Dumb question-Where do you style your hair?

[kudzu-TNT]

It may sound dumb to ask but I am really curious. Where do you style your hair when camping, at the campground bathhouse or at your camper? Bathhouses usually have outlets & mirrors conveniently close together, often with adequate counter space. However, too often I feel in the way there, inconveniencing others. Inside my bitty camper the blow dryer is most unwelcome in the Summer. So that leaves me outside the camper. I could set a mirror up on top of the stove but I do feel more than a bit self conscious doing my hair out in the open in the middle of a campground.

Guess I could just let my hair dry on its own & wear a hat all weekend. If it's humid, and it so often is, I end up with a hat on just trying to contain the crazy mess anyway. My hair isn't as thick as it used to be, but in place of that the remaining hair is getting curlier every year.

 

[dales133]

I'm a guy and not a metrosexual so hair styling not big on my agenda but I totaly get you saying you feel like your holding people up in the bathrooms.
I plan on fitting a mirror in the galley of some description so I can shave there at my own pace or brush my teeth or whatever and tracy can do her hair ect.
I think it's a mandatory inclusion realy

 

[Verna-TNT]

Don't worry about what others think. If you want to take the time in the bathroom, just remember that they take time to finish their hair, too. Or if you dry and style at your camper, do it. Others do it, too.

 

[Tony Latham]

Bathhouse?



What bathhouse?



Put a ball cap on. You're camping.

T

 

[lrrowe]

This is one of the few times we men with little hair have the advantage. Sorry for the minor hijacking, but I could not pass this up.

 

[S. Heisley]

Plan on showering on the "off" hours, such as 9 PM or 6 AM; and, in most places, you'll be standing at the sink by yourself.
From 7AM to 10 or 11 AM, you may be frustrated by teenagers, hovering over the sinks.
At least, that's what I have found.

 

[Backroads4me-TNT]

My hair has always been fine, thin and hard to style. When I first started camping with Bob, I would bring along the blow dryer, curling iron and hairspray, get up early to use the state park showers and do my hair (most Wisconsin state parks have electric plugs in the restroom/shower buildings). What a hassle, considering my hair would usually go limp and lifeless in a few hours anyway.

Now I don't bring any of that stuff. Bought some nice ball caps, sewed an embroidered state park patch on each of them and/or attached some nifty camping pins. Most of the state parks in Wisconsin sell hats, visors, patches or pins, either at the concession stands or the main office. I've got quite a few different colored caps with different patches/pins. The canoe pin on the hat below, and the pin on the visor I found on Ebay. Just noticed I lost the little fish that was in the frying pan.

Another useful idea: In all of the Wisconsin state parks we've stayed in, there's usually those old fashioned wall hand drying blowers in each flush toilet/shower building. My hair is short, so I just put my washed wet head under the dryer, and hit the button as many times as it takes to dry my hair. You can use both hands to scrunch and fluff while drying. Some of those dryer heads will swivel, so you can turn it upwards and not have to bend down so far. If you have short hair or a simple style, a spritz of hair spray and you're good to go. With my difficult hair, I just put the visor or hat back on

 

[SuperiorBound]

I just brush and go at the camper, maybe a braid or a ponytail.

 

[kudzu-TNT]

Yeah, I think constant use of a cap is how I'll be going. Hair is only just getting long enough that it might stay in a pony tail but it's not a pretty thing. Going with short hair means less ability to restrain the craziness so I thought I'd try a Summer without hacking it all off. I just have to remember not to leave the camper without a cap or I'll scare the kids in the campground with my Witchiepoo impersonation.

On another note, since buying my camper late last Fall I've gone camping much more in 6 months than I had in the prior 6 years!! What a joy this thing is.

 

[kudzu-TNT]

This is one of the few times we men with little hair have the advantage. Sorry for the minor hijacking, but I could not pass this up.

True enough, but I think I'll keep my hair.

 

[deleted]

I deal with my hair at the trailer. When I do wash it I have (for decades) used an Aquis hair towel to wrap it in for a bit.
http://www.amazon.com/Aquis-Microfiber-Towel-Lisse-39-Inches/dp/B000AM82GM

They're pretty amazing. If a normal towel absorbs half the water in your hair the Aquis towel seems to absorb closer to 85-90% of the water out of your hair making it very easy to allow it to air dry once you take it out of the towel. I like to leave mine wrapped up for at least 20 minutes. They aren't cheap but I'm still on my first one and they are very small/thin which is nicer than having an extra big bulky towel in the trailer.

I no longer use any styling tools (even at home) but if I want to curl my hair I found this how-to-curl-your-hair-with-no-heat tutorial online several years ago. It works great if your hair is long enough to pull it off.
http://aspottedpony.com/for-moms/how-to-use-a-sock-to-get-beautiful-curly-hair-without-heat/1517/

 

[Miriam C.]

I can identify with the full head of hair. Mine is not as thick as it used to be but can still make amazing amounts of fuzz. I wash and add a foam "for curls" to tame it. Just let it dry and get curls. I also went to keeping it long again. Fuzzy long hair is easier I think.

 

[Catherine+twins]

Hmmm. I have almost always camped at sites with pit privies (if at all), no shower or bathhouse facilities, no electricity, and often no open fires to heat water over. Water is heated on a Coleman camp stove, washing is with a wash cloth and a stainless steel basin, hair gets washed before the camping trip and, if it is a weekend get-away, when we get back. (Feet get washed every night before they get stuck into the sleeping bag. We tend to run around in hiking sandals and the feet get filthy!)

Hair gets "styled" into a pony tail or a braid, using the car windows as a mirror, if needed. Dear daughter is GREAT with braids. If the hair is freshly washed (water heated on the camp stove, again), it gets left wet, acting as an evaporative cooler as it dries.

Dear son wash-and-wears his hair. He gets it buzzed at the beginning of the summer and lets it grow until the lovely strawberry blond curls start driving him crazy, usually a couple of weeks before school starts in late summer.

I come by my camp hair-styling methods honestly. My mom and dad were taking us camping as pre-walkers (I have pictures of my dad with a huge backpack on, while my mom carried me in a jerry-pack and my brother carried a pack that was just his sleeping bag and jammies), and mom taught the pony tail method of hair care early on. We always made fun of my uncle's girl friends and their blow-driers and curlers and no electricity. (Yeah, my uncle lived with us while he was in college after his army stint.) Admittedly, I did get into styling my hair as a teen, before eventually cutting it really short in college, but camp hair was always simple.

I find that dead straight hair has to be either very short or very long, and curls never last a whole day, no mater how carefully said hair is styled. Been there, fought that battle, never understood my high school friends who actually ironed their hair to get what I had naturally (and hated)

Nature is never fair, of course. Dear daughter inherited my dead straight hair. Dear son got the curls, and hates them.

Catherine

 

[ae6black]

The only time I ever dry my hair when out camping is if I am running in to town for Church or it's really cold outside. I mean after all I am camping. As long as I don't stink I don't care much either. I don't think most people care what I look like when they're hunting or fishing or taking a ride out in a canoe. They're too busy looking at the same things I am looking at. Besides in warmer weather when I am swatting at mosquitoes my hair never looks that well kept anyhow.

art

 

[Socal Tom]

When I remember, I bring a spray bottle and wet my hair in the am, to get rid of bed head. However, hats are recommended to protect my skin from the sun, as well as cover my hair if it gets too crazy. However i don't bring a mirror camping, so my hair is always perfect,
Tom

 

[Rainier70]

I have camped and backpacked all my life. My hair is straight and baby fine. That is great for drying quickly, but it also gets yucky quickly too. So I almost always do at least a spit bath and a hair wash daily. Sometimes it was in glacier water that was cold enough to give you an instant headache. Now that I am older I enjoy a few more comforts camping.
I still wash my hair daily, but I at least wait now to heat the water and usually shower at the same time. (I have a 6x12 cargo trailer) I still only boondock camp so I bring my own shower. Having a battery and solar recharger brings some added benefits above backpacking too. I don't blow my hair dry, but I do use a 12v Roadpro curling iron to manage it and get it back out of my face. It heats up quickly and works well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JT ... UTF8&psc=1

Most of the day I am still wearing a buff (sun protection face mask) and hat, so kind of crazy.

 

[MtnDon]

I style my hair with a razor...

 

[Jessalynftw]

I can definitely see how curly hair could be a disadvantage when camping. My hair is stick straight and much easier to coax into a hat or pony tail. My mother on the other hand has very curly hair and had a tough time keeping it under control unless she styled/straightened it.

No heat curls may be your best option, although short hair definitely makes it more difficult. I found an awesome and easy way to no heat curl with a headband. I would just shower before bed, let my hair air dry until damp then wrap my hair around a headband. There's a lot of great tutorials on YouTube

You could also get one of those hairdryer add ons that help drying your hair straight but any humidity and all your hard work would be ruined!

 

[1950 tear]

put small framed mirror on wall inside. Blow dry my hair inside check mirror get out and start enjoying camp fun

 

[Alleged User]

My hair is fine and dead straight, so unless I want to be sporting a Marcia Brady, I need to blow it dry to keep it off my face. I shower early at the bathhouse so that I typically have the place to myself. i do wear hats most of the time also, but even then I dry my hair first. Tooling around with a wet head for an hour and a half on chilly camp mornings is not a good time. We camp at the many beautiful state parks near us, so always have bathhouses.

There will always be those who think you're silly for drying or doing your hair at camp. Screw 'em. Every one of us has our little quirks that come camping with us, guys and girls alike. My hairdryer is one of them.