The bad haircut blues and how to beat it
The dreaded bad hair cut – you’ll never forget it – it goes way beyond a bad hair day and if it hasn’t happened to you already, sooner or later it most probably will!
You can straighten a perm, curl sleek hair and you can dye over a disastrous colour but until your hair grows a few centimetres more, there’s no escaping a bad hair cut.
So what do you do if a confidence sapping hair cut befalls you?
First of all you need to be up-front and tell your stylist. Chances are that you’ll not realise it’s been poorly cut until you’ve reached home and have had a chance to ‘play’ with it. If you are truly unhappy and feel that remedial measures need to be taken, give your stylist a call and explain why you’re dissatisfied and discuss the possibility of another appointment to try to correct what is possible. If the stylist is one that is new to you, you may want to ask her to fix the cut as best she can and perhaps make a note not to return. However, when this happened to me a couple of years ago, I changed salon altogether, because I just could not trust my hair to that ‘Edward Scissorhands’ hairdresser again!
If the hatchet job was the work of your regular, tried and tested stylist however, it’s often better to forgive and forget and allow them to make amends.
Following a bad hair cut you might find it depressed to find out just how slowly your hair actually grows, half a millimetre a day (15cm a year) seems to be about the average. It may grow at a faster or slower pace depending on your age, genetics and your hormonal state (pregnancy seems to have an affect on hair for example). However it shouldn’t take too long for your hair to grow to a stage where the cut appears more acceptable and soon enough you’ll be booking another appointment and restoring some normality to your locks. In the meantime, there are solutions less drastic than a wig or a hat to help you through:-
- Try adding some body to straight hair with Velcro rollers or a curling iron. Adding some waves and curls will help disguise any cuts that are too blunt. If your hair is wavy or kinky, straighten it out while blow drying to give it some length.
- If you hair’s long enough, pull it back and leave a few strands around your face to give the illusion of longer hair. At sites like Hair Updos you’ll find the best hair updo images so you can find the perfect updo style for you that will tide you over while your hair grows out.
- Use pretty hair accessories such as barrettes, pins, clips and butterfly combs to pull back your hair in problem areas.
- Headbands come in many styles, from beaded to crocheted, you’re bound to find one you like. Headbands are a great and fun way to hold back a badly cut fringe.
- If your fringe is too short, blow dry it straight down and sweep it to the side. Then secure with a hair clip or bobby pin.
- You can find clip-on hair extensions such as plaits and straight hair pieces in department and discount stores everywhere. Pull your hair back off your face and clip on a pony tail and for a while you’ll forget all about your hair problems.