Alright, so I’ve been meaning to share this little experiment I did. Saw some pictures of Bryce Harper, you know, the baseball guy? And thought, man, that hair looks pretty sharp. That sort of textured, pushed-back look with some flow. Decided I’d give it a shot myself.

First thing I realized, looking closer, is that Harper’s got that real thick, wavy kind of hair. Genetics blessed him there, I guess. My own hair? Not so much. It’s pretty straight, maybe a bit on the thinner side. Right away, I knew this wasn’t going to be a straight copy-paste job.
Growing it Out
Okay, step one was obvious: needed more length. I usually keep my hair fairly short, so I just let it go for a while. Went through that awkward stage where nothing really sits right. You know the one, where it’s too long to be neat but too short to actually style properly. Had to wear hats a lot more often those weeks.
The Barber Visit
Once I had enough length to work with, or so I thought, I headed to my barber. I pulled up a picture of Harper on my phone. My barber took one look at the picture, then at my hair, and kinda chuckled. He was honest, said my straight hair wouldn’t naturally get that wave or texture Harper has. But he was willing to try and give me the cut, shaping it so it could be styled similarly.
Trying to Style It
This is where the real fun began. Getting the cut was the easy part; making it look like Harper’s hair every morning was another story. I tried a few things based on stuff I read online:
- Blow Drying: Heard you gotta blow-dry it for volume. So, I tried towel-drying my hair until it was just damp, then hitting it with the hairdryer, trying to push it back. It gave some volume, sure, but not that specific wavy pattern.
- Products, Products, Products: Went through a few different things.
- Tried a bit of styling cream in damp hair before drying.
- Tried some paste in dry hair to get texture.
- Tried a sea salt spray hoping for waves.
It felt like I was putting goop in my hair every day. Sometimes it looked okay for an hour, sometimes it just looked greasy or felt stiff. Getting that effortless, textured look was anything but effortless.

The Beard Factor
Also noticed Harper usually rocks a pretty solid beard, which definitely adds to the whole look. I tried letting my beard grow out more too, keeping it tidy. It helped balance the longer hair on top a bit, I think.
What Happened in the End
So, after a few weeks of fighting with my hair every morning, spending more time than I liked with a hairdryer and sticky hands, I kinda threw in the towel. The cut was fine, but my straight hair just wouldn’t hold that wavy, textured style Harper has naturally. It looked okay sometimes, but it wasn’t the look, you know? And it was way too much work for me.
Realized some styles just depend heavily on your natural hair type. Harper’s got the right foundation for it. Me? Not so much. It was a fun experiment, learned a bit about styling products I guess, but I’ve gone back to a simpler cut now. Much easier morning routine, and honestly, it probably suits me better anyway. Sometimes you just gotta work with what you’ve got!