The Lincoln Log

Photo by Derek Tong

The guy sitting two seats in front of me is blocking my view. It’s not that he’s tall, bulky, or that he has a big head; it is his hair that is the problem. His hair extends about 3 to 4 inches from his scalp in a sporadic fashion. The strong aroma of superfluous hairspray and gel overwhelm my sensitive nose, which is sadly only about a foot away from that beastly, malodorous mane.

Personally, I think that the hairstyles around school have been growing ever wilder – especially in our male population here at Lincoln. Not to say that the female population at Lincoln is any less wild. The volume of hair in our time seems to have multiplied threefold since way back when, and the amount of hair products used in one’s head seems to have grown exponentially.

Photo by Derek Tong

Whatever happened to the hairstyles of only a few years ago? For me, the straight and layered bohemian-chic hair that Jennifer Anniston rocked, and the prissy-clean bob that Nicole Richie styled are timeless classics. It is as if backcombing and gel-spiked hair has become the trend of the decade and, though I am not disgusted by it, I am amazed by how some interpret the trends.

There are those who take spiked hair to the extremes, personalizing the gelled look by creating a colorful mohawk instead. Yes, many hairstyles can help classify you as punk rock, gothic, trendy, bohemian, and so much more, but I can’t help but wonder how some of them can wash their cactus-heads or how they can lay their heads down for a comfortable nap.

I can only imagine how long it takes them to do their hair every morning – half an hour, perhaps? Nevertheless, with the growing amount of what I will call “trend-heads,” the ironed hair of yesterday appears to be slowly fading.

The growing amount of females with side-swept bangs has also increased in my eyes, as it is obviously a popular hairstyle. The straight cut Cleopatra-like bangs have been coming back into our fashion-radar, and I have little opinion for that. For some, the hairstyle reminds me of my four-year-old days. (From that, I do mean my bowl-cut days.) For side-swept bangs however, I have only the most positive things to say. I have a large forehead, in my opinion anyway, and I love how my bangs act as my camouflage. I am sure that this is the case for so many people.

Hair is a rather controversial topic, as opinions continually flow into our most unbiased minds, but I must say that bigger is not always better with hair. The rule of thumb should be, if the person behind you can’t see the board, get a haircut buddy!