Helmet hair can drive you totally crazy.
After a motorcycle ride, who knows what your hair might look like?
You might take off your motorcycle helmet to find that your hair is flatter than the desert – and just as lifeless.
And if you have long hair, it always tries to escape the confines of your hair tie.
If it’s gone rogue, it’ll happily fly free as a bird in the wind.
But it might also catch the eye of any actual birds that are passing.
They’re now eyeing it up as a potential nest, because it’s tangled just right.
It’s perfect for them to raise a family in.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways of deal with motorcycle helmet hair.
You can:
- Follow my simple guide: How to Fix Motorcycle Helmet Hair – What really works
- Choose a practical motorcycle hairstyle that still looks great.
Like this: 7 Simple Motorcycle Hairstyles (Biker chick hairstyles made easy) - Avoid the wrong motorcycle hairstyle: 8 Motorcycle Hairstyles You DON’T Want.
Or you can choose to rise above the trauma of helmet hair with a little tweak of your mind set.
I explain how here: Helmet Hair: It’s not herpes!
You have plenty of options.
But right now we’re going to talk about a special kind of helmet hair issue.
Because if you have a fringe haircut (or bangs), you have an extra challenge on your hands.
Or should I say: your head.
Motorcycle helmet hair is enough of a challenge – if you DON’T have a fringe haircut.
But if you do, you’ll need to know these techniques for making sure your bangs still look great after a motorcycle ride.
Over the years I’ve figured out how to deal with the super fun challenges that a fringe haircut presents on a motorcycle.
I know how it feels to take off my helmet and find my fringe is plastered to my forehead, or sticking out at weird angle.
I look like I slept in a park.
Face down, it would seem.
So these are my tried and true tips for dealing with bangs under a motorcycle helmet.
Fixing Helmet Hair With a Fringe Haircut: 6 Quick Tips
Let’s get into some practical solutions.
1. Never put a motorcycle helmet on dirty hair
If your bangs start out needing a wash, they’ll look awful by the end of the motorcycle ride.
You need to pull a motorcycle helmet over clean hair, every time.
The great thing about having a fringe haircut is you can do a quick shampoo in the bathroom basin.
You don’t need hold up the motorcycle ride because you have to wash your hair from scratch.
But a quick basin wash is worth doing.
If you start out with a squeaky-clean fringe, it’ll hold up way better during the motorcycle ride.
And after you wash your bangs…
2. Make sure your fringe is bone dry
If you pull a motorcycle helmet onto a damp fringe haircut, two things will happen:
- The moisture in your bangs will absorb any products on your forehead, instantly turning your hair greasy, and
- The bangs will dry in a strange flat shape as they’re sandwiched between your helmet and forehead.
So make sure you use a hairdryer before the ride.
And even better…
3. Style your fringe haircut with straighteners
If you have an extra minute before you leave, run a flatiron over your bangs.
This gets the last of any moisture out.
And it also helps to set your fringe haircut in place (without any sticky products).
Just make sure you remember to turn off the straighteners before you leave the house.
Too many times I’ve gotten 100km down the road on the back of the motorcycle and been struck by neurotic, horrifying thoughts:
Did I turn off the straighteners?
Is the house on fire right now, because of me?
Worrying thoughts like these won’t help to make an afternoon on the motorcycle relaxing.
Luckily, I have GHD straighteners, which are smart enough to turn themselves off after a while if they’re not being used.
They must be made for biker chicks in a hurry, huh?
Phew.
4. Use fewer products
Whenever you head out on a motorcycle, chances are you have up to four layers of products on your forehead and bangs.
Think about it for a second.
You’ve probably applied:
- Moisturiser
- Sunscreen
- Makeup
- And a hair styling product to keep the fringe tamed.
Here’s a radical, but effective suggestion: cut these products down to (almost) zero.
You probably don’t need sunscreen on your forehead.
Your bangs will protect that part of your face from sunburn (and you could always pack a soft hat for sitting at an outside table in a coffee shop).
And what about the moisturiser and makeup?
A tiny amount of moisturiser on your forehead is fine.
But rather than add foundation next, try a few pats of powder instead.
This will provide some coverage, but also mattify your skin, and absorb any oils from the moisturiser.
It won’t increase your grease factor like more slippery products would.
Then there’s the hair product you might normally use to keep your bangs in place.
Try leaving out this step completely.
Any hair product you apply to your fringe will end up on your helmet liner in any case.
And you’ve already ‘set’ your fringe using your straighteners in the step above, right?
So the bangs are likely to stay in place without needing product now.
By using fewer layers of products on your forehead area, you help your fringe to stay clean and non-greasy.
5. Consider a trim
If your bangs are a little long, they’ll look pretty wild after an hour inside a motorcycle helmet.
The helmet liner will flatten your fringe against your forehead – just as if you’d styled it to be hanging directly in your eyes.
That’s annoying.
And here in New Zealand, you could be mistaken for a sheep that needs a good shearing.
So a quick trim can help keep long bangs under control.
Before the ride, give them a quick tidy up with some hairdressing scissors.
It should take about 30 seconds.
6. Clean your helmet liner now and then
Your helmet liner can quickly get kind of slimy.
Without even trying, we ladies tend to mix up a nasty paste of makeup, moisturiser and sunscreen on our helmet liners.
So take a warm soapy washcloth, and wipe the inside of your motorcycle helmet liner now and then.
Rinse the washcloth out a few times, and keep wiping until it comes away without any soap or slimy helmet liner residue.
Once your liner’s clean, leave your motorcycle helmet sitting out in the sun and air to dry.
And if you’re riding in colder weather, leave it in a warm room for a few days.
You need the liner to be completely dry before you wear the motorcycle helmet again.
But a clean liner does make a difference, and helps to keep your bangs looking fresher.
A Fringe Haircut Doesn’t Have to Turn into Helmet Hair
Having bangs doesn’t mean you’re destined to have helmet hair.
It’s not compulsory to have your fringe plastered to your forehead every time you go out on the motorcycle.
With these tips, you can tame those bangs, and fix helmet hair – even with a fringe haircut.
Like this article?
Then you might enjoy this one:
How to Fix Motorcycle Helmet Hair: What Really Works
