Advice On Changing Your Hairstyle

by Intrepidty

posted on 06/14/2009

Changing Your Hairstyle

If you are having trouble with your hairstyle such as stringiness, flopped tops or sides, bulkiness or just a lack of style your options are possibly more numerous than you realize in how you may deal with the dilemma.

Cutting may not be the solution.
Before you make a drastic change you may like to employ strategies other than cutting your hair. There are styling tools, spritzes, hair accessories and even hats or scarves that can create a look you will love without ever reaching for the scissors.

Color
I'm suggesting this first due to the newest products on the market being such an improvement over hair colors of the past and due to the wider availability of the different products.

Surprisingly floppy or stringy hair may be plumped up by an application of hair coloring. Once you have applied the product like it says on the package or label your hair will have additional body, as well as a fresh and exciting pick up in color.

Choosing color for your new look
Do you want to simply condition or plump your hair? If this is the case you will want to stay in the family of your original color. Most people have hair that changes a little over a years time, most likely darker in the winter with more highlights in the summer. It is within these shades that you should choose your coloring if you want your new look to look natural and not "dyed" or over dyed.

Since hair colors have conditioners built in you could go lighter a few shades, but avoid anything extreme on your own. The darker colors won't hurt a thing. There is a lower level of bleaching agent in them and you can go darker if you want and enjoy plumper more body full hair all in one process.

If you want to use mousses or sprays with color added to the product, this is fine for temporarily experimenting but it is easier to go ahead and color the hair with a hair coloring at a level one or two (these last from six shampoos to four months before fading out of your hair) to save the expense of the other products. The coloring will last longer for a much lower total cost.

Part your hair differently.
Try parting your hair differently. Even with bangs you can part your hair. You can part the bangs, you can part the hair behind the bangs or both! Experiment, try different places out with your comb. Try straight at the sides and a center part behind that or try something at an angle.

Straight or spiky hair is often hard to part so that the parted hair stays where you want it. A neat trick that will hold the hair in place is a little deep conditioning hair conditioner, the thick kind in a tube. Just put the conditioner on the hair you want to hold and let it dry clear without rinsing. Make sure your hair is dry in the first place. If you wash your hair every day or two this won't hurt anything and it will hold your hair.

Create braids in your hair.
There are endless ways of braiding your hair to create style. Even short hair can be braided if you (and you most likely do) have a couple of longer strands in the cut. A couple of ways you can braid your hair are taking hair from the sides or from one side and creating a braid that you wrap across your hair attractively or by placing a braided piece in the back either going up or going down depending on your preference.

What if you decide to cut your hair?
Most hair stylists will urge you to take off your hair is increments over whacking off the entire length of your hair. This is good advice. It is better to take off a little at a time and get used to it than it is to lose it all at once. You could even go back every week to get it a little shorter if you are liking it shorter.

You may want to let the front hair grow and only cut the back of your hair. Often a person's hair grows slower in the front. Working a haircut this way lets you try different styles around your face while getting the posterior hair out of the way and freeing you of having to struggle with the whole head of hair. You can also alternatively leave the back and cut various shorter layers in the front in such the way they require little or no upkeep other than a trim and leave the back for up dos, curls or what-have-you.

Choosing a permanent is good, too.
If you want a new hairstyle, a permanent is a great tool for getting your hair on the right path. The beautician or other hair care specialist will cut off split ends and trim or cut your hair into the desired style you have both decided on. When you go to a beauty operator to get your hair permed you may want to have a picture or name of a well know person or model to explain what you want your hair to look like. The beautician or stylist may have to let you grow into the look you want or suggest a variation, but the stylist will probably be able to help you get very close to the look you desire. A hair stylist is expert in this department and you should invest in their services for a serious permanent. Home perms are almost like a temporary treatment compared to what a stylist can do for you.

If you don't want to perm your hair to fill it in and help it hold a set better you can invest in hair setters with curlers that heat up or you can use the simpler curling wands that come in various sizes and sometimes with different textural enhancements. The hair won't stay as long, but it will stay sleek without a hair cut for longer. The secret to getting longer lasting curls is to let the curl cool before spritzing it with a ultimate hold non-aerosol hairspray or spritzer. Also, you can tease the curls a little before spritzing them to give them volume.

On the subject of do-it-yourself perms, you can give yourself a perm at home if you like. You should trim a little of the hair that is dry with splitting ends first, before you do it. You should wash your hair first and you should leave it damp while you apply the permanent solution. Follow the directions on the box. Try to use perm rods that fasten with a bar over the elastic kind to avoid tangling your hair in the elastic and breaking it off and look for the king that are tapered in the center, this kind produced a tighter curl. It is not a new hair cut, but it will certainly give your hair added bounce and curls.

What about straighter hair?
Straight hair seems to be the rage, if it looks good on you, do it. A hair straightener is a good tool to have around anyway, even if you curl your hair, for times when it is too curly or unruly, to smooth some of it over. If you use a hair straightening appliance, be sure to use special hair products that are supposed to be used with heat, the products that condition together with the heat, because hair straighteners are extremely hot and you will need this extra conditioning to let your hair last longer. If you don't condition your hair more when you use this heat it will literally melt off of your head slowly but surely.

Hair accessories are kind of cool.
You can express your personality with hair accessories, cheat on a bad hair day or just take a vacation from doing your hair while at the same time not looking like a slob. There are many artistic styles of head bands hair clips, barrettes and ponytail holders to choose from. There are classics and there are styles that look like jewelry. You can tuck these accessories into your hair to create styles that you like without having to actually cut your hair. Hair clips and such are good for trying on a new style, too.

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