Finding summer heat relief in your hairstyle

Written by Remy Tumin

A ponytail. A messy bun. A long, single braid. Dreads platted against one another. Heavy curls, clinging to the back of a bare back.

When heat is trapped in city sidewalks and traveling around town can feel as though you’re moving through a hot breath, sometimes the quickest relief is getting hair off the back of your neck. The sweeping movement is instinctual. But it is also deeply personal, a preference that is solidified into routine and identity.

There is a convenience factor, too. Two swoops, a flick of the wrist, and the weight of sticky hair on your back should be gone, followed by a familiar rhythm: Put up, take down, sweat, put back up again. Others enjoy the light swish against their necks or have thrown in the towel entirely and keep their hair short.

Geraldine Biddle-Perry, a culture historian and a co-author of “Hair: Styling, Culture and Fashion,” describes hair as “the most malleable part of the human body,” bending in myriad ways for style, sexuality, class, activity or play.

Simplicity is always key.

“If it’s looking good, I just leave it,” Judy Bergstresser said on a recent hot day in SoHo, her gray curls bouncing slightly off her shoulders. “Our hair knows where to go, it knows what to do, and we just need to step back and let it do its thing.”

Here’s how people in New York City are preparing for the elements.

— When Judy Bergstresser was growing up, her mother kept her hair in pigtails. But then she went to summer camp, and “suddenly I had to deal with it,” she recalled. Her friends encouraged her to “let it be.” “And that’s how I’ve been ever since,” she said.

— Roger Ridley ties his locks to sweep his hair away from his face. “Hair is a representation of who you truly are — it makes total sense on why it’s so different and unique for everybody,” said Irinel de León, who grew up in New York and is now a hairstylist in Los Angeles. She recommends using a little bit of texturizing spray to add volume and grip before pulling hair up, or adding an oil treatment.

— Cheyenne Bayne prefers to pull her hair back into a low, messy bun and pull pieces out in the front to frame her face. The tendrils in the front are “more in tune with my fashion” as opposed to a slicked-back look. Her hair, she said, is “a big piece of me.”

— “When it’s really hot, I prefer not to have my Afro out because, depending on the environment, it will change the texture of my hair,” said Alex Mark, describing her look as braids in a messy pullback. “So protective styles like cornrows and braids are always my go-to.”

— Susie August has kept her hair bleached and short for nine years. She decided to cut it short after going through what she described as “a major life change,” and she needed a style to match the transition. “I don’t miss my hair,” she said. “But when I see young girls walking around, then I’m like, ‘Wow, that looks great.’ But not on me.”

— Nate Johnson goes for low maintenance in the summertime, opting for twists to stay cool. “I just try to keep it like this because it’s the most minimal work I have to do,” he said.

Nate Johnson with his minimalistic look. (Source: Naeem Douglas for The New York Times)

— “I usually wear my hair down, but when it’s hot I’ll do a ponytail and add little ribbons for fun,” Ruthy Micha said. A single ponytail or two pigtails with ribbons has become her signature look. Micha buys large spools of ribbons at Michael’s — reds, blues and pinks — and cuts them to her desired length, or reuses ribbons collected from gifts.

— On hot days, Maria Uruena will pull her hair back into a slick bun. The later in the day, the higher the bun will go. “I like to put a little bit of oil in it, style it up, and then I feel like it’s appropriate for the weather,” she said, adding that she likes the poof of a bun. “Otherwise I feel like a bald alien.”

— “Even though it blows in my face, I like it blowing away,” Carolyn Kosuch said of letting her long hair flow. “Even though it’s down, it still gives me a little bit of air on the back of my neck. It flows back and forth, gets a little movement.”

— Style is the last thing Tetsu Sano thinks about when it comes to doing his hair, and he frequently keeps it up in the summer. He shared a familiar complaint: “I’m just hot.”

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