your head and little on the rest of your body. I am very happy with my long hair even though it requires more work. If you are in a hurry or are going to exercise a pony tail is great. There are many feminine short styles so that may suit you. I like long hair and having my hair done at my salon is a real treat. Men don't have to do makeup or hair so they do not have the fun of becomming femine. I love trying different styles and colors. I wanted long hair since I was young and I can't imagine having boring short hai. Grow it out; you will love it.

Pam