Hair Care: Are You Cutting Your Hair Enough?

With long hair, I don’t get it cut nearly enough. Because of my long layers and very simple haircut, I don’t really need to. However, I never seem to realize that this is my main cause of all my “hair problems” – my ends looking ratty, my hair losing volume, even my style not holding up throughout the day.

One of my favorite 30 Rock clips of all time is the one where Jack states, “I get my hair cut every two days, after all, your hair is your head suit.” Funny, but true – don’t you always notice how your hair being done up really completes your outfit?

Now, I’m not saying that YOU need to cut your hair every two days, but it is recommended you get a cut every 6-8 weeks – that’s nearly every month. But WHY you may ask? Especially if you have long hair like mine, or you are trying to grow your hair out, you may especially wonder what the point is to visiting a hairdresser so often.

Mainly, you want to get your hair cut often because it rids you of split ends, breakage, and fragile hair. The hair at your ends is the oldest, and thus the most delicate. When trying to grow hair out, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not getting trims often. Your hair will be much more prone to breakage without frequent cuts, and thus, your hair will actually seem to grow more slowly. It’s the same deal if you have chemically processed, dyed, or bleached locks – your hair is more prone to damage, and getting a cut every 6 weeks or so will keep your hair looking best at whatever length you prefer.

So, time to fess up. When’s the last time YOU got your hair cut?

Celebrity Hairstyles: Olivia Wilde

I remember first seeing Olivia Wilde as the edgy, rebellious friend of Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) in the television series The O.C., where she struck me as being very different from the rest of the characters on the show. Besides being a talented actress who is now starring in blockbuster movies merely eight years after her first television appearance on the series Skin, she is undoubtedly gorgeous in a unique way.

Besides the fact I would sell my first born child to have a body like hers (kidding, kind of…), let’s get down to what I’m really in love with… her hair.

You might ask, why? She isn’t well known for her hair at all, in fact, her fine hair is styled into pretty ordinary looks from the red carpet to on screen appearances.

However, ordinary is the key for my love of her hair, because I see her wear styles I could realistically emulate without having a personal stylist at my beck and call.

At the Golden Globes in 2011, Olivia went for exactly what I mean when I say an ordinary look – and she looked amazing. Her newest haircut with straight across bangs suits her face perfectly. Photo credit: Lockandmane.com

Lastly, a more formal side of Olivia is shown with this almost-all-updo. She’s swept back almost all of her hair, teased it at the crown, pinned it, and then curled her hair all over with loose, luscious ringlets so they appear to cascade down the back. I can’t wait to try out this style myself – and if you’re worried about volume, adding a hairpiece for a little boost is easy to conceal right at the crown of your head.  Photo courtesy of: thehairstyler.com

Try on Looks with a Virtual Makeover

I am always dreaming about bizarre things to do with my appearance – especially my hair. Of course, once you do something drastic to your look, it’s pretty much impossible to turn back time on your decision.

Thankfully we live in a completely computerized world, and to our rescue is (drumroll please) the virtual makeover!

Let’s get real, most of these free online makeover programs really stink. They give you about 10 prefabricated hairstyles to choose from and that’s it. The best one online that I have found is the Virtual Makeover at DailyMakeover.com. It allows you to easily use your own picture, custom outline important details, and even change the color of your own hair. Plus, it’s totally free and takes seconds to create an account.

Check out these screen shots of my virtual makeover experience.

Once you create your account, you are directed to trace your face, hairline eyes, lips, and eyebrows. Usually this kind of program technique never works well, but the way you can pull the dots around and customize the lines to perfection in this program makes it easy. For once, the lipstick color I select won’t be somewhere on my cheekbone.

Next, the fun part. Today I really wanted to look at different hair colors, since I’ve been natural for awhile now. The following experiments are a bit drastic for reality but just look at how well this program works!

I traced my hair outline:

And then got to see what I’d look like as blonde:

Not bad, but I don’t know if I’m going platinum for ahwile. But how about a Katy Perry look instead?

Maybe not. However, I hope you can get an idea of how fun this program is. Not only can you change your hair color, you can try on celebrity hairstyles, makeup, accessories, and other effects, plus you can save all of your styles in your My Makeovers file. Definitely a site to check out. Happy Makeover!