When I was a kid, my mom taped bows to my head so people would know I was a girl. I have that type of hair that’s fine, straight and difficult to manage in the winter because of one key problem: static cling. I’m not talking about a few fly-aways being kind of annoying, I’m talking about my entire head of hair plastering itself to my face when confronted with any sort of less-than-humid condition. I look like one of those dolls with its hair painted on.

Usually I suck it up and find a ponytail to mitigate the problem. But this year, I’m through. I want to wear my hair down year-round. I want to go to interviews looking like an adult. I want people to see my hair and think “wow, that college student showers.”

As my whole family has this problem, I sought some advice. The following is a graded review of some of their suggestions:

Mom’s Moisture (D) : As I also have a dry skin problem in the winter months, my mom attributes my apparent excess of static charge to a lack of humidity, of which Michigan has plenty in the warmer months. At my parents’ house there’s a humidifier built into the heating system, and I remember her running the humidifier all the time at our old house.

This little froggy took care of my cat's hair, but not mine. (credit: Rebecca Foster)

So after a semi-embarrassing conversation with what has to be the only super hot male Target employee, I located a frog-shaped humidifier for $35. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty adorable. It’s also served as a sort of conversation piece when people come over. However, its effect on my hair was marginal, and I still wake up looking alternatively plastic doll and just-got-electrocuted. I’m running it though, because it does seem to help my cat’s hair be less charged. He’s stopped shying away from me when I go to pet/shock him. This is the only thing that kept this froggy’s grade from being an F.

Static-Specific Hair Product (B) : I went to a drugstore, and started browsing the hair isle for things that didn’t look like shampoo. I found TIGI Bed Head Spoil Me, which claims to, among other things, eliminate static.

Spoil Me lacked the discipline my hair required. (credit: Emily Lawler)

It works, for a while. But it works a lot the way hairspray works; it just makes your hair so stiff that it has to stay wherever you put it. Which would be fine for some hairstyles, but I have big, long hair. When it stays in one place it’s suspicious, because gravity and wind should have some effect.

So yes, this is a good short-term fix. Or it’s ok if your hair gets static when you take a nap or something. But it only lasted through about half of my day, and the bottle is too big to lug around in a purse or anything. And at $17, I’d say save your money. Props on the bottle itself though, it’s very pretty.

Roommate’s Route (C) : My roommate said that she’d read somewhere that you should swipe the inside of whatever hat you wear with a dryer sheet to remove the static before you put it on. I checked the completely factual and never mistaken internet, and it seems many people just swipe a dryer sheet through their hair.

These aren't good for much besides a fresh scent. (credit: Emily Lawler)

So I did a quickie wipe one morning, and headed off to class. While the dryer sheet did take the static out of my hair quite well for the time being, by the time I got to class and took my hood off I had plastic doll head again. But as a cheap (around $2.69 for a 80-pack at Meijer) and short-term solution, this isn’t a bad idea. I can see maybe tucking a dryer sheet in your purse and using it in emergency situations. However, I wasn’t particularly fond of smelling like I’d just come out of a laundromat.

Alyssa’s Miracle (A) : My sister recommended Miracle 7 leave-in mist. I’m not one to fall for miracle products, and the $20 price tag on a 10-ounce bottle was a definite deterrent. Furthermore, it doesn’t even say that it stops static cling on the bottle. But my sister let me borrow hers and I was convinced in one day.

It really is a miracle... (credit: Emily Lawler)

Not only did this last all day, but it made my hair feel like being down was its job. Which, it should be, right? I walked out of the door with a crazy confidence. On the street I had to stop myself from asking strangers to run their fingers through my hair. I did ask my roommates to feel me on up, and they were immediately asking what I’d used and where I got it. Because it’s a freaking MIRACLE, is why.

So I walked into Sally Beauty Supply to buy my very own bottle, and the clerk saw it in my hand. “That stuff is amazing, it’s worth the money,” she told me. I gave her a knowing smile, and leaned in for the whisper… “It really is a miracle.”

Chris Rock’s 2009 documentary, “Good Hair”, brought attention to hair and ideas of beauty in the African American community.

According to a review by Ann Hornaday for The Washington Post, Rock was inspired to make the film after one of his young daughters asked why she didn’t have good hair.

Chris Rock's documentary focused on the pressure for black people to have "good hair" (photo credit: sxc.hu).

“The concept of ‘good hair’ — which, simply put, has come to mean ‘the straighter the better’ in the African American community,” Hornaday wrote.

So, what really is good hair?

“Healthy hair is good hair,” said Rhonda Stokes, owner of Rhonda’s Reflectiosn Styling Salon in Lansing. ” Hair comes in all different textures; no texture is better than the other.  And it depends on the individual.  But for most African American women, good hair is healthy hair.”

Stokes said that African American hair requires more effort and attention to keep it healthy.   She has clients that come in to get their hair done as often as once a week, because they are unable to style it themselves or would prefer that a professional style it.

Hair is an important beauty priority because women want to look their best, Stokes said.

According to Stokes, as long as it is nice and neat, it is beautiful.

“I would say the most beautiful styles would be styles that are nice and neat,” she said.  ”Whether it’s short, long, or even natural.  Something that’s beautiful and every hair is in place…something that looks like you take care of your hair.”

At Michigan State University, young African American women wear their hair based on their own personal preference.

LaTrice Davis, an advertising senior, prefers to wear her hair straight using a pressing comb and a flat iron.  She said that she has her hair styled about every two weeks, which costs about $45 per visit.  She then wraps her hair at night in a silk scarf to preserve the style from getting frizzy.

Davis said having her hair styled bi-weekly is not always possible on a college budget, so sometimes she waits longer in between hair appointments or finds a friend to style her hair for her.

Long hair is a desired style, whether it is straightened or curled with a curling iron, is seen as attractive to men, Davis said.

“In the African American community, beauty…correlates to having longer hair, which is why a lot of black girls get hair extensions,” she said.  ”Because having long hair makes them look a lot better to….most guys.  They prefer girls with really long hair.”

However, more natural styles like locks are another way of having beautiful hair, Davis said.

“Most of my friends…that have locks…which are dreadlocks or forms of dreadlocks, they are more like earthy…they are content with themselves and they don’t believe in straightening their hair,” she said. “And they feel that having natural hair is more beautiful.”

Susah McPherson, a senior studying interdisciplinary studies in social science, wears her hair in locks, which she has re-twisted once a month and ties her hair up at night.

McPherson said that while she prefers to wear her hair in a natural, low-maintenance style, having beautiful hair is dependent on personal preference.

“I think it’s to each his or her own,” she said.  ”It depends on what the person prefers.  I am an advocate for natural hair, but if you want to add artificial hair to your hair, and that makes you happy and that adds to your beauty, then go right ahead.”

According to McPherson, hair can be representative of personal style in the African American community.

“It represents a person’s style, who they are, their identity,” she said.  ”It shows how you… value your looks and yourself, if you put a lot of time into your hair and maintenance.  To someone else it may seem like it is not maintained or styled to their liking.  But to that person it could be styled how they like it and it fits them well.”

According to Davis, beauty associated with hair is also a personal viewpoint.

“I have a cousin who has locks and she puts lock’s in her daughter’s hair, because she believes that’s what beauty is, because it makes you natural,” Davis said.  ”It’s not chemically processing your hair.  It’s not straightening your hair.”

Although society may have standards that explain what good hair is, it’s the wearer’s opinion that’s important, whether the person wears their hair straight, in locks, or another style.

“They are just two different…styles that come with two different mindsets,” Davis said.