Hair, Hair, Go Away..

A friend is considering cutting her hair really short, a la Sharon Stone, or pre-baby Halle Berry.  Absolutely hot, sexy and confident, to be sure.  She wanted advice on whether she should chop her straight, mid-length, brown, silky-fine locks and just go for it.

As someone who sold all types of hair products to stylists for almost 5 years, spent countless hours sitting through hair color classes, permanent classes (yes, people still DO ask for spiral perms...LOL), and cutting technique classes,  I would consider myself a veritable expert.  Do I have a cosmetology license?  Of course not, but just by the number of hours spent in continuing education to sell the damned products, I certainly deserve one.  (With that said, you can expect a few follow-up posts on the finer points of the industry in weeks to come.)


But back to the haircut dilemma. Long and conservative, or short and sassy??


I personally had short, short hair for over a year in my pre-baby days... as in a couple inches long.  I decided to chop it off before I got pregnant to dispel that ridiculous belief, "Have a Baby, Cut Your Hair."  I thought it more appropriate to have the short, sexy, hip 'do before I had to trade into a Volvo and lose my identity for 10 years.

My point here is that I KNOW short hair, and what it means day-to-day.  So here's my advice:  short hair requires WAY WAY WAY more effort.  It doesn't ever look good wash-and-wear, so be prepared to spend a lot more time when you want it to look hot, and forget the blessed option of the ponytail.  Yes, the ponytail is never cute and is such a style cop-out, but god does it serve its purpose on days when showers are a luxury or when you're running late in the morning and have to choose between brushing your hair and brushing your teeth. See why super short hair for new mammas is a BAD idea? 


But if you do choose to take the plunge, invest in a lot of quality hair styling products and use enough of it every day.  Seriously, one of the biggest mistakes gals make with short cuts is to skimp on the amount of product.  More is generally better for that messy, chunky, "just rolled out of bed and didn't do a thing" look.  Finally, plan to spend the necessary time, using both hands slathered in product,  to twist, pinch and coax your hair into submission.  Finish the whole masterpiece off with a shellacking of hairspray and pray it doesn't rain. 

Sharon Stone keeps it funky with an ultra trendy short messy style. To achieve this look, she spent no less than 35 minutes. (from the short-hairstyles.com website)http://www.short-hairstyles.com/16.htm