# My Indomitable Cowlick. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837 "2012-08-08T08:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/1 "2012-08-08T08:10:17Z")
First a little description. I have a cowlick in the right-hand side of my head, in the back. Looking in the mirror, I can’t even notice it. I only found out about it by looking at pictures of myself. It is _ **always** _ sticking up. And need I say, it is untamable. Washing makes no difference. Hairspray only makes it worse. I spray water on my head before I leave house, to tame my hair for combing. This makes no difference. In short, the cowlick is just intent on sticking up, no matter what. So, my question: Is there anything else I could try? And please, include your own experiences and how you dealt with it. I’d love to hear them. :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/2 "2012-08-08T08:20:47Z")
There really are only three options. Get a haircut so short it won’t matter, grow it out so it’s heavy enough to weigh itself down and be camouflaged that way, or go with it and style the rest of your hair around it. I’ve never had cowlick issues before, but since I started growing out my grey, a one-inch wide portion of my bangs over my left temple has decided to do a loop-de-loo that I can’t even flat-iron out. So now my bangs are sideswept, it’s the only thing I can do other than grow it out. My hair stylist who I’ve had for many years thinks it’s got to do with the hair no longer getting colored, plus the new texture of the grey strands. She had a great time trying to cut it, too. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/3 "2012-08-08T08:27:44Z")
You could try perming/straightening it? ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/4 "2012-08-08T10:22:47Z")
I had one, too. Alas, it was eaten by my bald spot. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/5 "2012-08-08T10:30:14Z")
I have one at the front on my hairline. I have just had to live with it and with a short haircut it looks OK. Main downside is that it’s clearly genetic as my 4y/old daughter has exactly the same thing, and it makes parting longer hair a nightmare 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/6 "2012-08-08T13:07:27Z")
I don’t know if it qualifies as a cowlick, but the hair on the left side of my head over my ear will not lay right, regardless of how it’s cut. The right side looks great, the left just sorta goes wild. It wasn’t an issue when I wore it long, but now that I’ve hacked it all off, there it is. I don’t mess with it - I figure it’s part of what makes me the wonderful person that I am! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/7 "2012-08-08T13:09:30Z")
I have two monstrous cowlicks on the back left and right of my head, as well as (by the barber’s count) up to 16 smaller ones near them. Needless to say, my hair styling options are limited. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/8 "2012-08-08T16:23:28Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > There really are only three options. Get a haircut so short it won’t matter, grow it out so it’s heavy enough to weigh itself down and be camouflaged that way, or go with it and style the rest of your hair around it. The second one may not work for a long time: there are pics of my mother where her hair is almost to her shoulders and you can see there’s something strange with it to the right of her crown. She goes for option #3, Middlebro for #1. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/9 "2012-08-08T21:52:25Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I had one, too. Alas, it was eaten by my bald spot. Yeah, I went ahead and got rid of my cowlick by going bald, too! ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/10 "2012-08-09T19:00:04Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Yeah, I went ahead and got rid of my cowlick by going bald, too! Me too. Mine was overwhelmed by a receding hairline, just shortly before it met up with my advancing bald spot. I now have a part that’s right down the middle, and about 4-5 inches wide. Feh… it’s just hair… or was, any way… ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/11 "2012-08-09T19:15:36Z")
I had this same problem growing up (I buzzcut my head now so it’s not an issue), and I tried everything the OP did and none of it worked. So I just started snipping off the part that was sticking up. It might look a little funny, but a lot less funny than having it stick straight up. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-indomitable-cowlick/630837/12 "2012-08-09T19:38:59Z")
Try a heavier hair product like wax or pomade. Hairspray sucks for this kind of thing. I use this: [American Crew Fiber](http://www.amazon.com/American-Pliable-Molding-Styling-Creams/dp/B0008IV7BU/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1344541075&sr=1-1&keywords=American+Crew)