Hair Banging

I always say that messy hair’s a sign of a good workout. If my hair’s in one place afterwards, I didn’t work hard enough.

That said, I can’t stand it anywhere near my face. It has to be in a ponytail, up and away from my face. I can’t have it flying around getting in my way, distracting me from my workouts. Apart from when I was 19 and made the bad decision to chop off my hair, it’s always been long. Even when it was short, I had to clip it back as the fringe/short bits were annoying.

Tied up it’s away from sweat and it doesn’t get caught under my shoulders during roll ups. In the summer I’ve learnt to put in a bun away from sweat and suncream running or working out as both suncream and sweat wreck havoc on my hair. Running in the summer I have the bun tucked inside a baseball cap, which also shades my face away from the sun and prevent sun wrinkles (in theory!). I prefer running without hat as I feel free running with the wind in my hair. Headbands keeps the free feeling alive along with keeping it out my face working out.

Headbands for me are a relatively new workout wear edition. Before, I saw them as something kids and private schools girls wore and stuck with clips. The problem with clips is that they slide, can fall out and leave kinks. Kinks are not good if you have be presentable afterwards and only had time for a quick shower.

That changed when I was on holiday in Florida a few years ago and found a load of colourful, slim headbands in CVS. I was converted. Ever since then I’ve been on a quest to find the most durable, chic headband I can.

So far Sweaty Bands have been the best. They don’t slip! I’ve had one for 3 years and it’s only just beginning to slide. The only downside is that they’re expensive (add shipping to Europe) and to find a slim plain colour one is tricky, though you can custom your own. I like to have a selection of colours depending on my mood (I get bored of the same colour) or workout gear (gotta look put together running 10km!) and at $15 for one, they’re expensive, though worth it.

The headbands I’ve been able to find in Europe have been either fashion, plain black and brown (where’s the fun?) or muted pinks, greens and blues. They’re fine for a month and then begin to slide. The best ones I’ve found are from H&M. I picked up a set of 3 in the UK last year and I can get maybe 2 months use of each. The H&M in Nice Cap3000 doesn’t stock them so image my joy when I found them in Barcelona last week. €2.95 for 3! Though yesterday I discovered running the ones from the black pack haven’t got the sticky grip stuff on the back so it kept sliding off. It held its place working out this morning, so they’re now resigned to workouts only. The best hairbands I’ve found for fine hair are the new hair ties. They get extra points for not leaving behind tell tail pony tail kinks. BaByliss kids are my favourites at the moment. And no, I don’t colour coordinate my headbands and hairbands!

Do you have workout hair essentials? If you run, are you happy in hats or like to feel the wind in your hair? How do you keep your locks happy in the summer working out?