Hairstyles From Around The World

Short, easy and stylish

by Shari Davenport
(Greenfield, IN, USA)

New year - new style

This is the hairstyle I've been trying to get most of my life! I never quite knew how to explain it to any of my previous stylists - or they weren't hearing me. I use a lot of product in it - but it is so worth it, because without it, my hair is very soft and very fine, but thick, without a lot of body of it's own. I use John Frieda Frizz Free first, and always, because it protects my hair from the heat styling - blow dryer and flat iron - and because it tames it when the humidity is either too low and it's flyaway, or too high and it's just madness! I also use a thickener serum, a sculpting mousse, followed by a spritz of spray gel. I work all that through with my fingers really well, and then find the part and brush the bangs down flat across my forehead in both directions. I know - it's a lot of product - but I've finlly found the combo that works for me and I'm sticking with it! After I get that in my hair, I let it air dry while I do my makeup, and when it's just barely damp, and the makeup is done, I take the blow dryer to it, lifting every thing high and straight up by pulling it up through my fingers and waving the blow dryer back and forth on each section. This gets it dry and brings out the natural wave in the back and on top, and adds volume. I do the bangs with a small round brush, but using it to pull the hair straight and downwards on my forehead. I use a straightening iron on the bangs to smooth them out and get the ends to lay straight, and to add a bit of height by pulling straight up and then over with the iron while I pull it through the sections. When everything is dry and the bangs are done, I start spritzing with my hair spray - the stiffer the hold the better! I do it in sections, getting it to lay just right and then spritzing it with spray to set it. It's not as time consuming as it sounds - once you figure it out, it goes very quickly, since you actually start out styling almost-dry hair. I keep it cut every 4 weeks or so to maintain the style, and I love it! Not too bad for a 51 year old, eh?