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The Hairstyle Thread

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All Acting Regiment

16:08 / 11.06.05

Here we go, a chance to chatter about how you rearrange your roots or trifle with your tips.

What kind of hairstyle do you have?

What kind of products do you use?

Who cuts your hair anyway?

Tryphena Absent

22:37 / 11.06.05

I've requested that this thread be moved to conversation- it doesn't invite any discussion of fashion in either sense of the word. Perhaps if it was more in-depth it would belong here but it's really too vague right now.

04:06 / 12.06.05

My hair is short, and if you're really dying to see it a stroll through the Photos thread would yield slightly outdated results. I get bored with my hair easily and so usually cut or dye it regularly, but right now I'm suffering through the agony of growing it out a little.

I use a variety of products. Always searching for that holy grail of hair goop, you know. Currently in rotation is some kind of paste someone gave me (don't know the brand), Sebastian something or other extra hold power slime, and a cheap FX paste. I'd go in the bathroom to look at their real names but my boyfriend's on the can.

I cut my own hair, have done for three years now and I'm pretty good at it. How do I do the back? With mirrors and scissors.

06:30 / 12.06.05

"What kind of hairstyle do you have?"

My hair is short and boring. It doesn't have a style. I don't even comb it (I don't need to unless it's too long, in which case I cut it, rather than start combing it).

"What kind of products do you use?"

Products...uh, yeah, products. Um, I don't use any products. I usually use shampoo, and occasionally I actually use conditioner.

"Who cuts your hair anyway?"

Sometimes I'll get a friend to cut it, or I'll shave my own head. Sometimes I go to the cheapest barber in town.

I care very little about my appearance. I try to look normal enough to hold down a job, and that's about it.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

10:29 / 12.06.05

Mine's bleached but with hefty roots and very messy. No products in it, and in response to your third question, I think it's about time I asked Lilly to take a look at it again!

10:49 / 12.06.05

Short
None
Barber

11:14 / 12.06.05

What kind of hairstyle do you have?
Short back and sides, slightly longer on top

What kind of products do you use?
Uh, let me rummage... apparently I use "American Crew" fiber.

Who cuts your hair anyway?
Johnny Depp (I wish).

All Acting Regiment

13:24 / 12.06.05

I've requested that this thread be moved to conversation- it doesn't invite any discussion of fashion in either sense of the word. Perhaps if it was more in-depth it would belong here but it's really too vague right now.

Right, well, if you think so. Except putting it in the conversation is going to mean it gets derailed pretty quickly, and get even more vague. I was trying to start a fairly open discussion, not a throwaway one, if you see what I mean.

I concede I perhaps didn't start it very well, and I'm not going to make a big fuss about this, but the reason I started in A,F&D was so that people with an interest in fashion and appearance with regards to haircould have an in-depth discussion of it.

Now that it's in the conversation, it'll get full of posts from people claiming that they don't bother doing anything with their hair- not that there's anything wrong with that attitude, but it wasn't what I had in mind.

13:48 / 12.06.05

I've got sympathy for your argument, Legba. There's no reason why a thread about hairsyles couldn't fit in A,F&D. But perhaps you should lead by example.

16:40 / 12.06.05

What kind of hairstyle do you have?
Short and chunky-shaggy. I used to try to make it short and sleek, but I'm not a short and sleek person. I am a messy person. I do not style it- I get out of bed.

What kind of products do you use?

Only one: Rusk Wired. My hair is very fine, and this makes it a little more chunky instead of wispy.

Who cuts your hair anyway?

Kristin, a lovely, lovely girl, very talented, who I go to every other month. I tip her extravagantly.

Tryphena Absent

18:39 / 12.06.05

Legba, if you want to start a thread on fashion and hairstyles in AF&D that's fine but if you do so you need to outline how it relates to fashion in the thread (the summary or the first post). A description of a person's indivivdual hairstyle is only about appearance and not fashion.

I'm generally pretty easy about the definition of fashion, I'd consider a discussion of gender and nail polish as a theme that was related, but I couldn't see a way to keep this there.

18:54 / 12.06.05

A description of a person's indivivdual hairstyle is only about appearance and not fashion.

Is it? How so? How is talking about one's hairstyle less about fashion than talking about one's shoes?

19:24 / 12.06.05

When not closely cropped I generally just gel it someway or other whether it be side parting, spiked, finsbury fin type thing.
But it's all surface baby!

All Acting Regiment

20:21 / 12.06.05

Well, anyway, let's just leave this thread here, and have it work as a conversation thread, people are having fun. I might start a better one in A/F/D.

I'll be sure to reference Plato's 52nd Follicle theory.

20:24 / 12.06.05

i haven't shampoo'd my hair for years... (well, my salon does, but only every six - ten weeks, depending on my appointments)

i have shortish hair and rinse thoroughly every shower but then use a leave-in conditioner every day, which i source from said salon (axis, cut by gianni, washed and massaged by fleur...) shampoo fucks your hair and the planet. eschew shampoo!

and i don't use soap in the shower, either. use sorbolene only. and i don't smell.

went through a phase a few years ago when i used 'directions colours - was variously very bright red, highlighter yellow, tangerine, blue, pink [my favourite - it suited me brilliantly!], turquoise and of course just bleached white, which i still do now and again.

...actually, 'bout time for another change...

Tryphena Absent

23:29 / 12.06.05

Is it? How so? How is talking about one's hairstyle less about fashion than talking about one's shoes?

Well shoes are an item made as a fashion product within the clothing industry. If you run over your hair with clippers or haven't had your hair cut for a year and a half than your hair has nothing to do with fashion unless you elucidate on why it specifically does, which wasn't one of the questions. Likewise alot of hair products aren't fashion items unless they're made by Nicky Clarke or a particular company associated with fashion.

So as not to rot the thread because I still think it's a good one...

I have quite long hair at the moment, it reaches to the bottom of my shoulder blades and is naturally wavy. It's brown but has a red tint that starts just above my ears from the last time I dyed it. It's not ridiculous but it does irritate me and I'm thinking about getting it stripped out. I have quite a lot of split ends so I should probably get it trimmed!

I use hard shampoo and conditioner from lush, currently Seanik and Jungle, for the ethical benefits but also because I find it leaves my hair in a better condition than the synthesised products that are available in most shops.

I usually get my hair cut at Clipso because the hairdressers cut well.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

23:38 / 12.06.05

Purply-red-brown, shaved on the left, collar-length at the back, longer on the right. I'm trying to get it to go a bit like Tilda Swinton's Gabriel, but it's not quite long enough at the front.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

23:39 / 12.06.05

Oh, and I cut it. Always have.

00:26 / 13.06.05

I don't get it, Nina.

Well shoes are an item made as a fashion product within the clothing industry

So? Hairstyles are made as a fashion product within the hairstyling industry. What's the difference?

If you run over your hair with clippers or haven't had your hair cut for a year and a half than your hair has nothing to do with fashion unless you elucidate on why it specifically does, which wasn't one of the questions.

Why not? If you make your own clothes, does that mean they've got nothing to do with fashion either? And although it's encouraging to see some ifs creeping in, exactly how long do you have to go without a haircut before it stops having something to do with fashion? Less than 18 months? Less than a month? Is it all over after the first wash?

Likewise alot of hair products aren't fashion items unless they're made by Nicky Clarke or a particular company associated with fashion.

Is this in the same way as clothes aren't fashion unless they were bought in Harvey Nichols? How fabulously Edina of you.

You should talk to your hairdresser about this; they see to be labouring under a comically misguided ambition TO CONTINUALLY PROMOTE THE SALONS AS INNOVATORS OF FASHION. Poor loves. If only they knew.

All this said, if it were possible to have a fashionable haircut, I certainly don't have one. My hair is very straight and very thick, so get it hacked into a messy, ultra-low maintenance crop at least once a month. If I leave it any longer I look like Shaggy out of Scooby Doo. But it's more like topiary than hairdressing. I'd probably do it myself if I didn't enjoy getting it done for me so much.

Tryphena Absent

01:10 / 13.06.05

Smoothly in a fashion forum there has to be some reference to fashion. There has to be some question of fashion or the social dynamics of appearance. This thread involves people answering a basic list of questions about what kind of hair they have. That's all this thread is, it's a chat, it has no reference to those things and isn't trying to be them. On this board we try to keep spectacle threads within the remit of the forums.

Is this in the same way as clothes aren't fashion unless they were bought in Harvey Nichols? How fabulously Edina of you.

No. Hair products are beauty products, not fashion products. All clothes are fashion products. I'd move a thread about cleanser to Conversation as well. If the thread was about the fashionable status of beauty products it would be a fashion thread.

Hairstyles are made as a fashion product within the hairstyling industry. What's the difference?

The difference is that people don't necessarily have their hair styled. When you make clothes you necessarily style them yourself because part of the process is using a pattern, when you buy clothes the outlets are part of the industry. When you cut your hair you might be styling it but then again you might not, it's hazy but without more specific discussion this thread is not about styling, it's a conversation about what people's hair is like at the moment. But in addition to all of that I'd like you to note that Ariadne's Clothes thread is in Conversation and remains there.

Lilly Nowhere Late

06:05 / 13.06.05

Sorry Nina but I have to say that you are so wrong. Hair (and of course being that this is my industry I would have to say I'm an expert) is fashion, and altho it is boring to read about how nonchallant one is about their hair(or anything else for that matter), this could be a perfect thread for the fashion pages. In fact, in 100% of all fashion publications, hair is always a hugely important element of interest. No real fashion designer or person within the fashion/textiles/clothing/shoe/retail/etc industry whom I've ever met has ever, ever, not hired or blagged a hairdresser to handle their publicity/art projects; nor have I ever experienced any such person underate the idea of hair as part of fashion. What's the cliche? Hemlines and hairstyles as indicators of (everything)...et al.
So, there's my view.
If I weren't so hung over, I'd be a bit more eloquent with stating it, maybe I'll come back tomorrow.

06:34 / 13.06.05

I'm with Smoothly, Lily, etc - hair is vital to fashion!

But since we're here - I'm currently putting off going for my usually-monthly cut because I don't know what to do.
I've been going to a fairly 'young and trendy' place in town and I had a bit of a heart attack the first time she cut layers into it. It's layered to my shoulder blades and looks cool and funky when I come out of the hairdressers. Unfortunately, I can never get it to quite work myself. Which is no use, really - like having shoes I can only wear if my stylist ties the laces. So, what now? I'll have to go and have a chat to her - I really like the girl who cuts it, so I'm sure we can find an answer.

Products - usually Aveda shampoo and conditioner, plus an ever-changing array of things meant to make it dry straighter.

And yes, the hairdresser mentioned above is called Claire, is gorgeous and funny, and is going for the 'Newcomer of the year' national awards. I hope she wins, because she's great.

12:29 / 13.06.05

What kind of hairstyle do you have?

at this moment it's short, but with relatively long layers. the front makes a sleek bob-like frame around my jawline, and it's shorter, more layered and generally messier in the back.

What kind of products do you use?

it sounds really dumb, but the brand I use exclusively is a store brand called "beyond the zone", apparently marketed towards the younguns. but their stuff works, doesn't cause any allergic reactions and is inexpensive, so I don't bother trying other brands. the actual product that I use depends on the length at any given time. right now I'm using something called "hair cement", which does a fantastic job of offering lift and texture to my pancake-flat hair, without making it look too crispy or deliberately styled. I have to take it easy on the front, though, as it's not quite right for longer styles.

Who cuts your hair anyway?

a girl in her early 20s, who works in a mall salon. she is a friend of my cousins and is very, very good at what she does. I started having her cut my hair when she was a teenager and my hair was still very long, and she is the one who took it to the shorter (and much more flattering styles). she has a knack of cutting it precisely the way I want it to be cut, and I always walk out feeling fabulous. ...though when I had little sharp sideburn things she always cut one shorter than the other. never anything crooked but that. strange.

she works pretty far out of my way, though, and the salon prices just went up another $10 per cut. she's entirely worth it - what's $10 more dollars for a really great haircut? - but my splurging funds are very, very limited. should I stay or should I go now?

12:32 / 13.06.05

and I have to say that after a childhood of being the kid with awful hair, it's really, really nice to be the one that girls with truly gorgeous hair say have awesome hair. it's been happening a lot lately, and this weekend not one but TWO girls with hair I have admired commented on my great hair.

it seems stupid, I know, but it's really a good feeling. I was the kid in the 80s with SMALL HAIR!

Tabitha Tickletooth

10:44 / 16.08.06

I'm appropriating this thread to beg you all for hair advice because frankly I'm completely lost and my dilemma isn't worth its own thread. I hope that's okay, if not, please let me know which thread would be better. I also hope this is not seen as belittling the art v convo debate because it was a very interesting one.

Soooooo - I have long (butt length) straight, fine, mousy brownish hair. I have a chubby, round little face and I am short.

I think I want to get my hair all cut off. I've had long hair for a very long time for one simple reason - it's so bloody easy. I have not been to the hairdresser in over a decade, I don't even own a blow dryer, don't style, don't colour. Just stick in piggy or pony tails or screw it into a bun and leave it alone. Non-bothering with your hair bliss.

Thing is, I've been living in the UK for quite a while now and I cycle to work every day. This means that I need to wash my hair every day and then stick it in a plait to cycle to work. It spends most of its time wet and I never do anything with it. I almost never ever wear it down.

And dammit, for some reason I just feel like I want a change.

My questions are:

How much work is short hair? If I'm going to get it cut, I want it to be properly short not shoulder length or something. How often to do you have to go to the hair dresser? Can you get a cut that doesn't require styling/blow drying/use of hair products?

How are you supposed to work out what kind of hair style would 'suit' you?

How do you select a hairdresser and what does going to one cost? (Hmmm Lily? Well??)

I am pathetically ignorant on all of this. Please help me Barbelith.

All Acting Regiment

10:58 / 16.08.06

How does one go about keeping that fluffy, post-shower, just-towelled-dry look from turning into a greasy quiff-esque thing?

Ex

11:10 / 16.08.06

Tabitha - a friend who scythed off her very long hair seemed perpetually frustrated with her short hair, as it took a lot more effort to maintain. On the other hand, I find mine very easy - I wash it, sometimes I remember to comb it, it's no hassle.
I suspect how much 'work' it is depends on whether it will settle naturally into a style that you like. Mine is fine and straight and when chopped in a bowl cut makes me look like a little lego man, which I'm fine with. If you have waves, curls or just an odd twist to your crown, it may be more complex.

Unfortunately, I suspect you can only find this out by chopping it all off.

One thing - tell the hairdresser in very precise terms what you are prepared to do for upkeep. I've had my hair cut a few times and said 'I don't want to have to do anything to it. Give me a very low-upkeep style' and the hairdresser has concluded 'Now, this is easy - just rub a bit of wax through with your fingers as you blowdry it...' So if you don't intend to blowdry, or you're not keen on applying complex products, then let them know.

I will leave the more nuanced aesthetic questions to others. Good luck!

Tabitha Tickletooth

12:46 / 16.08.06

Ex, thanks for this. I also am devoid of hair curl or wave - I suspect my hair is similar to yours except thinner. I don't think I could achieve the lego look, which sound very good, particularly as having such a round chubby little face I am likely to look more cabbage patch than lego.

Being clear about what *I* mean by low maintenance strikes me as particularly excellent advice.

I just went out to get some lunch and found myself staring at every short hair cut that passed me. Whitehall has a new oddball!

13:41 / 16.08.06

What kind of hairstyle do you have?
Mia Farrow short.

What kind of products do you use?
Just Pantene for shampoo and conditioner. Aquage transforming paste for product.

Who cuts your hair anyway?
My good friend is a hairdresser. I regard my hair as his hair that he lets me keep on my head between cuts.

Tabitha, I had long hair like yours for years. I just kept chopping it shorter and shorter & I'd say now it's proper short. Very short hair is easier, I think, to care for than short hair. The one thing about very short hair is you have to get it cut fairly often. With short hair, I went about every three months. With very short hair, I can't go more than every six weeks & even then, there are three distinct stages:

Week 1: Gah!
Weeks 2-4: I am utterly cute...
Weeks 5-6: Christopher Walken.

But styling is very easy, I don't even use a blow-dryer. I just sort of flatten it around my head & it dries like that. I only use product for that last stage.

14:13 / 16.08.06

Tabitha do you know about hair shock?

When people dramatically change their hair length/style they tend to freak out to some degree. You might even HATE IT for a few days and sob and carry on and start researching hair re-attaching technology. This is quite normal. Ways to prevent a complete freak out are using gradual changes, chop a small amount off at a time and adjust then repeat.

Or you can just say 'fuck it' and chop it all off and be prepared to have a massive bout of cognitive dissonace with mirrors for a few weeks.

Mine is currently a shaggy jaw length event in black and brown. I'm told it looks very Trinity from the Matrix but I think it is a bit more shaggy when not slicked back.

I use Aveda Control Paste and my hair is tended by my lovely pal Madame S.

I chopped off my longish hair because A: I started looking like a hippy and B: the spouse confessed a love of short hair. (a consideration I don't mind factoring in as I've voiced a dislike of shaved heads that said spouse is taking into consideration)

My short hair is easier than long hair but has less style possibilities. I find it annoying sometimes because I like being able to express my moods through hairstyles.
I do have club extensions I can put in when my real hair is not too short. Still I look less shlubby.

14:24 / 16.08.06

When people dramatically change their hair length/style they tend to freak out to some degree. You might even HATE IT for a few days and sob and carry on and start researching hair re-attaching technology.

This is so true. The sadism of it is that the next time you get your haircut you will have completely forgotten hairshock. Perverse!

Luckily, foreknowledge that you might feel like the elephant person usually stops it.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

14:25 / 16.08.06

What kind of hairstyle do you have?

Short as hell. Basically a buzzcut. I'm toying with going all monk-like and shaving it right off, but there's usually some left on. Shortest blade-guard on the razor. It's usually cut every two or three weeks because I'm Reverse-Samson or something. After it gets to a certain length I can't really do anything with it - if I put product in it all tends to tilt to the side but I've never been one for the asymmetrical hipster haircuts and it starts to drive me a bit nuts. Short and simple suits. I also find with the shaved head I can usually get away with a bit more beard stubble and have it look good, although even with the stubble less is more on me.

What kind of products do you use?

Shampoo. I used to be a fiend for the wax and the gel, but I grew out of that at a certain point.

Who cuts your hair anyway?

The Accomplice, mostly because I think he has a weird thing about bonding time with me nude and crouching in the bathtub and then we have an excuse to shower afterward. I used to go to a barber shop that charged only twelve bucks a pop for a cut; before that I went to various actual salons, but I have an allergy to the chemicals and products they often have free-floating in the air, so haircuts have never been a pleasant experience. After all that we acquired an electric razor and started using that. I like being able to get just whenever and not have to pay for it.

18:59 / 16.08.06

What kind of hairstyle do you have?
Short. A little longer than the new James Bond wears his, and more brown ("Like a halo of mouse-brown fire!") I was trying to grow it out, but midway through last week I freaked out and made an emergency appointment for a hairectomy. I go through this cycle about once a year. I always end up with short hair again. I used to be a wash-and-wear kinda guy, but I've been wearing it forward a lot recently. I noticed a big upsurge in the amount of interest the opposite sex gives me when I pay attention to my hair. My ego likes that just fine.

What kind of products do you use?
I use some hair wax I found at Whole Foods. It's organic, doesn't smell too funny and works pretty well.

Who cuts your hair anyway?
A wonderful girl named Stacey, I've been having her cut my hair for about a year now. I told her that she was the professional and I wasn't going to stand in the way of what she needed to do with my hair. She then attacked my head with a razor-comb-thing. I pay a lot more than I should but she does a great job.

I'd just like to join the chorus in insisting that hairstyle does equal fashion, at leas the way I do it.

20:29 / 16.08.06

Don't worry about the hassle of short hair. There is a difficult stage, when it's just too short to tie back. But if it's boyishly short, it's fine, and if its shoulder-length (which I consider to be fairly long, but would be a big hop up for you) then it's easy too. Maybe, as someone said, they could be your steps up to becoming a shorty.

My hair is red. Ginger, if you will. I used to hate it like nothing else when I was younger, because you get harrassed about it constantly. But I'm not sure whether it's because I'm older (and care less); or whether it's because I've moved from the Highlands where it's relatively common, to London where it an unusual natural hair colour, and there are actually people who dye their hair my colour. Now that I'm not getting hassled every minute of the day about it (although my partner calls me Gingie, but affectionately so), I can actually appreciate that it's pretty awesome after all.

Anyway, I was deviating from hairstyles there. Mine is currently about shoulder length. It's gone through some trauma in the last 8 years or so, between drunken haircuts from friends, sober haircuts from friends with no comb, but using a fork to style, and charity buzzcuts.

I grew somewhat attached to having a buzzcut. It's nice to cut your own hair every week or so, and always having it clean and dry and feeling velvety. However, male attenttion diminishes significantly. 2 years ago now, I got bored one day when I was an au-pair, and came downstairs having shaved my head completely. This was not a good look. Somehow, even the smallest amount of hair detracts from a strangely shaped head. I have an extra-large bulge on the back of my head. I looked like an alien gone horribly wrong.

I've only cut my hair once since then. Because it's so pathetically limp and thin, there's never an awkward stage in which it's sticking out. It's now pretty plain, and I tie it up for work anyway. But very shiny. Henna shampoo all the way.

21:15 / 16.08.06

What kind of hairstyle do you have?

Well, I don't have the best hair in da world. It is thick, a bit sparse, and it grows right up my head, like grass*. That forces me to always keep it short, almost buzzcut-like, and I have to comb it backwards, and only backwards. sometimes I wish I had some white hair, just to make me look cool. A few years to go still, though.

I have also been using for the past two years a General Zod-type of beard.

What kind of products do you use?

Dandruff shampoo and conditioner. I have no option on that matter.

Who cuts your hair anyway?

The same guy who's been cutting my hair since I was 8 years old. His nickname is "Passarinho" ("Little Bird"), and I've seen him turn from a long-haired, punk-rock, leather-pants, full-of-tattoos guy into a grayish-blond-haired, reading-glasses, father-of-two-pre-teen-boys, full-of-tattoos guy. I wonder what I'll do if he dies before I do or I move to some place too far. We've come to a point we talk about everything, except what kind of hairstyle I want (we both know what I want)

* on the plus side, though, baldness is utterly unheard of in my family, both mother's father's side, and I'm almost 30 and still there's no receding hairline above my forehead. So, in that aspect, I'm clear...

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