What should I do with my hair?

March 14, 2023 4:56 PM

I'm planning to get a much shorter haircut than I'm used to and the texture of my hair is different since the last time I wore it this short. It's fine and pretty wavy and I'd like it to be about shoulder length. What kind of haircut should I get?

I've had very long hair for like, 20 years. I'm thinking about going shorter. But my hair has gotten a lot more texture since the last time I had shorter hair (due to some combo of hormone changes and moving to a more drizzly climate) and I'm worried it will become a big triangular poof.

I have fine hair, but kind of a lot of it. It's wavy but not super wavy - a 2B on a good day. I really don't want to heat style it because it's so fine that any heat damage starts it breaking. Plus I just really don't like using heat styling tools, they stress me out, and also I am very busy and don't want to do much more with my hair than wash it. And it's been my experience that if it gets wet it immediately curls again anyway, and I live in the PNW, so it often does get wet.

I am in my mid 30s but would like a hairstyle that doesn't scream "suburban mom" - wouldn't mind something with a bit of personality. Though in fact I am a suburban mom, so, y'know. What do I tell my haircut lady? Pictures very appreciated!

posted by potrzebie to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

I would lean in to the texture changes and get a cut that uses the increased wavy-ness to create a good shape for your head. I'm partial to the French Girl Bob w/ or w/o bangs depending on your forehead exposure preferences.
If you have a good, ongoing, relationship with your stylist, they should a: know what could work for you initially and b. be able to read your hair's natural proclivities better still in six months to really give you a short cut that works best for your head and lets the hair itself do all the heavy lifting. Everyone, including your hair, hates heat treatments, amirite?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 6:09 PM on March 14, 2023

Curly haired women who were victimized by bad bangs as children seem to really be having a moment right now in re. reclaiming their natural textured bangs. So if that was a concern for you, embrace it. The shag is still in (example), if that's a style you like.

Whatever you choose, make sure you're going to a stylist who has many (many) example photos on their Instagram of haircuts on people with your same hair texture. And also--check first of course--a lot of places prefer to dry cut first on your clean naturally textured hair in your regular style, so plan around that on chop day.
posted by phunniemee at 6:16 PM on March 14, 2023

Your hair sounds like mine, although it sounds like maybe a bit more body if you're worried about it going triangular at shoulder length - mine has to be more like jaw length before it gets too geometric. Regardless, layers will break that up. If you like to pull all your hair back, probably keep the shortest layers around jaw length, but if you're into a more tousled, face-framing effect, you can go shorter. The first image here looks to have maybe cheekbone-length for the shortest layers, as an example.
posted by EvaDestruction at 6:24 PM on March 14, 2023

I use an undercut both to reduce the amount of hair and because it's a little more edgy than the suburban moms usually go for.
posted by metasarah at 6:36 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Your hair is similar to mine. Recently I have had good luck with a side parted beveled shoulder length cut. It works as a wash and go. Looks meh the day of wash but perfectly suitable the day after and I live in an area that can be quite humid.
posted by donut_princess at 7:19 PM on March 14, 2023

It's hard to make suggestions without knowing your face shape.

I'm a suburban mom, but I'm not sure if my style is suburban mom-ish. I have fine, wavy hair like yours and a square face.

I wear mine just past my shoulders, with bangs just past my eyebrows. I only need to blow dry the bangs straight down with a vent brush, the rest is wash and go. It's also long enough to pull up if it's just too frizzy that day.
posted by champers at 3:22 AM on March 15, 2023

I have your exact hair and always just ask for long layers starting at my chin (to allow me to tie it back) and ending just past the shoulders. It's not perfect (it's not exciting at all, and frizziness in wet weather is a problem I have yet to solve) but it doesn't require styling and is inoffensive.

(You probably already know but to cut down on frizziness with mid-length hair, it really helps to avoid brushing completely and ideally comb out tangles only before/during showers, and only lightly finger comb in the morning)
posted by randomnity at 7:17 AM on March 15, 2023