new thread
I have recently started re-growing my hair and its now about 5-6 inches in length, I am trying to grow the layers much longer and need advice on a style that will keep it reasonaly presentable while letting it grow. My hair is thick and straight, but I have had a body perm put in to give it some lift - however, this tends to drop out fairly quickly. Any ideas on how to keep the perm in and styles would be appreciated.
Also, I have had my hair braided/plaited before by a stylist and it looked and felt great. I am very interested in other ideas for using accessories and putting hair up and noted some of the ideas on this page. However, is there any chance that a step by step guide as to how to do these styles for a beginner could be added to the site - perhaps with pictures. Perhaps the lady visitors to this site or girlfriends could also come up with some new ideas for using accessories that have not yet been discussed here.
How do you wear your hair now at that length? Please describe what works and what doesn't work and I will give you some ideas.
I have been trying to grow the layers for the past 6 months now from a fairly short style. The crown is about 4-5" long, the back is about 5-6" long and the sides are about 3" long. It is still layered but this is residual and growing out. My hair is thick, heavy and dead straight so I have a root perm or body perm every few months. I have also tried a more frizzy weave perm but this just made my hair look wild and bouffant. Because my hair is so heavy the perm tends to drop out quickly. Therefore, the sylist usually does it fairly curly first and within a few weeks this drops out. At the moment my hair is drooping down at the fringe and the sides. It is pretty resistant to blowdrying in any direction so I usually let it dry naturally.
What I really really want is to grow it into a style that looks smart and presentable but long (i.e. eventually into my shoulder blades). I cannot decide whether to grow my fringe or not becuase it just flops forward at the moment how could I cope with the growing out phase until its long enough just to rest back off the face. Is there any way I can make the perm last longer, or should I just go straight - problem with that is it will be even harder to manage.
Finally I occassionally like to use hair accessories to put it up take it of the face etc. I would like some ideas on what I could do as a "straight" guy that looks interesting, classy/sophisticated. I have had a french plait done in the past, but the sides are probably just too short for this at the moment - in another 3 months they should be OK. I can manage a pony tail with the back hair at the moment, but this does not include the sides. The crown just sits there. Have you any other suggestions - I would ideally like things that I could do myself with my own inexprerienced hands.
Any advice would be really appreciated - thanks
Help is on the way - I am a professional hair stylist. A few more questions - how old are you and how conservative is your work enviroment? Do you part it now?
Great news Jenny!
I am a 30 year old, young at heart kind of guy with a SOH but can be a bit shy. I am about 6 ft tall and large build if that helps you picture me better.
I don't really part it, I have been trying to just take it back off the face and let it lie naturally whichever way it wants. There is a natural parting on the right hand side (i.e hair falls from right to left).
Work is a professional scientific environment and my job can vary from sitting in an office, meeting customers (hence neat and professional looking) to working in a lab (where I may need to put it up (but its under a paper hat so that can cover any multitudes of embarassment.
What I was driving at when I said a professional type style, is that many women can wear their hair loose and long yet it still looks good. Yet on many guys it can look messy and they have to tie it back. I would prefer not to do the latter when in the office.
I am interested with experimenting with it at home and perhaps something different for a party ett, i.e. I don't have the same constraints at home.
I would go with short on the sides and back and letting the hair grow long all in one length. You can part in on the side or in the middle, and also just let it fall naturaly. I really don't find the different lengths very attractive.
Once it gets long - why not wear it in any style a women would? As long as it is neat - any style should be acceptable, including a loose (non-tied back) style. I really think the future styles for men with long hair will be more closely aligned with women. Care to comment?
Thanks for the advice Jenny. Could you just clairfy that I understand what you are suggesting:-
At the moment I have longer layers at the back and on top than the sides. Therefore, should I cut the back to roughly the same length as the sides and keep growing the hair from the crown? Is this like a bob or pageboy style or does it have another name that I could use to describe it to my stylist.
Also, should I keep growing the fringe in line with the sides etc - any advice how I can style this so it stops dropping into my face until its long enough to just rest back off the face with its own weight.
For the style you have in mind should I stop body-perming it and just go straight, but with a neat cut.
Finally do you have any views on how long is enough, i.e. when is hair on a guy too long to be neat.
I hope your right about the future, I don't really want to be seen as having a particularly feminine style - just one that is longer than average for a guy which is suitable to both sexes and looks good. Thanks again for your help
Paul,
Personally, I think that really neat cuts on men with long hair make them look effeminate. As an alternative, why not try a variation of the old coupe sauvage - this is a bit more of a rough cut with lots of layers to create lift and texture. You could get out of the bed in the morning with this cut and it would look good. You can also grow it to as long as you want while still keeping the general shape. You may also want to consider using highlights to create more texture - you should discuss this with your hairdresser.
The UK hairdresser Nicky Clarke revamped this style for Selina Scott a few years ago, I have a picture of this, and think it would really suit a guy. At the moment I do not have a scanner, but if I can get hold of one I will scan it in and provide the picture. Meanwhile, does anyone know of a link to similar examples of the cut.
What do you think Jenny.
Cath, I believe this is the one you are looking for....
Thanks Mike,
This image is not quite what I had in mind, but the other picture you posted is much closer. However, the picture I have of Selina is with her hair much shorter and similar to the sort of length that Paul says he has now - he would just need to grow the hair from the crown down over the sides, keeping the back about the same length as now, as with the bangs. In my picture, Selina's hair only just touches the top of her shoulder blades, but there is a lot of texture in the cut with shortish layers on top and some wispy bits at the sides which curl in towards her chin. I think that this style has a lot of flexibility because without changing the style you can go from a shortish cut to the much longer cut you posted as the 'true variation'. If you have any images close to what I have described, I am sure it would help Paul a lot to illustrate what I mean and where he could get to.
Also do you or anyone else have any other suggestions or images of styles which could be considered as unisex for hair of any length. I have a general interest in this area and would appreciate any ideas. For example the Rachel cut from Friends and the Gillian Anderson cut from the X-Files have both been suggested here or on other sites as being great for men. I appreciate that generally this is really asking for styles currently sported by women that could be worn by men as well but any images would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Cath
Here is what I belived to be the le coupe sauvage.