Help me find a haircut!

September 10, 2007 2:54 PM

Help me find a haircut!

For a good portion of my life, I just kept my hair buzzed short. Recently, I tried growing it out, and everyone agrees that it looks much better. Unfortunately, it is very unmanageable. It's at a length now where I need to get a haircut, and I'm looking for advice. I've been to barbers and fancy salons, but I never know what to ask for, and I end up with a haircut I'm not really satisfied with. Hopefully the MeFi crowd can help me find an awesome style.

My only hard and fast requirement is no product. I could maybe put a cream or lotion that weighs it down a bit, but I'm not interested in anything that holds it in a particular position. A more dramatic cut would be awesome, as my haircuts have all been pretty boring, and I am ready for something new and exciting. It just seems that every cut I've seen that qualifies as dramatic requires stick straight hair.

Here are a couple of pictures of my current hair situation. You can't tell in the picture, but when I pull one of my curls in the front straight, it comes down to my mouth.

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice! Pictures for reference would be a nice bonus!

posted by AaRdVarK to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 comments total)

Pictures for reference would be a nice bonus!

Here's a little diagram I made for you. Just print it out and hand it to any barber.
posted by damn dirty ape at 3:11 PM on September 10, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

How about something like this? Nothing drastic needed, just a trim and some styling, and it would suit. And your hair looks made for a style like that.
posted by fire&wings at 3:29 PM on September 10, 2007

Your hair looks a lot like my boyfriend's. He grows his longer -- down near his chin -- and puts gel in it each morning. Given the weight and thickness of his hair, the gel doesn't hold it in one position so much as tame the curls and the frizz a bit so that he has more of a style and less of a 'fro.

He basically sticks to the "long and curly" thing, but actual haircuts look the best on him when he goes to a nice salon and says "do what you think looks good." Then he looks hot. When he goes to the local $10 unisex place... the style kind of borders on curly black Q-tip. Spring for a nice place and trust in the stylist.
posted by olinerd at 3:34 PM on September 10, 2007

Picture of aforementioned boyfriend, fyi. Obviously his is longer than yours (this was some months after his last haircut), but sans gel and shorter, his hair looks almost exactly like yours does right now.
posted by olinerd at 3:36 PM on September 10, 2007

if you want to grow it out, a trim and some styling product should do you just fine. anything that says it's for reducing frizz or defining curls should be fine--it won't be sticky or stiff, it'll just make your natural style look a little more put-together. it's like the clear lip gloss of hair product.
posted by thinkingwoman at 3:55 PM on September 10, 2007

You're in VA--how do you feel about going to an African-American place? I've inferred from these pictures that you are South Asian, apologies if not.
posted by brujita at 9:53 PM on September 10, 2007

Your background.
posted by brujita at 9:54 PM on September 10, 2007

You and I (more or less) have the same hair, and haircut.

My secret weapon is garnier fructis "surf hair" paste. It comes in a little green tub with a yellow lid. Application (for our hair type) is as follows: after a shower, when your hair is toweled mostly dry, but still wetish, brush it. straight down all around, get the tangles out. now take a dollop of paste about the size of a lima bean, and rub your hands together until both of your palms are evenly coated. Then rub vigorously through your hair, trying for even coverage. just rub up and down and from and back and side to side. get your hair really messy doing this. It should be all messy and not at all presentable right now. take your fingers and finger-comb it back down to almost neat again, but not quite. leave it alone until it's almost completely dry. when it's pretty much, but not completely dry, run your fingers through it a bunch, which will sort of puff it up into a half-fro. Then pat it back down, finger comb, etc. back to presentable. once it's dry, this maneuver is to be repeated on a less vigorous scale whenever your hair looks flat.

here is a relatively recent picture of me and my twin brother (disregard the funny faces), which gives you a good idea of successful use of this procedure. (he does the exact same thing, more or less)
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 10:48 PM on September 10, 2007

I should note- this application looks good with shorter hair too.
here is another of us, with shorter hair (disregard the girl in the middle, etc. The picture was chosen for visibility of hair.)
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 10:55 PM on September 10, 2007

My hair gets curly like yours when I grow it out too. I would usually dry it with a towel, but leave it a little damp. I would then comb it all straight back and then run about a dime sized amount of pomade through my hair. I would let it air dry then and it would come out curly but the frizz would be controlled.
posted by fallenposters at 5:05 AM on September 11, 2007

I've gotta say -- AaRdVarK and The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew are some pretty cute guys.

I would suggest only going to stylists from now on and eschewing barbers. Get someone who can deal with hair. If you don't like what they do try another stylist at that salon or a new salon. Look in the alternative weekly for "hip" places.
posted by Locative at 2:57 AM on September 15, 2007