I want to do something drastically different with my hair

[BikeRunSki]

I have had the same hairstyle for about 25 years on and off. More on than off. It’s a mess and I am bored of it. I have never known what else I could do with it.

My hair is naturally curly. Shoulder length. All one length. Can be beautiful ringlets if washed and left to dry naturally. Can be frizzy and dandelion-y otherwise. Layers look awful and make “steps” my hair I use very few products due to psoriasis on my scalp, and generally only wash it once a fortnight or so. I try and follow “curly girl”. I usually pull it back into a loose bun and pull out a few strands at the front. This doesn’t particularly suit my round face.

If my hair is too short it goes poodle-y. Thus was cute when I was 4, but looked like a granny wig when I last cut it this short 15 years ago at the height of summer.

My hair is often under a helmet - hard hat or cycling helmet. I hate straightening it. Straightening makes it very floppy and sucks out too much volume and also makes it very dry - my hair is thick, but very fine. I sold my straighteners years ago!! It also takes about 45 mins to straighten my hair. I really don’t want to go down this route, trying to get to work and get the dc (10, 7) to school in the mornings is fraught enough as it is.

I’m 48. My hair is dark blonde and highlighted. I wear fairly boring Breton tops/jeans/jersey dresses. I dress more for practicality than fashion!!

I there anything I can do to my hair which is low maintenance but vaguely interesting?

TIA

Could you channel a bit of Tilda? I always think her hair looks amazing.

Now. That is drastically different! But I like it. Not sure I’d dare shave the sides, they would take literally years to grow back. My top bit is much curlier than Tilda’s too.

This is pretty similar to my hair on a good day. This pic is a random model off the internet though, not me!

I am thinking of embracing an 80s look myself.

I don’t think my hair ever left the 80s....

I occasionally rue the fact that I was born in the wrong era.

You have gorgeous hair! I know that you fancy a change but honestly, if it’s working for then why change?

Have you thought about going to a curly hair specialist eg Vicky Queen of Curls in Manchester? There is one in Leeds and a few in London, don't k ow where you live? But you could book now as they tend to have long lists for appointments.

Brazillion blow dry. My hair was a wavy, frizzy mess but now it's straight and slick with a 5 min blow dry. Lasts up to 6 months.

@Veterinari - I do have gorgeous hair when I have just stepped out of a salon! After a day on a building site and a swim, considerably less so. You should see the crazy woman photo on my driving licence!!

@WhiskeyRemorse - Leeds is do-able. I will think about a specialist, my concern is that I have very limited free time (DH with a away I the week and we need all our leave to deal with school holidays), and whilst once might be doable, return visits might not be.

@lablablab - tried it, lasted about 3 weeks.

Perhaps book a one-off curly expert cut. I only need to go quarterly is that do-able?

I’ll book an appt in Leeds. I only manage to get to the hairdresser about once a quarter anyway.

The other thing is, my current hairdresser is the mother of a friend of ds’s. She’s been cutting my hair since long before we had dc! It’s a bit of a “local village for local people”.

I'm curly and sound similar to yours one of the best hairstyles I've had is similar to this it was so easy to maintain but went with the curls and had an edge to it. Layers can work but they need to stack them in a certain way so an expert in curly hair is a must.

I don't know what to suggest, if you say your hair looks like that pic you posted lucky you it looks lovely! If you fancy a drastic change, would you suit an entirely different colour? Either a nice copper colour or a bright blonde?

Could you experiment with more styles?

I have come to the conclusion that my hair is the way to is because it suits me this way. Instead, I’m playing about with it a lot more.

Yes. When you have thick curls you can do more 'sculptural' things with regards buns and ponytails.

The pic you posted is of the actress Keri Russel who was in Felicity (long forgotten but great show from the 90s). She is famous for her gorgeous hair and I remember the shockwaves when she cut it off.

If you're worried about telling your hairdresser, tell everyone you have won a curly hair cut in a competition, or they were looking for models 😏

Does anyone have any experience of “Made” salon in Sheffield? They cane up when I was googling for Vicky. They are not a salon she works at, but promote themselves as a leading curly hair salon for the north of England, and are more do-able for me than Vicky salons in Leeds and Manchester.

@whiskyremorse - good idea!!

Graduated bob? There’s a lot less hair so a lot less faff drying, but still works at front.

I’m beginning to think that that is the way to go @womanhuman. I have never blown dry my hair - it fluffs and frizzes like crazy, it’s much better scrunched with some serum and left to air dry.

How about going short?

I had a similar style a few years ago. My hair is wavy so would blow dry and straighten or curl depending on mood. 15min a day!

I have curly hair and got sick of all hairdressers advising me to get a bob. I recently went for a shorter cut that I had in my early twenties and am loving it.

@myidentitymycrisis your hair looks fantastic!