Marianne warned me. She said that the curly hair post was going to get a crazy response and holy crap, you guys. She wasn't kidding. I don't think we've ever gotten comments like that! I completely love it even if I don't come close to understanding. Y'all curly heads are a touch crazy, is all I'm saying.
So, as someone on the far other end of the hair spectrum, I feel I should represent. It's time to give my State of the Straight Hair Address to follow up the last post I wrote about it back in January. Yes! Straight, fine hair is no picnic and in it's own way is just as high maintenance, just as frustrating. I'm still growing mine out but I don't really know why.
I've stopped attempting to get volume out of my hair because it's completely impervious to volumizing products unless I use so much that my hair becomes a tangled, sticky mess. Instead, I've been trying to work with it and go as straight as possible which is really the only style I like when I have a bob. If I don't flat iron it after blow-drying it gets weird derpy little flips and curves that are very precious and very not me. Also, I have to shampoo it every damn day because otherwise it's just lank and sad. See? Straight, fine hair is a pain in the ass.
My current routine:
I shampoo with Aveda Color Conserve, towel dry and spritz on Bumble & bumble Tonic:
I comb that through and then spritz liberally with Aveda Volumizing Tonic:
It doesn't really volumize at all (seriously, not at all) but does give some hold and it smells nice. Then I rub a tiny bit of Aveda Defining Whip Through the ends and blow dry with a round brush (as recommended to me by a commenter on my last hair post.)
After it's completely dry I flat iron the ends and my bangs so they're totally straight. (An hour later the ends will curve in again as if they've never even heard of a flat iron. See photo below. I ask you.)
The end result is...boring, but sleek:
If I really take my time with the flat iron I can make it look pretty good and edgy, but I rarely have the time to do it. So... I'm back to considering going short-short again:
I kind of miss having fun, short hair but I've never really let my hair get long, you know? I don't know what to do. Help me, Straight Haired Girls. What should I doooo?
i like it short- your eyes pop and look gorgeous. like zooey deschanel eyes.
ReplyDeletebut i'm a thick wavy haired girl who has given up trying to control her own hair, so feel free to disregard me...
Aw thanks! And ha, wanna trade?
DeleteI think you rock the short hair! I have fine hair but a lot of it, and it just looks like a hot mess when it is short.
ReplyDelete2 suggestions just to mix it up - have you tried using one of those sort of waxy products to make it a little chunkier/piecier (is that a word? piece-y-er). Alternatively, I think it might look cute if you grew it out just a little and had a more blunt bob.
Also maybe something Gwyneth Paltrow-esque? I always love her hair but I can't even attempt her styles because I just plain have too much hair.
Oh, and what generally works for me is less product - usually none, since it all just ends up feeling sticky and messy - and just blowing it dry with a round boar bristle brush. Amazing what a difference the boar bristles make! I usually just sort do a lazy general blow dry and then run the top layer through the brush/dryer combo. The bottom layer stays a little wavy to give it some body.
I have discovered that less product works better - the Aveda stuff is really light and gives a little hold without gunking things up, but it doesn't do much for volume or texture. I do have some pomade-type stuff but I'm always worried about it weighing my hair down (though it works great when my hair is super-short.)
DeleteUsing the Aveda stuff is the only way I could apply product one day, and be able to go without shampooing the next day - without feeling like I had gross hair.
DeleteThat article is a joke.
ReplyDeleteMy 20s and most of my 30s (thus far) were spent with hair in varying degrees of short-shortness. I've finally let it grow (to my shoulders) and don't know what to do with it. I am always on the lookout for the next thing to give me supermodel hair (which I'll never have). Mine is fine, thinning, and not quite straight, but not curly/wavy (it's weird) so I have to flat iron or curl it every day. The product combo I've found lately that is working for me is Paul Mitchell extra body sculpting foam for a little lift/fullness, and super skinny serum for smoothing. Or some sort of ponytail/updo - which is the biggest bonus of longer hair.
And now that I've written a novella...I'll confess at least once a week I think about going short-short again.
Right? It's so tempting. I have no idea what to do with what little length I have now, how bad is it going to be when it gets longer? Argh.
DeleteI don't know how many times my hair got to your current length and I cut it off. It was an awkward phase - too short to pull back, too long to look short-chic. Now that I'm past that, I'm pretty happy with it, and it's so nice to have options. And, while I'll go very short again someday, I'm having fun with it now.
DeleteI do agree with the other commenters that your hair looks GREAT short-short, so if that feels more you, then go for it.
I agree with the first commenter, short hair really brings out your eyes and pixie-ish face. The short is also edgy and has a modernity to it that I love. Not all of us get to be Rapunzel ... and it sucks.
ReplyDeleteThank you! And Rapunzel can stuff it.
DeleteYou look awesome with super short hair and layers, but I feel the same ambivalence. Sometimes you just want a change, and the sleek is pretty (how do you get it to keep that curve so nicely all the time?. I found the aveda volumizer works well if I use it while my hair is wet, but I absolutely can't use any other kind of product!
ReplyDeleteI find the one advantage to having superfine flat hair is that I can put it up once my hair is an inch or two past my ears! I missed a few haircuts last year and the hair got 'long' so I'm trying to work it until I go short cropped again!
I think I'm just craving the change for something quirkier than what I have now, you're right about that.
DeleteWhat about #7 on that article? I think you could 'kinda' grow it out for that but could cut it short again pretty easily. I admire short hair--on other people. On me, not so much. Wish I could rock it but my head is small, neck is long and body too big so I end up looking like a pinhead!
ReplyDeleteI do like that cut but I'd have to grow out my bangs and ugh. It just seems like so much work.
DeleteYou have nice hair, Gail! It works on you.
All I want is a giant, ropey-curl hair extravaganza. Basically, I want an Afro. Instead, I have short, thin, small hair. Not a big problem on even a small scale, but it does make me kind of sad. A -- your hair is lovely and shiny and always, always cute but I totally feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI love you, Adrien - your sense of humor always kicks me in the right spot. We ARE crazy, us curlies. I have really fine hair, so I feel ya on the fine-derpy thing.
ReplyDeleteI love your hair short. It's way cute, far less precious. I would say I like it at least five times as much as your other picture here. Then again, you're also lit better, wearing awesome lipstick, and smiling bigger - so it makes you look way brighter.
I long to go back to short hair... But I promised my man (ARGH I KNOW) that I would get it at least past my shoulders for once in my life. Stupid boys, and their (sweeping generalization) fixation on lady hair. I'm not sure I can keep this promise. I start feeling really unlike myself, and more like a boring college freshman, when my hair touches my shoulders. I need that inch of space...
Yeah, the pictures aren't really a fair comparison - the lighting in the first one is so much better and I'm all summer-tan-n-thin.
DeleteAnd, I will actually admit this: I am single again after a long, long time and I'm a little worried that dudes just don't really love the short hair. That's so stupid, isn't it?
(In the second one, I mean. Dur.)
DeleteChop it off. DO IT.
ReplyDeleteYears of trying to fool myself into thinking my punk-ass limp hair was ever going to look long and luxurious... all wasted when it could've been short and fun and I would've felt like myself.
Never again.
Ha! You're my girl.
DeleteI have super fine, super straight, super thin hair. I've tried every volumizer on the planet and none of them work. In fact, the less product, the better. The only thing that's ever worked is a good haircut. I am totally taking that second picture to my stylist. Very cute.
ReplyDeleteDEWIT!
DeleteGo short again - looks far more elegant and hip on you. The length now is bland (and ask yourself, is it truly going to get better once it hits your shoulders?), and you looked so impish and adorable with shorter hair.
ReplyDeletePS: I have fine, thick, slightly wavy hair and short, well, it rocks. Plus short hair reads as punky, confident and slightly edgy. Who doesn't want to be that?
DeleteC'mon, at least TRY the dryer sheet (for volume). You can rub a dry dryer sheet on damp hair, or a wet one on wet hair, or wet on dry hair- up to you to figure out the "best ratio" for your particular hair. (and amount of volume desired). Rub it on the roots/wherever you want your volume You can't really tell at first how much is going on- it's a learning curve- you'll be able to feel it as it dries, but not see it. You can also "squish" it if it's too much hold and it loosens up. Bonus: smells great, easy to carry around/touch up, massively simplifies hair styling time and process :)
ReplyDeleteIt's just so weirdddddd. But I will give it a shot this weekend.
Deletelol- I know, it is weird sounding. I think it's essentially starch or something. Anyway, do let me/us know- it works on me, but maybe it's just me, so I'm curious.
Deleteoh noooo- just read the comment below. Not good. Ok, forget the experiment. I guess I won't do it anymore either- not at least until I've done some more research. Perhaps the Meyers all-natural dryer sheets would work? Back to the lab...
OK, to the nice lady who keeps suggesting dryer sheets ... while it may work, dryer sheets are highly toxic. It's why we used these spiky dryer balls instead of the sheets. Take a looky at what's in em ...
ReplyDeletehttp://natureswizard.com/found-out-why-dryer-sheets-are-toxic/household/136/
and how they work in general: http://home.howstuffworks.com/dryer-sheets2.htm
Basically they coat shit with polymer (plastic) like molecules.
NO THANK YOU. And yes, I realize silicone is in just about every hair product.
Dudes love short hair and it looks SO GREAT on you. So great. It's a fabulous cut and you've got styling it down a science.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I have curly haired small people at home, I am a fine, straight haired gal which--if I'm not careful--can turn into Sad Brown Cap territory. It's a slippery slope.
I'm growing my thick, straight, fine hair out too, and I swear, next time I'm going to go all Natalie Imbruglia ca. "Torn" on its ass. Length is no fun.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this very dilemma (and my issue with people saying chin-length hair is short - grrr). Go short again! http://www.xovain.com/hair/short-hair-eyebrows#feed=/author/lela
ReplyDelete