Hair Advice Please

[hinakiba777]

Considering how serious all the other advice threads are, I feel silly asking this. What should i do with my hair?

A few years ago I cut my hair into a bob. I realized I did not like it that short, and started to grow it out. A few months later, a stylist messed up my layers and I've been growing and cutting my hair ever since. My goal is to get it long (About to the end of my shoulder blades), but there are other little things I need to fix which keeps me cutting. I have bangs that mess up, weird uneven bits, the layers I've been growing out for years. All these things need to be evened out before I can start growing out my hair in earnest. Now my current problem.

The hair around my ears is about two to three inches shorter than the hair in back. it looks like of like a messed up grown out mullet when it's down. However, my hair in back is finally long enough to pull into a decent ponytail with my older layers flying out. Though, I need to pin the sides like crazy I can still get it up.

As far as I can see I have two options:
A) Just trim the hair. (Fix all the small imperfections and give it a health cut, but leave the sides as they are until they are longer.)
B) Even it all out now. (There is no reason to look bad. I need to even it out eventually, so why not now.)

So which should I do? A or B or do you have a third option? I'm probably cutting my hair Monday afternoon. I'll post a picture when it's done. ^-^

[Whiskey]

Go to a salon with a good reputation, shell out a decent amount of cash and tell them to make you look good.

[hinakiba777]

Go to a salon with a good reputation, shell out a decent amount of cash and tell them to make you look good.

Good intentioned advice, but not good. First, because that's how I ended up with the creepy halo layer.(Not going to explain) Secondly, because other than the amazing girl who is 3 hours away, most stylists I've seen think curly hair needs to be flattened, and I like going with the curl so the cuts always look horrible when I style them as I please. Finally, the stylists here don't have "vision" you tell them what you want and they give you that, possibly with a knowledgeable tweak, but they don't just "make you look good."

But thanks for at least giving me some advice Whiskey, if there was a wonderful stylist with vision who wasn't 3 hours away, I'd probably take your advice.

[Whiskey]

Well then post pictures because I can't tell you anything if I can't see the shape of your face and your features.

[patiokitty]

When I go to a stylist I usually try for one that has hair like mine so she has some idea of how to deal with it.

I'm in the process of trying to grow my hair out too and it's been a bitch and half. I have thick hair that has a mind of it's own. At one point, before I got angry at my hair and got a pixie cut, I had hair that hit my waist. My usual style at that point was long layers so I didn't look like I had a Prince Valiant hairdo, and because it fell into long loose ringlets it wasn't too bad.

I find that as I'm growing it out that getting maintenance haircuts to even things up helps out a lot. My hair grows at different rates in patches so if I didn't do that I'd look like hell. But once I can secure most of it into a French braid I don't give a damn because nobody will see how uneven it's growing out. Once it's a decent length I will probably go back to my long layers...and avoid the temptation to get another pixie cut no matter how angry I get at my hair!

I guess what I'm saying here is get a slight trim but to emphasize that you are trying to grow your hair longer. Try for a stylist with curly hair similar to your own and make a point of saying that you will not be using a straightening iron on your hair so a cut that works with your natural curls would be better. Stick to your guns!

[Seshat]

I have hair that's curly enough that I just get my best friend to inspect it for split ends and cut it if it seems to have them. If not, I leave it alone.

My vote would be to do just that - leave it to be a bit shaggy until it all can go into the ponytail. In the meantime, put up with the zillion pins. That's what I did, anyway.

Now I have hair that's mid-back, curly, the curls hide any unevenness in the actual cutting.

[Food Lady]

Third option (advice from a fellow curlyhead): re-layer it without shortening the overall length. Have a stylist cut it so that the shortest overall layer is the same length as the parts over your ears. She can angle the cut down to the length you already have. If your bangs are shorter than that top layer, pin them to the side while the whole thing grows out. When they get long enough, have it done again, making sure they are blended into the top layer, but still keeping the overall length. Some stylists will tell you this will create a wierd "shelf layer," but if they're experienced enough, they can make it blend. If I can do it, they can.

[hinakiba777]

Okay so I basically did what Whiskey told me. My stylist point out that I had last cut my hair to frame my face, so when I wear headbands it looked wrong. but if my hair is down you can see the smooth change.

So she just trimmed a little.

Here's a picture of My new Haircut (http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=iw6tqp&s=3)

[r2cagle]

That's a cute cut on you.

Two years ago that's about how short and the style my hair was (chin length) and I wanted to grow out the layers.

It's now past my shoulder blades... I still have a shorter layer that is now chin length, and it includes bangs and what grows closest to my face so when trying to pull my hair back I get these weird locks sticking out. I also made sure I took a good multi-vitamin (prenatal is good) and basically didn't get it cut at all for two years. I know they say that a trim is essential but I was lazy...lol..

I've worn my hair pulled up in barretts/ponytails/headbands and unfortunately the only thing is to be patient as it grows. Or get a wig or extensions...lol.

[Whiskey]

You need more defined curl or to flat iron it. You'd look really cute with a midway-tight curl

Also,
Okay so I basically did what Whiskey told me.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6l6ruvgLP1qa2nz2o1_400.gif