All posts filed under: hairstyling

Helpful Links for Girls With Bobs

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I’m having lots of fun playing with my shorter ‘do. I hesitated chopping my hair for so long — even when I really wanted to — because I worried it would be too hard to style and manage. But it’s so easy! Fortunately for my lazy hair skills, the modern bob is all about messy undone texture. My daily styling routine is basically the same as my lob days, but with less hair (which means less time!). My favorite styling product right now is Joico Hair Shake, a texturizing spray with a liquid-to-powder formula that boosts volume and creates cool piecey texture with soft, flexible hold. If I don’t have time to curl or flat-iron, I work a little Dirt Texturizing Paste into the ends so they aren’t frizzy. If you’re considering a chop, or you’ve already joined the club, here’s a handful of helpful links full of styling inspiration and helpful tutorials: The Beauty Department’s Best Tricks for Short Hair The Glamourai’s Messy Waves Byrdie’s Coolest Updo Ideas for Short Hair Stylecaster’s Retro Bouffant Keiko Lynn’s …

Tips For Tousled Tresses

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  If you spend any time on Pinterest — admittedly, I haven’t recently — you’re likely to stumble on a photo or twelve of Anh Co Tran’s textured lobs and bobs; you’ll recognize them by the cool girl “undone” texture and perfect highlights. I brought half a dozen screenshots of his work to my stylist when I chopped off 10 inches earlier this season, and she translated it with a textured asymmetric razor cut that I love. (Seriously, I haven’t missed my long hair for a minute.) Tran calls his signature style ‘lived in hair,’ and while it looks completely effortless, it does take some work. With a lot of practice and YouTube tutorials, I think I have it down. Below are a few tips I’ve picked up for easy tousled tresses (we’re all about the lowest maintenance level ’round here).

To gray or not to gray: that is the question.

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I’ve been coloring my brown hair since I could drive myself to the drugstore. When I decided to grow out my ombre highlights last year — still a work in progress — I thought I’d give my hair a rest from the chemicals and go au naturale for while. It turns out, I like my natural color… and now my head is being slowly colonized by grays. Ironic, dontcha’ think? It started in my late 20s with a silvery strand or two — which I yanked and forgot — but when I tried a deep side part a few Sundays ago, I found a sneaky streak hiding near my left temple that I hadn’t noticed before. (I’m sure I sprouted several more over Valentine’s week.) When women start to gray, we find ourselves at a fork in the road: one path leads to years in our colorist’s chair waging a war against our roots, and the other embraces it. There’s even an #embracethegray hashtag, which I discovered while scouring Pinterest and Instagram for fierce ladies who let their silver shine; …

The #ClearTheShoulders Movement

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Kristin Ess, co-founder of TheBeautyDepartment.com and hairstylist to the stars, sparked a revolution when she snipped Lauren Conrad’s signature long locks into an above-the-shoulders textured bob last season. Then she cropped Lucy Hale. Now Instagram is blowing up with a hashtag devoted to all the brave ladies doing the chop: #cleartheshoulders. They all look effortlessly cool and perfectly tousled… And I’m over here like, “I’ma do it!” But I’m not gonna do it. Not just yet. I had short hair through most of my teens and twenties, and loved it; but it was a lot of work. That effortless look actually takes, um, effort: daily washing and styling, regular salon visits for trims (think every 4-6 weeks in your stylist’s chair) and really good product. If you want something fresh and don’t mind the maintenance, chop away! But here are a few things to keep in mind before you do: 1. Remember that you won’t have a ponytail or topknot as a crutch on mornings you don’t feel like doing your hair. You’re fully committed. 2. Find a stylist you …

A Tip for Your Topknot

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I like big buns and I cannot lie. But for a style that looks so effortless, it can be awfully tricky to master the just-messy-enough topknot. Or maybe it’s just me. Anyone else get a cockatoo crest on the majority of attempts? {Yeah, it’s probably just me.} In last month’s issue of Allure, there was a feature on How to Get Surfer-Girl Hair. It shared a tip that totally changed my topknot game: Start by working two big handfuls of mousse into your dry hair from roots to ends. The mousse gives your hair some volume and grip, making it much easier to twist into a bun without any weird pieces jutting out. When you’re sufficiently moussed — don’t be shy; handfuls, ladies —  flip your head and roughly dry your hair with a blowdryer and your fingers. While you’re still upside down, gather all your hair into a super-high pony and secure it to the top of your head with an elastic. Give that pony a good backcombing with a teasing brush, then twist it around the base and secure …

freshly cropped

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Chopping your hair is such a thing right now, isn’t it? I jumped on the bandwagon late last week, after I realized all those topknots and tortured ponytails weren’t a fashion statement; they were a rut. I needed a makeover. So I waltzed in to my hair appointment Thursday afternoon and declared to my stylist that it was time to freshen things up with a good old fashioned chop, “up to here.” [Insert dramatic hand-gestures to communicate desired length, somewhere between chin and shoulders.]  We agreed to compromise with a healthy three-inch snip. “We can always take more off later,” she reasoned. But when she finished, I asked her to lop off one more inch, which removed the last of my layers and left me with a long, one-length bob that falls to my collarbone. Hash tag: clavicut.