The struggle is real. At least once in your life you have gotten your hair in a ponytail and seen all your baby hairs dancing in your forehead. There are two options from there, you can either hate them, get mad, try to make them as less noticeable as possible. Or, you can embrace them and look fabulous while you do it. If J-Lo and Rihanna embrace their baby hairs, why shouldn’t you? You can blame your baby hairs on stress, cycles, breakage, or whatever you have heard caused them. In reality, there is one very specific reason as to why you get baby hair, and that annoyingly pretty girl in your class doesn’t. Keep reading to find out.
What are baby hairs?
Baby hairs are a way to call the little thin hairs that appear on the forehead and seem to never grow. If a hair never reaches a length of more than 4 cm, it is commonly known as baby hair. Everybody has them, some are just more visible than others. It is mostly linked to African and Latina woman, who are more likely to get them, but really, they are extremely common. Some are curled, some are not. All baby hairs are different and everyone decides to style them in different ways. Both Latina and African cultures have long embraced them and made them part of their signature hairstyles and a trademark for the looks of people like the Chicano style.
What causes baby hairs?
Your hair has different growing phases and cycles. When the growing phase of the hair cycle (also known as anagen) is shortened by a series of different factors then you get what is commonly known and “baby hairs”.
This is a natural phenomenon that usually happens over several cycles. What happens is that there is a detonating factor that causes the growing cycle to shorten, that is why the new hairs don’t grow as long as the others in the rest of your hair. And they probably never will. They are actually very common in women that have recently given birth, however, when the fault relies on pregnancy the baby hairs end up being temporary and not lasting more than six months. This if you didn’t have them before the pregnancy.
Another common reason for baby hairs is traction in the hair. The breakage is caused if you, for example, wear tight ponytails for extended periods of time. Other factors are the normal actions that tend to damage the hair like over-heating, or chemical over-treating (like painting it too much). Anyhow, this kind of factors usually doesn’t stop the regular re-growing of the hair in the long run.
However, it is not only artificial or external factors, usually is just our fault and our genetics. These genes have an interference with the way your hair responds to androgens, which are male hormones that have a direct influence over hair growth.
How can I get rid of baby hairs?
If you take good care of your hair and have decided that the J-Lo/ Rihanna look isn’t for you, then there are a series of ways in which you can reduce them, or even eliminate them. This way is through some specific treatments. The therapy you’d be undergoing has the aim of reducing the influence androgens might be having on your hair. Oral contraceptives that are very strong, such as Diane 35, Yaz, or Yazmin are actually able to do this, however, these contraceptives do provide a very strong dose of hormones, so make sure you talk to a professional about beginning to take them. What most anti-baby hair treatments do is to reduce the inflammation that has formed around your hair follicles. As mentioned before it is important you contact a professional like your GP before you begin such drastic treatment, other than the contraceptives, there are medications that can be applied to the hairline and encourage growth. Some that are commonly used for this are glaucoma medications.
I guess you could also shave them, a lot of people does this in High School but, to be honest, is not very recommended. The only thing you do is that you end up with shorter thicker hairs coming out of your forehead and they just become harder to comb, and more noticeable.
Better yet, how to embrace your baby hairs
There are a lot of ways in which women have styled their baby hairs through history.
A very famous way in which women have styled them is by slicking them down. If they are on the longer side, then you can make the look curvy and complement your hairstyle with them. Do this by using flake-free holding gel and curving them with a fine-toothed comb. You can also just follow Kim Kardashian’s advice and spray them with some anti-frizz hairspray, this will keep them from standing up and looking messy and will rather give you a more pulled-together look.
If you want to go full Rihanna, you can make a high-ponytail (the kind you hate because it lets your baby hairs show a lot) and then slick the baby hairs into the ponytail. This makes you look very stylish, but at the same time very natural.
J-lo has shown us some very creative ways in which we can style or baby hairs, however, one of her most famous looks I when she wore cornrows and left her baby hairs hanging at the front of her forehead. Iconic.
Now, you know almost everything there is to know about baby hairs. However, the important part is to truly embrace who you are and face the fact that baby hairs are natural and they can have you looking like a superstar (quite literally). So embrace your roots and your natural beauty and get your baby hairs a nice comb.