My hair is driving me crazy

April 21, 2012 8:40 AM

Please help me find an easy hairstyle that suits my face shape.

I have been growing out a pixie cut for many months and my hair doesn't currently have anything that could be considered a style. I loved my hair super short because it was easy, but I got a little bored with it.

Picture of current mess here and here

I'm pretty unhappy/frustrated at this point and will take any suggestions. Cut it shorter? A style for the current length? A goal for a longer length?

My hair has just a tiny bit of curl that pretty much just means frizz at the current length. I also don't want to spend tons of time on it in the morning.

Thank you!

posted by gone tharn to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

I would love to see you in a haircut like this. Her texture is very similar to yours.
posted by 200burritos at 8:59 AM on April 21, 2012 [8 favorites]

I dunno, I like the length and fall, and if you're not going shorter again it's going to have to grow sometime!

One principle I use for grow out is "Control The Big Sides." So if you wake up and go "What the hell is up with my head???!?" slick the sides back above the ear with a little product and add pins or barettes. Suddenly you no longer feel like Stewie from Family Guy.

I would suggest keeping the length, but have the stylist texturize the bottom 1/3-1/4. So you get something like this, more tousel and movement. Of course, that's a Sally Hershberger, a cut that launched a thousand haircuts, but I think what I'm seeing in your pics is that the length isn't bad on you, but the lack of chunky-ness makes it bland by today's eye. Good luck!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:06 AM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think the big thing is that you need to lose the part, and at the same time lose some of the length right around your face. How about short but slightly sideswept bangs (that is, not straight across) that start way up high on your head?
posted by ootandaboot at 9:28 AM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think your hair is really cute at more or less this length, but I agree that getting it shaped more a la 200burritos's suggestion and with sideswept bangs a la Rube R. Nekker's and ootandaboot's suggestions will be dynamite. (Or like Mariska Hargitay's look in the photo used in this article; that look works just as well with tiny bit of curl as with straight hair.)
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:11 AM on April 21, 2012

I also have wavy hair, and had it cut into something between a pixie and an angled bob a few years ago - loved it, loved it, loved it!. Here's my hair then - I'd grown it out from something similar to yours, but I part to the side. It kind of looked like this from the back, but I love that the waviness worked well with it. I literally didn't have to do anything to my hair aside from maybe scrunching with a little water to redefine the wave/curl.

I kept the back short and textured to keep the thickness down. In the front I focused on growing the sides longer, and blending my front bangs in with the sides as they grew - a little shorter in the middle, and longer towards the sides. If you wanted to work towards this, just get the back trimmed up and maybe texture the front.
posted by lizbunny at 10:36 AM on April 21, 2012

Best answer: You are so beautiful! I agree that you still look great with that length and that the part needs to go, however I think you should to with something a little more modern.

Michelle Williams is/was growing out her pixie cut and her in-between style is absolutely STUNNING. I don't think it would take that much time at all. Make 10 minutes blow drying, which is heavenly. My bob takes 45 minutes to blow-dry.

Here

Here

Here

Here

She is so flipping gorgeous nnnnnggggggghhhhhh...
posted by two lights above the sea at 11:23 AM on April 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Oh, and here are the instructions for styling that haircut! (You have to scroll down a bunch to the Sideswept Beauty section. You'll see Mrs Williams.)
posted by two lights above the sea at 11:31 AM on April 21, 2012

I have similar length and texture hair, although probably not as thick and I HATE the mushroom pouf that always happens between pixies, it always happens. So you need to eliminate the causes: A top layer that ends bluntly at the ears, and a centre part whose symmetry only accentuates the mushy mushroomness. The cure is very, very simple and easy to maintain: add some shaggy layers to the back and crown, it'll feel shorter than you want it, but you'll keep the front/some bangs longer and the overall effect to your face will be that it's the same length. Take that longer front portion and style it into asymmetrical/side swept bangs with long sides that frame your temples/jaw. This is also an excellent style to grow out because it will always just look like a shaggy bob until it's shoulder length, it has no awkward in-between state. To style it in the morning you'll need to blow dry only the front portion over a big barrel brush with some smoothing serum and let the rest of it dry into a half-curled shaggy semi-casual tously mess. It takes me 10 minutes. If absolutely necessary or on a particularly humid day I might flat iron the bangs/sides, but your still only looking at a few minutes. My inspiration was Shane from the L Word.
posted by Carlotta Bananas at 12:09 PM on April 21, 2012

I love your waves! My hair is so fine and straight. I envy your texture!

I recently discovered this Japanese hair website. It has a lot of options you might like. I think this one would be cute on you.
posted by apricot at 12:14 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

You look very much like a younger me, down to the similar glasses. I wonder if emphasizing your curls could work? I finally found a hairdresser who knows both how to thin my very thick hair and to make it curl more (rather than less, which is what most hairdressers do).

I don't style it but use some Aveda shampoo for curly hair, leave it alone while it's drying, and if it's drying in a way I like I use a bit of hairspray.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:07 AM on April 22, 2012

IF YOU DO choose the aforementioned haircut and wish it to be a little longer, it will be very easy to just laze out, trim your own bangs, and let the back hairs grow as they will.
posted by 200burritos at 8:32 PM on April 22, 2012

Response by poster: We had some warm weather and I decided to go a little shorter before continuing with the grow out. Thanks for all of the suggestions, I’m looking forward to trying them when my hair gets longer again.
posted by gone tharn at 9:55 AM on May 12, 2012