Hair cut advice? (hair type 2b/M/i, waist length)

[Rin4Christ]

Hi all, I'm mostly a lurker in the buns and toys thread, but I want to start wearing my waist length hair down again, and I'm unhappy with how it looks. frequently flyaway and my ends are bad enough that a woman at church on sunday said "ohh! your hair is so nice and long! .... but... you might want to get the ends trimmed a bit" :/ (some cultural context, this was a woman from a very blunt culture, so her comment was not meant to be insulting or intruding)

In truth, I would like to have hair that fell nicer and looked smoother at the ends. I am willing to cut off a few inches to accomplish this, but want some advice before I go to the hair dresser. (I hope this is the right place to ask) Last time the hairdresser barely looked at my hair after I said I wanted a little off the ends to take of the frazzled bits and he said "oh, ok. 2 inches"

I have 2b/M/i hair. (according to this post: http://www.untamedtresses.com/long-hair-care-2/hair-typing-reference-photos-1293/ as the LHC link wasn't working) I like to put a little sprunch spray in and hand scrunch it to give what curls it has some form, and sometimes blow dry it straight, but most days I let it dry naturally or in a bun.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/17452_10100178164289214_8347236_n.jpg
My hair being surprisingly cooperative with sprunch spray

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/248255_10100919074973264_8264373_n.jpg
I *think* my hair was dried naturally for this picture with no heat or product. (photo taken for a my crafting album as I had just made the blue skirt)

Both pictures are a couple of years old, so my hair is a bit longer now, but these pictures give an idea of the curl it can have.

Thoughts on going back to long layers? Best advice for keeping my hair from looking frazzled and flyaway when I wear it down? I'll never have the thick beautiful classic length some of y'all have, but I do like to have it tumble down my back and hopefully look nice doing so.

[Alexblue]

I have similar hair though more waves and fewer ringlets. i/ii thickness.

Personally I wouldn't go for layers as they will only thin your hemline. If you want your hair to appear thicker then go for all one length :-)
Do you have a few layers from before you are growing out?

[longNred]

IMO, I'd stay away from the salon until you are sure of what you want. Maybe address the frizz factor first? It might help to know your current routine... Wash everyday? Type of shampoo and conditioner (if any) do you use? Have you tried switching to something different? Do you dye? Have you tried giving up the blow dryer? I don't know what sprunch spay is, but if its a commercial product, maybe it's got some unfavorable ingredients that dont work well for your hair. Looks like you have quite a bit of curl, have you tried the curly girl method at all?

I saw a significant improvement in my own hair when I made routine and product changes. I think focusing more of the health of the hair, before a cut will benefit you the most. I'm not suggesting to not cut it, but maybe after you fine tune your routine a bit. So you get the most out of the cut, and not just a shorter, shaped, version of what you have now.

You never know, you certainly COULD have thick beautiful classic length someday!

[Rin4Christ]

I think I have grown out all the layers I used to have, though I have a couple of chunks of shorter hair behind my ears (I'm not sure if that hair just doesn't want to grow, or if its been broken off by too many cinnamon buns). This unfortunately leads to what looks like thinning between armpit and bra strap length.

PhD graduation next week, and I know my hair looks better in pictures down, so I'm hoping to get it nice and cooperative for the hooding ceremony.:happydance:

[Rin4Christ]

I'm pretty low maintenance about my hair. I usually wash 3x a week and only shampoo the scalp, concentrate conditioner on the length, but condition the whole thing. I usually use VO5 (usually moisture milk), and sometimes suave, but I'm hoping to try some other products now that I'm graduating and will hopefully find a job soon. I've never dyed my hair, and tend to only blow dry about twice a month (thats about the frequency I use the sprunch spray as well, though not at the same time ;) ).

I have tried a couple of products to address the frizz- garnier fructis triple nutrition spray (http://www.garnierusa.com/_en/_us/our_products/product-struct.aspx?tpcode=our_products%5Eprd_haircare%5Ef ructis%5Efructis_discover%5Efructis_triple_nutriti on%5Efructis_triple_nutrition_rtn3&prdcode=p41178) as well as a tresemme hair serum which turned out to be all cones. (I got fooled by the label "with argan oil" and didn't read the label well enough). I like the garnier fructis spray, but its not a miracle worker and its kinda pricy for the amount I put on my hair.

The sprunch spray that I use is: http://www.aussie.com/en_US/sprunch I actually like it a lot. I use it to tame the mane of short curl frizz in the front when I wear my hair back and on the length when I want to have defined curls. (when I use it on the length, I shampoo the length as well)

I've looked at the curly girl method a bit, and experimented a bit with washing with conditioner only, but my hair seemed to get greasy again quickly. I only get good curls when I use a product, but upon revisiting some curlygirl websites, that seems to be part of the routine. Fortunately my current shampoo and conditioner is already cone free, so at least I'm not constantly coating with cones. I would love for my hair to look beautiful and curly every day, so maybe I will revisit the method. I also really like wearing my hair up in a bun with a single hair stick, but I'm starting to enjoy wearing it down when I have a little bit of time to play with it in the morning.

[Rin4Christ]

A LHC style picture of my hair from the back. This is from this morning washed (shampoo the scalp, condition the length and then the scalp) combed with a wide tooth comb, and left to air dry (walked a mile to school, so a bit of wind drying as well).

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/Rin4Christ/2013-05-16093819-1.jpg

Its waist length wet or stretched, but a bit shorter with the wave/curl.

[Kherome]

No layers! It will just make the ends look super scraggly thin. I'd say nick an inch and then get you a bottle of Shea Moisture Milk http://www.amazon.com/Shea-Moisture-Conditioning-Curl-Milk/dp/B0038TYTSO (Usually cheaper at your local Walgreens) for the bottom half of your hair. (I use it all over, but you mentioned problems with greasiness so I'd avoid the scalp.)

[PinkyCat]

I will echo the no layers advice.

Your hair looks exactly like mine - fine & floaty. I would go for a one length with a U shaped hemline - then microtrim every month to thicken up the hemline.

[nobeltonya]

Do you use any kind of leave in? Or oil. I also find that my frizziness is much reduced when I wet bun for a few hours..of course I wash every morning. :disco:

[Kaelee]

If you're thinking about layers, go for a blunt cut first (I like the U shaped idea). You can always add layers later, but it's a lot harder to take them away!!!

Your hair is gorgeous, I think if you trim 1-3 inches you'll be amazed at how much better it looks/behaves. :)

[catasa]

Your hair looks a lot like mine in both type, texture, "flyaway-ness" and frizziness tendence! I agree with what others have said about no layers, I think that would make the ends look unnecessary thin, I am trying myself to get rid of the small layers I still have left to make my ends thicker.

I actually got less frizz and more defined waves when I stopped using conditioner completely and instead started washing with only a diluted non-SLS shampoo, with a few drops of pure mineral oil as a leave in on wet hair. I realize this is probably not something that sounds appealing to everyone (and I also find that it works less well now in the more humid spring climate we have here now than in the winter) but it may be worth a try. I don´t know if the reason for the "conditioner failure" was that my hair was kind of over-moisturized (over-moisturized can apparently look a lot like dry hair, it´s so much fun trying to find out the hair´s status, isn´t it... :crazyq:) or if my relatively hard/mineral-rich water was part of the problem, but anyway, no conditioner, mineral oil, no brushing whatsoever, and careful blow-drying on cool down along the lengths makes my waves wearable down much more often than before at least.

I have never found a styling product either that worked well and didn´t feel icky on the hair. I also have sensitive, acne-prone skin so I can´t have a lot of products irritating my face...

I wish you good luck! I will also be watching this thread in the hope of getting a few ideas:)

[spidermom]

You have most control if you cut it yourself. Try this:
1) Part hair straight down the middle (or if you always part on one side, part it there in the front and straight down the middle in the back).
2) Comb both sides of hair very smoothly forward (no bumps or tangles) and combine them to make a single ponytail right under your chin.
3) Comb the ponytail very smooth straight down.
4) Close a book over the ponytail, keep it level, and slide it down the length toward the ends.
5) Cut off the longest, thinnest ends straight across. When you comb it back, it gives a gentle U.

Be very conservative at first. Only cut about 1/2 inch, then let it down to see how it flows. Then you can decide to leave as is or repeat if desired. Go to a stylist if it seems wonky and you don't feel confident that you can fix it.

[lapushka]

I'd not go to the salon. They might want to cut way more off, and you'll leave unhappy. Try searching for "Feye's self-trimming method". It's something easy to do by yourself, or have someone help you with the method. That way you can cut off as much or as little (more importantly) as you want.

Frizz can be controlled by using serums or just a few drops of mineral oil distributed over the ends. I'd also use a leave-in on top of using regular conditioner. We use conditioner twice after shampooing, and then a leave-in and a serum - it helps hugely with frizz!

[Rin4Christ]

I've tried the self trim method a few times but was never very happy with the result. Maybe because of my curls, I couldn't quite tell if the end result was even and so never felt confident about minor or perceived imperfections.

I don't mind a bit of self pampering going into a salon, and with graduation next week, I don't want to risk an uneven trim. I'm not focused on a goal length, just happy with my hair being long right now, so losing a few inches isn't the end of the world. I also want an outside opinion on how much needs to be trimmed to get the hemline healthy (my husband is no help at all >.<) .

I'm leaning toward no layers with a U shaped hemline, but some of it will depend on discussion with the stylist. I'll make sure to post "after" shots.