Hair Answers: Half and Half Hair
Posted in Answers on January 17th, 2012 by Reagan
Tags: answers, cutting, Razor cuts, Reagan's Hair Dictionary, Shelfed, styling
I have a few clients who literally have half curly/half straight hair. Meaning, the hair that grows from their crown is straight, and the hair that grows underneath is curly (or the other way around)…two completely different textures. It creates a problem with cutting and daily styling. After getting an email from a girl with this type of hair, I thought it would be a good idea to post about it here! She and the girls I know can’t be the only bi-texturals!
This can be caused by damage, or nothing at all! I know some people who after doing the Keratin treatment a few times experienced entire straight sections, I know people whose hair was damaged from bleach and lost wave, but I also know people with perfectly healthy/virgin hair that just likes to do its own crazy wonky thing! Silly hair!
First thing, make sure you find the right hair cut. This is very important. The first time I saw a girl with straight underneath and curly on top, I thought she had been given the most uneven haircut ever. It turned out it wasn’t uneven, it was just cut wet. Once the hair dried into it’s natural state, the curly hair shrunk up, leaving a huge gap inbetween the length and the layers. She had been unintentionally *shelfed! I undercut the length on this particular girl to make sure she is never shelfed again. So, make sure you explain very well to your stylist how your hair behaves naturally. Have a real discussion about how the hair cut may fix it (or at least enhance it). For example, using a razor to cut internal layers on the straight portion can encourage wave!
For styling, unfortunately you can’t just go natural (unless you like the bi-textural look). My suggestion is to use a curling iron to blend the straight parts with the curly parts. You don’t have to do every section, just the most troubled! Curl a few pieces from the curly section as well to blend those with the straighties. So it doesn’t look like the photo of me below!
*Shelfed [shelft]
1. A situation where a hairstylist has intentionally or unintentionally created a severely chunky layer not coordinating with the client’s length, simulating a shelf.
2. A person(s) who became victim to a stylist whose refusal to blend heavy layers ends up in an incredibly shelfy and unmanageable hairstyle.
“Have you seen Lisa’s new haircut? She’s been shelfed!”
I have this kind of hair. I have to put a small bun on the very back top of my head so the straight hair will have slight wave like the rest of my hair.
My hair developed a split personality after I had my first baby. It seems to have waved up a bit more since baby #2….but it drives me nuts. I am so *not* a high-maintenance hair person – how did I get high maintenance hair?!
THIS IS SO ME! I have finally found a hairstylist that knows how to deal with my weirdo hair, so I have not been a victim of shelving in a couple years now, thank god.
I am SO glad you talked about this! This is MY hair! It almost looks like I have a perm underneath and then I straightened just the top. Here is a picture of my situation. http://instagr.am/p/dR0Qx/ look at my mess! This was after I got in the car and didn’t style it, it just dried like that and normally it looks curlier underneath. My stylist is wonderful, but she seems to have a hard time with my crazy hair. Can I come to NY for a haircut? I would love to!
So glad you posted about this, this is my hair and as a stylist I feel like this kind if hair happens when you start mixing ethnicities! Results can be fantastic tho when you find someone who will think outside the box! Also, Reagan I don’t know if you do the Brazilian but I have found that if u just flatiron once or twice it doesn’t flatten te hair completely, just make it easier for ladies to style at home.
I’ve always had super straight hair, and then I had my first baby, now its a tad bit wavy underneath. It’s nothing that I can’t blow out, but I do wish it was everywhere so I could wear it natural.
I thought I was the only one! I always looked like a mushroom because of my curly hair on top and my straight hair underneath! My stylist would never undercut even though I asked her every time. She always says to just curl it, which doesn’t work for my low maintenance self, nor the fact that the bottom layer WILL NOT hold a curl!
i sort of have this hair! the hair at the base of my neck is practically ringlet-y if i let it, but the hair that grows around my face and from the very top of my head is straight to slightly wavy. i’ve always had a hard time with it, and even think to myself when you say things like “embrace your natural texture!” that it’s not really possible for me…
what i’ve found is that after i wash it, i can’t just let it air dry because then it is really crazy. i have to “show it who’s boss” a little first. i blow it out straight and then even lightly use a straightener on it to train it… but then i usually put it up in a loose knot right away for a few hours and when i take it down, it’s all a loose wave. the straight parts are livened up and the super curly parts are tamed down.
over the summer i was having an easy time of getting volume up top, but now that is my biggest problem. maybe it’s just the rain? i don’t know…
And here I thought I was the only one! Thanks for answering my question Reagan!
More common than most think. Having hair cut dry, is a must. Making friends with these different hair textures will lower your stress level. helpfulhairstylist.com
I have this type of hair, it’s curly underneath (ringlets) and straight ish on top. the only way it will curl on top is if there are a lot of shorter layers cut in. . . I have to literally scream this at the hairdresser every time I go. . . I can’t stand it, I wish they would just listen, otherwise it’s just me with my curling irons. every day!. . . One day I will find a hairdresser who listens! (I know they exist. just not in my town!)
bi-textural = so funny. You are awesome.
We should start a support group! Mine is curly on top, straight underneath and difficult, to say the least. I’ve always laughed at those magazine articles about how the right cut requires no styling, it’s so nice to know I’m not alone
My stylist cuts my hair wet, I’ll definitely ask her to cut it dry next time.
Oh man, this is definitely my hair! Your post makes me feel more “normal”, knowing others out there have “bi-textural” hair.
My hair became very wavy (looks like an old-school perm) underneath, but the top layer is stick-straight. I either have to curl the top part for an overall “wavy” look or straighten the whole lot for a smoother look. (Being a mom, I opt for the latter because it gives me more days in a row of lower maintenance on my hair.)
Thanks for posting about this!
I forgot to add – it became wavy in middle school due to puberty, and I’m guessing the women commenting about theirs changing during/after pregnancy were also caused by hormones…
I am currently the victim of a “shelfing”, in fact I have been trying to grow my shelf out for about 9 months now so I really just have a long shelf. The stylist was confused by the straight hair on the top of my head and the boingboing curls in the back. I am terrified to get a haircut, I can’t stand the idea of having to live with another botched cut!
Thanks for posting these tips! It’s so important to find a stylist who will work with your hair’s natural texture.
Wow! I love the picture of your hair on this post! So beautiful!
This is my hair! I can’t tell you how good it is to know I’m not alone. I call it split personality: stick straight on top, curly underneath. I can never go natural, always have to do somethin’ or my hair is a mess. I’m lucky though that I have a great stylist. She trims my ends when wet, then dries my hair, and that’s when the real cutting begins.
I have tight, crimper-esque hair on the bottom and straight on top. A few months ago my bridal hairdresser suggested something about styling it that has changed my life! Maybe you all know this trick already, but I thought I’d share.
I like to wear my hair in a loose wave usually, but when I curl the underneath it still looks pretty nappy (not a smooth curl). She suggested (and tried on my hair) to curl the bottom with a flat iron, the top still with a regular curling iron. She wrapped a piece of hair around the flat iron, clamped it, pulling it staight down, and it made the perfect curls! My curls had never been that smooth!
I have that hair. the weird ‘inside’ curly part has gotten thicker and thicker with each baby (3 total). But, around the edges — totally straight. It’s beyond weird.
Sooo…what if I have a 3rd layer of weirdness? As in the top is strait, middle is wavy, and then the underneath is strait again? I’m desperately trying to find a haircut that isn’t too high maintenance. Stats: round face, hair grows in thickly so I usually get a ton of layers so I don’t blow-dry myself to death, but the hair shaft itself seems to be fine. Preferences: The less I have to mess with it, the happier I am, which is why I prefer more natural looks. Suggestions?
My hair isn’t as bad as some people you are mentioning but it does get lovely and curly on its own underneath but struggles on top even with layers and ends up quite frizzy and “boofy” on top! I am hoping this will get less as I get older (I’m almost 16!) so I blame puberty! BUT I have discovered an amazing easy styling trick that involves no hairdryers straighteners or curling tongs what I do is after I wash my hair I get a round hair brush not tiny but not massive a medium size one and I twist my hair around it I leave the bottom and the very back I just do the front and sides twisting all the way down then pulling the hair brush out and then I leave it to air dry I never blow dry my hair it just can’t take it! and by separating it and twisting it it makes beautiful ringlets (my hair looks more like Taylor Swift’s rather than the haystack it is if I leave it to dry on its own!!) and if I want it a little looser I just wait till my hair has dried then carefully break them up with my fingers!! Its worked for me so just thought I would share
I had a stylist who SWORE to me that the curly hairs around the hairline (ringlets!) were because of damage, and she never believed me that it’s just how my hair grows. So I thought I was alone until I started doing some research. Finally I realized that I probably have about 3 textures – super curly right at the hairline, loose waves further back and nearly straight very loose waves at the very back near the crown. The past three years I’ve moved to three different states so it’s been difficult finding someone who can cut it – one dry cut worked very well and then the second (with the same stylist) was a horror. One wet cut worked ok (not as well as the first dry cut) and the next was awful – I’m starting to think that the stylists I’ve encountered work best with a fresh cut in very overgrown hair but aren’t so good at repeating /reshaping the original cut.
AND, how about the trouble with my loose waves not wanting to curl up after lots of handling? This means that after a cut the stylist is never able to see how the layers turned out because my hair wants to be nearly straight in most places for a while because it’s in “shock”! Does this happen to anyone else?
I’m so glad you wrote about this. I’ve had straight hair all my life, but my four year old has curly long hair, with ringlets all along the side and bottom and straighter pieces on her crown. I’ve tried to explain this to so many stylist, asking that the cut the straighter portions on top much, much shorter than the curly long sections underneath…sometimes they listen and sometimes we end up with a shelf! But, a lot of times they just don’t seem to get what I’m saying…I’ll introduce her to the curling iron in another 8-10 years…at this point, thankfully, she has no idea!
omg, the shelf. I cannot express how much I hate the shelf. But now I know how to spot a shelfing before its too late: when the stylist takes the front and upper sides, pulls them all up, cuts straight across—it drops into a shelf, or worse, a mullet. My current stylist is awesome; bringing hair out to the side to trim layers. Shelfing. So glad you brought this up!! its criminal!!
Good solutions to a unique problem. I especially agree with what you said about how clients shouldn’t be afraid to discuss their natural hair behaviour with their stylists — any stylist worth his/her salt would only appreciate it!
When I was 25, I started to get a wavy section in the middle/back of my hair. It has spread over the past 15 years to the entire underside/back half of my head, but the front is still super straight. I have been shelfed many times…still haven’t found the right cut.
OMG I thought I did something wrong with my hair growing up! but actually I was born this way. mine is almost straight with a very hard and dry part o the back top of my head, which I usually cover with a big bun so it appears all straight. Thanks for letting me know that I’m not a weirdo!
Holy heck! I had no idea this was this common. My hair has been like this since I was a teenager. Nice loose curls all the way down to about 1″ of my hairline on the bottom all the way around. What’s worse is I can’t do side swept- I have a cow lick and this odd bump at just above my ear that happens only on one side of my head. It has to be long enough to weight itself down or it’s totally a mushroom triangle thing. After three years trying to grow out a horrible cut, I got it long enough to put some shape back into it. I went in and asked for some of the weight to be taken off the bottom because the curly strait delema. Somehow she ended up cuttin about 8″ of layers into my hair that is just a touch past my shoulders. Bump, mushroom head, cowlick, it’s all back. Straitened the top it goes curly in an hour, curl th bottom it just laughs at me. I guess I gotta go cut all the bottom off again and start over- another three years I guess. Right now it’s dangerously close to a mullet. Grrrrrrrr. I tell you though, I’ve paid $20 for a cut and I’ve paid $200 for a cut and each and every time I try to tell them how weird my hair is and how it has to be cut and such and I always get this “your not a stylist, I know better” attitude. And for years hair cuts have meant mean living in an updo for 6 months afterward. I have also asked them to try to cut it dry and I always get that “you have no idea what you’re talking about” look. Previous poster is right, we need a support group.
My hair is like this it’s curly at the crown of my head but as it goes down my neck and back it is all ringlets my hair dresser always cut my hair dry
My hair is straight underneath, curly in the middle, and straight on the sides, as well as the very slightest top layer in back. It gets curlier every year, but I just eish the vurls would work their eay to the front! It is important to have the hair cut dry, and, if anyone has ideas about how to prevent the pouf out in back – you know, the look, the hair stands out 2 inches from the head – I would appreciate all input. I want to cut it myself. Im so tired of fearing stylists, and the phone call I must make the day after each new cut, requesting a touch up! So annoying. Can I touch up the length on sides on my own? Can I razor layers beneath straight parts on my o w n, in prder to encorage curl? Please help with instructions. How would a pixie cut appear with this bitextural hair???
My problem is very different; but similar. Maybe you can help with this too…….My hair is completely straight on the top of my head. From my ears down; it is curly. It looks like I have a perm from my ears down. I either have to curl the top or straighten the bottom to have any kind of nice hairstyle. i really want a mess and go type of hairstyle. throw in some pomade, scrunch and go; I love the messy look with lots of layers. But the top is so very straight and flat, it does nothing unless I spend 15 minutes curling it. Any suggestions ??
Ugh! finally a little help.
I literally have super tight (pretty awesome) ringlets, that get covered by a mass of thick, frizzy, stick-straight hair. It’s gross.
i’ll try curling them to get them to be more uniform
Find newest design on http://www.9sart.com/ of Impressionism People Paintings from oil painting supplier. Or classical subject like Mother And Child Painting. Welcome to pick up your favorite abstract oil paintings with fine price.
NP in Europe and the United States have been disabled the survey samples sourced from 18 countries,
I have naturally curly hair. But over the past few years the under part of my hair has become straight and i hate it!!! it makes me sad…. i have no clue what to do to it either… some advice please???
Oh my gosh! I totally have this type of hair! Even when I try to use products, everything I use just makes my hair gross! BUT… I found a very, very easy heatless solution:
1. Part your hair
2. Put a headband around your head (like a hippie)
3. Wrap pieces of your hair around the headband
4. Bobby pin any loose hair
5. Sleep like this overnight
Then when you wake up, you will have all curly hair! But if you want your hair straight, you have to use a straightener.
Hope I helped! 
My daughter and I both have curly on top and straight with a bit of body underneath. Everyone comments on her hair because it is so obvious… I have only trimmed it once since she was born, so even though it’s all the same length, she is starting to look mullet-y. I have learned to pull mine into line a little better with lots of practice, but every time I have to find a new stylist I go into a mad panic. I even assembled a powerpoint slide show of past hairstyles that were ok, bad, and horrible to help them get a picture of what i have to deal with every day. It’s a bit OCD, but I’d rather leave the salon getting laughed at but have a manageable do!
I used to have naturally curly hair but as i got older the underneath is now wvy and the top part is straightish…im sick of it i had it permed for several years but when i looked like i was stuck in an 80,s time warp i moved to straightening it,it looks lovely but takes sooo long to style as i have to wash it blow it as straight as possible section by section and then straighten it all over my hair isnt too damaged but it isnt in perfect condition if i leave it to dry naturally i have a frizzy mop which resembles candy floss its hideous. after lots of research the only reasonable solutions i have found are to have a wavy conditioning alkaline perm on the top layers to match my under layers or to opt for a brazilian keratin treatment to make straightening easier. Im still undecided what to do
My daughter was born with hardly any hair was dark color. By the time she was 1 she had straight light blonde hair and when she turned 2 all the sudden she had super pretty tight ringlets under neath and curly/wavy hair right side of her head but left side is almost completely straight with a little wave. Without having to use a curling iron. I want to find ways to help the straight side get more curly to match the test bc her curls are beautiful. Any suggestions?
I have a 3 year old with this crazy hair. It is literally half and half as the front is stick-straight, and the back is tight ringlets. What’s worse is that the curls don’t seem to grow fast enough to keep pace with the straight. I’m not sure what the answer is because at this age, I just have to let it be naturally “weird”.
I have had straight and fine hair all my life but a few years go I started having 2 areas of my scalp grow in curly hair. One on the right side of the crown and the other on the left. About half dollar size patches. The hair is the same color and texture but curly. I can recall no trauma. What might cause this? I am wondering if any of the many meds I take could have started this. BTW, I am 62 and this began 3 yrs ago. I am not losing hair.
My hair is very curly at the top, and underneath in the back. The most annoying thing is the top layers of hair in the back of my head, which are curly about half way down, and then almost completely straight the rest of the way. This makes my hair very difficult to style, as I do spend a lot of time when I come out of the shower trying to get it to curl properly( I know this sounds a little foolish, but it is very bothersome. Even after I got a trim last week, it was still doing it. I asked my stylist if I should get long layers in the back, but she said it would look poofy, which I DEFINITELY do not want. My main hairstyle because of this problem is, I take some hair from the front on both sides and the half straight parts in the middle of the back, and put it in a bun in the back of my head towards the top so that just the “nice curls” can show. I may consider curling the parts that are half straight….. thanks for the tip!!
My hair is at least 3 different textures: soft and straight underneath, smooth curls around my face that turn into thick, kinky, coarse waves toward the back of my head that end up in ringlets at the bottom. I basically gave up on my hair and now only wear my hair in a tight bun everyday. Styling requires too much time that I don’t have and natural isn’t an option. I’ve started using Mixed Chicks hair products and that seems to help tame it a bit, enough to be able to let it dry down and then pull it back later.
My hair is curly like crazy in the back underneath. On top and sides it is straight as a stick and I havea swirly crown which seperated on top. ARGHHH!!! I wore a perm for years until I had to start covering the gray and it was frying my hair so I stopped perming and now it’s a mess and a half. I have let it grow out past my shoulders with bangs and the top hides the bottom. However, I just sprang for a facelift and I sure would like to cut it all off and show off my neck again and but kind of hairstyle? I don’t want to fool with it very much.