Show me wash and go hair washed and gone

November 5, 2022 6:25 PM

I'm getting a haircut next week. Like everyone, I want to just wash my hair and go, or (more often) wash and go to bed with wet hair. I want haircuts compatible with this lifestyle but when I googke wash and go hair I get lots of pictures of women who have very obviously done more than that. Where can I see pictures of women's hair styles minimally-style (like yeah ok untangle it but nothing involving the application of heat or finicky handling).
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (25 answers total)

It’s unclear what you’re asking for, and without knowing your hair type, it’s hard to say which cut would work for you. If you go wash your hair, condition it, and then let it air dry, that’s what your hair will look like. If it’s not defined enough, too flat, too frizzy, whatever it is, that’s what you’d want to communicate to your hairstylist. Of course you will usually need a leave in product or two for the best results, but again, that’s something that’s hard to recommend without any more information, so discussing this with your stylist should be helpful. If you can, try and get someone with a similar hair type to yours to cut it. I have really thick hair, and the only people who do a good job cutting it are fellow thick haired stylists.
posted by Champagne Supernova at 6:31 PM on November 5, 2022

Response by poster: I'm not looking for haircut recommendations. I'm looking fir websites that will show different haircuts but will show what the haircut looks like if you basically wash it and brush it and don't put a tonne of effort into styling it.

There are a million "here are haircuts" websites but they all show people either right after their haircuts (so styled by a professional) or they show hairvthatbis very obviously carefully styled. You'd be amazed how many Google image searches for wash and go hair show women on the red carpet. That's not very helpful.for helping me figure out what different haircuts look like in the real world. I know that I would have to consider hairs texture compared to mine...but just show me some pictures and I can do that. The problem is I can't find the pictures.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:39 PM on November 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

For me and my fine hair, it's a pixie cut. Wash, towel dry, spray a bit of salt spray or wax spray, muss and shape with fingers, and I'm gone. Literally minutes. When I really want to care, I add product then blow warm and style till dry. Still under five minutes.
posted by Thella at 6:39 PM on November 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

Look up your salon or a few salons in your area on Instagram.

Go through their scrolls of fresh cut photos.

Look at the caption and comments. Sometimes but not usually they'll tag the person who got the cut. Sometimes the person who got the cut will be there in the comments saying something like "thanks I love it!"

Tap through to that person's page and look through their recent pics to see how that hairstyle is wearing.
posted by phunniemee at 6:48 PM on November 5, 2022 [9 favorites]

But really, and far more importantly, the way you get wash and go hair is to tell the person cutting your hair straight up: "I will do absolutely no styling. I'm going to wash my hair and then however it dries is how it is." Show them where any cowlicks are and talk to them about your hair texture. Speak up about what you like or don't like about the way your hair naturally falls.

Let them cut your hair in a way that works for YOUR hair and YOUR level of effort.

Toward the end when they go to style it, don't let them put any product in. Rough blow dry (i.e. not on a round brush) only so that it gets dry enough to have a shape to it. Then: communicate. This is your time to really scrutinize your cut and ask questions about anything that doesn't look how you want it to. I've had a lot of conversations over the years that amount to "if you're not going to use some product and blowdry it, that piece will always fall that way" and that's fine--for me. Maybe not for you. The only way you find out is by having an active conversation about your hair with a professional hair person.
posted by phunniemee at 6:55 PM on November 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Phuniemeee: When I used to teach, I always said

Getting a haircut makes me a better teacher.

I go get a haircut and I say "I just want to wash my hair and go" and my stylist says "Ok" and he cuts my hair and he says ok, when you get out of the shower, just run your fingers through it like this. And he runs his fingers through my hair and it looks amazing and I'm so happy. And I go home and I run my fingers through my hair like that and it's just ...meh. And I realize that when he says "just run your fingers through it like this" it feels very simple to him. But he is running his fingers through my hair like a person with decades of experience running his fingers through people's hair. He thinks it's simple and virtually no styling because FOR HIM it is. But my fingers don't have decades of muscle memory and obviously whatever I'm doing is obviously not the same.

So I return to my teaching and I hear myself tell my students "just do..." and of course to me that is a simple thing that I can do on auto-pilot because I've been doing it for decades, but for them it is not simple. And when I get a haircut and my stylist runs his fingers through my hair on autopilot and it doesn't work for me, I feel what my students must feel.

So yeah, obviously I DO tell him, but when he doesn't style it and when I don't style it, that's somehow not the same thing.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:15 PM on November 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

I recommend getting your hair cut dry- it's faster and you can see exactly what it will look like with no styling if it's already dry to begin with. The result of no styling will completely depend on your individual hair, so a photo of someone else's hair may not be as helpful as you're hoping.
posted by pinochiette at 7:15 PM on November 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

I too would love to find a website like this, but have never seen one. But sometimes if I see a celebrity with a hairstyle I like, I will try to find candid/paparazzi shots of them to get a better sense of what it looks like with less (although usually not zero) styling.

Also: I wonder if another part of the difference between your stylist’s “just run fingers through” and yours is not just technique but also products. If your stylist is using different shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, etc than you do at home, that can make a big difference in final look, even if you don’t see them use any product during the final “styling” phase.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 7:31 PM on November 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

I don’t quite have an answer to your question but want to point out: in the natural hair care community (aka often black people) “wash and go” is the name of a particular hairstyle. Despite the name, it is pretty intricate. I suspect that’s messing up your search results. There’s nothing wrong with anyone using that term, it just may skew your results.
posted by Pretty Good Talker at 7:43 PM on November 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

I googled "website for real haircuts" and one hit was this. It seems like most of the pictures are of real people looking good, some are done up, some are not? They also have instagram links so maybe you can find some of the people's Instagrams and see how they look day to day.
posted by foxjacket at 7:55 PM on November 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think the reason it's hard to successfully search for this is because no-style or low-style hair doesn't promote buying hair products, so no one is incentivized to push this information. Maybe try searching for hairstyle suggestions from groups that are allergic to common fragrances or other chemicals found in hair products? I don't know if that will get you side by side comparisons of haircuts vs how the hair looks without styling a week later, but it may be a starting point to at least see honest no-maintenance looks.
posted by happy_cat at 8:06 PM on November 5, 2022 [4 favorites]

100% consensus with zengargoyle. Yeah, I just buzz it once every few months. If it floofs in a way that looks a little off, I run my fingers through it once, but otherwise I don't even have to do that. Not in the way! Makes for $0 haircuts and short showers (eco-friendly!)! I haven't worried about hair products in years and! and! my hair looks better than it did when it was long and I put way too much actual effort in.
posted by aniola at 8:07 PM on November 5, 2022 [4 favorites]

I have gone the opposite of short for my wash and go style. I wear my hair long and keep it pulled straight back off my face in a set of combs that hold it without putting a lot of of tension on it (not an elastic!) they are similar to these: peigne bresilien.

All this requires is that I brush it before I put it up and even that is a little bit optional. It takes me a few minutes to brush and less then 30 seconds to put up. It is essentially zero effort. It doesn't even require a mirror.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:43 PM on November 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

Buzz cut is definitely the best answer for low maintenance hair. I find that short-medium length hair tends to need more styling to look good, and also requires more frequent haircuts to maintain the shape.

I'm with jacquilynne - longer hair just needs brushing. On a good hair day you're good to go, on a bad hair day you shove it in a ponytail. Oh and no fringe or you'll be trimming it every other week. I will get a cold if I go to bed with wet hair so for me I do have to dry it if i wash it at night, but I only wash my hair once or twice a week so that's still easier than something I would have to comb/brush and style everyday. No one looks and me and thinks I have the best hairstyle ever, but long hair in itself can be striking and I think it suits me. Like others have said, you'll have to fine something that suits you. Good luck!
posted by pianissimo at 9:55 PM on November 5, 2022 [4 favorites]

There’s no getting around the problem of hair. If it’s short, you’re going to have to buzz it frequently (which is annoying). If it’s longer, you’re going to have to spend at least some time researching styles and products (probably every five years because unless your perfect product is a classic, it might get discontinued) and finding hairdressers (I’ve never had one be consistently good over more than 5 appointments). I hate it, too.

Reddit has a bunch of hair subreddits. Since I have wavy hair, I can only really recommend r/wavyhair. They promote a routine I would never have the patience for, but every now and then, there’s a pic of someone as low maintenance as I am with a routine as simple as I want, so, that’s been inspiration enough to get me to my current happy length/style. It’s also been useful re product and ingredient recommendations.

SO if you share your texture, maybe we can recommend something more appropriate.

FWIW, I agree with some here, mid-length layers suit a lot of hair types (definitely not all, please please share your texture), and that’s truly the most low-maintenance style I’ve experienced. East styling, two cuts a year, if that. Then it’s just about the right conditioner, and *maybe* a leave-in spray or cream. And then deciding “bangs or no”.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:38 PM on November 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also, honestly, sometimes a single product (eg conditioner choice) or learning just one tiny little trick can make a world of difference. Your stylist can teach you if you ask him to.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:44 PM on November 5, 2022

You might have to look at this from a completely different angle: if intentional photos of hairstyles self-selects people who style with product (because those look good), then maybe think about where can you find photos or footage of the type of people who are likely not to style their hair with product? Like, I would say hobbyist spaces, when people post photos of their activities they're not the people with a lot of product in their hair usually. If you have straightish (but thick) hair similar to people in East and Central Asia, you'll notice the no-fuss hair for them is a bob, or grow it out long and tying it back, when you see videos of people living their lives in these regions.

Or try clickbaity search terms? "No heat hairstyle" or "No product hair" or buzzy terms like that, on video sites (e.g. TikTok or YouTube).
posted by cendawanita at 2:12 AM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]

Here's the live link to the website that foxjacket mentioned. All kinds of appealing styles on that website!
posted by virago at 2:13 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I am a woman who goes to cheap places to get my hair cut and I tell them that I want a haircut like a guy. Because I also do not use product, I don’t own a blow dryer, and I don’t give a shit about styling. This is not to bash people who are into that, it’s just not my thing. So that is one approach, if you’re OK with short hair. I know that a lot of men are into using product and special styling, but a lot of men still aren’t into that. So for me, that’s the best way to get a non-fussy haircut. Apologies for not being able to answer your specific question; good luck finding something that works for you.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:05 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have no link. I can say that two weeks ago I walked into a salon with shoulder length hair and a bunch of pinned photos of short cuts I liked. The new to me stylist picked one she felt would work for me. We washed my hair, added detangling spray because my hair needed to be combed to cut, she cut my hair 85% of the way, blasted it a bit to dry it. She then finished the cut with my hair dry, asked me if I wanted her to do any styling. We agreed it looked great as was and that’s it. I am now the proud owner of wash and go hair. It looks great if I just wash and go. I do like it to look just a tiny bit more textured so I like to rub the tiniest amount of hair cream between my fingers, run my fingers through my hair and separate out a few strands to define between my fingers.

Things that helped. I have thick wavy hair. I tried to make sure to pick photos that depicted women with hair that looked like it was thick and would be wavy if longer, it didn’t lie flat but had movement even quite short. The stylist explained why she thought a particular style would be best and how long it would be. This allowed me to emphasise what I wanted to avoid. She spent a fair bit of time running her fingers through my hair, figuring out how it behaves, looking for cowlicks etc. As she got going and made significant progress on the first side we both started to smile a lot. I could see it taking shape and that I liked the shape. She enjoyed being allowed to do more than trim ends, she was able to bring her skills and experience to bear to make something new. She didn’t finish the cut in wet hair but dried it to see what it looks like before fine tuning it. When she showed me the back she pointed out where she had left a few longer strands further up to cover the countless cowlicks on the lower back of my head.

I wasn’t spending a lot of time styling my longer hair by any means. But i was just done with long hair. It takes longer to wash, you absolutely have to use conditioner, you need multiple towels just to towel dry it so it no longer drips, you probably need product or leave in conditioner to comb it. If you air dry it, it takes for ever to dry. And at least I need product to get it nice and wavy air drying…if you want it to look moderately smooth, you do need to at least dry it with a brush…for me, there is no point having long hair if you just put it up/in a pony tail.

In case you can’t tell, I love my cut and had lots of compliments for it.
posted by koahiatamadl at 5:14 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

My answer is that the only solution to true wash-and-go for me was finding a single product that works well in my hair -- which is lightly wavy. For me it's this, which is usually easily found at a drugstore. Slather it on when my hair is pretty wet, walk away, finger comb it later when my hair is pretty dry. The end. I don't like fuss and this is a simple solution so I've stuck with it.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:51 AM on November 6, 2022

I'd suggest finding some style names and looking for them "unstyled." Bob, pixie, and shag are all haircuts that lend themselves well to wash and go, but what they'll look like on you will vary based on your hair texture and curl.

Sohla El-Waylly has a typical bob, and her Insta and Tiktok show what it looks like unstyled. I can say having had this cut off and on for years it will look very flat if your hair is thin, so avoid it if your hair doesn't have much body.

A shag haircut pretty much is what it is because the hair is cut in a bunch of layers and it's hard to style a cut that goes everywhere. Natasha Lyonne, Miley Cyrus and Zendaya have all had or still have shag haircuts.

Pixies are the highest maintenance of the three. They require more frequent haircuts, and usually require some type of light styling be it product, blow drying or artful brushing. But there's not much hair to deal with so it's lower maintenance than a long shag.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:11 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

100% consensus with zengargoyle. Yeah, I just buzz it once every few months.

You must be mistaken, it seems I didn't actually say anything in this thread. But I'd agree, quite short hair is a breeze to deal with.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:43 PM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have given up on hairstylists because no matter how much I explain or how many pictures I show them, they never really listen. I finally figured out how to cut my own short hair exactly how I want, with the help of bright lights and mirrors. Some YouTube but mostly me just knowing my own hair and how I want it to look. It's got to be short enough that can I just wash and go, no product, but still have some shape. It is too long and has too much weight when I start reaching for product, every couple weeks or so. Then I trim it. I don't have to impress anyone, so I don't worry if it isn't cut perfectly. It is my solution to getting wash'n'go and it works for me.

I had long hair for years. No more for me, thanks. I don't find it practical at all.
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 10:10 PM on November 6, 2022

these are really wash and go (link to facebook of hairstylist that specializes in natural haircuts). -
https://www.facebook.com/pazurtaliaavrech/photos
hopefully you can find something to show your hairstylist
posted by mirileh at 12:43 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]