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Hello. I need some advice about an undercut. I have very thick, wavy, light-brown hair that goes about half way down my back. (See picture.) I don't wear it completely down because it is so thick and doesn't lay flat on my back. I have to keep it in a ponytail as it keeps it grouped together and it lays down more this way. I've been searching the internet for undercut pictures with the hair down but cannot find any. Does anyone have experience with this hair cut and know if it works for making thick hair lay down? Also, I'm not referring to the "edgy/rocker" sidecut, I just want to use an undercut as a means of thinning my hair so I can leave it down without looking ridiculous. I hope that's enough information. Thank you!
-Vanderveer
Awesome hair. Undercuts looks dreadful, why ruin such excellent hair.
I am not sure what undercut means - but I have heard women who have thick hair that their beauticians "thin" their hair - maybe that's the same as undercutting - I don't know -
BUT! I just gotta tell you - Vanderveer - You have one awesome head of hair - it's gorgeous. I imagine it does get "big" when you let it loose - but that would be something I would like to see -
from a guy whose hair is "thinning" I would say - enjoy what you got - cuz you got something pretty amazing flowing down your back.
This is an undercut. Personally I would not do it to my hair
but if someone wants to do it I won't stop them.
I spent alot of years fighting for the right of men to
wear their hair long (or anyway they want to.)
I would not do an undercut on your great looking hair. I'd love to have the thickness you have.
Thanks, Albany. Yes, that is an undercut, but much more than what I would cut. I was thinking about cutting from mid-ear, down. A lot of people don't know this, but Viking men (both long and short haired) wore undercuts from the top of each ear, going as high up as the crown! Doesn't affect my decision, just a cool fact I found.
Thank you for the compliments, Fitzgarce! I've been growing for years now and still only wear it down for one occasion - metal concerts. However, at some point I might post a picture of it 'down'!
My advice would be to not get one. There has to be some kind of better alternative than that.
Vanderveer, you have hands-down BEAUTIFUL ideal-looking hair!!! Please don't undercut, your hair is just too nice to ruin in that way.
Give olive oil a try instead! Here is a recent pic of my hair, taken one day after shampooing and conditioning it, followed by a light application of olive oil massaged into the ends and lower half of my mane...
I'm a heck of a lot older than you (just turned 60 in July), with hair that is both thinning, and also turning grayer and grayer by the day; yet my hair lays down the way I want it to, looking both shiny & smooth, thanks to the benefits of using an age-old ritual of adding in a little olive oil to my hair.
I hope you give it a try before you do any cutting!
- Ken in San Francisco
Yes I would echo what Ken in San Fran said. Your hair is too nice to cut. I wish I had your thickness.
your right the olive oil does work , very well, my hair looks and feels great
Thanks for the compliments, Ken! Great advice - your hair is awesome. I'll try olive oil and see if that helps to tame it.
I'm not sure an undercut is what you really want, I think having it professionally thinned out is what you're really wanting. Hair dressers use special scissors that remove only some hairs on each cut allowing them to reduce volume without evidence of a noticeable cut. Essentially you'll have some shorter hairs mixed in with the longer ones which looks more like normal hair growth.
--Dale
Hi Vanderveer,
Needless to say, you have beautiful thick hair with great color! It appears your hair is curly. I think what Kansasdude recommended would help quite a bit. What I was thinking was that you could have a stylist put some long layers in your hair. Layers work well in curly/wavy hair but not so well in straighter hair. Also, maybe some oil applied to your hair would help with the poofiness.
But I can tell you one thing. I would never refer to your hair as ridiculous! People pay good money to get hair like that. Thanks for the nice pic and keep it growing and flowing my friend!
Ted
Man, thanks for the kind words and advice, I really appreciate it!
Fantastic fabulous hair. I have the same curly blonde/ brown hair but shoulder length. Would look much better if longer.
Getting a maintenance cut can be a nail-biting experience for anyone. But for curly hair, it can be especially nerve racking. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stylists who have no idea how to cut texture. They are not trained on how to work with curly hair. They don't understand the nuances-that an inch off can turn into 3 inches in lost length because of shrinkage, that bangs can be a disaster.
There are now some salons and stylists that market themselves as curly hair specialists. Although I mostly cut my hair myself, there are some consistent patterns on managing long curly hair. Starting out with tangled curly hair, heavy conditioner impregnation is the top of the order. Letting this sit there for awhile, up to several hours, then rinse off and dry. Let the curls bunch up as the hair dries. Then thin off the knots and tangles with the hair dry. With curly hair, eliminating the pyramid look, flat on the top, puffy on the sides, can be thinnned out with the "carve and slice" method, cutting at the curvature of each curl, rather than snipping the ends which removes some of the weight and puffiness associated with curly hair.
I find the heavy conditioner application, drying, then light thinning the best way. Then apply oils, natural or product forms, to create coil like waves that are soft to the touch. Can really be a nice look even better than straight hair. But takes much more work. Very nice for me to wear down all the time except for work in the ponytail.
Don
Don, thank you for the compliment and such detailed advice. I doubt the person that cuts my hair is aware of any of that. It seems I'll have to look around for someone who knows how to properly deal with curly/wavy hair.
I think you have great hair and should not cut it.
You have to work on reducing the "poofiness". This can be done without cutting your hair at all .
It would help a lot if you could post a picture of your hair when its down.
There are different products, routines, etc that you can follow to thin out your hair, reduce the thickness and the poofiness, so please dont cut it.
I would mention that my hair is poofy after condition it,
by the next day the poofiness is much less.
At your length you still have poofiness? Guess I shouldn't worry too much about it either. Hopefully when I get to waist length poofiness will be less of an issue even after washing.
Ted
My own hair always used to do this as well. Funny how it worked, but it always seemed better the 2nd day and until the next "wash day" cycle was due. And for myself (unless I had fallen into a dump or something) was once a week when at a very long length.
Justin~
Have you ever used jojoba oil? when i shower i rinse some through my hair, it weighs my hair down and gets rid of dryness/poofyness. I would highly recommend trying oil before you do anything drastic
you could also try getting your hair thinned out at a trustable salon. they have these special shears they use. you could try getting your under layers thinned out a little and see how you like that.
Hi Vanderveer,
Just wondering if the oils some of the guys suggested helped at all? I too have very thick hair, and while its not nearly as long as yours, it does a very good job of poofing out everything even at its current length. I just wonder what it will be like as it gets longer! I currently use coconut oil occasionally and also sometimes a leave in conditioner which controls it a little bit.
-Tommy
Vanderveer,
My stylist recommended what I think you're referring to. She used the clippers (probably a zero guard) to clipper a band of hair around from ear to ear. This gets rid of that hair that causes your poofing. I'm very happy with it. It makes my hair look so much neater overall. It also helps with heat in the summer. It's far from the edgy rocker trim. Just maybe an 8th of an inch. You can see it in my last pic.
Tony