Short hair help, yet again

[fortworthgal]

Alright ladies, I'm looking for some help and suggestions.

This is my hair right now - this picture was taken yesterday morning:

This has grown out from a super short pixie last summer. My hair is coarse, very thick, naturally wavy, and DRY because I abuse the heck out of it by coloring at home, washing daily, and heat styling daily.

I am tired of spending every morning blowdrying my hair into submission and then flat ironing it for the super sleek look I love. I want something that won't ravage my locks, will work with my natural texture, and that is cute and will look stylish with either vintage duds or modern. I am leaning towards something that I can set nightly, and hoping that will end heat styling, and also cut back on my daily washing routine.

Here are the styles I really like - kind of a short 1940s/50s curly/wavy thing:

First, I know my hair is probably shorter than all of those ladies. Is this something I can achieve?

What type of haircut do I need to ask for? Is this a pincurl set?

I'm looking for suggestions on what would work best with my hair, and how to achieve it. Thanks!

 

[~Psycho Sue~]

I think the Marilyn look is easy to reproduce with barrel rollers, and it would work only if you have layers cut in your style. The length would be fine as it is, as long as you don't put in TIGHT curls. Use bigger rollers. That will be gentler on your hair too. I hesitate to tell you to jump into pincurls with what you say is course AND damaged hair, you WILL get lots of frizz.

If you like the 50s, the roller styles were IN at that time so pin curls are not not necessary to achieve authentic looks anyways

check this out for a style guide, all of these looks are achieved with hair your current length! all 1950s! http://beautyisathingofthepast.blogspot.com/2009/11/to-try-your-skills.html PS- I ADORE THE ONE CALLED "THE WRAP UP"

 

[fortworthgal]

Thanks! That is exactly the type of advice I was looking for. I remember my mom using barrel rollers quite a bit so perhaps I can get her to show me how to use them and give some tips. Great link, too!

 

[KittyT]

these are great!

I'm due for a cut and need to get a lot of length cut off. I kindof want to get a plain bob, but am then worried about whether or not I'll be able to get good sets without having layers. A lot of these cuts look like they don't have many layers though, which is great.

 

[fortworthgal]

Does anyone have any tips for using barrel rollers? Can you sleep in them? Should I use end papers? I assume you do the hair damp, with setting lotion.

Believe it or not, I've never set my hair in rollers. Not once! I'm a complete greenhorn so I can use all the help I can get. lol

 

[fortworthgal]

I always thought Sherilyn Fenn had nice retro hair in Twin Peaks

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/AudreyHorne.jpg

http://twin-peaks.navajo.cz/twin-peaks-3.jpg

I think this was from when she played Elizabeth Taylor:
http://www.celebrity-pictures.ca/Celebrities/Sherilyn-Fenn/Sherilyn-Fenn-i96865.jpg

 

[~Psycho Sue~]

Oh i loved Twin Peaks ! I agree, she had cute hair!


You can sleep in them. It takes some practice. Wet your hair and put in some sort of holding gel. Most CVS or Walgreens sell setting gel. Print out those instructions shown in that link I posted, and set your hair. Using end papers makes it easier to roll, it also takes practice. It prob will take you about an hour the first time. Don;t get discouraged and dont forget to post the results for me to see!

If you don't wanna hold them in with clips then you can buy the kind that have plastic snap-on pieces that hold the hair. they sell those in Sally's beauty supply. OR the velco kind that do not require any clips. They are made by Scunci I think. I have used both kinds. I would not recommend using sponge rollers for these styles because the curl needs to be more realxed than whay you get from a sponge roller. Good luck!

 

[kamikat]

Does anyone have any tips for using barrel rollers? Can you sleep in them? Should I use end papers? I assume you do the hair damp, with setting lotion.

Believe it or not, I've never set my hair in rollers. Not once! I'm a complete greenhorn so I can use all the help I can get. lol

I'm not sure what barrel rollers are. I use magnetic curlers which look like this:

My hair was cut into a pixie about this time last year, so I know how it is to grow your hair out. With your current length, the blue ones are probably going to be your best bet. Each color is a different size, blue is the smallest. I sleep in mine and only use end papers when the hair is too short to stay around the roller. I also put a hairnet over them, as it helps the shortest hairs stay where they need to be. I've also gotten a cut 50's style with that length hair using very small hot rollers.

Another thing I like to do while growing my hair out is to curl the top and wear a folded bandana around the back so it look like an up-do

 

[fortworthgal]

CUTE hair, kamikat!!! May I ask how the blue rollers stay in? Do you use pins or what? I'm a roller novice.

I'm really frustrated with my hair. I haven't been flat ironing it the past several days and it just looks wretched. My hair has a lot of weird waves and cowlicks, and unless it is either completely curled, flat ironed straight, or a messy pixie type cut, it doesn't look right. I think it is at a weird length right now and I can't figure out what to do with it. I'm at the point of hacking it off, so I've got to do something!

I'm really leaning towards this cut since it looks like it would work with my natural texture... but then I'm afraid it'll be too short to do anything remotely vintage with it. I'm also afraid I'll feel regret for cutting off what length I do have. Help!

 

[kamikat]

Yes, you use clips like these:

I'm going to set my hair today, I'll take pictures to show you how I set mine. The only difference between now and 6months ago is a larger curler. When growing you hair, I find that every few weeks, it goes through a different stage. You'll be happy for a while, then hate it for a couple weeks. The key is to resist cutting it until it grows to another good stage. For the first 6 months after my pixie, I cut it every 4wks. Cut 1 would be just the back neck edge. Cut 2 would be all over trim. This way the layers were getting cut every month. For the next few months, I just cut the bottom edge so it was becoming more of a bob with each cut. Currently, it hasn't been cut at all in 3 months.

 

[fortworthgal]

I have some of those clips at home.

Yes, right now I'm definitely in the "hating" stage.

My hair is very thick and wavy - not curly, but also not straight. So, if I just air dry or blow dry without any flat irons or curlers - it comes out all wonky. Mostly straight but with a few weird random curly spots, a major flat spot/dent on the right side, and my bangs curl into a sausage roll on my forehead.

I really would like to find something that will work with my natural texture without me having to spend an hour every day forcing it into submission. It shouldn't be this tough! I'm also tired of damaging my hair so much with all the heat styling. I can only assume that setting it would be less damaging.

I would love to see photos of your set, kami.

 

[fortworthgal]

Ok, I found a style I'm in love with - I actually stole this pic out of the pinup thread... so, thanks to whoever initially posted it. lol

I think I can pull this off... if I can just learn to set it in some rollers. I realize hers is longer than mine at this point. This would probably also allow me to keep/grow my length, and I'd also be able to flat iron it when I wanted. I love her bangs... also wonder how it would look with "Bettie" bangs. Hmm...

Thoughts?

 

[texasgirl]

You might check into getting some of the small hot rollers too. Remington Tight Curls are the ones I have. Pageant girls get them, so you may have to search a bit on ebay for them. I got some cheaper because they didn't have the clips and I just bought some smaller butterfly clips at Target and it works perfect. Probably won't last for days like a wet set, but I have trouble sleeping in rollers.

Here are a couple sets I did with them:

this one I pulled back on the sides with combs

 

[fortworthgal]

Thanks, texasgirl! Your hair is super cute in those pictures!

I've never used hot rollers, but I will have to look into those. I'm hoping to lessen the heat damage on my hair since I'm essentially frying it every day... but I think hot rollers would be less damaging than a flat or curling iron, and it would be nice to have them available for touch-ups or when I don't have time/energy to set my hair overnight. Good tip!

 

[fortworthgal]

A few fun pics I found - apparently Claudette Colbert had "Bettie bangs" before Bettie! lol

I'm going to try to see my hairdresser this weekend, at least before next weekend for certain. I think at this point I'm going to go with the Marilyn Monroe cut and look, I think I can swing that. I'll be stopping at Sally on my way home tonight to pick up some rollers and things. I'll be sure to post pictures. Wish me luck!

 

[SugarKitten]

That last pic is a lot what my cut (thankfully) has morphed into. It's a really versatile shape (and I tend to get more compliments on it the *less* I do with it, and I've got a lot of natural wave).

Good luck! Pics to see how it turns out please!

 

[fortworthgal]

That is a really cute style, sugarkitten! I think the bangs seem to make it look more finished, even when it really isn't styled, if that makes sense.

I'm actually using this girl as inspiration, along with some Marilyn pictures - I think she's here on FL!

http://blog.johannaost.com/2009/07/21/short-hair-again

 

[fortworthgal]

Well, last night I did my regular hair maintenance (clarifying treatment, color, and deep conditioning treatment) and went ahead and did a roller set with foam rollers. Given that I've never used rollers before in my entire life, I think it went okay. Took me about an hour and I was extremely skeptical about how it would turn out, but figured I could wash it out if it turned out badly. I used Lottabody diluted about 5:1 with water, and end papers to keep all of my layers in. I bet I went through 150 end papers in screw-ups. lol Slept on it, then took it out this morning and I'm shocked at how shiny my hair looks - for the first time in weeks my hair doesn't look like straw! Also, the set turned out pretty great, much to my surprise. I looked like Shirley Temple after removing the rollers, but after some brushing it was nice waves and curls. I'm really surprised how well it turned out, and how nice my hair looks. Tonight I'm going to try pinning the curls down and sleeping on it again, to see if I can (hopefully) go 2 days without shampooing.

I did take several photos of the entire process, so I'll post those as soon as I get around to uploading them.

 

[kamikat]

Fantastic!
Sorry I didn't post pics of my set. I've come down with a horrible cold and haven't done my hair up.

 

[Sincerely-Dee]

My hair is very short and I mean extremely short but I still put rollers in my hair.

I use the plastic ones with the clip on "cage" type thing to keep them on. I do sleep in them if I have time to sort out the abundance of curls in the morning, otherwise I sit under my hood dryer until partially dry then pin curl my hair.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but - due to laziness - I mostly just tie my hair up in a scarf most days.