If you wear a hat regularly, then you know what a tough spot it puts you in sometimes — keep the hat on all day, or take it off and risk showing your hat hair to the world.
Fortunately, those are not your only options. Here are a few tips to keep you from getting hat hair in the first place and fixing it once it’s set in on your head.
Preventing Hat Hair
- The right hair style. Keeping the hair short on the sides will give the hat band less to mess up, which means that you can focus on fixing the hair on top.
- Skip the brush and comb. Styling your hair with your fingers, rather than a brush or comb, will give your hair more of a disheveled look. So when you take off your hat, a little extra messiness will look intentional.
- Add volume. You can also use volumizing hair products before you put on a hat to counteract the flattening of the hat.
- Choose the right hat. Stick with natural materials like cotton, cashmere or wool. These will help keep the flat, static-filled hair to a minimum. A loose hat will also have less of an impact on your hair.
- Keep your hair dry. Putting a hat on wet hair will immediately flatten your hair, and mold it into the shape of the hat.
Fixing Hat Hair
- Be prepared. Whenever you put on a hat — and care what you look like when it comes off later — make sure you are prepared with the right hair products, like a light texturizing powder, gel or pomade.
- Get wet. Wrap a hot, wet towel around the edges of your head, where the hat hair is the worst. After a few minutes, the steam from the towel will take out the ridges made by the hat band, much like a steamer removes wrinkles from your clothes.
- Start over. If you can’t seem to get your hat hair under control, soak your head under running water, towel off and start over. Again, it helps if you have hair products handy.
If you aren’t ready to give up wearing a hat, talk to your hair care professional today to learn about the best hat-worthy styles and products so you don’t have to keep your hair hidden under your hat.