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Style & beauty

Short or longer hair?

(93 Posts)
Jennypops Fri 08-Aug-14 21:28:05

Until about three years ago I had a medium length bob,then I had my hair cut into a short (very short) layered style-now I have seriously gone off this style,think it looks too harsh.I want to grow it a bit longer,grow out the layers and have a short bob.I am just thinking it's going to be an awful long time to grow out all the layers and how I will cope with this? Has anybody any hints as to what I can do with my hair in the meantime?

rosequartz Tue 20-Jan-15 10:48:17

hildajenni grin

Mine does suit me better short but I still hanker after a layered bob.
I had a trim yesterday - he suggested that it would be better to keep the back and sides short and tidy while the top grows down. I probably look similar to hildajenni's dad!

DH said 'well as long as you like it and can manage it' hmm

jeanie99 Tue 20-Jan-15 00:17:59

Have the hair style that you feel good with.

I've had my hair long for years now, it's so easy to manage and when it's hot I take it up in a pony tail or clips.
Wash and condition every 5 to 6 days dry and straighten and it lasts until I wash it again.
My hairdresser says my hair is in excellent condition but I only have it dyed every 3 months because I don't think the chemicals are good for my hair.
Most women my age 70 have short hair but why go with what the majority do I say, have what you like whether it be long mid or short.
Hubby loves long hair think he would have a fit if I had it cut short.

hildajenniJ Fri 09-Jan-15 18:56:36

I started going to the nearest hairdresser to my house, just five minutes away, when I moved here. All the hairdressers there listen to me and do my hair exactly as I want it, which is very short. I have a round face and don't suit it any longer.
Last time I had it cut, I went to visit my Dad and discovered that we had the same hair style.grin

loopylou Fri 09-Jan-15 18:08:06

Given up going to 'posh' hairdressers, going to the one in the village who does a friend's hair next week. Will cost half of what I pay in Bath.
Hopefully a trim will be just that or I'll bee seen running down the High Street with a gown and half-trimmed wet hair! grin

rubysong Fri 09-Jan-15 18:00:26

I had mine cut yesterday and I am very pleased with it. Sometimes it isn't hugely successful (same hairdresser), she just seemed to get it right this time. It is layered with a fringe. Years ago a hairdresser told me not to have it so short that there was none showing below the ears and she was right, if I scraped it back at the neck I look very severe.

Nonu Fri 09-Jan-15 17:50:26

I NEVER go to the hairdressers, just cut and colour myself.

I was reading a couple of days ago about some movie star [might have been Streep]that colours her own hair, so I thought to myself I am in good company here
smile

trisher Fri 09-Jan-15 17:44:31

Mine is longer just now than it has been for ages. I would like it trimming but I'm terrified of hairdressers. Something happens to me when they stick me in a gown and ask me, "Now what are we doing today?" and then proceed to do exactly what THEY like. And I sit there mutely and let them. I ask for a one layer long bob and they tell me they are just putting a few layers in the back and when I look it's four inches shorter than the sides. AND I never dare to say anything. I just accept what they have done and pay them. Why is it that 5mins inside a hairdressers does this to me? I'm normally fairly assertive.

Ana Thu 08-Jan-15 20:37:56

But not by you, granjura! grin

Anya Thu 08-Jan-15 20:35:54

It was mentioned indeed Granjura try to keep up! .

granjura Thu 08-Jan-15 20:15:48

I said 'short anbd salt and pepper' - crimplene was never mentioned, was it!?!

Lona Thu 08-Jan-15 18:28:18

I agree Grandelly, I've just changed hairdresser twice, because my hair was cut too short and neither of them listened to what I asked them to do!
Makes me hopping mad.

Anya Thu 08-Jan-15 16:39:59

Now that's a step too far Grandelly CRIMPOLENE wash your mouth out wink

Grandelly54 Thu 08-Jan-15 13:41:37

Grow your hair long or longer, my hair is very long and I get on fine with it. I can put it up, straighten it, wear it in a pony tail, plait anything goes really. I have had very short hair when I was younger and although it looked ok there wasn't really much to do with it so it always looked the same and with longer hair you don't have to wash it everyday. Why is it when you get older the hairdresser thinks its ok to cut your hair short even when you haven't asked for it-they never bloomin listen! Also they seem to want to give you maroon coloured hair, cut short "so it's easier for you". WHAAT is that all about. Come on ladies just because we are older doesn't mean we have to wear crimplene and have short hair! I have to say though Judi Dench does look great with her short hair.

janerowena Thu 08-Jan-15 13:05:01

grin

And me. coolgran and I have exactly the same hair, by the sound of it.

I no go longer to the hairdresser, I like to do my own layers as they take it too short on top always, and the fringe too. Because it's curly it shoots up to half the length and they never allow for that 'shrinkage'.

But when I did, I always tipped the little juniors by keeping some change in my pocket, only if they were good and helpful and didn't pull my hair roughly though!

I think actually I would tip now more than ever. Hairdressers are now rarely employed by the salon. The owners rent out the chairs to freelance hairdressers, so they only work if they have bookings. I can see how it has happened, but it must be tough when you are starting out. The new ones then only get bookings if the older ones are fully booked.

NotTooOld Wed 07-Jan-15 22:44:05

He-he, soontobe. You made me laugh. grin

soontobe Wed 07-Jan-15 21:58:40

I tip hairdressers. But I dont tip as much as I did now that they seem to go on much better holidays than me shock

crun Wed 07-Jan-15 17:08:24

I had long hair when I was a student. It wasn't a hairstyle, just the lack of a haircut.

NotTooOld Wed 07-Jan-15 16:54:08

I swear by serum - Frizzease or the Boots' equivalent. It does stop that dry and frizzy look but too much and it goes greasy, so you have to be careful.

Gracesgran - I'd say avoid a perm as it could look very dated. Perms were a bit of an 80s thing, weren't they? I remember my mum having them in the 50s, too. I did used to like the 80s curly perms as they were very easy to look after - just wash and drip dry - but I don't think it would be a good look today.

Soontobe - nothing wrong with taking in a magazine cutting. I do it all the time. Mind you, it never seems to turn out like the picture!

Does anyone still tip hairdressers? My daughter says no-one does it now as they charge such high prices, so I stopped, but I sometimes feel quite mean.

soontobe Wed 07-Jan-15 16:34:43

My hair is a bit like Crafting's.
I do try and get it different from time to time. I used to even resort to taking in magazine cuttings.
But all hairdressers say to me that my hair is "difficult". Well great!
So I cant have this and that style.
Since I am no hairdresser myself, and I cant beat the hairdressers, I have kept to the same style for years.
It also doesnt help that one side of my hair dries inwards, and one outwards. confused

granjura Wed 07-Jan-15 16:29:19

short and salt and pepper

Crafting Wed 07-Jan-15 14:20:33

I keep mine around chin length as any longer and it becomes even more unruly than it is now. It is very thick, too curly to be straight and too straight to be curly confused also quite dry and goes frizzy at the mere mention of rain. My hairdresser doesn't need to go to the gym, she says struggling to dry my hair gives her all the workout she needs grin.

Pompa grin

Gracesgran Wed 07-Jan-15 13:37:09

There is the hair and there is you, isn't there. I always think the hairdresser works to my hair which is very fine and very straight and is cut in a mid-length bob. I am not sure that it really suits me and I have to wash and dry it each morning shock

I have been thinking about a perm just to soften the look but I am worried it will age me. Has anyone any advice.

glammanana Wed 07-Jan-15 12:54:37

Anya I've been having mine put up in one of those bun wraps which keep it tidy and fashionable to some extent also I go for the plait down the back,I'm off next week for a half yearly trim I really need this done in a salon as I have major problems cutting my own fringe and need the help of my hairdresser to get it looking anywhere near straight.

Anya Wed 07-Jan-15 12:39:49

Marelli long hair plaited or put up on an older woman can look wonderful, especially if it's thick. And as you say it depends on the condition of the hair.

It's the long and straggly look of long hair on some old woman that leaves me shuddering.

janerowena Wed 07-Jan-15 12:33:33

I would like her to layer her hair more. I quite fancy the meg ryan look, lately. My hair is very curly and layered because it is so thick, and it gets cut to my shoulders and then grows about two inches before it is pruned again. I think, when you look at yourself sideways, as you age your hair needs to go in at the back of your neck to counterbalance a loosening neck and chin. That's one of the reasons why longer hair doesn't work on older women - unless they have a lovely long neck, as does one of my friends. I do think soft choppy hair cut to curve around the face is very flattering, my MiL just has hers chopped off very severely and she looks androgynous. I thought it was very telling that when she lived in France and Belgium her local hairdressers cut her hair to soften and suit her, with slightly longer layers on top and the odd wisp around her face. Over here they just give her a short back and sides, basically!