Q by fluffy haired Julie: My hair is super, super, super thick and whenever I get it cut, I beg the stylist to thin it out with shears within an inch of its life. That keeps it flat for about 2 days. I finally purchased a pair of awesome thinning shears at Sephora and hacked away at my own hair and didn’t see any problem… but is this bad? Are there any tricks to using thinning shears that you can tell me? Should I stop doing this to myself and just see a stylist every week?

A by Reagan: Here is what I have to say about thinning your own hair…You are walking dangerous territory, FHJ. Dangerous. Please stop. Ok?

Here is what might be happening (in my expert opinion). You’re overly thinning your hair. You are creating lots of short hairs at the root which are then making a perfect volumizing “cushion” for the rest of your hair to poof off of.  The short hairs aren’t weighed down at all since there isn’t enough length to pull them down, so they are springing up, making your hair bigger. You are doing to your hair, what I do to women who have pixie cuts, and men who have faux hawks, when I want their hair to stand up on it’s own. To take out the weight in the ends, I texturize (by thinning) it so that it will stand straight up. I’m not sure if this makes sense to you, it is a little hard to explain.

My best advice to you, if you are planning on thinning you’re own hair, is to do it no more than every 3 or 4 weeks. Because you are just going to make chaos in your hair and destroy your stylists cut if you do it more often than that.

Here are a few tips for thinning your own hair:
1. Don’t thin any higher than half-way up the hair shaft.
2. Take small sections.
3. Start out doing the underneath part of your hair, thin each section starting half-way up, then gradually as you move towards the top section of your hair, thin farther down on the hair shaft. (for example, the hair growing out of the top of your head, will only be thinned on the ends. The hair growing underneath, will be thinned a little higher up.).

Also FHJ, don’t be so quick to grab the thinning sheers every time you have huge hair. It could be that you need a heavier conditioner to weigh down your thick locks, or maybe you just need to smooth it out with a blow dryer or flat iron!

Good luck, and thanks for your question!

Q by Claire: ***I have totally thin hair but I don’t want my hair shorter than ponytail length. Which cut is best for me? Also, I live in Australia. DBJ.

A by Reagan: Not to get all mushy on your Australian a’, but my heart really goes out to people with super duper thin hair. It is hard to feel beautiful when you aren’t happy with your hair. I have some really good tips for you though, Claire! So get pumped!

Tip number one-Get a trim often. Really thin hair tends to lose it’s shape much faster than thick hair. Keeping your ends trimmed up will make it look fuller.

Tip number two-Blunt cuts are best. Don’t let anyone use a razor or texturizing sheers on you. Avoid point cutting too. You want your ends blunt so that it doesn’t look stringy.

Tip number three-Avoid too many layers. It will make the length thinner. You can have long layers if you insist, but nothing shorter than an inch or two above the length.

Tip number four-Bangs (fringe) are awesome. I really try to talk my super thinnies out of lots of layers, like I was saying in tip three, so a straight, square cut with bangs makes for a nice style. Bangs prevent your cut from looking boring, and gives you a beautiful shape. There are many lengths and ways to wear bangs, so find something that you like with your face shape. A round face looks better with sweepy bangs.

Tip number five-Clip in extensions. You could also go for more permanent extensions, but those are very expensive and have to be redone every few months. I have clients who clip in a couple of rows when they go out, and it creates so much fullness. Remember, you can get extensions the same length as your hair if you don’t want your hair longer. Just a few rows will make a big difference. Give it a try!

Here are a few pictures of the ideal thinny hair cut.

Nicol Richie has extremely thin hair. This haircut is perfect for her. She has extensions all over the place for thickness, even in her bangs! I can tell, cause it’s my job to tell.

Agyness Deyn has a very similar cut, but shorter and with a heavier fringe. This look will be best between her length, and just an inch or two past your shoulders. You don’t have to have super short hair just because it’s thin!

***I wrote my own question for Claire, just to get to the point. Don’t be offended, Claire. I want you to be my friend, and one day I’m going to make it down to Australia.

ps, I give up with the pictures. no matter how I try, they never center properly. Boo.

I’m a little obsessed with the recent royal engagement. I’m jeal’ of Kate Middleton because when I was little, I played with a Princess Diana paper doll, now Kate gets to wear her ring. I’m jeal’ of Kate Middleton because she gets to become a princess. But the reason I’m the most jeal’ of Kate Middleton, is because she has the most incredible hat collection of all time. There are a lot of things that I love about the Brits, like when they say “Brilliant!” or “Rubbish!” or “Spot of tea!”, but the hat thing they do there is my favorite. I just want to wear a big hat. Really. Really. Really hard.

I google image  “Kate Middleton Hats” often and sigh at her fanciness.

The end.

PS which one is your favorite? for me, the bigger, the better.

I’ve never been a huge fan of any particular reality star, but Kristin Cavalari looks stunning with this smooth as silk center part. It looks good both with a tee shirt and jeans, or with a fancy holiday party type dress. I love it!

Note from Reagan: In the last few years, I’ve started worrying about how my years of tanning during my teens would effect my fair skin. I’ve become a big fan of sunscreen in the last few years and I am basically best friends with my dermatologist in hopes of preventing any serious skin problems. I’m “high-risk” for skin cancer, so sunscreen isn’t even an option, but a total must during my daily routine. I asked my friend Andrea, who is an esthetician to write about the importance of sunscreen for all of us because she is often talking about skin care on her blog, and she really knows her stuff. I know skincare isn’t exactly hairdressering, but it is important…and even sort of relevant if you think about it long enough. I don’t know what the H I’m talking about when it comes to this stuff, so take it away, Andrea!

…

I am so happy to be on HDOF! I’ve been an avid follower ever since Reagan created it. She even
answered my frizzy question

On my own blog I get a lot of makeup and other skin care questions, which I totally enjoy. While giving
advice about makeup and other things is really fun (I do love makeup) Reagan asked me to write about
something a little bit more important for once. I’m talking about sunscreen and not just for wrinkle
prevention (which I am vain enough to care a lot about) but cancer prevention.

One thing I noticed with my clients was that a lot of them seemed to think that if they didn’t get a
sunburn then they weren’t damaging their skin. This is 100% false. Every second your skin is exposed to
the sun it is being damaged. And all of that damage doesn’t just go away, it builds up over your entire
life. We all need vitamin D but you get enough vitamin D in your walk from your driveway to your car to
last a week. (Disclaimer, I am NOT a dermatologist, but I’m pretty sure that’s true.) Plus if you’re
concerned you aren’t getting enough, supplements do just as good of a job.

Here are a few sunscreen tips:

1. You need to wear sunscreen every single day, not just when you are at the lake. It doesn’t matter if it’s
raining and you’re only going to the post office, UV Rays don’t take days off due to weather.

2. Using sunscreen is great, but you also need to make sure you are using enough. Smearing on a tiny bit
isn’t going to give you the coverage you need. Pretend you have really dry skin and use it like you’d use a
moisturizer.

3. Some types of makeup have sunscreen built right in, which is great. The problem is it gives people a
false sense of security because it really only gives you about 30% of the coverage you actually need.

4. Anything below SPF 20 isn’t worth your time. At least 20 people!

5. There are two different kinds of UV-Rays that you need to be protected against, UV-A and UV-B. The
sunscreen you buy needs to be a broad spectrum sunscreen because that means it protects against both.

5. If your face is anything like mine it doesn’t like sunscreen. I actually got a rash from using it everyday
because I was sensitive to something in it. But luckily I found an all natural one that is awesome! It’s by
USkinCare, you can find it here. You have to buy it from a licensed professional (esthetician, hair stylist, etc). Totally worth it!

6. Sunscreen expires and becomes less effective over time. New sunscreen every six months!

7. Self checks are very important. You need to learn about the ABC’s of moles and talk to a

dermatologist if you see anything suspicious. Here is a link with a full description and pictures of what the ABC’s are.

8. Don’t forget about your lips! They are skin too. Putting on high shine lip gloss might look super pretty
but it will draw in damage like laying out with baby oil on. Use some chapstick (they have kinds that
come with spf) first.

I think that a lot of people feel invincible when it comes to skin cancer because sometimes (NOT all the
time) it’s not something you have to deal with until you’re older. I bet if you asked anyone who’d ever
had it, or even had a scare, they would tell you they wished they’d taken precautionary steps when they
were younger.

I’m a little embarrassed to write this next story, because I totally overreacted, but a few years ago I
had a teeny mole that started itching. I heard that itching can mean the mole is growing deeper and
it should be checked out. I made an emergency appointment at the dermatologist and had him look
at every single teeny mole on my body. In that moment I wished I could give back every little bit of
tan my skin had ever seen. I regretted tanning so bad! And this wasn’t even a real scare, there wasn’t
anything wrong with me and the Dr. was a little annoyed that he stayed late to see me because I was
an “emergency.” I can’t imagine how terrible I would have felt if there had actually been a problem! It’s
not worth it!

Most of the damage we cause to our skin happens in our teens but then doesn’t present itself until years
later. I can’t speak for everyone but when I was a teen I didn’t care that I had pale skin that doesn’t tan
well, all I wanted was to look “better” and I burned over and over and over trying to get a tan. Well
people I am here to say that being tan is going out of style! Slather your kids up as soon as you take
them outside and teach them that pale is pretty, because it is. The closer your skin is to it’s natural color,
the healthier it is. Here are some very pretty pale people to prove it.

(Reagan, if I ever come to NY will you please cut my bangs like this?) (Reagan here….of course, crazy! Come soon!)

THANKYOUANDREA!!

I’m going to go hug my sunscreen. (ps my derm told me to use 30spf during the winter and 50spf during the summer.)

Q by Stacie: Ok, so here’s my question.  My hair is dry and color-treated and fairly long (about 5ish inches past my shoulders).  I end up putting my hair up in a bun nearly every day, not a pulled super tight bun and I do use only bobby pins to secure it.  I feel like maybe I’m further damaging my hair by wearing it up so often, what do you think?  I get regular trims and everything but I am just feeling guilty about the breakage I might be causing.  So, should I be feeling guilty about this or should I reserve my guilty feelings for other things, like my kid’s cavities?

A by Reagan: I’m no dentist, but I say, worry about your kids’ cavities before worrying about bun damage. If the bun is causing any damage, it would be pretty minimal. Unless you are using those old fashioned hair ties with the little metal connecting piece, you’re probably ok wearing your hair up every day, especially if it’s up loosely. You want to avoid twisting it too tight when you can (even wet, it’s so bad to wring out your wet hair by twisting!), so a loose bun is fine.

When you’re looking at what your hair goes through every day, there is damage everywhere! From the collar of your shirt, pulling it up, the sun, polution, too much brushing, playing with it (holler if that’s you…Holla!), etc. These are all kind of hard to avoid, so I just try to do the most important things to keep it healthy. Avoid too much chemical processing, avoid too much heat and keep it trimmed up.

A bun isn’t going to kill you Stace. And lookie here! I wear a bun too!

Thanks for your question Stacie. Nice buns!

This is an old question that I have been waiting to answer until the weather is colder. Because colder means dryer, and dryer means more static. Since I waited so long to answer this question, I can’t find it! So, to who asked this question, I’m sorry if I don’t answer it specifically enough, since I can’t remember everything you wrote. I’ll just make something up..

Q by Static Stephie: Help! My hair gets super static-y during the winter and I can’t stand it or get dates.

A by Reagan: This happens to me all the time. Especially since I wear a wool pea coat in the winter. I swear I look like a crazy person some days. So, definitely the dryness in the air creates a lot of static, so you want to keep your hair properly moisturized. I have found that using finishing oils and serums do the trick for the most part. I recommend this one.

If that doesn’t do the trick, or if you dont want to buy any new products (or presents for your hair), you can simply use a dryer sheet! It does wonders. The only reason I wouldn’t say to do this first, is because dryer sheets were made for laundry, not hair. And while I’m not sure of any bad effects it will have on your hair, I only use it when things are really bad. K?

First try rubbing the sheet in your hands, then run your hands over your hair. You can do it in a petting way rather than a combing way. Plus petting your hair has got to be good for its self esteem. If that isn’t doing the job, run the actual dryer sheet down your hair shaft until it is sufficiently de-static-ed. It will work. I prom’.

Love ya. Happy winter! (soon)

PS if we have time this weekend, we are going to film a Blake Lively Tutorial! I doubt we’ll have time, but I just want you on the edge of your office chairs. One is coming. Hooray.