Thinking about cutting, tell me about maintenance of bobs and lobs!

[Upside Down]

So I am considering a cut (something in the water as Anje said).

Reason is that my pp shed has stopped but it took so much of my hair I am just not happy with how thin it is, and then there is the difference between top and bottom part (grow out...). Plus my bangs have grown out enough to blend into a bob.

Now that I have permanently straightened I think I would manage to maintain a n angled bob or a long bob (lob :lol: the abbreviation makes me giggle).

It wouldn't be permanent and I would grow it out again... just after a break. I mean I have too many hairtoys... to not ever use them again?! :) no way.

Buuut. I worry. I have never ever had a straight haired bob in my life. I had a bob when my hair was curly but it was so much mainteinance with blow drying all the time that I just never cut back to that style.

How much of work is involved with styling? I wash once a week. I guess I would have to wash more often because updos to hide greacies would not be an option. How do you cope with not being able to put it up? Is it everywhere too much? How about sleeping?
Does one blowdry a bit in the morning just to touch up every day?

Ahhh. I don't know. But I'd love to hear it from those who are growing from around collarbone or chin and from those who cut from long to those lenghts.

[Nique1202]

It's been a while (my hair has been past my shoulders for 4 years now) but I have strong memories of hair always being in my face and eyes. Clips, hairbands, and pins slide right out of it no matter what I do, and I didn't start french and dutch braiding until I was near apl, so I had almost nothing in the way of styling options until I got to ponytail lengths except "leave it out and hope for the best".

Even though you have a permanent straightening in it for now, keep in mind that as your hair grows you'll have straight ends and curly roots which will also affect the texture, how it falls, and how easy or difficult it is to manage. Even if you go back for additional treatments for the roots, you might have some issues in between.

Honestly, if you want to have the length in the future, and you have any doubt at all right now, I'd say you're better off to keep it now. Trim 1-2 inches at a time, say every 2 weeks, until you find a length where your ends don't make you sad. Big chops work for some people, but having been through more than my share of hair regret I can't in good conscience recommend them. Take it slow and see if you can find a compromise. If you still end up going to a bob, then at least you'll know that's what you really need.

[Upside Down]

Hi Nique and thanks for the reply. I do keratine every 6 months for a year and a half now. So I know the difference in texture and how it behaves...I've had it three times :lol:

Honestly I am really not looking for the "don't cut" comments. I'll cut if I decide to. Just looking for styling tips.

So yeah. "In your face the whole time" is what worries me :lol:

[lapushka]

When I was chin, I needed to wash 2/3 times a week rather than 1x a week at classic (or hip now). So yeah. I notice a difference already right now at hip length with the way I notice it getting oily.

I would microtrim instead, or cut back milestone by milestone, to see how you like it.

I hope you don't get damage from your straight perm. :flower:

[hanne jensen]

If you are happier with a bob, then go for it. I remember when my hair was that length... 2 weeks after I got my bob I regretted it. As Nique posted, hair in the eyes, clips and pins sliding out, too short to put up to get hair off the nape of the neck when it's hot. I got bored very fast because there wasn't much I could do with my longer bob. Back in the day we called it a page. This is just me. I'm lazy and fumble fingered. The only way I could have a sleek bob was to style it with a blow dryer after every wash.

I'm not trying to talk you out of getting a new style, just telling you how it is from a lazy person's point of view.

Whatever you decide, have fun with your hair and good luck.

[ReadingRenee]

I cut my hair to a bob 2 years ago. At first I really loved it. I got to wear it down all the time! Glorious! And I didn't have to remove a claw clip or a hairstick if I wanted to lean back. But, I had to wash my hair every other day for it to look decent which went from about once every 5 or 6 days at BSL. I did have to blow dry it straight to make it look nice, but I have wavy hair so I don't know how that would be for you. And sometimes I just don't want to mess with my hair and I want to put it up and I couldn't do that so it made me sad. If I did want to wear my bob wavy though, I could usually just scrunch in mousse and let it air dry. It usually came out pretty well like that.


One of my favorite ways to wear it was to take my front pieces and twist them or braid them back from side part into a little bit of a pouf. It got the hair out of my face, gave me much needed volume on top, and allowed me to wear my hair down.

The final annoying thing about my bob was how fast it grew and lost shape. As soon as it did that, it became much more high maintenance. I am so not a high maintenance hair person, that was one of the main reasons I grew it out again. And also, sometimes you just have bad hair days, but with a short bob, you can't pull it back. And that is frustrating.


However, I just cut a chin length angled bob for my 13 year old daughter. Her hair was BSL but she never brushed it and it just hung in strings around her face. She isn't high maintenance either. :D She has straight thick hair with a tiny hint of wave and her hair looks amazing! She doesn't do anything to her hair, just washes it and lets it dry, runs a brush through it and it hangs exactly right. It curves under her chin just right, it has bounce and body and looks completely amazing. It makes me think about bobs, except I know my hair type is different and it will not be so maintenance free for me.


Either way, hair grows and its fun to make a change, good luck with your decision. :)

eta: Maybe start with a lob so you could put it up if you need to and see how it goes from there? :) Also, there are so many youtube videos on styling lobs or bobs, maybe check those out too for ideas and to see if that is something you would want to do.

[KittyBird]

I haven't had a straight angled bob since I was 19, but if I remember correctly the upkeep wasn't that bad. I washed it a few times a week, air dried and then flat ironed it. I got my hair thinned out quite a bit back then, so it was thinner than it is now and thus it didn't take that long to have it all straightened. I think it remained pretty straight and sleek between washes too.

I've had a wurly "lob" since july, and it has not been annoying or high maintenance at all. I have had to wash more often, like every other day, in order to have nice looking wurls, but that hasn't been a problem for me. Some might consider that high maintenance, but seriously, washing my bcl+ hair twice a week was much more of a hassle for me. Washing goes really fast and it dries quickly, especially if I diffuse it.

With the lob I could put it up in a small twist with a ficcare or a flexi-8, or I could put it in a ponytail with an invisibobble. I use xs flexi-8s to keep the front bits back, because otherwise my hair is all over my face. Sometimes I use bobbypins, but those have a tendency to just slide right out of my hair. I got my hair cut to around chin length yesterday, so now I can't put it up anymore, but as long as I can get the front bits out the way, I'm good. :p

[Arctic]

Straight bob is the easiest, fastest, chicest, carefree-est, wash-and-go-est hair style I've ever had :D

[LadyCelestina]

Just a thought - not sure about your face structure and hair structure, but anything lob/bob ish always goes triangle on me. Not a good look with my jawline. I get the triangle because I have little to no root curl so no volume.

[Obsidian]

I don't actually have a lob but my hair is at a similar length. It's constantly in my face and since I have oily skin, my hair gets oily quicker so I have to wash near daily.

For styling, I use barrettes to pin my bangs and sides back, leaving the back down.
It's easy to style/ care for. I can wash, clip it in place and go. If it was straight, it would probably look good but the curls just make it crazy.

I like head band too. Not cloth ones but the U shaped plastic ones like little girls use. I found thin ones with nonslip grippers that stay in really well. Keeps the hair out of my face while letting me wear it all down.

[Kake]

I get the triangle too. I think a bob is chic and beautiful with the right hair texture, but it was always rubbish on my hair, and involved daily styling. But I'm guessing the keratin has given you the kind of swishy hair that works well in a bob.

[Upside Down]

Hi guys. Thank you every one for your comments. I don't quote each and every one of you but I read all comments and appreciate the time you took to write them. Please don't be worried about my damage or if I will regret it. However it goes I think I will appreciate the change.


I cut my hair to a bob 2 years ago. At first I really loved it. I got to wear it down all the time! Glorious! And I didn't have to remove a claw clip or a hairstick if I wanted to lean back. But, I had to wash my hair every other day for it to look decent which went from about once every 5 or 6 days at BSL. I did have to blow dry it straight to make it look nice, but I have wavy hair so I don't know how that would be for you. And sometimes I just don't want to mess with my hair and I want to put it up and I couldn't do that so it made me sad. If I did want to wear my bob wavy though, I could usually just scrunch in mousse and let it air dry. It usually came out pretty well like that.


One of my favorite ways to wear it was to take my front pieces and twist them or braid them back from side part into a little bit of a pouf. It got the hair out of my face, gave me much needed volume on top, and allowed me to wear my hair down.

The final annoying thing about my bob was how fast it grew and lost shape. As soon as it did that, it became much more high maintenance. I am so not a high maintenance hair person, that was one of the main reasons I grew it out again. And also, sometimes you just have bad hair days, but with a short bob, you can't pull it back. And that is frustrating.


However, I just cut a chin length angled bob for my 13 year old daughter. Her hair was BSL but she never brushed it and it just hung in strings around her face. She isn't high maintenance either. :D She has straight thick hair with a tiny hint of wave and her hair looks amazing! She doesn't do anything to her hair, just washes it and lets it dry, runs a brush through it and it hangs exactly right. It curves under her chin just right, it has bounce and body and looks completely amazing. It makes me think about bobs, except I know my hair type is different and it will not be so maintenance free for me.


Either way, hair grows and its fun to make a change, good luck with your decision. :)

eta: Maybe start with a lob so you could put it up if you need to and see how it goes from there? :) Also, there are so many youtube videos on styling lobs or bobs, maybe check those out too for ideas and to see if that is something you would want to do.

Youtube was a great idea, how didn't I think of that myself :facepalm: I see two types, one is blow dried straight and the other is curled to a messy look. I am pretty sure now that with keratine done I will be able to airdry and then curl just a few strands. My hair is far from stick straight now. It curls a bit at the ends and really looks quite lovely when airdried.


I haven't had a straight angled bob since I was 19, but if I remember correctly the upkeep wasn't that bad. I washed it a few times a week, air dried and then flat ironed it. I got my hair thinned out quite a bit back then, so it was thinner than it is now and thus it didn't take that long to have it all straightened. I think it remained pretty straight and sleek between washes too.

I've had a wurly "lob" since july, and it has not been annoying or high maintenance at all. I have had to wash more often, like every other day, in order to have nice looking wurls, but that hasn't been a problem for me. Some might consider that high maintenance, but seriously, washing my bcl+ hair twice a week was much more of a hassle for me. Washing goes really fast and it dries quickly, especially if I diffuse it.

With the lob I could put it up in a small twist with a ficcare or a flexi-8, or I could put it in a ponytail with an invisibobble. I use xs flexi-8s to keep the front bits back, because otherwise my hair is all over my face. Sometimes I use bobbypins, but those have a tendency to just slide right out of my hair. I got my hair cut to around chin length yesterday, so now I can't put it up anymore, but as long as I can get the front bits out the way, I'm good. :p

Oh you have waaaay thicker hair than mine. I need to really let it sink in that I will need to wash my hair twice a week. It has been years since I did that. And I will definetly miss scalp only washes.... so a lob is collarbone or so (the front parts at least). That can go into a ponytail? Awesome.


Straight bob is the easiest, fastest, chicest, carefree-est, wash-and-go-est hair style I've ever had :D

Yes? :lol: thanks for this, it cheered me up to read your comment! I also think we have similar hairtypes. So, yey! :)


I get the triangle too. I think a bob is chic and beautiful with the right hair texture, but it was always rubbish on my hair, and involved daily styling. But I'm guessing the keratin has given you the kind of swishy hair that works well in a bob.

Yeah, keratin has really made my hair slick. The effect wares of as months pass by, though. I don't know how often I will have to redo it with washing 2x a week. But I know it will be SO MUCH easier. Now it is hours of hard work, I am not kidding you. Luckily only once in 6 or even 8 months.

So yeah. Two more things are in consideration at the moment.
One. My bangs are chin length which will hinder the angle of the lob.
Two. How the hell do I find a good stylist... I haven't been to a hairdresser in ... ages :lol:

[KittyBird]

:scissors:
So yeah. Two more things are in consideration at the moment.
One. My bangs are chin length which will hinder the angle of the lob.
Two. How the hell do I find a good stylist... I haven't been to a hairdresser in ... ages :lol:

Yup, I got it into a ponytail. ;) My lob wasn't that drastic, so the front was only a bit longer than the back. Sometimes the front bits decided to pop out, but I usually had them pinned back with flexi-8s or other hair clips, so they didn't get in my face.
Finding a good hair stylist is scary.. I looked at different salons, picked one that wasn't super expensive but not exactly cheap either, and then decided on a stylist who looked friendly. :lol: I got lucky, because she does my hair pretty much exactly as I want it. She's a bit rough when washing my hair, but detangles quite carefully. Most importantly, she listens to what I have to say. :D If/when you decide to cut your hair, I hope you'll find an awesome hair stylist!

[DoomKitty]

I cut from bsl to an angled stacked chin length bob in 2012 from boredom (all I knew how to do was pony tails and plaits). I loved it for about 6 months but then the maintenance really started to get to me. Trims every 4 weeks to keep it in shape, blow dry and straighten every time I washed which would take at least an hour and I had to wash every second to third day rather than every 4-5 days because there's no way to hide oily roots. When I started growing it out about 12 months after the intial cut I told my hairdresser to never let me cut it shorter than cbl ever again!

[turtlelover]

I can't do blunt cut hair till I'm APL because I get the WORST triangle head going on, but you might have totally different issues w/ your own thickness and texture. I definitely need layers above APL to not go completely insane.

[poli]

Straight bob is the easiest, fastest, chicest, carefree-est, wash-and-go-est hair style I've ever had :D

I agree with that. From my experience the best was short bob with undercut at the back of the neck. It was less maintenance and styling than long bob. I could dry it fast with minimal styling with round brush and I could let it grow for months (between chin and mid neck). What I really liked was to have it cut with the line of my chin but long enough for front parts to stay when tucked behind ear.

[rina06]

I think it helps that you have had your hair straightened because it'll ease the time it takes to style. That and you're likely to use less heat on it, unlike me who was at it with the straighteners every day.
Honestly I've played with shoulder length hair quite a bit - not quite a bob but for a wavy sometimes that shrinkage ...
Fewer layers made it easier to style because I felt that I didnt have to perfect each section. If you get a lob you could potentially even be able to tie it back some days (my bad days were spent half up half down)


At the end of the day any change in style takes adjustment. If you decide to cut your hair and it takes a few weeks to get it the way you're comfortable with it that isn't abnormal. Don't freak out. Personally I enjoyed playing with hair products - it'll be a change but not necessarily a bad one.

[OhSuzi]

I've had pixies, bobs n lobs for the most my life - in fact it's only ever made it about an inch beyond my shoulder - this is the first time I'm growing it out to loooong.

Like probably any hair style at any length, there are good hair days n bad hair days and in betweeny ones.

Short pixie / eye level / chin level bob. I loved these because all damaged hair was gone, it was sleek and shiny.
I could dye / bleach it any colour & if I maintained a pixie or a bob, the dye would be out in like 3 - 5 months, so my hair was never overly damaged or over processed because there was always new hair growth involved.
It also never got tangly. I did not get overly sweaty - I'd say its a nice cool hair cut.

I didn't find it particularly got in the way, just tuck it behind your ears, twist the front bits out the way / wear a hair band.
Material soft headbands though - U shaped head bands always dig in & make head ache.

Silky scarf sashes look pretty with a bob - you can easily give your hair a 20s vibe or you can wear pretty sparkly clips.

Occasional issue would be hair style envy if you're going out & other people are curling & twisting up their long luscious locks into pony tails & fancy up does - you've pretty much only got hair down / clips/ hairband.

I pretty much just washed it & left it - but if you did want it a bit neater blow dry it - it doesn't take long cause its short.
Or straighten it - even sleeker and shinier, but youd lose the volume.

Pixies / Bobs are great for a light pretty look - you can see all your face and there is suddenly an emphasis on your features - people can see your eyes more clearly, or the shape of your face, or the end of the bob points at your lips etc.


Longer bob / lob - bit trickier - I have curly wavy hair, so sometimes Id air dry & it it'd look neat, sometimes it'd look a bit frizzy. If I didn't blow dry it into a style, the front would curl under but the back would kink out ward or side ways. I definitely had to wash it every morning if I wanted to look reasonably neat for school / college/work
Even if I did blow dry it, I'd think it looks great! then after an hour in damp air / dancing or whatever the frizz / kinks would be back.
If I straightened my lob, hair would look sleek and nice it'd stay perfect all night & wouldn't have to wash it the next day it'd still be good for a whole second day.

Between chin & shoulder you cant get it in a pony tail except maybe a stubby one with lots of bobby pins.
I did get frustrated at not being able to have a big bun or a Katniss Hungergames style side braid.

Because all the length is at the sides Id have bunches instead - not up in the air unsophisticated child bunches with pink fluff like Britney Spears. just simple straight down or simple plaited ones more Pocahontas if she had to deal with a lob. or french plainted / dutch plaited ones or 2 mini buns

or just a half pony tail or a messy half up bun..

Once my friend crimped all my hair & put it in mini pony tails all down the centre like a horses main / like a faux hawk - it was seriously cool.

& you have enough hair to easily plait the front

Point is once you're in long bob territory you may not be able to achieve full on pony tail or elven complicated braid dos but there are lots of hair styling options.

Generally any hair length has its pros & cons & if you want to have an amazing hair regardless of the length it usually takes a bit of effort/ styling.

[lapushka]

Straight bob is the easiest, fastest, chicest, carefree-est, wash-and-go-est hair style I've ever had :D

That is *so much* the opposite for me. I need to straight-up roundbrush that dry or it is a disaster. Add to that the increased frequency in washing, from once a week to 2/3x a week, and it's hell when it comes to styling and fuss.

[Arctic]

Yes? :lol: thanks for this, it cheered me up to read your comment! I also think we have similar hairtypes. So, yey! :)


I agree with that. From my experience the best was short bob with undercut at the back of the neck. It was less maintenance and styling than long bob. I could dry it fast with minimal styling with round brush and I could let it grow for months (between chin and mid neck). What I really liked was to have it cut with the line of my chin but long enough for front parts to stay when tucked behind ear.


That is *so much* the opposite for me. I need to straight-up roundbrush that dry or it is a disaster. Add to that the increased frequency in washing, from once a week to 2/3x a week, and it's hell when it comes to styling and fuss.

I should have added the hairtype thing again, I just get tired of always typing it: The amazeballs bob-bliss I was mentioning was when I had my original hairtype: fine and straight (since the thread asked about straight bobs). It was very flat, frizz-free, sleek, shiny...etc. naturally. I just needed to comb it after washing and it was perfect (other than my double crown, that has always been the bane of my hair existence, but that's a different story not related to a particular style/length). (I think Poli is also typing from this perspective.)

I have had bob too with my currect hair type, which is coarser and wavier, and I enjoyed that too. I often blewdry it (regularly to straight, sleek texture) and it took about 5 minutes. I did not experience it as more difficult at all, but it naturally did look different than what my naturally straight bob had. However with my thickness and wavyness levels I have never experienced triangle head or most of the things thick/curly haired people complain about bobs, so even my wavy bobs have been pleasant experiences to me.

Lapushka yes the hair type definitely affects here, and bobs can be very different experiences for someone with thick, curly, hair or someone with sleek, straight hair.

As for washing, I have always washed often, I still wash about 5 times per week and probably will have to continue even if I grow more length because my scalp rebels otherwise and I can't visually stand oily look (traumatic teen ager memories!). From my own perspective - since I wash so often anyway - shorter hair is much easier, as the (washing time and) drying time is so much faster both if air dried or blow dried. It's what you are used to, I can't even dream of washing 1-3 times a week myself, what ever my length. :)

The thing with my straight bob was, that it didn't need any styling at all: just quick wash, it was dry very fast and all I had to do it comb it when wet and it was perfect. (Wavy bob wasn't quite as wahs and go for me, but still very easy.) I always feel very put together with bobs. My hair also isn't the fast growing type and grows relatively evenly, so the upkeep wasn't difficult at all. I have even done it myself many times, so it can be DIYed too. :)