Undercut for curly hair?

[Stardreamer]

I have curly, annoyingly fluffy hair and am thinking about an undercut.. what should I know? Any tips/advice? Would I be able to keep up with my undercut while I'm at university?

[blackgothicdoll]

It's a disaster to grow back. I had a pixie with the entire back shaved at one point. There was no upkeep I gave up that quickly. I relied on headbands and braids with extensions to grow it out and would never wish that grow out process on anyone.

Curls do weird things when growing out fresh, and trying to get it all to work together... Yikes. I wouldn't recommend doing anything that takes more effort since you're going to university. Put it up and leave it alone, you likely won't have time.

[iforgotmylogin]

It was a pain to grow out with straighter hair too just quietly. If you keep shaving it it's fine

There is a chance of people not liking it if you are trying to impress e.g. job interviews

[desisparkles]

I think they sometimes look good on others if maintained properly. It's like a beard, on some looking free and wild looks sexy and on some it must be precisely shaped for that specific face. all just my opinion but there it is.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=142905&page=12

lots of good info just posted.

[Obsidian]

Stardreamer, when was the last time you encouraged your curls without brushing them out?
Curly hair is always going to be fluffy if brushed out, getting a undercut isn't going to change your texture.

My hair was fluffy for years, didn't realize how curly I am, especially in back. Now I work with instead of against my curls. Having layers helps too, it takes excess weight and volume off.

[Simsy]

I have curly, annoyingly fluffy hair and am thinking about an undercut.. what should I know? Any tips/advice? Would I be able to keep up with my undercut while I'm at university?

Ok; keeping up with an undercut is as simple as getting a pair of cheap hair clippers, I got mine for about $20 in Australia as part of a kit with different length caps, hair clips, a cape and scissors. Clip the long stuff up, choose the length you want to shave down to, and go; slowly, with a mirror to avoid major mistakes. That’s not the hard part.

Curls can go weird when they’re short. They don’t grow straight, the curl itself can get a little funky, it’s a whole mess. If you’re willing to commit to the undercut, you should be fine as long as you keep on top of a trim schedule and don’t expect your curls to start behaving just because they’re short.

Are you still using a hairbrush? When I first switched to a wide-toothed comb; it took exactly one wash for my hair to go from fluffy, frizzy, obnoxious poof to actual formed curl. It was the first time I had seen proper ringlets in my hair since I was a kid. I haven’t touched a brush since. It took a awhile to nail down exactly what my hair needed form me, but the comb was an almost instant win. I got my comb from Etsy but if you have a reasonably well stocked beauty/hair supply shop somewhere near you, you should be able to pick up a cheap one to see if it help. You might need to experiment with different widths; but honestly, the fluffiness will tone down with a comb just because you won’t be disrupting the curl pattern so much. Take it from someone who had to learn that lesson after school...curls aren’t as crazy if you use a comb instead of a brush.

https://etsy.me/2rWIG7c

[Nox_Inber]

I had an undercut on the back of my neck/below mid-ear line. You could only see it when my hair was up so it was very easy to hide. I had mine for several years and really enjoyed it! If my hair hadn't thinned out so much I would consider shaving it back in but I need the extra thickness right now.

When I did grow it back in though, the bottom goes VERY wavy and curly despite the rest of my hair being 1c. So I end up with many, many months of it floofing and making my hair raised in the back after I've slept on it and caused it to go wild lol. I also had blue hair so the dark brown contrasted against the blue. This was fine when shaven but when growing it out it looked...odd.

An undercut might be a short term solution but I'd give it a lot of thought before you commit to it. I'm going to second Obsidian that learning to work with your hair rather than against it will help a lot in the long run.

[Spikey]

If you still really want it after two weeks+, go for it. Just know it can be a pain to maintain and often an ordeal to grow out, most of my friends who've gotten them just give up and shave or pixie when they inevitably get tired of it. But on the other hand, yours is short enough that it might only be a few years to get it the same length as the rest of your hair if you're at APL, which helps. If you think your enjoyment would outway the grow-out, it's worth it. My :twocents:

[MusicalSpoons]

Why do you want one? (Rhetorical question, for you to think about.) Do you actually *want* an undercut, or do you just want less hair to deal with? I have no experience but it sounds like you have to actually *want* an undercut in order to be happy to maintain it. Will it be any less annoying than your hair currently is?

Like I said, rhetorical questions for you to think about, because I'm not convinced it's an easy solution to what's bugging you about your hair :flower:

[unheardletters]

I had an undercut 5 years ago and I did not like it. It did not help with the big poofy/fluffy hair. I grew it out immediately, and it was too much of a pain to grow out, so I ended up cutting to pixie so I didn’t have to deal with growing it out underneath my longer hair. I’ve since learned how to eliminate the poofy/fluffy mess.