Hair advice please

[vvviola]

I need some advice on what to do with my hair.

It's wavy and thick. About shoulder length. Lots of flyaways, especially just above my ears where I have these short hairs that kind of stick out from my head and DH says I look like a mad professor

Problem 1: I have scalp psoraisis, so I have to be very careful about what I put on my hair in relation to products as they can cause flare ups.
Problem 2: I have about 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, so washing/blow drying every morning won't work. And please don't suggest getting up earlier, I already get up at 6:30 for work.
Problem 3: I am a blow drying incompetent. I just can't seem to do it right.

Short hair isn't an option for me - I tried that before and it is truly not a good look with my face shape. Even a bob wouldn't work because without styling it just goes out into a big fuzzy triangle (which would mean having to style my hair every single day - and I quite like the idea of just being able to throw it up into a bun if I'm pottering about the house at the weekend)

Any ideas? I'm not averse to buying products/equipment etc if they will actually work stares at cupboard full of random straighteners and wet to dry things but I'm not made of money

I was going to suggest straighteners but you seem to have tried that.
Have you used a wax gel to tidy away the strays?
Would an alice band help at all.
I'm sure you've probably tried everything.
Maybe a Babyliss big hair would help?

Straighteners seem to work fine if someone else does it!

I can never get the back of my hair done properly, and the bits over my ears just go straight, fuzzy, and stick out. Hairdressers just look at me as though I'm daft when I try to explain.

Maybe I'm just generally incompetent

An Alice band might work, but it doesn't strike me as "professional" enough for work. Although I suppose it would be an improvement on the "scraped back into a bun with frizzy bits everywhere" look that I have at the moment.

Well if it looks shit already with all your efforts you might as well have it cropped so at least you won't be engaged in futile attempts at styling. There is a pixie for pretty much every face shape- it's just a question of getting the right one.

For example- bit of a moon face= short fringe swept off the face with height in the crown sorts the proportions out.

Ah no, KissyBoo it looks shit right now because I've given up making any effort. It can look really lovely, but only when someone else does it (hairdressers ooh and ahh over my hair, I just seem to lack the gene for knowing what to do with it)

Short hair just doesn't work on me. I've tried. Dear friends have told me they would disown me if I ever tried again. Besides, I like having long hair - when someone has sorted it out for me. I suspect a bob would be lovely if I had a stylist in every day to do it

I think I just need educating

Maybe book an appointment with your hairdresser just for a styling lesson?

Would a hairdresser do that?

I don't have a hairdresser at the moment, as we've recently moved country, but there's one near my work that I could possibly ask, I suppose.

I restarted my psoraisis treatments today, so my scalp being clearer might mean I feel a bit better about my hair. finding all the grey hairs wasn't quite so confidence inspiring!

Your hair sounds like mine? Maybe you would be better to just go with it and try to embrace the waves instead of fighting them? A product like TiGi bed head etc maybe?
I found Babyliss big hair helps so much though I don't have enough time or skill to do it properly. I now use a serum too for all those stray hairs and it goes some way towards helping them.

What treatments do you use for your psoriasis?

I'm back using cocois ointment at the moment - I was using steroids before I was pg/breastfeeding, but I'm starting at the bottom of my arsenal again before moving up, to see how much I can clear this way.

Embracing the waves is a possibility, if I can stop it going into the puffy frizzy stage - a stronger serum maybe.

I think I see some experimentation in my future again. Stuff that's gentle on my scalp but keeps my hair under control!

Twisted Sister products work well on my hair, which, until recently, sound very dimilar in style and texture to yours. They cut down the frizz and help your natural curls and waves look more defined and less bushy. And they're only 99p in Home Bargains .
Whatever you do, don't let yourself be pressurised into cutting it short unless you really want to. I cut all mine off 6 weeks ago and I absolutely detest it! Sure it's sorted the frizz but it is NOT me and it's going to take at least 18 months to get it back to even chin length. I hate it and it's not a mistake that I'll be making again.

Gah. Just lost a long post.

I couldn't squeeze in washing and blow drying in an extra 20 minutes each morning hippo. Would take minimum of an hour. Make up is already done as part of my morning routine. But admittedly and extra 10 minutes or so of styling would be possible.

Today's experiment with curl cream and drying naturally looked utterly fab for about an hour (if very casual). It decended into frizz after a while. Then looked passable for another hour or so, twisted up into a loose bun. And now just looks like I couldn't have been bothered brushing my hair. I'm intrigued what will happen after sleeping on it overnight!

Shall investigate some updos for the morning - can't look much worse than it has been for the past few weeks!

You said you fancied a bob. Wouldn't that be a lot easier to manage .

I have visions of having to wash and straighten my hair every day if I had a bob. I'd like to give it a try though, I think. I'm just reluctant to make a dreadful mess of it - and seeing as every time I tell a hairdresser that they can do whatever they like, I'm open for radical ideas they go "oh, how about some long layers and we'll take a bit of weight out of it".

I guess I don't look like the sort of person who really means it when I say I want a change!

Maybe if I figure out how to handle it (straight and curly) at this length then I could give a bob a try, knowing I can get it into a decent condition by myself.

Have you tried Aveda be curly?

Bobs are wavy at the moment anyway. No need to straighten.

Well, I took the plunge and went to the hairdresser at the weekend. And got a severe talking to.

Apparently I have lovely hair, and I am under no circumstances to keep it scraped back and uncared for.

I now have hair that doesn't tie back too easily (just below chin length). She didn't cut layers into it as she suggested I try keeping it straight for now - she'll cut layers into it next time if it hasn't worked out. She also did some weird exfoliating mask thing on my scalp which really cleared it up (psoraisis patches are still there, but it got rid of a lot of the scales and the ordinary dry scalp bits) I bought a Big Hair thing which I am going to try out tonight.

I'm still not entirely convinced, but I've had lots of compliments which probably goes to show how awful it was before

It remains to be seen how it responds to me trying to wash and style it myself.