I feel like the highlight of my hair’s life/career will be the day I get a pixie cut. I have always wanted one. I mean, ever since I’ve been in my 20s I’ve wanted one. I never really thought about it before then. I don’t know what is stopping me really. I am pretty proud of my hair-guts, and I’m not really afraid to try new things….but the pixie, at this point it’s almost the untouchable. What if it’s not as exciting as I’ve always thought it will be? What if I like it for only a month?

I know I’ll have a pixie one day, but it has to be the right time. So, for now I’ll look longingly at the pixie hair of my fancy. The girls with all the hair courage.

Carrie Mulligan

Michelle Williams

Sienna Miller

Agyness Deyn (she comes into my salon. Her platinum pixie is cuter than you can imagine)

My mom. Photo of a photo from the late 1950s, she’s the cutie on the left. My mom is actually an inspiration to me in a lot of hairy ways. I’ve had a client for 3 years that gets my mom’s shaggy early 70s cut.

So. I vow right here on Hairdresser On Fire, that one day I will get a pixie. I will not be afraid forever. I will have one.

It just might be two or three or four years.

PS Something about a pixie screams for a drastic hair color, right?

I’ve decided to do a series focusing on how to get the best volume for your hair, because to me volume is the most important factor in achieving a good hair day. Doesn’t that sound so weird and funny? But anyone who knows me, knows that I’m constantly fluffing up my hair throughout the day, making sure it stays nice and huge. What is your passion? My passion is huge hair. Apparently many of you have a passion with huge hair too, because volume is probably my second most common email topic, next to frizz.

So, the very first step to creating wonderful voluminous hugeness, is having the right hair cut. The problem here, is I can’t just say “Go get your hair cut like ___” and have the problem solved. There are just too many hair types and textures and head/face shapes for that. That is why it is so important to find the right stylist (eh hem, me maybe?) who will be able to talk to you and find out with you what will work for your styling routine, texture and hair type.

Hair types= Thin, Fine, Medium, Course, Thick.

Hair Textures= Curly, Wavy, Straight.

Decide what your hair type/texture is, and that will help you find the best cut(s). **I say cuts because who is going to keep their hair one way for the rest of their life?**

My type and texture is wavy and fine with medium thickness. That really leaves me with a lot of room for different hair cuts and I have found that I can do many lengths and still have volume. What works the best for me though, has been to have a blunt bob (chin length to shoulder length) with no layers, or to have it long with lots of layers and framing around the face. When my hair is long, I absolutely have to have framing around the face. I have worn my hair short for the last year, and I have realized that I needed a regular trim much more often with my long hair to prevent it from losing it’s shape, than I do with my short hair. If I had something short and layered, I would probably have to get it cut more frequently than I do with my blunt cut. But again, it would be a completely different story if I didn’t have wave in my hair.

Aside from getting regular haircuts to maintain the shape, the technique being used is very important. If you have heavy or weighed down hair, it’s likely that a razor cut, point cutting or thinning for texture will help lighten it up. You wouldn’t believe how much your hair can spring up with the right cut!

This post will get way too long if I explain each and every hair type, so let’s continue it in the comment section! Tell me what cuts have worked best for you to maximize volume. Do you have questions about your hair type and what would work best for you? I’ll do my best to answer them so check back!

Sorry for the structural chaos of this post. I can’t help myself because volume is my passion.

Next Volume post will be about how to shampoo/condition for the best results!

Come back and you could have hair like this!

Ok, maybe more like this…

Because it always comes back to Zooey, right?

Last week, my friend Lindsay donated her hair to the organization Locks of Love. Lindsay had been planning on donating it for about a year (or more) and grew it as long as possible, so she could send as much as she could without “looking like a boy” afterwords. I always love doing drastic changes on my clients/friends, and being a small part of something so charitable is that much more special. Lindsay donated about a foot of hair! I know her hair looks unbelievably long and a bit weighed down in the pictures (and it was) but when she had it curled and all jazzy, it was STUNNING! We ladies get very attached to our hair, which is what makes donating it such an act of love!

Before. Lindsay looking beautiful even with a buttload of hair.

After. Lindsay looking beautiful and fresh faced as ever. ps we threw in a half head of foils and finished up with a toner (Shades EQ 8N) to make it soft and subtle. It was her first time with highlights so we didn’t want to go crazy with the change!

If you’d like to donate your hair to locks of love, click here for more information. And then have me do it! I love getting in on the action, and I need all the help I can get when it comes to getting into heaven.

Have you ever donated your hair?

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’ve been getting a lot of questions about what type of hair styles look good for specific face shapes. Today we’re going to talk about the round face shape. Because guess what! I’m a roundy myself! I like to say I’m in-between round and heart shaped, because I always thought it would be cute to have a heart shaped face, but I think I’m definitely leaning more on the side of round. How do you know if your face is round? Your face is nearly as wide as it is tall, and your cheek area sticks out the farthest.

So, the first thing I recommend doing, is looking at celebrities with round faces. Because a lot of celebrities wear their hair a lot of different ways, so you can compare what you like and what you don’t. I’ve uploaded a few images of fellow roundies, with haircuts/styles that I think are suiting in a good way. (please forgive the random order of the pictures!)

Kirsten Dunst. I think this girl is gorgeous. And let me just proclaim right now that the bob is universally flattering on every face shape and hair type. She looks great with a bob. In fact, stunning! Here she is wearing it with a little wave.

Cameron Diaz. I know she looks a little square in this picture, but in most pics it is more round. There are two important things about Cam in this picture…1) her layers aren’t too short 2) sweepy bangs! If her layers were any shorter than they are in this picture, it would widen her face more. The bangs balance out the roundness, and the heavy part breaks it up as well. Heavy part+sweepy bangs are the way to go for roundies! Want me to stop calling us roundies? Too bad so sad!

Ginnifer Goodwin rocking another beautiful bob with lots of fullness at the bottom.

I had to post two of Ginnifer, because this style works so great for a round face. Having her hair pulled to one side is a great way to not overcrowd her facial region. I’m trying to get creative with my descriptions, because I feel like I’m writing “face” too much.

Kirsten again with a bob, but this time it’s straight! See how she has a little volume/height at the t0p? That does wonders for a round face.

And the last picture is where it gets awkward. I am saying awkward, because although this girl has a round face with blunt bangs, I still think she looks very pretty. Blunt bangs and/or a center part don’t usually work as well on round faces. But I have to say, I do them both on occasion myself. I just need the variety!  Blunt bangs tend to smoosh the face down more, making it look short. But I just think they look so sassy, so I give myself some every few years.

Whatever I’ve put in this post is just to help you out when choosing the right hair cut or style for you. If you feel like something else might work, then do what you want! Try something new with your hair now and then, it’s not going to kill you if you decide later it wasn’t the best choice!

Key things to remember about us ladies with round faces…
*Avoid too short of layers
*A heavy side part looks best
*sweepy bangs make you look hot
*volume at the crown elongates your face

Zac Efron has great hair. Mostly. Sometimes I used to be like, ok ok ok, your hair is sweepy, we get it. But most of the time, I think he has just the right amount of thickness, curl, flip, separation and suaveness.

It’s kind of funny, because usually when a guy is sitting in my chair, trying so hard to explain the hair cut he wants, I am thinking “he wants a Zac Efron”, but when I say that out loud, the guy gets embarrassed and says “no way, I want the opposite”. But he has just spent the last ten minutes explaining Zac Efron’s hair to a T, so then I say sure and give him the Zac Efron anyway. He loves it and leaves my salon zippity doo-dah-ing down Broadway. And I knew all along what was in his hair’s best interest. Is it because Zac Efron is a teen hear throb that guys are scared off? I think he is the next Leonardo DiCaprio and that’s in a good way. Who wouldn’t want this guy’s hair?

plus, look at all the strange places he finds himself wearing a suit? Ooops, I’m laying on the beach in a skinny suit and pea coat! How did this ever happen?

With this edition of “Hair Answers” I won’t be posting a question. I have had several emails about this, so I’m going to do a general answer to hopefully satisfy the many questions I’ve gotten about hair loss. This is one of those topics that I felt a need to bump up the list because it is one that is actually a real problem, rather than “I want to look exactly like Scarlet Johansson and I don’t so my life sucks..” <-that isn’t really a real question I’ve gotten. Don’t get your feelings hurt!

Back to hair loss….

The majority of my clients suffering from hair loss, are losing it in relation to having a new baby, but there are many reasons for alopecia. Sickness, surgery, weight loss/gain or anything else causing emotional or physical stress. I’m not an expert (or a doctor) with making your hair grow thicker and more quickly, but I am an expert in hiding bald spots and figuring out the right cut. I have a client who was very sick and her medication caused her hair to fall out in clumps. She has several bald spots that were causing her a lot of stress, but together we have figured out a great way to conceal them! I’m telling you, no one knows she has bald spots. Not her boyfriend, not her friends. No one other than me and her mom.

The Pregnancy Fringe is what I call the short hairs all around a woman’s hairline after she delivers a baby. Most women lose a lot of hair in the front, and those baby hairs stick up straight and can look kind of funny. The best way I have found to deal with the pregnancy fringe, is to angle or cut bangs in the front. Blow dry your hair down into your face to force the hairs to lay down, the bangs/angling will cover up those little fringies. Use a product with hold (I recommend a wax) to keep those babies in place. The worst thing you can do is pull your hair all the way back with no part. It draws attention to your new strange hairline and all your baby fine front hairs. Don’t do this. And if you insist on it, don’t come crying to me when people ask you how old your new baby is when you aren’t even with her/him.

Thin hair and bald spots are a little trickier, but aren’t hopeless cases. The first thing you want to do is tell your stylist about your situation and ask for a cut that creates fullness. Most likely this will be a haircut with minor graduation, not anything choppy or severe. Avoid anything too long.

Now I want you to be open minded to my next few suggestions…..

Hair powder. This bumble and bumble product (above img) is a life savor. You can buy it in a shade close to your own and spray it to cover up bald spots or too much scalp showing through very thin hair. It is unbelievable how natural it looks. If you are self conscious about bald spots or extremely thinning hair, you really need to try this product.

Extensions. You don’t have to spend thousands on the permanent extensions, but if you have thin hair you might want to invest in some clip ins. The client I mentioned earlier uses some just for thickening, along with the hair powder, and I swear you would never know she has lost half of her hair. Really. It’s the type of situation where we both cry and hug each other at the end of an appointment.

Highlights. Subtle highlights can add more dimension to your hair. It makes it look fuller. Pretty much on everyone! But careful not to damage your hair with over processing!

Eat Healthy, take care of yourself, take vitamins and get enough sleep. These are the best ways to keep your hair growing in healthy. But if you are really concerned about severe hair loss, you should see your doctor.

Guys, I’m not going to rest until everyone I meet has better hair than they did the day before.

Goodnight.

Q by Auro: I got (ummm … had) mid back wavy dark hair. Love it but mostly tie it in a bun on a daily basis. On special occasions I open it out, run a curling iron through it and feel fabulous
So I have been toying with the idea of chopping of my hair.  Have done so two times in the last 10 years. Love it for a month or two and then can’t wait for it to grow back.
Anyway – fast forward to yesterday. I went in for a hair cut armed with pictures of long, medium, short styles and one that I did not quite like. Discussed it with my hairdresser and we decided to keep it long but shape it up so that it looked changed.
By the time she was done it was by my neck. She styled it and it flipped and looked exactly like a photo I told her I did not like Anyway – in the heat of the moment I decided what the hell, just chop the back so it does not look flippy like that !!
Now I have short hair And I sit her shocked and stunned 24 hours later. My husband is quite amused by my reaction and tells me its just hair ! I know there is no magic pill and I know it will eventually grow.
But is there any advice you have in the meantime. What would you tell a client ?
I know I am being super vague here – but as you see I am emotionally scared
Much love,
Auro

A by Reagan: I bet a hundred people will read your question and cry and nod their heads because they are or have been there with you Auro. I am still in the honey moon phase of short hair, I am LOVING it, but let’s be honest, it wont be for long. Soon I’ll be pulling on my hair and brushing it 100x on each side in attmepts to stimulate my hair follacles so they’ll grow faster.

Here is a short list of ways to get your hair back.

~Keep it healthy. As healthy as possible. Dry, damaged ends will break off, making your hair shorter! K?
~Get regular trims. I like to yell at my clients *I don’t really yell at them ever* when they refuse to cut their hair because they are growing it out. If you keep, nice, healthy, moist, blunt, lush ends, they will continue to grow DOWN instead of damage and dry-ness growing UP your hair shaft, breaking off inches of your hair. That is where the confusion of “cutting you hair makes it grow faster” comes from. It doesn’t actually make it grow faster, it just ensures it will continue to grow in the right direction. Your hair will end up the length you want to achieve more quickly if it is (say it with me) kept healthy! Woohoo! Team Healthy Hair!
~Deep Condition. Buy a good deep conditioner at a salon or beauty supply and use once a week or every other week. Leave on for 15-30 minutes before rinsing.  Again, keeping hair healthy and preventing damage.
~Find a stylist you trust. There aren’t many things more frustrating (when it comes to hair) than having several months of growth cut off because the stylist doesn’t understand the difference between a 1/2 inch and 5 inches. It has happened to me. It has probably happened to you. PS I dont do that to people. It is my goal in life to be a trustworthy stylist.
~Comb, Massage and Brush hair. You thought I was kidding about stimulating your hair follacles. It’s a real thing! If you stimulate them, they produce more quickly. Before showering, brush your scalp medium to hard with a bristle brush to loosen up any buildup on the scalp and to stimulate those little guys. Top it off with a clarifying shampoo every few weeks. (never over do the clarifying shampoo!!)
~Finally, talk to your hair, tell it that it’s doing a good job. Tell it you’re proud of it. Caress it. I don’t know if that helps. But it’s just one of those things that is like a “why not?” sort of situation.

Hey, do you guys want to sit back and covet some pretty hair with me? Nothing like starting out your day in seething jealousy!

Dont cry guys. Your hair will be long soon.

Sorry I never credit my photos. I need to work on a better photo storing system…

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A few years ago I felt the same way about the Katie Holmes bob. Let it be known that in 2010 I have decided I could happily go the rest of my life NOT doing another “Justin Bieber”. What is with mom’s suddenly bringing their sons in for $45 dollar haircut anyway? I guess he is pretty dreamy with his head gently resting on his palm….laying in that red pleather bean bag all sexily. Eww.