Help me pick a hairstyle (with photos)

[HairOclock]

My hair is in desperate need of a cut but I'm very undecided what to do with it - very tempted to go shorter but I worry about the upkeep.

If it helps, I have two young kids with a third on the way, and we have a working farm so time for grooming is few and far between, and often gets undone within half an hour of being outside anyway my general routine at the moment is wash once a week, let it dry naturally and then normally scoop it up into a clip day to day.

Photos show hair down just having been washed and the usual (messy) style I wear it up.

Before I was pregnant I was blow drying it once a week with a Dyson air wrap but I just haven't had the energy more recently. Maybe I would again if it was shorter.

Open to suggestions for easy to manage hair cuts please, I know it's a mess at the moment, please save my insecurities

Your hair is lovely OP, it really suits you and your lifestyle and you'll regret it if you change it. Mine is very similar and I recently got one of these which I am loving: Minimalist Hair Fork

Hair down for the wedding.
Go to a hairdresser and get them to show you how to do different buns/updos/plaits etc. It's great as it is. I like the shag with a fringebut fringes tend to mean maintenance

Your hair is lovely! If your "down" picture is how it goes without styling, I'd just have a trim. If not, you could have a trim but get them to cut into it slightly (not layers though). I have similar hair (not quite as wavy) and that really helps me with leaving it to dry naturally, ie it doesn't look too bulky. I just add a bit of hair oil and scrunch. If I have layers I have to style it.

For the wedding, I'd either wear it down and wavy, or in a loose bun quite high on your head.

Love that!

That's a good idea to get a hairdresser to show me some easy styles. I tried to do a top knot yesterday, I failed miserably

I wouldn’t change it much at all - go for a trim

It looks nice

But I wouldn’t use a clip to tie it back as it won’t stay up

Thank you! I had a curly cut in January and she didn't layer it but did shorten a few pieces here and there, mainly around my face which did stop it hanging so heavy. I could probably do with the same again

What do you mean about the clip? It seems to be the only thing I can put in my hair quickly that holds it all in place for the day, if I try and tie it up it just sags after a while

I have spent many years and outrageous amounts of money trying to achieve your look 😄 I've pretty much given up now

Mine is similar to yours, though it's now waist length. My routine is also exactly like yours! For the wedding I went to, I put it halfway up- began the usual twist up, secured it while the length was still loose, then curled the length over one shoulder. Does that make any sense at all?

I backcombed the roots on that occasion, for a bit of volume. That's what's missing, imo- volume at the roots when it's tied back.

When it's loose, volume at the roots can be added with wax. It gives it a bigger, slightly wilder look. I have no hair products left now, but that's what I used to use.

I attempted a top knot yesterday and it looked awful but I left it in overnight and now looks like this, kind of like it! Although it's lost the waves

You might need to look into the sock bun!

I just use a normal hair band/ hair tie whatever you would call it that you would use for a ponytail. I scrape it (messily) into a high ponytail. Then instead of pulling it all the way through to a pony, I keep it half way with a few ends sticking out which I twist to the front, then I do another knot in the ponytail and halve it again. I actually had to do my hair to remember what I do and sorry it is so garbled, I do it several times a day if it gets a bit loose! With the curtain bangs hanging out a bit and the straggly ends on the top of my head, it looks messy! And because I have halved the hair, and halved again, it comes out really wavy when I take it out.

It looks a bit like this:

but less complicated when I do it, no wrist flicks

Probably more like this. I don't use those twisty things though.