Hair Advice Hairstyle Advice Maintenance
Hairstyle maintenance
When deciding on a new hairstyle you should take into consideration how often will you need to get the style trimmed in order to keep the style looking good, and also how long it will take to blow-dry and style on a day to day basis.
Most of the fantastic hairstyles out there will probably require some form of daily styling regime.
Trying to get your hair to do something that it doesn't do naturally would be classed as high maintenance.
High maintenance styling:
Straightening hair which is wavy or curly, is definitely high maintenance. Obviously if you have a mass of curls or have annoying kinks in your hair, to keep it beautifully sleek and straight will require a daily blow-dry and/or straighten.
A fringe when you have a calf lick is definitely high maintenance. Anyone who has a calf lick at the front of their hairline will know exactly how difficult it is to have a fringe, and those lucky enough to be able to have a fringe that lies flat, will probably find that every day they wake up, it will more than likely be sticking up or parted.
If you don't want to wash your hair every day then wetting the fringe down and blow drying it will keep it tamed.
Flicking out styles. Hairstyles which are worn flicked out will need a daily blow dry, as flicks can flatten down over the course of the day or when sleeping. Flicks may defy the laws of gravity if the right hair products are used when blow drying and styling. A medium or strong hair mousse applied before blow drying will give the hair some hold and stiffness, and a strong hold hairspray will keep the style held for longer.
Hair straighteners are a good tool to use for achieving flicks with hold.
Insert the irons to the root or mid-length area of the hair and slightly tilt the irons facing outwards. Keeping the tilt, pull the irons through to the ends of the hair. This will create a flick. The slower you move the irons down the hair, the more obvious flick you will achieve.
Lots of layers need extra special care and attention for a hairstyle, as heavily layered hair can look messy and out of shape if not styled right. If your hair texture is naturally very straight then there will be no problem controlling lots of layers, but hair with kinks, waves and a frizzy texture, will need a daily blow dry and style to look great.
The beauty of today is that there are some fantastic hair straighteners on the market to help you along with obtaining smooth, well managed hair, in less time than ever.
High maintenance haircuts:
Very short hair (pixie crops) can be the most high maintenance hairstyle you can have. Generally you will need a trim every 4-5 weeks at least, as the hair grows over the ears and down the neck. If your hair is particularly thick or coarse, then if you don't keep on top of very short hair, the hair tends to grow outwards, instead of downwards and can leave you with a round, unflattering shape.
A good tip if you do have very thick or coarse hair, is to buy yourself some thinning scissors, and between haircuts snip some hair out of the sides and top. the beauty of thinning scissors is that if you are fairly careful and not cut too hastily you can't really go wrong as the scissors only take small pieces of hair out at a time.
Graduated bobs (where the hair is shorter at the back and longer round the front) are also fairly high maintenance as they tend to grow out of shape fairly quickly around the back of the neck area. This is especially apparent if the back section is cut 'into' the area above the neck, which creates a more obvious graduated bob.
To achieve this look which will require less maintenance, the weight of the hair is best kept in the nape of the neck area which leaves a heavier look.
Very sharp blunt styles look great when they are first cut, but to keep the sharpness and neatness of the look, you will need to keep the hair trimmed and free from split ends. This style will need a regular trim every 6 weeks.
Fringes look great on almost everyone and are bang on trend most seasons, but in order to keep the fringe out of your eyes, you will need a trim at least every 3-4 weeks.
Check with your salon as most salons will trim your fringe for free between appointments.
Bobs need trimming at least every 5-6 weeks. The style can become very annoying and unmanageable as it reaches the shoulders and starts flicking out. Especially if you like your bob to look neat and turned under.
Low maintenance hair:
If you have a busy lifestyle or just can't be doing with hair styling every morning then a low maintenance style will be best suited your needs. Maybe you swim a lot and need to be able to literally wash and go, or if you don't want to visit the salon every 4-6 weeks then read on to discover the best hairstyles which require minimal maintenance.
One length hairstyles with no layers are the most minimal maintenance styles you can have. If that seems too boring for you then very long layers can jazz up the style, or maybe wear it with a side fringe, still keeping the maintenance factor low.
Hair worn Long is definitely lower maintenance than shorter and mid-length styles, as the hair will never really look so out of shape as it grows.
Haircuts and styles to suit your hair's natural texture. For example if your hair is very curly, then the best style for you, is lots layers which enhance the movement of the curls. For more information on hair textures visit our Hair Texture Information.
Choppy, shaggy styles are particularly low maintenance as most natural hair textures will have some form of natural movement and texture, and with the help of hair waxes, hair putty's, hairspray's etc is easy to create these shaggy choppy styles in minimal time.
