Curly hair - Would a bob work?

[Mixedandproud]

I have very curly shoulder length hair and all I ever do is put loads of leave in conditioner in to tame it and then tie it back. It always looks dreadful however hard I try to make it look nice.
I have always liked the bob style, do you think it looks good with curly hair?
I am going to book into a hair salon which is good at catering for my hair type so I know they will be able to cut and style it well.
I am thinking either a natural curly bob with some colour or to have my hair relaxed (straightened) first and then cut into a bob possibly with a fringe.
If anyone has curly hair and a bob could you tell me if it is fairly easy to maintain?
Would you opt for this style again?
I am thinking why not just go for it, surely it can’t look any worse than it already does! I intend to talk it all through with the hairdresser first to get their advice.
I have attached a couple of google pictures of the kind of looks I like. I only wish I looked like the woman in the second picture!

This style looks great! Sadly my curls are not the same as yours but I’m hoping with the right products I can go for that style and length.

Yours would probably be more prone to drying than mine and you'd have more shrinkage to deal with, so it's absolute right that you'd be visiting a specialist stylist.

I have a few tight spirals at the nape of my neck and they're about an inch in diameter - waves are curls that are too big to defy gravity. There are products out there that claim to define and elongate curls which might help you get a look you're happy with.

There's a couple of women who regularly walk past my house who have hair similar to the curly Bob in your OP. One often walks past with it still wet - so easy to just wash or wet it and head off to work.

Yes exactly mine dries super fast and shrinks loads. I’m looking to book into a specialist salon that can deal with Afro hair.
I’m hoping that the right cut and style with layers will do a lot of the work for me. Hopefully the salon can recommend products that with define and add shine too.

The only curly bobs I’ve seen in real life are like yours with lovely wavy hair. Fingers crossed I can achieve something along those lines with my Afro curls!

Its gorgeous! I'm white but very envious of afro hair - I like my own curls as big as poss! And I LOVE seeing black women rock natural hair because I have picked on all the pressure they face to relax etc by hanging round on curly hair forums

How about stretching the curls a bit with tips like this?
www.byrdie.com/how-to-stretch-natural-hair-4777821

Sometimes I use rollers to make the curls a bit more uniform too

Want to see a pic when it's done!

Hey op, I have tight curls like you and have actually gone short with a fringe for the first time in my life. I will take a pic tomorrow and see if I can scribble out my face to you can see.

I wish I had done it earlier and just let my curly hair be big! I always ended up tying it back when it was shoulder or long bob length because it used to go everywhere.

Now I can enjoy the curls but not worry about what it looks like at the back.

I wish I could be more confident in terms of styling my Afro hair but I’ve had a fair few unpleasant comments over the years that have completely knocked my confidence.

I would be hesitant to stretch the curls simply because my hair is quite fragile around the hairline because of all the years of tying back. This is what has finally dissuaded me from trying hair relaxing.
The fact is these models are gorgeous though, I have to be realistic, I’m a plain Jane at best and just haven’t got their confidence!
I definitely will post a picture when it’s done good or bad!

I have 2c hair and a Bob... it only looks like a mushroom if hairdressers can’t cut curls.

The reason you’ll see lots of 2b/c bobs is because it’s easier to get volume at that length - which might mean yours will have even more volume - that’s not a bad thing btw, just thought I’d mention it so you know.

@MrsBobDylan - Yes please to the pic, your style sounds great.
I live in the South West, do you mind me asking which area you are in / where you have your hair done? The salon I am going to book into is in Bristol.

@tabulahrasa - I thought that, it very much hinges on a stylist who knows how to deal with afro hair.
I don’t mind a certain amount of controlled volume and I’d love a fringe as long as I don’t end up like a mushroom/triangle/poodle!
Would you mind sending me a picture of your style with your face blanked out? It’s really helpful to get ideas.
Also do you mind me asking whereabouts you have your hair done?

I don’t actually have one.... lol... and it’s currently more like shoulder length because I should have had it cut in April...

www.belleandblackley.com/services

Thats where I go though and they have an Instagram that’s worth looking through for style ideas - it’s in Glasgow though, so might not be handy for a cut.

Have you ever tried a salon which is an expert in Afro hair, @Mixedandproud?

Not for a number of years. I haven’t had my hair cut anywhere for what must be 10 years. DH cuts it now and again but it generally breaks off around shoulder length and doesn’t grow any longer.

@tabulahrasa - Thanks for the link, sadly Glasgow is not within easy travelling distance for me!

I've just googled, and I LOVE the first image on this site. As has been said though, perhaps it's because the model is so goddamn gorgeous .

Ha! Yes these models could have pretty much any hairstyle and it would look good!

Here's another one I love, if you were to get your hair relaxed- unless I'm being ignorant and it's a weave? I guess you need to think about your face shape too.

I find it difficult to tell if some of these pictures are natural hair that has been relaxed or a wig / weave too. I do like that look though but my hair couldn’t look like that.
I’m not going to go down the hair relaxing route this time but focus on getting a really good cut with layers with my natural hair and using defining products.

I think you are right to try to work with your natural hair and curl, because it looks beautiful.

Thank you, you are sweet.

What I don’t want to end up with is this - no offence meant to the model here BTW.

What I do want is something like this, I’m just hoping with my hair type it will be possible.
I’m going to follow the advice of the stylist.

It looks great- hopefully you can achieve it with a great cut. Out of interest, do you have a fringe already? I do, because I have a massive spamhead (and curly hair). But I'd say that generally, curly fringes are massively tricky to style.

My 5cents worth. Work with your hair, not pics of less curly / different types of hair.

I just googled afro bob and there's some beautiful styles. I always print heaps of pics of what I like and take them with me to the hairdresser. Really helps to give them an idea of what I like and what cut to do.

I hope so too.
No I don’t have a fringe but would love one mainly to cover my awful eyebrows! I can imagine getting a curly fringe right is difficult in the sense that it tends to want to bow outwards if you see what I mean at the ends.
Would you feel comfortable sending me a picture of your hair style with face blanked out? It’s very useful for reference?