Styling preschool girl hair

March 2, 2015 9:04 AM

My three-year-old daughter got a haircut yesterday, and in keeping with her rambunctious ways and fine hair, it's short and simple. But the stylist put some product on her hair to make the ends flip out a bit, and it's adorable. I didn't notice what she used and I'd like to recreate the look at home. What do I need to buy? (Signed, Clueless about Coifs)
posted by Pater Aletheias to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Best answer: If you call the salon you should be able to get a recommendation from them as to what products to use; they most likely will also offer to sell you a bottle, which you can buy if you like - or just make note of what it is and look for a cheaper version.

However, I'm pretty sure the product itself wasn't what made the ends flip out like magic like that - most likely the stylist did some other thing (brushing, etc.) that did the trick and the product was just meant to hold it in place longer. And speaking as a fellow fine-hair sufferer, you've probably only got about a few hours with that anyway.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:13 AM on March 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Seconding that it's probably the way it was dried/brushed rather than a specific product. Did the stylist blow-dry it? I used to get this look with my hair by blow-drying the ends up while holding bits in between my fingers.
posted by Specklet at 9:27 AM on March 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

It could've been any kind of gel or wax. I'd call and ask for maximum success.
posted by stoneandstar at 9:30 AM on March 2, 2015

Yeah, you can do the flippy bit when you blowdry her hair; you kind of curl the ends around a round or roundish brush as you dry it. Or if you don't blow dry, a largish curling iron would work, too. Then, you just add whatever holding product that you like the texture of to keep it curled. They probably used some sort of pomade at the salon, but you can just ask them. Or use a completely different product, depending on how you like the texture and ease of application (pomades can be tricky, I think, to get distributed evenly.)
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:31 AM on March 2, 2015

When my hair is around that length all it takes to get the ends to flip is to put it in a ponytail when it's wet. Let it dry, remove the band, and voila! If nothing else it won't cost anything to try.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:32 AM on March 2, 2015

My hair has always done this naturally when it's around this length - maybe if this is the first time she's had it short, hers does as well and you never noticed before? I think you could encourage it with any wax/pomade product, just rub a a very little bit on your hands, sandwich the hair between your palms, and lightly pull down/along the hair, with a bit of a flip at the end.
posted by Safiya at 1:30 PM on March 2, 2015

Response by poster: The stylist did blow dry it--that must have been most the answer. She definitely doesn't have this look naturally. It was back to perfectly straight the next day. Time to play around with the hair dryer!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 2:43 PM on March 2, 2015