The Most Low-Maintenance Ways to Defeat Chronic Hat Head
Hat hair is the great equalizer: Regardless of whether you’re Kendall Jenner or Susan from accounting, no person on this earth is immune to it. It also can’t be avoided, so you better hope you’ve got a solid attack plan at the ready for even the worst cases. This is not a rom-com—you will not simply be able to shake your hair free into smooth, loose waves.
Life is too short to obsess over hat head, so be sure to deploy this strategy before the next time you stick your beanie on. Everything is going to be just fine.
Choose your products carefully
Sticky volumizing sprays and mousses with lots of hold make the hair crease more easily beneath the hat, so avoid, avoid, avoid. Leave-in conditioners and smoothing creams, however, decrease frizz and “flatten” the hair, so they don’t encourage the development of that weird circle around your head. Building in body and movement with a strong blow-dry before you put on your hat will help the style spring back to life later in the day, says celebrity stylist Mark Hill. But whatever you do, make sure your hair is completely dry pre-beanie; any leftover moisture pretty much guarantees creasing.
Deal with second-day hair
Because nobody actually washes and blow-dries their hair every time they leave the house, spritz second-day hair down with dry shampoo, let it sit for a minute to give it a chance to absorb oil, and then comb or brush hair back into place. If need be, store a travel-size version in your bag, like the diminutive 1 oz size of Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo ($10), to make the rebound a little easier. Hairstylist Richard Marin takes it one step further: He recommends dampening the ends of hair with a mist of water to control frizz before twisting your hair into a bun to wear beneath your hat. “When you’re ready to take off the hat, run your fingers through your hair to release the bun,” he says. “The outcome will be a textured wave free of hat hair and frizz.”
Choose the right hat
Some materials conduct more frizz than others—opt for wool, cotton, or cashmere, which are soft fabrics that avoid static cling. The looser the hat’s band, the better, which means that snug beanies are the worst offenders … and also the first hat we reach for when head coverage is a necessity. That said, Cutler Salon stylist Emily Heser says to opt for styles without a super-tight band. And, Heser adds, you can always fall back on the old dryer sheet trick to fight flyaways—or take a decidedly more refined approach by smoothing a dab of oil over hair.
