Helmet versus hair: the style guide for bikers
29.5.2020
Translation: machine translated
When you stop off on your motorbike, you usually look like an exploded sheep. Barber Sorin Dumitrica shows you how to keep your hairstyle under control under your helmet.
The sun is shining. You're travelling on your motorbike. There's a restaurant. Or a kiosk. You blink. The heat rises under your saddle. It doesn't matter. There's a drink. You kill the engine. Stand down. Get off. You take off your helmet. Wind blows around your ears.
You look like an exploded sheep.
Your hair is sticking out wildly on the sides, flattened on top. The hairstyle you created in the morning is ruined.
Sorin Dumitrica, known as Barber under the name "The Hair Butcher", stands up to this. The Romanian lives what he himself calls the "Barber Hustle". And he is a biker. He owns a Harley, a Honda and, more recently, a Yamaha. "You need a machine for every occasion," says the man who has a pair of scissors and a razor tattooed on his upper right arm.
Source: @der_haarmetzger
He knows the phenomenon of helmet hair only too well. And he has a recipe for it. It's a mixture of clothing and styling. And, if you like, a question of the haircut.
The one item of clothing you need
"Sock," says Sorin as he gives a young man a fade with swift hand movements, short at the bottom, then steadily longer towards the top. Comb, machine, comb, machine.
But the barber with the shoulder-length hair and beard is not talking about the sock for his feet. He is talking about the item of clothing that bikers call a "sock". Officially, the thing is called a "tube scarf" or, in more modern terms, a "neck tube".
The sock can be used in many different ways. As a scarf around your neck. As a face mask when you pull the elasticated material over your nose. Or as a headscarf if you wear it as if you were putting on a hood.
"With long hair, it's the only chance you have of coming out of your helmet looking reasonably OK," says Sorin, now at work with his scissors. Comb, snip, comb, snip. He jokes with the young man, whose black hair is shortening at a rapid pace.
He advises him to leave the products in for a while after styling his hair, then to wear the sock as a hood - "like a Grosi headscarf".
In the video from the manufacturer of the de facto standard for tubular scarves - yes, there is a de facto standard, who would have thought it - the wearing option is described as "balaclava" style. Probably sounds a bit more tough and masculine than "Grosi style".
Pomade, not gel
Under the sock, the hairstyle has to sit naturally. This is less of a problem with very long or very short hair, but it is with a fashionable men's haircut.
"You know, the half-length hair that you have to style every morning," says Sorin. He seems happy with the man's hair. A few final adjustments, a few last hairs here and there.
When it comes to styling, Sorin advises against hair gel, but does recommend pomade. The reason: Pomade allows the hair to move. In contrast, you can think of hair gel as a hardened coating for your hair. If you put your helmet on and push your hair down, this coating breaks up and your hairstyle for the day is irretrievably gone. What's more, when the hair gel is dry, it disintegrates into a kind of dust and leaves it in the helmet. Pomade remains soft and dry, allowing you to restyle your hair when you take your helmet off.
A pomade should be water-based if you need it for everyday use. In past decades, pomades were oil-based and these pomades still exist. But an oil-based pomade lasts several days in your hair and can mess up your helmet. Simply washing it out is not an option. With oil-based pomades you need a degreaser, with water-based pomades you can quickly hold your head under water in the evening and the pomade will evaporate. Oil-based pomades are generally only suitable for everyday use if you have a specific need for one. As a dancer at a competition, for example, I've been told.
Of course, Sorin has favourites. He quickly makes a round of coffee, serves it and goes to a cupboard that looks like it's straight out of a western. Old wood, dark, glass panels in the doors. Inside are tins and bottles for every hair type and length.
Sorin looks at my mop of hair and gives me two pomades. "Try these and tell me how they work for you."
Mootes 20 Pomade
Sorin swears by the Swiss label Mootes from Zurich. He is brief: "Good ingredients, good hold, good scent." He opens the tin and the scent of coconut with a slightly minty (?) note wafts out.
Mootes 20: The ingredients
When using skincare products for the first time, you should always check the ingredients. This is because every ingredient can trigger allergies or harbour health risks. No matter how small these risks are, you should be critical of these risks, especially with products that are actually only there to make you look more beautiful.
Does that mean you should stay away from them? No, yes, maybe. It depends on your risk tolerance. There are people who inject themselves with neurotoxins, others who don't put chemicals on their skin. We are all somewhere in between. So I'll give you some knowledge and leave the decision up to you. A quick enquiry at Mootes reveals that the dosages in all pomades are far below the dangerous dose.
- Vaseline: Also called petrolatum, water repellent, emollient, long lasting, locks moisture into the skin
- Water
- Kaolin: Natural preservative, binds liquid, can cause skin and eye irritation in extremely high doses
- Cera Alba: Beeswax. Helps moisturise the skin, does not clog pores, anti-allergenic, emulsifier
- Ceteareth-6: A binder consisting of fatty alcohols, weakens the skin's barrier function
- Stearyl Alcohol: Emulsifier, prevents foaming, gives the skin a soft and smooth appearance
- Cocos Nucifera Oil: Coconut oil, moisturises skin and hair
- Hydroxyethyl Acrylate / Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer: Emulsifier
- Isohexadecane: Emulsifier, helps with oily skin, does not penetrate deep into the skin and thus keeps pollutants out of the skin
- Polysorbate 60: Emulsifier consisting of ethylene oxide, sorbitol and stearic acid, antistatic
- Benzyl Alcohol: carrier, preservative, flavouring agent, allergic reactions are possible
- Dehydroacetic Acid: Preservative, prevents the growth of microorganisms, keeps care products fresh for longer
- Parfume: flavourings, if they are considered to be harmful to allergy sufferers according to the current state of science, they should be listed separately
- Coumarin: natural substance, component of woodruff and lavender, is also produced synthetically, low allergy potential, high concentration of the substance has led to liver damage in dogs and rats, suspected of cancer production or promotion. However, the science is not yet at a point where a risk to human health is considered proven.
In the application
The pomade is creamy and has a pleasant consistency. This makes it easy to apply. Because with pomade, less is more. If you use more pomade, a film can form on your hair that doesn't really want to dry. Therefore, start with a fingernail-sized amount, massage it into your hair and then use more pomade as needed.
Mootes 20 smells a little strong from the tin, but the fragrance only settles very slightly in the hair. You can smell the pomade with certain movements, but it's not like you're going through the day smelling like an imported perfumery.
Mootes 20 is helmet-compatible, but if you're going on a longer bike tour, I recommend using a little more pomade than on a helmet-free day. However, my hair tends to be on the unruly side of life. But after about five stops in between putting my helmet on and taking it off, my hair is also over.
No noticeable residue remains in the helmet itself for longer, but an odour can linger. This inevitably means that residue remains in the helmet. However, the inner padding does not become sticky. Nothing remains on the protective material that is open in the helmet either.
It is possible that the pads stick together with prolonged use in combination with Mootes 20, but I don't have any long-term data on this.
Reuzel Clay Matte
If you're just starting to get into pomades, you'll quickly come across the name Reuzel, pronounced "Ruhtsel". Two barbers from Holland have more or less created the de facto standard of the scene with their beard and hair care products. So it's no surprise that Sorin recommends a Reuzel pomade.
Reuzel Clay Matte: the ingredients
- Water
- Cera Alba: Beeswax. Helps moisturise the skin, does not clog pores, anti-allergenic, emulsifier
- Tribehenin: Emollient for the skin. Mixture of glycerine and behenic acid. Also known as glyceryl tribehenate. Of natural origin, but can be synthesised
- Cetyl Alcohol: White, waxy substance, emulsifier, consistency stabiliser
- Stearyl Alcohol: Emulsifier, prevents foaming, gives the skin a soft and smooth appearance
- Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2: Softens the skin, is used instead of lanolin, antioxidant
- Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil): White oil, softens the skin
- Octylacrylamide/Acrylates/Butylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer: Fixes the hair, forms a film on the hair, antistatic,
- PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil: Emulsifier, reduces surface tension of substances to be emulsified, weakens the barrier properties of the skin
- Sodium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate: Emulsifier, affects the fluidity of the pomade
- Kaolin: Natural preservative, binds liquid, can cause skin and eye irritation in extremely high doses
- Ceteareth-25: A binding agent consisting of fatty alcohols, weakens the skin's barrier function
- Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride: A substance derived from coconut oil and glyceryl that protects the skin from moisture loss and can be used as a thickening agent
- Hamamelis Virginiana Leaf Extract: Witch Hazel or autumn-flowering witch hazel, antioxidant, contains tannin, can dry out the skin in high concentrations
- Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract: Rosemary, antioxidant, plant-based, soothes the skin, rosemary's fragrance can cause skin irritation
- Urtica Dioica Leaf Extract: nettle extract, can have a soothing effect on the skin
- Equisetum Arvense Extract: Horsetail, may have antioxidant and soothing effects on the skin, but science does not support this
- Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice: aloe vera, antioxidant, moisturising, effects are over-hyped in advertising
- Tocopheryl acetate: Vitamin E acetate, synthetic vitamin E derivative, provitamin, occurs naturally in the skin but is depleted by environmental influences
- Hydrolyzed quinoa: Quinoa dissolved in water, could be moisturising but science does not support this
- Parfume: Flavourings, if they are harmful to allergy sufferers according to the current state of science, they should be listed separately
- Phenoxyethanol: Synthetic preservative, effective against a variety of pathogens on your skin, may be used in a high concentration of up to 1% in cosmetics worldwide
- Caprylyl Glycol: Conditioner, can be plant-based or synthetic, often used in blends
- Sorbic Acid: extract obtained from rowan berries or synthetically produced, condom
- Aminomethyl Propanol: Corrects the pH balance of products, may be used in a concentration of up to 2%
- Caramel: natural colouring
- Hydrogenated Polydecene: Synthetic polymer that softens the skin
- Trideceth-10: Synthetic blend of fatty alcohols and polyethylene glycol, moisturises, cleanses
- Benzyl Benzoate: Antimicrobial substance, prevents the growth of microorganisms on the skin
- Limonene: Chemical flavouring, smells of lemon, can cause skin irritation, antioxidant
In the use
Less is definitely more with Reuzel Clay Matte Pomade. Start with a little less than a fingernail-sized amount, then more as needed. I often have to add more, especially at the back of my head, to keep my biker hairstyle in place. Unlike the Mootes pomade, it tends to make the hair a little sticky. So you're quickly in the territory of a wet look.
But the hold is there, no question. Reuzel wouldn't be Reuzel if the pomade was ready-made chabi. After a long and hot day with more than a handful of stops, however, even Reuzel puts down its weapons. You'll still look halfway okay, which is certainly better than completely shaggy, but you won't get the 24-hour "sit through gale-force winds and meteorite hail" look with the pomade.
But it smells wonderfully minty with a fleeting fragrance. So here too: You won't become a perfumery thanks to pomade.
Apropos helmet
No matter how well the pomade holds in your hair, you can assume that something will get stuck in your helmet. Sooner or later, your helmet pad will not only be full of sweat and dead skin cells - yes, it happens, let's not kid ourselves - but it will also have pomade in it.
"No problem," says Sorin, "sock."
Because if it's only about the helmet, the best way to protect the pads inside is to pull a tube scarf over your head. But sooner or later you'll have to wash the pads anyway.
If you want to freshen up your style quickly, Sorin recommends a comb in your bag, a little water and a quick restyle.
Sorin brushes the hairs from the young man's neck, takes off his cape on the barber's chair and says:
"You look good, helmet is clean. What more could you want?" <p
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