<p>Hi,
As my kids would say, I have a first world problem. I have very thick wavy, dark hair. I have always worn it very short…boy short… and it works fine for my face. Lately, though, I have an urge to make a change and have tried to grow it out a little bit. I mean a LITTLE BIT. It is still very short on my neck but the top and sides have grown out a little. I like the change but am having trouble styling it. In the past I have just washed it and finger styled it with a little gel. I don’t even own a blow dryer.</p>
<p>I like it. But I have very thick, straight-as-a-stick hair, so that would be a whole lot of trouble for me. My boss has curly hair and she just uses a mousse without a gel. Her hair is longer, but her curls are defined without looking stiff. If your hair has a lot of curl, I would recommend scrunching dry with a blow dryer with diffuser and using your fingers to get the shape you want. If your hair is merely wavy, then you might have to use a small curling iron to get more definition.</p>
<p>I also have thick, curly hair, and have worn it short for years. Anything longer goes to the early Hermione Granger look… I recently mentioned to my mom that I was thinking about coloring or tinting my hair, and she pounced on this idea, sending me three (not one, but THREE) stuffed large envelopes of possible hairstyles. I think she has been saving them up for the last 30 years, waiting for a crack into which she could wedge her opinion. I was chatting with my long time hair stylist about this recently, and told him I was not sure my hair would do what was in those pictures even if I wanted it to. He agreed, and said that so often people come to him with photos of hair that just… isn’t theirs. You can only do what your hair will do, he said, especially if it is naturally curly or wavy.</p>
<p>That said, your best bet is to talk to a hair stylist (probably not at a cheap haircut place) about your options. Someone with a lot of experience might be able to tell you some options. </p>
<p>Just FYI, mine is usually shorter on the sides & back, and a bit longer/curlier on top. I use Suave Mousse (8) on it after showering, then just brush it (sometimes finger comb if I want a more tousled look). Only bad thing about this is that that mousse does not come in a travel size, and I am quite dependent on it to get some poof in the top of my hair.</p>
<p>A good razorcut, may help a lot.
I have wavy hair & I find with age, my very fine but thick hair is dry & flyaway.
I don’t like gels & things usually, because it seems like it dries out my hair, but I do use hair oil, to get it under control.
( i put it on my hands, then just on the ends of my hair)</p>
<p>I also have very thick, very curly hair. Mine is a little longer than shown. When I wear it curly, I towel dry it then use a curl sculpting cream(garnier). It defines curls with no frizz and leaves my hair soft. If I need a little more taming I add some Enjoy cream pomade once my hair is almost dry.</p>
<p>Ive also used what I think was amla oil.
My daughter brought it back from India & told me it was good for hair & skin, but wasn’t sure what was in it.</p>
<p>Intparent, have your stylist teach you to back comb.
Just a tiny bit can give you what you want, at least if your hair is like mine.
mine is so fine that it comes out when I brush it, but it stays until I do.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a case of choosing a style that won’t work for my hair. My hair will definitely do the style. There are a lot of styles that I CAN’T do because of the voluminous texture of my hair but this one is a go. My hair is somewhere between wavy and curly and it holds a curl forever once it is in.
Emeraldkity, my hairstyist cuts my hair with a razor. In fact, that’s the only way that a cut will work for me, even when I was a kid (I have the PTSD to prove it!). She always knows it’s time to change the blade in her razor when I show up.</p>
<p>So I looked at the products I have (which I just bought on a whim). I had to get up to go look at the brands, Emeraldkity! Ugh! Lol. I have John Frieda Frizz Ease mousse and the Garnier cream gel for curls.</p>
<p>I guess I"m wondering if I should be blow drying it first. Or maybe I just need to keep practicing. Somedays the look is great and it’s just what I’m going for and others it’s a disaster. I’m not used to the variable! My hair was soooo short before that it always looked the same.</p>
<p>For that style, I would think a little bit of product on the roots and blow-drying (maybe with a diffuser?) with your head upside down while scrunching would to the trick. I like that style a lot.</p>
<p>And I am in the same situation as you, only my hair is not quite so short. In fact, it is WAY overdo for a cut now because I don’t know what to do with it. I am very curious to look for some of the products listed above since I don’t know that I’m truly satisfied with anything I have. </p>
<p>The cut you show is adorable. The bangs would be difficult for me - I don’t like bangs on my forehead fully like that. I have had sort of an asymetrical short cut in front with a close wedge in the back the last couple of years - I’m tired of it. And now that I’m running, I want something even MORE easy to take care of. In the winter I will sometimes take a flat iron to the front part of my hair but as the warmer weather comes I want to embrace the waves and curls!</p>
<p>It’s highly likely that in your link her hair was dried using a blow dryer or diffuser and then styled. Try that and then put in some creme or whatever to achieve that look. Just air drying won’t give you the volume you need to get to that look. Most likely you will have to dry it in the opposite direction until almost dry and the finger comb to the correct direction to finish.</p>
<p>Highly recommend diffusers, especially if you want to accent the curl. Dont use a brush, just keep scrunching the hair & let it dry the last bit on its own.
You know what works with your hair, but generally brushing curly hair just makes it frizzy, comb it with your fingers/ pick.
The other thing you need to do to accent curl is add moisture. I put jojoba oil on my hair overnight & wash it in the morning.
( I also use Liggett bar shampoo & often don’t need conditioner)</p>
<p>Since I just have some wave, & most of that is when my hair is longer, what I would do to get the style in the photo is to use my head like a giant roller.
Put a little styling creme on the ends and using an ionic flat brush, dry it while brushed all the way over to one side then the other.
Sometimes I use a curling iron, but not to curl it, just to run it through the hair to smooth it.</p>
<p>Abasket, those cuts are adorable! I love them! They are a bit longer than mine now and quite a bit longer in the back. Mine is cut very close and short in the back partly because I have had very short hair for so long that I can’t stand the feel of hair on my neck. </p>
<p>I would be tempted to try one of those cuts though if I can ever get the hang of this length I have now.</p>
<p>StevMa, adding volume is definitely not my problem. Air drying my hair creates tons of volume. I have volume to share if anyone wants some. I might try the diffuser though.</p>
<p>Today, my hair came out great! Can’t explain it as I didn’t do anything different than yesterday. Lol.</p>
<p>I got three compliments from people who thought that I just got it cut!</p>
<p>I have very thick hair and find the trick is to get it thinned, whether I dry it straight or go with wavy or curly, it is always better when it has been thinned.</p>
<p>I have had mine cut very close in back for a few years for the very same reason of not liking hair in my neck - dont know if I can survive a hot summer without it that way!!! I love short hair - even if I’m not Halle Berry!!</p>
<p>EPTR, I have short-ish curly hair, and I use the blow-dryer strategically and very sparingly. You mostly want it to dry naturally, with a little help from your fingers and your mousse. Here’s what I do:</p>
<p>Out of the shower, I do a little bit of bend-over blow-drying, scrunching and getting some lift at the roots. I do this with the dryer set on low, and NO MORE than about 10 seconds, so the hair is still wet when I straighten up. The purpose isn’t to dry the hair, only to get it up off my scalp. Then I scrunch in mousse at the roots. Then I finger-style a bit, making a part, putting things where I want them, and again scrunching.</p>
<p>Then I let it mostly air-dry. I go about my business, checking on it occasionally and re-scrunching. At the end, I do a tiny bit of gentle blow-drying at the roots just for lift – if needed (and with curly hair, it seems to turn out different every day!). I also tug out my bangs a bit straighter with the dryer.</p>
<p>Final touch: Hairspray on my fingertips, to add lift in spots – if needed – or to put a stray strand back in place.</p>
<p>Thanks, LasMa!
That’s very helpful! I really need a book called “Short, but not THAT Short. Curly Hair for Dummies”.</p>
<p>Just one question. If you go back in to the roots with the blow dryer, doesn’t it mess up what you have already done? Also, do you use a diffuser or a regular blow dryer?</p>
<p>I think I’m going to have to start getting up earlier!</p>
<p>It’s easier and quicker than I made it sound. Elapsed time is maybe a half hour, but actual time working on it is about two minutes. </p>
<p>I tried a diffuser but couldn’t get the knack of it. I think it might work better for longer hair, but it made my hair look like a bubble helmet. I’ve discovered my fingers can do the same lifting with a regular dryer, with a much more natural look.</p>
<p>As for the final root-dry: I gently lift a section with my fingers and aim the dryer directly at the roots. The keys are to dry from below (dryer pointing up and at your scalp), set it on low and warm, and again just for a couple of seconds. It doesn’t usually mess anything up, but if it does, I just lay it back in place perhaps with a bit of hairspray on my fingers. (My stylist taught me that spray-on-the-fingers trick, and it’s a good one.)</p>
<p>Don’t worry if it’s not perfect. The beauty of this kind of hairstyle is that it’s tousled. Tousled is very forgiving. :)</p>
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