Messy Hair, Don’t Care? How Women Deal With Bad Hair Day(s)

When was the last day your hair went haywire with frizz, greasy and tangled texture? When was the last time you struggled to comb your hair and felt irritated seeing the bunch of hair in your hand? I interacted with a few women to understand how they deal with their bad hair days. I figured everyone was in a mess due to the bad hair days. Solution? Dig in to know. 

Whether I shampoo my hair or not, oil it or not or get hair treatment, it goes back to its real nature- messy waves with tangles that take away half of my hair. I like experimenting with my hair a lot despite the comments from my parents that it will destroy your hair. And all I have to say to them is, "It already is. Why not earn a few moments of happiness by seeing colours on it?" This is my way of dealing with a bad hair day. If hair is adamant about not being soft, I am also bent on taking revenge by experimenting at the risk of further damaging my hair. Does it seem too intense? Let's take a lighter perspective towards hair. 

Yes, I admit that despite my war with my hair, I feel really good when it is smooth, silky and just shiny. 

Women on bad hair days and bad mood

Here's how some women responded when I questioned them about their bad hair days. 

Joen Melody, an assistant professor, feels horrible during her bad hair days. Recalling her "horror story", Joen said, "I get a headache and feel like scratching all day. My face starts to look oily due to greasy hair and people are like "Are you not well?"

Tanya Savkoor, content writer, too has a bad mood when her hair is a mess. She said, "I like experimenting and changing my hairstyle often and I have had my fair share of bad haircuts or dyes. In those days, styling my hair was difficult and if I didn't put effort I felt like my look was ruined. And if I don't feel confident in how I look, my mood is also bad."

Ragini Daliya, a senior editor, feels blessed for inheriting her mother's straight hair with soft locks. However, at the current time, she also feels low when her hair is not in its place. "Hair has been everything to me.  I get very irritable if something goes wrong with it. I vary experimenting with colours, haircuts, and even different hairstyles. However, with my first greys on display, it takes a lot of courage to step out and attend family functions, but I am getting there slowly and steadily."

Bad hair day affects productivity too

Bad hair day not only spoils the mood but also affects our daily work and productivity. We feel less confident and irritated by the locks in the hair. 

With curly hair, Titiksha, a PR professional, is always enmeshed in looking fine with no umbrella on her head. "I spend almost an hour fixing my hair. No matter what I do, my curls don't settle. When I have to go to professional meetings, I feel even more embarrassed and diffident. I am like 'How can I meet them with this hair?'" 

Similarly, Charvi Kathuria, a LinkedIn Growth Specialist, said that a bad hair day affects her productivity equally adversly. "My productivity gets severely affected when I have a bad hair day. I don't feel like talking to anyone, doing anything or going out also. With time, I have now understood when is it that I will have a bad day and I schedule my tasks accordingly. I do not keep any commitments on the days I know my hair will be bad." 

The taxing task of hair care routine

If there are bad hair days, it is followed by an intensive hair care routine. You have to walk in and out of salons frequently in a month, apply a ton of hair care products, face their side effects and then sit back with exhaustion as the frizzy hair smirks at you. 

Speaking about the time-consuming hair care routine, Tanya said, "My haircare routine can be quite intensive. Otherwise, the frizz could easily break my look."

Even though Tanya is not as obsessed with hair, she doesn't deny that "the right hairstyle can make me feel confident in myself."

Titiksha too recalls her hair care routine with immense irritation dripping from her face and voice. "I have to apply so many products to stop my curls from going haywire. I have to frequently wash my hair and even then the frizzy umbrella-like hair is adamant about being the same. I have to damp my hair to keep it intact. If that also doesn't work, my obsession with long hair is tied up in a bun that doesn't even touch the shoulder!" 

Relating to Titisksha's experience, Joen too revealed about her long and time-consuming hair care routine. She said, "I have to apply shampoo, conditioner and hair mask each time I wash my hair. The more I use these products, the more frequent becomes the bad hair days. Every one or two days I have to wash my hair which is a task if you have long wavy hair with curls."

Adding to this, Divyanshi, an Instagram influencer who also works at Digital Marketing Agency, said, "My hair is purposely bad on the days when I have to go out. It is as if it conspires against me. I feel low and not wanting to go out. But you gotta go! I wish hair didn't take a lot of my time.."

Reasons behind frequent bad hair days

What is the reason behind the frequent bad hair days? As per a study, an average American has 96 bad hair days a year which means three months of bad hair days in a year. Shocking isn't it? Hold your eyebrows because they will raise further when you know the reasons behind bad hair days. 

The major reasons behind the frequent bad hair days, apart from hair routine, are stress, hypothyroidism, improper diet and even radiation therapy. 

Going back to chumpy days?

So, what is the solution? Going back to the older times of grandma's chumpy! 

Joen Melody believes that the current trend of using different hair care products is just overhyped and not that impactful either. She added, "Before I used to apply organic shampoos and my hair used to be fine. It didn't require frequent wash." 

Adding to this, Ragini recalled her old days when her mother took care of her hair. She said, "It was her personal project of sorts, she would DIY natural shampoo for us at home, oil and braid my hair all my teenage years up until I left home for higher studies. Hence, I have always associated hair with my identity."

However, should the frizzes and unstable curls of hair affect our confidence and identity? Sure, hair is a part of our body and its health matters as much as the other parts of the body. However, confidence and identity come from within. It is boosted by motivation and hope for a bright future. Letting the messy locks of hair mess up our present and future is a risky deal. 

Tanya pointed out this issue: "As women, we are brought up with the belief that hair is a very important part of our appearance so a lot of us are very attached to the notion that their hair is EVERYTHING," she said

Priya, a content writer, also weighed in and said, "Bad hair day never really affected me; frankly, I did not believe that my hair could ruin or fix my day or my look." 

Priya further quoted a celebrity and said, "This post has me in tears, and now I get how much I love my hair." Do you what that post is? It's Hina Khan's. Khan is currently battling with third-stage breast cancer and recently posted about chopping her hair. 

The struggle of cancer survivors 

Khan stated in her post, "I have decided to give myself every chance possible to win this battle. I choose to let go of my beautiful hair before it starts falling off. I didn’t want to endure this mental breakdown for weeks. So, I choose to let go of my crown because I’ve realized my real crown is my COURAGE, my STRENGTH, and the love I have for myself. Aur haan (Also).. I have decided to use my own hair to make a nice Wig for this phase. Hair will grow back, eyebrows will return, scars will fade, but the spirit must remain whole." 

This is not the first that women have broken the barriers of having long, flowy hair, unwillingly or willingly. 

Sonali Bendre who battled a high-degree cancer also shaved off her hair. But without any regret. She said, “The first time when I cut my hair, I don’t think it was heartbreaking. By then, I had switched off. Being alive was more important."

Tahira Kashyap also went bald while dealing with cancer but she considered it liberating. She said, "Was getting tired of the extensions. Well, this is how it is & it's so liberating, so much so that I don't have to duck the shower while bathing or while picking up the soap! Never thought I had go bald, but this feels good."

So, what do we conclude? Is having hair a privilege? Does not having any hair make us ugly? Or that a bad hair day is simply not nice?

Beauty lies in your eyes

Well, the article and responses from women have replied to every question. But what isn't addressed is that "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder," the beholder being you. Whether your hair is frizzy or not, whether it is straight or curly or whether it is just not there, will not matter if you perceive yourself as beautiful despite the 'flaws'. You don't need anything to know that you are exceptional, talented and beautiful. Not that you should not take care of your body. Courage, strength and confidence are rooted in your conscience. If your conscience is healthy, no scar or strand of hair can defeat it.