What would you do with my hair ?

[elelfrance]

I have shoulder length, naturally curly blond hair, pasty skin & blue eyes. I'm bored with my hair, have grown it from chin length to its current length, and neither style blew me away.
2 main issues : the colour : its a kind of ash-blond, with highlights growing out...i've pretty much always had this colour and i'm kind of bored with it. Would like a change, but am afraid of anything too radical
My forehead : I think its freakishly high, and would love to hide it a bit with a fringe, but not sure how a fringe on curly hair (that gets curlier the shorter it is - corkscrew curls) would work, as i don't have the time, the patience or the equipment to straighten it every morning

So MNers, if you had my hair, what would you do with it ?

I'm not an expert in the least, but here goes.

Firstly, I love your curly hair!

Are you already using a shampoo/conditioner for curly hair and something like Frizz-ease? With a lot of moisture and avoiding a hairdryer I'd think it would be possible to tame your curls into lovely, glossy corkscrews.

I can't imagine that it's impossible for you to have a fringe; it would probably need to be longer, but still!

As for colour: What about strawberry blonde? although I think your blonde is lovely.

Don't get a fringe honestly least bit moisture it pings up

I also think you have lovely curls. And agree with fringe potentially being a bad idea.

I think you should put a bit of work into giving it some moisture and experimenting with a few products - your curls look pretty defined - but is your product weighing the curls down? I found this really useful. Product advise, stuff like not over-rinsing, curl clips to lift your roots. www.amazon.co.uk/Curly-Girl-Handbook-Lorraine-Massey/dp/076115678X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426683197&sr=8-1&keywords=curly+girl+book

What I think you need mostly is a really good (but not drastic to length) cut. But (and a big but) by someone who gets curly hair. You just need a few layers added to the top to give you a bit of face-framing shape iyswim. It will also lift it a bit at the top - as it is a teeny bit flat (curl clips may help). Style wise am thinking a bit Kelly Hoppen.

I would be patient for a bit - and then stop people in the street who have a good curly hair cut and ask them where they go. Just wait. If you call any salon they will always say they have people who are experienced/good at curly hair. These are often the same stylists who know how to cut curly hair wet and the only way they can style it is to dry it straight. They do not understand curly hair.

Whatever you do DO NOT DYE IT ALL OVER. There. Said it. . If you do several things will happen

1. You may bugger up the cuticle of the hair. Only slightly - but this will impact on the curl. Probably not in an even/good way.
2. At some point you will be sick of having to constantly touch up your roots. And then you will continue for another few years. And then you will have to chop the whole lot off (can you tell why I have this user name). There are oodles of threads on here with people in this situation.

It is very pretty hair, great curls and you do not have a massive forehead!

chopornot, you've hit the nail on the head, to beat the frizzies, I'm putting in too much product, and end up with a flat top-of-head ....will look into the product & curl clip thing (but i'm based in France, and the range of curly hair products is a lot more limited than in the UK :-5 )
brightnearly i must get my hands on some frizz ease...i never use a hairdryer ;-)
thanks a million

Hi OP I am a hairdresser. If you asked me to do whatever I fancied to your hair, I would take a little bit off the length and add some (round) layers to take the weight away from the bottom of your hair and give a bit more volume around the sides and top. I would also add a light fringe (a sweeping to the side one) to break up your hairline. There is no reason why you can't have a fringe with curly hair - you just need a hairdresser who knows what she's doing

And I agree with not dyeing it!

Thanks Penguin, I think you're right about the layers, my last lot have grown out, so thats not helping for volume.

About the colour thing, after everyone's advice, i think i won't dye it.... I might actually let the highlights grow out altogether, and go back to my natural colour (which is only a shade or 2 darker anyway)...Se what thats like for a while

Thanks everyone