Hairstyle help!

[Paranormalbouquet]

I have very thick, pretty straight but unruly hair. I've never been any good with hair so generally go long and scrape it back into ponytail with a heavy duty elastic day to day. I'm useless with hair and have difficult hair so it generally looks awful.

After reading all the threads here on thick hair I took the plunge yesterday, spent a full 6 hours having a colour and cut. Have come out with a long bob (was nearly waist length, now an inch above shoulders), an undercut and some sort of choppy point cutting to make it thinner.

I really like it but am still very worried about my ability to style it in order to avoid triangle hair. I have a birthday next week so DH is going to buy me a new hairdryer of my choice- any suggestions? And any idiots guides to drying your hair? (As I just cannot seem to achieve smooth hair without straighteners, and can't spend 90mins every 2-3 days drying and straightening my hair).

It's probably more wavy than straight actually, has a serious frizz and when it's shorter it bounces much more.

I tried to find a YouTube video to show you but they're all for volume and movement which is not what you want.

You need a round brush (a boar bristle one will increase tension and smooth the cuticle making the hair appear smoother), sectioning clips, a concentrator nozzle on the hair dryer and a decent blow drying spray or leave in conditioner.

Section the hair into three sections (sides and back), start with the back, take out a slice approx one inch thick, rest the hair over the brush pointing the blow dryer down the hair shaft, dry the roots first, then the ends (twisting the brush round when you get to the ends), if you leave the hair to cool over the brush (or blast with cool air from the hair dryer) the style will last longer, repeat until you're done.

The main thing is practise. I'm a junior hair stylist and can do a cracking blow dry on a client in under fifteen minutes but it's hit and miss on own hair. The more often I do it, the quicker and easier it gets.

I wouldn't blow dry with a round brush if you've already got big hair. It'll make it too mushroomy 😂

Blast it dry keeping the dryer pointing downwards then straighten it, shouldn't take too long, I do mine every day and it's long so I don't think an hour every 3 days is unreasonable really! You could get it done in half an hour though once you get used to it x

It's more often every 2nd day- I exercise at lunch times a few days a week and dried sweat in hair is not a good look! I'd love to achieve a sleek look without straighteners. I doubt I'll ever get it down to half an hour, it takes a hairdresser longer than that!

Now that it's shorter and lighter I want to try to improve at styling though. I'm hoping having so much weight taken out of it will make it easier and less prone to mushrooming. All the trainees in the salon gathered around yesterday to watch the cut, felt very strange!

Any hairdryer suggestions? I have been thinking a Parlux 385? DH has said he'll stretch to a Dyson if he doesn't have to listen to me whinge about my hair but don't know if it's worth the extra cash?

My tutor would shoot me if she ever heard me say this but, generally, a hair dryer is a hair dryer.

You want one with different heat and speed settings and a long swivel cord but other than that, they're all quite similar. I manage to get better results drying my mum's hair (also a thick, long bob) with my own cheap hair dryer and decent brush than I do styling her hair at the salon with their fancy hairdryer and crappy brush.

I like this one. Imo, the brush and products are more important.

As far as 'mushrooming' the bigger the brush, the smoother the look. If you get a large round brush, the ends won't bevel under as much as with a smaller one. I'm not sure how you could blow dry a shortish style with a paddle brush. You wouldn't get enough tension to smooth the hair. A denman type brush would work if you're worried about creating too much volume.

Paul Mitchell super skinny serum.