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By the time it's full on long you probably can grow some facial hair. Meanwhile, you could paint a mustache on, or look otherwise manly (crappy), ie., no makeup or even remotely girly clothes etc.

I'm in a similar boat, except that I can grow facial hair. One thing I"ve found is that the longer your hair grows, the more important it becomes to clean it. You will also still want to trim the ends periodically just to keep it even.

It takes patience and it'll be at an awkward length for a while. Once it gets long enough to tie back, then start trimming split ends.

Avoid facial hair unless you're growing a thick, proper beard. Don't start trying to grow it out just because you can, because it'll look like a crappy kiddie beard I'm 25 and I have learned that I simply don't grow enough facial hair to maintain a proper beard.

Grow your hair if you want to, fuck the stereotypes. If someone tells you that "haha, you looks like a girl!" tell him that he looks like an asshole. You can also put your hair in a ponytail when it will be long enough when you're out so it would be more "socially acceptable", that's what I often do. Fashion is not important, metal should allow you to do whatever the fuck you want.

I put my hair in a ponytail because I don't want it in my fucking face all the time. I look much prettier with open hair though. I couldn't care less if anyone thinks my glorious mane looks girly. But thankfully I'm also not currently looking for employment.

Meh, I wouldn't worry about looking 'girly' or whatever. One time I was out with my girlfriend and some dude behind us called out 'hey ladies!', but I blame that on my shapely figure.

It does take patience to get past the awkward stage but long hair kicks ass and their is a segment of the female population that loves a guy with a glorious mane, so go for it.

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d'you have muscles? unlike face/height/etc., that's always an option.

get a chest, shoulders, and traps, and no one's going to mistake you for a girl, even if you're one of these kids who's fond of tight ladies jeans.

I get mistaken for a girl a lot. It's really not a problem. But as Erotetic was hinting at, having a muscly physique will really help people figure out you are a bloke even if they are looking from behind whereas you'd need some stupendously manly facial hair for it to be visible from the back.

One thing to bear in mind, you may well get pretty sick of your hair being at the "in between stage" where is not long enough to be long but long enough to be annoying. Brave it out, long hair is definitely worth it! After all, you can always cut it if you don't like it, but you won't know until you do it.

Also, don't worry about prospective employers. Just keep it clean and tidy when you're at work and I don't imagine there would be an issue.

Don't grow it out. Trust me. I stopped cutting mine at 17. Yeah it's ok being the "long haired metal guy" amongst your friends for a bit...but if you ever have any intention of getting laid, just have a normal haircut. I'm 27 and dead serious.

I had long hair back when I was your age and to be honest I looked like a fairy. But I'm a bit tall and have broad shoulders so I never got mistaken for a girl even from behind. The girls loved it anyway so I didn't care about some dude getting jealous because I looked prettier than him and also his girlfriend.

Unless you have an androgynous face and/or is skinny as hell, I wouldn't worry about mistaken for a girl. Some dudes will make of you anyway even if you look like a caveman. And you can always hit the gym too for a manlier look.

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yea, especially with all the tattoos and piercings around. what kind of job would you be looking for where someone would find long hair a problem? I'm sure there're guys in machine shops with mullets.

if you look better with long hair than short, enough girls will like it

The truth. (The second sentence cracked me up.)

I actually decided to grow my hair at about a similar time (16-17), and now I regret absolutely nothing, I feel a lot better overall. The thing is that the "transition" phase, when it becomes longer than normal but not long enough to control (e.g. put it behind your ears and stuff) is fucking annoying, but if you get through that (should be like a few months), it should be fine from there. As for being attractive or whatever, I've seen lots of long-haired guys (apparent metalheads or not) be rather "successful" overall and there's no way girls will lose interest or something, I guess some will even see that as a positive. Short haircuts are boring as fuck.

And in terms of facial hair, that's entirely up to your decision and hard to say anything. I decided for a mini-beard since I look like 14 years old or something without it.

Short version: long hair is awesome. End of story.

Where do you live, Puritanville? Around here, a considerable amount of women actually prefer long hair/beard.

remember to avoid wearing pigtails and putting it up in a bun and you should be okay.

it takes long enough that I'm sure you'll pube out in time. otherwise, get used to being mistaken for a girl.
I got mistaken for a girl constantly, even after I hit puberty.

at least until you attain some level of fame

Yeah, that hasn't been my experience. The transition stage is the only stage I like. I hate having short hair but somehow always end up with it after getting a haircut no matter what I ask for, and I hate when my hair gets past a certain length, usually somewhere where I can feel it bouncing around the back of my neck. So for a while now I've been on a 1-2 yearly cycle of getting my hair cut and growing it.

Getting laid is overrated, I personally prefer looking like a lumberjack/viking. To be fair, sure if you want to be successful with "normal" girls, be sure to look like a jock and act like society tells you to act. Get a nice car, a dog (a golden retriever if possible), a wife and a house with a pool in the suburbia while you're at it.

@The Lib: yeah, the transition phase is annoying, I grew my hair in high school and never lived through this hell again!

Sorry Tony, I had to kinda laugh at this.
- Getting laid is not overrated
- Now I dunno about you guys, but having a dog would be awesome, there is nothing at all wrong with having a nice car, and having a wife is pretty awesome too.

But hey, why have all that when YOU CAN HAVE LONG HAIR

Having said that, I do actually sort of have long hair and rather like it, and plan on keeping it, but if you'd prioritize it over those things you're a serious weirdo.

Oh no, someone has different priorities than me, better call him a weirdo! But seriously, while I can applaud someone for not succumbing to social pressure, hair is an awfully odd reason not to... And I don't think hair has ever had an effect on how well I did with girls/getting a job/looking like a dude anyways. Only downside for me was when I was younger, my hair oil would cause acne outbreaks, so I chopped it off and it went away for the most part. Now that I'm older, I can have long, hair and it does't irritate my skin nearly as much. But I suspect I will get bored of it one day again and do the shaved thing too. Who knows?!?

Oh but you must have short hair, fitting in is everything in this world. Wear designer clothes - make sure you pick light colours because black means satan, so pink, pale blue and beige. Wear a light silver or lemon quarter-cut silk scarf. You'll need a pair of work shoes because sneakers are for bums, look for something in the $400 to $700 range. Wax, wax like there's no tomorrow because body-hair is gross and so outdated, lastly a little botox is highly fashionable at the moment.

I hated it personally, short hair is well, short hair (boring but simple to maintain and stuff), and since it's been properly long it's just easy to keep it the way I want unless there's a wind reaching tornado levels or something. And I can tie it back if I need to anyway. When it's this kind of weird mid-length it's like the incarnation of chaos. Though this also depends on the type of hair I guess, mine is absolutely ultra-straight (yeah I know this is horrible joke material) and seems to love gravity.


Another post I love.

Had long hair for 5 years, I kinda miss it. Thinking about growing it to my shoulders or so, but short hair is such a convenience. As for tips...just let it grow. Don't cut it at all. It eventually grow into something that looks normal.

I'm gay and IDK what any of that shit means.

I am not interested in any of that stereotypically gay shit (except drugs. drugs are great. more speed, please. I NEED IT TO DANCE GOOD, OKAY?!), but I do know, as a might-as-well-be-one woman, I prefer short hair. Long hair just doesn't do it for me, though long hair is a thousand times better than some terribly-styled "medium-length" or "short-long" hairstyle, particularly ones associated with the terms "Emo", "Sk8r", or "Middle-Aged Rocker".

Whether it's shaggy or over-styled and sculpted to obnoxious perfection, men with hairstyles falling into any of these categories is just plain unappealing. The 70's are over, that Farrah Fawcett-hat hair shit needs to fuck off.

I've always been partial to the Skinhead look, though.

Moral of the story is, don't get some fucking ugly fashion 'do. Grow the shit out long and proper, and just keep it fucking natural, otherwise you'll just look like a totally unfuckable douche to any sober, self-respecting man or non-damaged woman who does not enjoy the company of tools that treat them like shit. Even if I don't really like long hair (it's got a nice "aesthetic", but that's not the same as being sexually appealing), it's much better if you actually let it grow pretty long and just don't fuck with it... "Long" being at least able to reach your shoulder blades.

No shit, anything less appears (to me) "overly maintained", which, when it comes to long hair, sends a whole lot of mixed messages like "this person is either a total n00b or a person who wants a safe alternative to being an actual badass".

I also wanna say, all you guys getting really defensive about your long hair seriously sound like 14 year old kids. I'm not trying to "insult" anybody, but you really do. Way to blow things out of proportion. Hair is about as meaningful as having a nice car in my book... I mean, I want the car to start, but I don't really give a flying fuck more about it beyond that, as long as I'm not driving something I'd consider ostentatious.

I love it when people rant about stuff that doesn't actually happen. Posts like this are some of the most stupid shit going around.

I've had my hair long for about four years. The mid-phase is the worst, but if you can deal with it until you can get it to ponytail length it is worth it.

A defector...I must inform the gay council

That's great, caspian. Keep on preaching to that brick wall, I'm sure it agrees with you.

Oh woe is the forum.

Do you seriously manage to ignore such an obvious point so easily?

If it's so hard to understand for some, the idea here is:
1) some people actually like having long hair, and think they look significantly better with it
2) the idea that it's automatically unattractive to all women (or men) is retarded and plain false
3) I thought we were supposed to be in year two thousand something, where you're actually allowed to look a little different than the one fucking uniform look that's supposed to be "the right one".

I had my hair long down to half my back, but when I realised that 90% of the time I wore it in a ponytail I just said it's not worth the hassle. Been cutting it very short since.
My point is there's no point in growing it out if you're going to wear it tied up most of the time.

I dunno if I agree with that.
sounds a bit like saying there's no point in waxing your pussy if 90% of the time no one can see it.

I've got dreadlocks, so maybe I don't appreciate the costs involved in metal haircuts. how much time and money are you guys spending on shampoo and haircuts to keep it looking/smelling how it should? I've spent $0 in ten years.

The more hair products you use, the more you'll ruin it. Shampoo destroy's the hair's natural coating (which is basically what makes hair look good and healthy), so only use it when you must (for cleaning). Conditioner is basically a crappy substitute for that coating. Women always wonder why guys with long hair have much prettier hair than they have. It's simply due to the fact that men don't put as much crap into it.

I use shampoo at maximum twice a week so my hair doesn't get greasy, and thanks to that it looks pretty great.

I prefer Wrest (Leviathan) look of having a decent moulded beard along with mid-layered hair, too short and I end up looking like Kvarforth and too long just makes me look like a hobo.

Having a beard also adds +5 years onto my look which is good, as being 31 looking like a 17 yr old is pretty crap at the best of times.

Tihs is as long as you want it. No hassle and slaytanic as fuck.

When I had my hair long to the point of sitting on it, it was the time when I fucked the most of girls for sure. Now, I did boxing and played live, so I look pretty strong anyway but many metalheads I know got better chances at girls with their hair long.

OP: Shave your face constantly to grow a thick beard BUT don't get a hobo beard, just something to give personality and shape to your face and make you look a bit older. Trim it when you have it done, maybe something a bit longer than Tony Stark. Girls LOVES bearded guys, but you need to look clean anyway.

Now, about hair care:

-Avoid the most as possible to get it tied, do it only when it's necessary (like work or something). Any object used for that reason ruins the hair in a way or another, especially the tips. Also, tons of hair get knotted on those things. Braids still ruin the hair.

-Don't brush it too much and use your fingers or a comb with very separated teeth.

-Wash it not more than 3 times per week to keep it natural.

-When you are washing it: don't put the head directly under the burst of water or try to do it the less as possible, avoid especially the top of the head if you don't wanna get bald over time (it's genetics but this also contribute). Wash your hair for parts and when you have it too long, don't do it in the shower, NEVER. I used to wash it in the hand basin (?) for locks of hair to avoid the fall of it (which will increase as your hair grows). It really works.

Also, GETTING LAID IS NOT OVERRATED!

It depends entirely on the person. I have had long hair for about six/seven years, and I recently got rid of it. Now, it's not like the girls are falling over for me, but I'm definitely getting more attention with short hair.

Getting laid is not overated, but doing everything in your power to get laid is. Just let it happen, don't force it.

Grow it out, give it a shot, and if you don't like it, cut it again - yeah, it'll get annoying, but it's worth experimenting with long hair at least once in your life, especially when young; it might suit you.

And don't worry about being mistaken for a woman - surely, this would happen rarely, and wouldn't be something that you'd have to deal with a lot. I've only ever seen it happen once. (My male friend was rather slim and had black hair to his waist - he was also wearing corpsepaint and spiked leather, on the way to a local gig; this was not visible from the back, however. This guy shuffled up to us from behind us, put his arm around both of us and slurred "Heeeeyyy, laaaadies!" My friend turned around and, as the poor dolt's face was transfixed in horror at the made-up visage he now saw, whispered, "Yes, sweetie?" before moving in as if to kiss him. The idiot just stood there for about 30 seconds, looking my friend up and down with ever widening eyes, before opening his mouth wide in a silent scream and running faster than I'd have given him credit for.) Anywho - nothing to worry about. My local scene has plenty of guys who are svelte, clean-shaven and have hair (including a couple of guys with white blonde hair) to their derrieres; no one has mistaken them for women and, honestly, no one would.

On the subject of women and long hair... I have to say that I definitely prefer long hair in men and know many women who feel the same way; hair is, naturally, not the only thing I look for (personality outweighing everything else) but, when it comes to purely physical attraction, is probably one of the first things that'd make me notice someone. So, yeah... There are women who like long hair, women who don't, and women who don't give a damn; don't let the issue dissuade you from trying it out.