Short hair is amazing! You get to feel the breeze on your scalp and neck, and you aren’t carrying around all that extra weight on your head. When you get out of the shower, your hair is dry in half an hour. It’s awesome!
But what can you do to style short hair?
- Spray dry shampoo or texture spray on your bobby pins before insertion to prevent slippage. Sometimes short hair slips out of bobby pins more easily than longer hair does, so to keep your strands in place, spritz a dry texture spray on the inside of the bobby pin to give it a little more grip.
- Braid your hair into a chic crown braid. Pull your hair back into a chic crown braid by first creating a side-part and then Dutch braiding (where you cross the pieces under one another rather than over) your hair diagonally, starting from the left side of the part. Then Dutch braid your hair straight back on the right side of the part, securing both braids in a bun in the back with bobby pins.
- Keep your pixie cut smooth and sleek all day by crisscrossing two headbands over your hair. Stubborn short strands can be a pain to keep down. To ensure your pixie stays put, layer your bejeweled headbands for a flawless look
- Pin your bangs with one bobby pin, pushing the open end toward the ceiling. Complete the “V” shape by sliding one leg of another bobby pin at a downward angle through the looped end of the first pin. Repeat as many times as you’d like to get the look you want.
- Keep a cold cream or lotion in your bag in case you need to tame your tresses on the go. They can be used to fix fly-away’s or frizz if your hair wigs out when it’s humid.
- Create a faux bang by making a deep side part, sweeping the hair across your forehead, and securing it behind one side of your headband.
- Not all hair textures are suited for all hairstyles and cuts. For example, if you have super-fine hair, you might fare better with a pixie because it will create the illusion that you have thicker hair, and if you have a slight wave to your hair, layered and one-length cuts may work better, since wavy hair tends to hang a bit looser and longer (compared to curly hair, which coils up).
- Make your own salt spray with seltzer water and a teaspoon of sea salt to give your short hair beachy texture.
- Define your natural curls with a curling iron and go! If you want to rock your short hair, but also want it to look polished and defined, use a curling iron as your secret styling weapon. If you have super-tight coils, use a very tiny curling iron to create definition, and if you have larger curls, opt for a larger-barrel iron to make your texture more defined.
- Create a pompadour by teasing a section of hair from temple to temple and then pushing it against where you normally part your hair to increase lift. Creating a pompadour on short hair can be tough, but by twisting the hair you’ve gathered and pushing it against your part, it will make building this style that much easier. Secure with two bobby pins in an “X” formation and go.
- Blow your hair dry 50 percent of the way and then let it air dry. Not only will this cut down on heat damage, it will leave you with a natural #IWokeUpLikeThis kind of texture that you would otherwise have to use a salt spray or other styling product to achieve.
- Braid your hair from back to front, since any layered shorter pieces in the front might be hard to weave into a plait.
- Avoid weighing down your short hair by applying root lifter or volumizing mousse to your roots, and pomade and wax to your ends only. Too much wax and pomade, which tends to be heavier than a lightweight mousse, too close to your roots can flatten your hair and even clog the pores on your scalp.
- Create natural curls by alternating wrapping your hair over and under the barrel of the curling iron.
- Keep your bangs, or any shorter layers, out of your face by braiding them into a headband braid.
- Pull the hair off your neck and create a slimmer, chic bob by braiding the undersides of your hair. By French braiding the underside of your hair on both sides of your head, you can pull a major portion of hair off your neck.
- Avoid using a brush while blow-drying, since it will create a puffy, dated feel. Instead, use your fingers to move it around a bit and then let the power from the dryer blow your hair around. Then, once your hair is dry, you can create your shape.
- Boost volume by parting your hair and crimping the layers of hair underneath. After you’ve parted your hair where you normally do, clip up a 1/2-inch section of hair on both sides of your part, and use a micro crimper to add texture to the layers underneath to give them volume. Then, let the rest of your hair down. By crimping multiple layers, you’re creating zig-zag patterns piled on top of each other, which ends up adding overall body underneath the smooth hair on top.
