Hairs Finally Cut ✂️
How I'm Styling My New Lob
I have had, basically, the same hair style since 2020.
That’s because I got my very first balayage right before the world shut down for the pandemic and I couldn’t — wouldn’t — accept that I had spent an entire day in a salon chair only for my brand new, hard-earned highlights to be admired via a teeny tiny Zoom screen.
Yes. I haven’t strayed from my long, layered cut because I can’t part with a single. blonde. strand. that I’ve spent so much money and time cultivating.
During the pandemic, I also grew used to dusting my own hair and found that I only needed to get one major cut a year to maintain that shape. (Also, layered cuts are very forgiving to uneven chops.)
I recently got a free cut by being a haircut model for the lovely @graciiehair (who is actually Boston-based) and decided the time had come to take off more than just an inch or two. We decided on a lob (a long bob) because I didn’t have the stomach to go with a full-on bob cut (something I’ve been wanting since seeing Zendaya in Challengers).
I love the cut, but something I forgot about this length (from past experience growing out a bob) is how it does this awkward flippy-thing at the ends, if you don’t heat style or curl it.
So I don’t have to keep hiding it under a hat, I’m making sure that I give myself a little blowout after washing.
My go-to right now is dousing my wet hair with this Color Wow Dream Coat (which is supposed to be anti-frizz for humid climates, but it’s kinda dry in LA so I can’t tell if it really is good for that) before using the Revlon One Step to easily dry/blow it out. I alternate between this and the BRIOGEO Farewell Frizz Blow Dry Perfection and Heat Protectant Creme, which works equally well (and is a little easier to apply).
But lately I’ve been taking the extra step to pin the heated strands into velcro rollers. Forgive me for sounding naive since these things have been around for literally decades, but I cannot believe how much bounce and volume these cheap babies provide — and the results last for a few days!
The rollers need heat to set, so I’ll blowdry a strand1, immediately wrap it around a roll, then secure it with a clip or bobby pin. Then, after about 20 minutes, I will remove and run my hands through it.
I actually have been loving my shorter balayaged hair even more, because it looks/feels so healthy!
P.S. — I bought this IGK Antisocial Leave-In Dry Hair Mask because I heard great things about it and had fantasies of just spritzing on perfect hair instead of having to wash it. Unfortunately, this did NOT work at all for me. Not only did my hair look exactly the same, but it triggered Aquanet nightmares — a coughing, smelly/chemical mess.
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I’ve heard that to avoid getting the rollers stuck, you need to only use a roller size that’s equal to the width of the strand of hair you’re wrapping it around.