Hiding it..
I’ve lived with this bad short haircut for about a week now. I’m passed the point of wanting to wear a bag on my head every day, but not past the point where I spend more time than I should styling it in the morning, cursing at my mane and resisting the urge to fling my brushes at the mirror.
I’d been going to the fabulous Roxy Blu at Rebelle in Denver for 6 years, and she knew my hair so well that she could cut around it’s unpredictable cowlicks and quirks and produce a cut that was easy to style, yet had some sass to it. And I loved my last hair style from her. But after my last cut here in Ohio, I contemplated booking a flight ASAP to Denver, just to get in to see her. Sure, it’d be a $400 haircut, but I wouldn’t come out of the experience needing a bender either.
My first short haircut here was lackluster, so for Round 2, I decided to put my trust in a Yelp review and went to a different salon near my home. Oh, wait. It’s not a “salon,” it’s a studio. As in, there are “artists” working there.
When I sat down in the chair, the stylist and I seemed to be in agreement about what my hair needed, and I sat their feeling optimistic. But when all was said and done, I gaped at the amount of hair piled on the floor and immediately thought “Oh crap, this didn’t turn out well.”
In the salon, it’s hard to really SEE the cut because it’s been over-styled and all those Wrong Issues don’t throw red flags just yet. You leave thinking it’s not too bad. Then you hit the light of day, take a look at your Mullet in the rear view mirror, and the next thing you know you’re drowning your sobs in an extra large glass of Cabernet and Googling wig stores.
For those of you that have short hair, you probably already know the pitfalls of your style. A bad short haircut is tricky to conceal and hard to recover from. So, I present to you…
The Top 5 Tricks to Surviving a Bad Haircut
5. Adult beverages
Okay, this happens to be my solution of choice, but it’s not for everyone. Receiving a short haircut that makes you look like an 80′s high school soccer team can have a crushing impact on your ego. Sometimes, numbing that emotional fall-out with a bit of wine/cocktail/chocolate/manicure/nap can allow you to see that maybe your new appearance is not all that bad. Whatever your comforting vice of choice is, you’ll need it.
4. Cover the mirrors in your home
I can see you thinking to yourself “my household will never go for this.” And perhaps you’re right. But constantly looking at your haircut in the mirror and picking apart everything you detest about it isn’t good for your well-being either. So I say, either cover those mirrors up, or stop looking at them every chance you get. Because that horrid cut won’t magically change it’s shape in the next 3 minutes.
3. Invest in hats
I’m not a head-covering kind of gal, but some of you can pull this off remarkably well without looking like Alfred E Neuman. For that, I applaud you and encourage you to break out the scarf/fedora/baseball cap/beret and wear it with pride. And when you do? Make sure you feel as if you’re showing off the hat, and not covering up your bird’s nest.
2. Earrings, earrings, earrings
Baubles around your neckline can do wonders for adding some character and playfulness to your undesired locks. Go big! Go funky! Now is not the time to be demure. Breaking out those giant hoops can avert the eye away from your hair.
1. If you can’t beat it, join it
In all seriousness, if you’re unhappy with the cut you’ve received, and you don’t feel comfortable trekking back to the salon to get it corrected, explore your hair’s possibilities. Maybe it’s not the cut you wanted, but are there other options for styling? Maybe you need to purchase a different styling brush. Experiment with the way it moves. It might not lay down flat with all the layers and layers your stylist has installed, but can those layers work in your favor? Try styling hair the opposite direction and see what happens. You may be trying to go for smooth, but perhaps a more chunky bed-head look is easier to achieve. And when all else fails, call on your sense of humor. Sometimes you do have to laugh to keep from crying.
Know that in the end, as awkward and butchy as you may feel with this new coif, it’s just hair and it will eventually grow back. I’ve found that these bad cuts usually tame themselves about three weeks after the butchering process. And this experience has taught me to chose my words carefully when talking to a new stylist, make sure that we’re on the same page before the scissors even touch my tresses, and that I can’t assume they know what I mean by “too much length.” That kind of talk will only increase my chances of needing a vodka tonic later.
Have you had this experience? Any tips you want to share on surviving a bad short haircut?
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So sorry they messed up with your hair! My hairdresser moved his shop so far away. I’m so annoyed. I liked him because he is an artist. I had a lot to talk to him about. Plus he treated my hair like artwork.
Exactly…my hair is not just something I want “groomed”, I want it treated with more care and artistry.
this happend to me today and i dont want to go outside is a little sad but your tips are great thanks for everything
Oh no! I hope you’re able to mess with your a hair a bit to where you can feel okay leaving your house! It’s a horrible feeling. But it will grow out soon…
I know this is a very old post, but after a couple hours on the web researching “how to rescue a bad short haircut” and “how to style” and “how to not kill yourself when” etc., I found this.
You had me at “Then you hit the light of day, take a look at your Mullet in the rear view mirror, and the next thing you know you’re drowning your sobs in an extra large glass of Cabernet and Googling wig stores.” I laughed right out loud and it immediately took every ounce of anxiety away. Having my anxiety level drop so and low so quickly has made me not care about the mirror, at least for tonight.
More jewels:
“When I sat down in the chair, the stylist and I seemed to be in agreement about what my hair needed, and I sat their feeling optimistic. But when all was said and done, I gaped at the amount of hair piled on the floor and immediately thought “Oh crap, this didn’t turn out well.”
Umm, yeah. I had even practiced buzzwords in the mirror before going in: “Edgy. Piecey. Jaggy. But NOT in any way asymmetrical. And” [she'd asked me to bring in photos] “can I have it like this, only longer?” (I did get it like that — only SHORTER.)
“Because that horrid cut won’t magically change it’s shape in the next 3 minutes.”
Are you *sure*? Because I waited like 5 minutes, then I tried 90 seconds and other variants, and I swear it changed shape very time I looked at it and pulled on it. Only not for the better. Nope.
“You may be trying to go for smooth, but perhaps a more chunky bed-head look is easier to achieve. And when all else fails, call on your sense of humor. Sometimes you do have to laugh to keep from crying.”
You helped me laugh. Thank you. And I have been Googling “how to spike a new shot haircut” even though I’m over 50, and I’m fucking going for it. Gonna scare myself and the dogs when I’m done, I’m sure, but with a little (okay a lot of) Cabernet, I might pull this off.
“…as awkward and butchy as you may feel with this new coif…”
It’s been 4 cuts in two months trying to fix this, but when it first went short in a big way, I hopped into my friend’s car when she was picking me up to go to dinner and said, “Adam Lambert, Liam Gallagher, or butch?” She about shit. Her eyes! My gosh, I’d only ever seen that expression on her face when talking about stuff that shocks her — and almost nothing shocks her.
“I’ve found that these bad cuts usually tame themselves about three weeks after the butchering process.”
My only hope (aside from looking like an over-the-hill punk rocker for the next 5 weeks or so as I try different styling/gel/whatever options I’d never have attempted before this) is that my hair grows *freakishly* fast. My stylist (whom I cheated on after getting a bad first cut from, then went back to and got this this cut that is killing my life) has always said she’s never seen anyone’s hair — in her 30+ years career — grow so fast. Yay… except that when I’d asked her to clean up only the asymmetrical bits, she trimmed off the whole 1.5 inches I’d grown in the last 6 weeks AND made me into some kind of soccer mom. Ugh.
Okay, back to my Cabernet. And again, thank you. You’ve saved my sanity tonight.
Oh Katie, I’m so so sorry that you experienced a wretched cut! But, my god, this is the BEST COMMENT I’ve ever received!!! While saying I’m “glad” this post made you feel better and resonated with you sounds a bit weird, considering the circumstances, I’m glad it did. It feels so shitty to get a horrible haircut. You’re not alone! Though, I have to admit that once I heard you had cheated on your hairstylist and the went back to her and received the bad cut, my first thought was “retribution.” I’ve often heard you should never cheat on your hairstylist and go back, and now I know why! The buzzwords never seem to work for me, which is why now, two years after my last crappy cut, I have long hair so as to avoid this kind of experience for a while. I hope you went for that spiky look! And you’re so lucky that your hair grows fast. I’m sure by now that haircut is but a distant memory.