How do you wear your hair (length, layers, bangs…)? Do you wear it the same way everyday or mix it up? Do you color it? How long have/do you wear it in a particular length or style? Do you follow trends or stick to what works for you?
I tend to change things up once a decade or so…starting to think about the next style. I aim for a combination of something that works with the hair I have (rather than the hair I wish I had), but that is also current.
Currently, mine is just shy of shoulder-length, with some face-framing layers. It is uncolored, still mostly brown but with noticeable gray streaks. My hair is super thick and prone to fizz/dryness, so I only wash/style it every 4 or 5 days. It is a ton of work (and product) to tame. As such, on wash day, I wear it blown out and sleek. Day 2 is a less sleek version, but still usually down, or sometimes in a half-up-do. Days 3, 4 and 5 it is in a ponytail or clipped up messy bun. I’ve worn it this way for about the last 5 or 6 years. Before that I had a bob for many years, which was both easier (less hair to manage) and harder (only one way to wear it and it needed to be blown smooth, so it was a terrible choice in the summer when I swim all the time).
I change things up a fair amount but I’m finding that I think I look younger when it’s a couple of inches below my shoulders. I also like it long enough to be able to put up in a messy bun. I do color my hair to what it was naturally when I was younger.
Right now it’s mostly one length with some face framing. Come the summer I’ll add layers as my hair is wavy/curly, especially in the summer when it’s humid. With the right products, adding layers allows it to curl more and frizz less.
I don’t follow the trends and just go with what works best for the shape of my face and texture of my hair.
Do you wear it the same way everyday or mix it up? Same every day, but with a bit more height on top if I’m going out.
Do you color it? Yes, I’ve been doing my own color since high school. (Went to beauty school out of HS.) The picture is my color, but with reddish highlights.
How long have/do you wear it in a particular length or style? I let it grow out during Covid but have been wearing it short most of my life. After HS graduation, I had my Dorothy Hamill cut about to about a 1.5" length all over. It was adorable. Met DH with that pixie. He’s always like my hair short best.
Do you follow trends or stick to what works for you? I know my face and hair type intimately and only do what works for me.
I am definitely NOT a changer upper. I had the classic perfect “poof”-y bangs in the 80s, and I didn’t grow out my bangs until 2005-2006. And I’ve had the same hairstyle - if you could call it that - since then.
It has long layers, frames my face, and it’s a little longer than shoulder length. I get 2" cut off everything every 4 months. My morning routine after showering… comb, bend over at the waist and dry for 1 min, 2 max while scrunching it with my other hand. Flip back over and tada! At least half of the time I wind it all up into a very mess bun/knot… It goes back and forth between the knot and hanging loose around a dozen times a day.
I’ve dyed my hair home since age 11. My mom started doing it for me in the beginning, and obviously I took it over once I was in college. I used the same Ms. Clairol box for about 20 years until the discontinued the color. Now, I’m a Loreal Superior Preference no. 6 “Light Brown.”
Growing up, my hair had the texture and consistency of straw. The night before picture day we would wash it, put Dippty Do on it, sleep in curlers, curl it with an iron the next morning, and spray with hair spray. It would all fall out by the time I walked across the street. But not nice and straight like you want nowadays - like straw. A hairstylist suggested dying it to help improve the texture, and it did. I used to be able to get away in between colorings a good two months. Now that I’m graying, 4-6 weeks is about it. It does help that I’m tall and not many people can see the top of my head, though the color isn’t really THAT much different than reality.
I will NEVER (OK, never say never) have my hair short. When I was 5 my mom took me to a beauty school with my sister. She paid attention to my sister and not me. And i was too shy to speak up. The stupid guy -Mr. Martin, I still remember his name! - gave me a buzz cut. Seriously. It was like 1" long all over my head. Everyone also thought I was a boy. It was traumatizing.
I’m a messy bun type . I have a lot of wavy hair, well past my shoulders. Always colored dark brown, but the last few years I have gone the balayage route, more a medium brown with golden highlights. I hate getting my haircut. I also never blow dry my hair - I don’t own a blow dryer. I let it dry naturally. If I need it to look good, say a wedding, I’ll go get a blowout.
As an adult I’ve had everything from very short “spikey” hair to fairly long. Short hair looked really good when I was very thin and had a thin face. Not so much as I’ve aged and my face isn’t as thin. I have thin hair, but used to have a lot of it, and every spring people would think I got a perm because it would become very curly. But in winter it’s flat and not curly. After pregnancy it’s never been as curly as it used to be.
I’ve had different variations of the same style for many years now. Various lengths of layers seems to be what works best for me, from above my shoulder to a little longer than shoulder length.
I have colored my hair since about 25, and I’ve only had it professionally colored once that I recall. I color my hair light brown with a little medium brown and a little red mixed in. I feel like as I get older it needs to be lighter. My hair is about 99% white naturally now, but would have been considered medium brown when I was younger.
I’ve had the same short bob for decades, preferably cut by my favorite stylist, who seems to be the only person capable of dealing with my stick straight fine hair.
My big covid adventure was growing it out and wearing it up or in a ponytail, and cutting my own bangs (which turns out to be a better idea when doing it on purpose, not as an inspiration after a couple of glasses of wine).
Your “my favorite stylist” comment reminds me -
I used to pay 85 bucks a cut, plus tip for both stylist and shampoo person.
Now I’m retired and have found someone who will cut my hair (no blow-dry, just the cut) for $29 buck (I just recently found out I’m eligible for the old person discount). She is now my favorite stylist! I don’t need anything fancy.
This is my current haircut. It’s kind of one length on the side and more layered in the back. I wash it and rub in a little argan oil or styling cream after I shower. It’s quite curly the first day, and then softens up a bit. This is day 2. No hair dryer required. I had a long pony tail for a long time, but all the loose short bits started driving me crazy and with the gray the texture has gotten more wirey and annoying.
I cut off my hair into a curly pixie in December and never looked back.
I am still coloring out the grays- I tell myself that once I retire and don’t have to look perpetually 55 I’ll go natural. My hair was shoulder length for a decade and between the blowdrying and the coloring the texture was starting to look awful. Hair is naturally frizzy/curly and very heavy.
I now wash it every three days or so, load in some “curly hair gel” or glaze, fix it with my fingers, and go. Still coloring it, but no more hair dryer so the texture is back to healthy looking. On the non-shampoo days, I make sure it’s saturated with water from the shower and then just use the glaze to style it.
I am VERY happy with it. I loved the length and being able to switch it up, wear it different ways, but I was starting to be “that person” with the “she thinks she looks good” hair. It was very fried.
Stylist promises I’ll only have to cut it twice a year- it’s growing in to a slightly longer, funkier curly style and I’m very content for the first time in decades. The only downside to the short length is needing to wear earrings- when my hair was long, I stopped because you couldn’t see them! But I’ve got some cute pairs so it’s all good!
Looks nice! My gray wouldn’t go wiry, I wish it did. I still have that baby fine stick straight mentioned by someone above but had the stylist start coloring it becasue it was taking FOREVER to turn gray and coloring gave it more body. It was a really nice salt & pepper, perfect for a guy, not so much for a lady. Now it is colored blond/silver and cut short with long layers just below the ears. Whispy bangs to help camoflague my “11” between the eyes!
Currently a tad bit longer than my shoulders. I have suuuuuper straight hair so that’s as long as I let it get or I look like an Afghan Hound. Same way all winter; all summer it will be a messy ponytail. It is layered and textured because it has no capacity to be “styled” so this messy look seems planned. Barettes, etc just slide right out.
Younger me had a pixie, which I loved (so easy!!) but it’s too severe now. Once I grew my bangs out, I have just stuck with this. I don’t color my hair (auburn with a few stray grays) but during covid I did put a blonde stripe in it, for the heck of it. I hate getting my hair cut bc they always ask a million questions and my answer is basically “I want to look nice but not boring but not stupid”
I hear you, and I hope your stylist translates that into something perfect for you.
Just a suggestion from someone who has cut hair for decades. The best thing you can bring to your stylist (especially the first time) is a picture of yourself with the best haircut you ever had or a previous haircut you want to repeat, even if you want some changes to freshen it up. You can bring pictures of celebrity hairstyles or magazine models (like mine upthread), but be prepared to discuss what you like about those styles and how closely you want to emulate them. A good stylist will let you know if your hair will “do that” and will let you know if the style will flatter you and, if not, what some modifications/alternatives are.
If you don’t have any good pictures of yourself in a cut you were happy with, make a note to take some next time you like your hair: front, back, both sides. These really help. Stylists are visual people, and pictures help to ensure nothing gets lost in translation.
It can also help to bring a pic of what not to do like this atrocity that happened to me.
(I love what my stylist has on her mirror: This is a comb, not a wand. )
My hairstylist of 11 years has cut and colored every six weeks. I’d like to stop coloring but she keeps telling me I’d regret it.
I’ve done a lot to my hair over the years and it’s always grown back or recovered. I’m just tired of spending so much time and money in the chair. I just want her to hear what I’m saying!
I should probably get my hair styled and cut — it’s very long (halfway down my back) and quite thick. I am keeping it like this partially as a mark of gratitude because I was on chemo for six months last year and my hair didn’t fall out. (It was a form of chemo that usually doesn’t affect hair growth but I am still inordinately grateful).
And I detest coloring my hair but I probably will before my son’s college graduation in May.
My hair was straight, fine, and thin until I went through menopause and it’s now a crazy silver frizzy curly mess. In my adult life I have always worn it all one length, sometimes with bangs. Now I have three choices. Ponytail/bun (95%), use a mousse and scrunch and air dry which results in waves when I have time, or straighten it with a flat iron.
I can’t comb the waves. It’s a disaster. I’ve lost a lot of hair taking weight loss meds, so straightening it would make me look like Jeanne Moos now (who apparently had very nice hair when she was younger), so thus the preference for the bun.
I can’t stand going to beauty salons so I cut my own hair now. No beautician is going to make much of a difference.
Sad thing is, when I was in college, I found a note in my coat pocket slipped in by an admirer. It said “you have very pretty hair”.
How do you wear your hair (length, layers, bangs…)?
Long (past shoulders), natural wave cut with layers, bangs. I definitely prefer bangs for my face.
Do you wear it the same way everyday or mix it up?
Same every day, although I will sometimes pull it back.
Do you color it?
Nope. I used to, but I became very allergic to dye. I actually found out that I really like my gray a lot.
How long have/do you wear it in a particular length or style?
I had short hair with bangs my whole life. I tried growing it a couple times over the years, but it always looked awful. I didn’t get it cut during Covid, and it grew long enough that I could actually get a good style. I now go to a stylist who gives me a fabulous cut that allows me to air dry my hair. I haven’t used a blow dryer in four years.
Do you follow trends or stick to what works for you?
My cut is trendy, but it is what works best for me. If it goes out of style, I will still keep it.
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