It’s hot out there…
Do you get all snippy with your hair in the summer? or leave it long?
Click here for this week’s Divine Caroline post!
Photo of me two summers ago when I got snippy.
Stay cool out there, stay cool.
This week’s Divine Caroline post is all about the glorious trim!
If you’re wondering how often you should be trimming your hair to keep it healthy or to keep it shapely, click here!
Me and my friend Hads after a big cut!
One of my favorite ways to wear my hair, is pulled up (full up fat twist below, but it can also be a bun or any other up hair) with my guys down. My guys are all the little wisps around my face. It gives it such a romantic, natural look. And who doesn’t love a little romance?
These guys are supposed to look accidental, but they are very intentional. They were undercut to be at just the right parts of my jaw and neck. I prefer some at the hollow of my jaw, the corner of my mouth and just past my chin. My stylist friends and I have a million names for them. I have always called them “guys”, but others call them “fall downs”, “friends”, “wisps” and my favorite- “man catchers”. The “man catcher” is for the guys that fall right around your mouth, all sultry like.
These are pretty easy to do on yourself, and I think I’ll do a little tutorial pretty soon! I don’t usually recommend cutting your own hair, but these are easily covered/blended if they don’t turn out exactly how you like.
Do you like to have some guys around your face when your hair is up? Or are you more of a sleek lady?
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 was catching up on a photo blog that I love, called Altamira:Models off duty, when I saw this picture of supermodel Alana Zimmer. It was taken in the middle of July, just a few weeks before I cut about 3 or 4 inches off of her hair! Models are constantly having their hair done for shoots/shows, and it’s hard to keep it healthy with all the heat styling. Alana wanted to get the dry guys off the ends to keep it fresh and ship-shaped. She looks beautiful with her healthy in-between length hair.
Along with being super tall and even super-y beautiful, Alana is also perfectly sweet and spunky. Here are a few pictures of some of the gorgeous work she’s done.
Want to know the trick to cutting a model’s hair? Keep the cut as natural as possible with very few layers and lots of dry cutting to soften the ends up. Alana told me it took her years to grow out her bangs because they kept having to be cut at shoots. This is what my friend Anna has experienced with her bob. Everytime she gets it past her shoulders, her agency or a client makes her cut it. I guess that is what you get for looking so hot with a bob.
On Monday Jake, our friend Tadd and I filmed this video. Tadd is a scientist and has this crazy camera that films 1,000 frames per second (or something. that’s what i overheard them saying), so you can see every little detail of the shot. Usually Tadd films bullets being shot under water so that he can study the fluid dynamics (also what i overheard) and sciency things of that sort, but we decided to focus on hair for the night!
Here is what we came up with!
Slow Hair from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.
Q by Stephanie: Currently I cannot afford to get my hair trimmed by my stylist. (My hair is suffering!) This means that I’m finding heaps of split ends. (seriously suffering!) is it bad to trim them off, one by one?
A by Reagan: Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie….Of course it’s bad. Question answered.
I have a hunch you’re going to do it anyway. Let’s talk about this a little bit.
You’re supposed to get your hair cut every 8-10 weeks, but I know getting your hair cut is expensive. Personally, I think it should be treated like a hospital procedure (importance-wise, not scary-wise). It’s like this, you’re supposed to get your teeth cleaned and examined every year, and that’s pretty important, right? Let’s say getting your hair cut is that important, except let’s switch every year for every 8-10 weeks (12 weeks if you are one of those gifted healthy hairies). Some of my over-achiever clients come like every 3 or 4 weeks, and they get gold stars after the cut. Gold stars=blow outs.
Anyway, my point is, to keep your hair healthy, you need to trim it regularly. And I guess if you refuse to do that (shame on you), it’s probably not the worst thing to snip away at your own split ends. Otherwise they are going to start breaking off higher and higher, until you’re like “what the what? my hair totally stopped growing!”. Which isn’t true, but it does appear to stop growing due to the consistant breaking off of damaged ends.
Dang, you guys are going to make me very hated with your stylists.
So, while I’m not exactly giving you my blessing on this one, I have been too poor for a haircut in my lifetime. Now I can be too poor for everything and still have my haircut, hooray. If you really can’t get in for a trim, go ahead and do some little snippies on your dry hair to tide you over. But when you sit in your stylists chair, and he/she screems out “My haircut, my beautiful haircut. What has this world come to?” you might want to find a new stylist, because yours is super dramatic.
But for reals. The worst thing that can happen if you cut your own hair, is that your haircut will lose it’s original shape or become uneven.
Don’t forget to blame someone else if your stylist gets mad. This is our secret, Stephanie.
(unless you’re my client. in that case HANDS OFF!)
Q by Carolyn: Does razor cutting make your ends more likely to split and get damaged? I like the look, but I always feel like my layers grow out “fluffy” after a razor cut.
A by Reagan: Yes and No.
Yes, when you’re comparing it to regular scissor cutting. No when you’re comparing it to no cutting at all. Any cutting is good for your hair’s health, but using a razor does thin your ends out, so when heat styling or chemical treatments start to get to it, your already thin ends will split faster than they would had they been blunt cut. But a razor isn’t damaging. Especially a very sharp razor. Razoring is a great way to add texture to your hair cut, and it can make styling so much easier depending on what type of cut you actually have. It can make your hair hold curl better and blow drying easier and faster, it’s a great technique.
Razor cuts are good for people who get their hair cut often, or who have short hair. If you are the -I get my haircut three times a year if that- person, I’d say skip the razor cut. Unless your stylist is using it on your fringe (bangs) or front angles. Some of my short haired clients who I use a razor on say they go much longer between cuts because it grows out so nicely. So it is also very much a matter of preference.
What do you all think about razor cuts?
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…
Q by Andea: Is there a limit on the number of questions I can ask you
I cut bangs and I don’t like them. They are cut in a triangle shape (that’s the best way I can describe it, since you do hair you probably know what I mean) and they are getting too long to really wear as bangs anymore. When I don’t have bangs I like to part my hair really far over on the side, but now when I do that I get long hairs mixed in with my non bangs and it looks weird. Is there some way I can tell my stylist to cut it where it won’t look weird while it grows out?
A by Reagan: This is actually a question that a lot of people can relate to. I call myself a “Bang Pusher” because when my clients are getting tired of their hair, I often recommend bangs. Bangs really change your look, but they grow out pretty quickly and can be styled a lot of different ways at each length/stage. I am always prepared for the chance that they might not like them since it is such a big change, so here are some ways to help grow them out!
Ask your stylist to part the bangs in a half circle instead of a triangle. I often cut bangs in a triangle-ish half circle combo myself, because I know how fickle I am with my own parting throughout my day to day styling. The half circle will help it with the blending into the rest of your hair.
Start the framing or angling higher up. Tell your stylist to start the framing (if there is any) closer to where your bangs end so there wont be so much of a disconnect…making your long bangs look intentional instead of screaming “I’m growing out my bangs!!”.
Lots of texture in those bangs. Make the ends nice and soft. Blunt looks weird when growing out.
Have your stylist cut your bangs dry. It is a much more accurate length since wet will shrink up so much after dried. I am a dry bang cutter. And proud to say so.
Last but not least, try parting your hair in a diagonal, instead of a perfect line so that it starts with a heavy part, but ends up being a center part the further back it goes.
*there is no limit to how many questions you can ask. wink.
ps I hope this answer is easy to understand. I was visualizing a lot of stuff in my head and just writing it down as fast as possible. Like I couldn’t write fast enough for all the ideas. You know that feeling?
Also, bang blow drying is going in my “tutorialize” basket. you guys are in for it…