I have GOT to get a haircut. My hair now is most unflattering. It's about armpit length (8 inches past my shoulder maybe) and is longer than flatters me (it's just dragging me down) and is kind of bottom heavy and just clumps together. I've thought it over and asked some people and think the best thing would be to get about 4 inches cut off the length and then get a few long layers (maybe have the shortest be at my upper lip because I'm a wimp and my hair grows slow) so my hair isn't weighed down too much or too bottom-heavy, and then to get long side bangs. It'd kind of look a little like Taylor Swift's haircut but not quite as long (in pictures her length looks like my current length).

I have a long face (but not super long) so I've been told I'd look better in short hair MANY times, but I'm very attached to long hair. I think it looks elegant. Now I just have to figure out how to MAKE it look elegant, because now it's just kind of gnarly! Hence.. the much needed haircut. Do you think that haircut with the long layers and long side bangs would look good on me?

My picture:


But mainly my anxiety is about getting a STYLIST! Oh how worried I am. I have had far too many bad haircuts by just going where my mother gets her hair cut that I am THROUGH with it. I haven't had my hair cut in a year because of this. But I do need it. So.... I was looking up stylist reviews on naturallycurly.com since I REALLY want to get a stylist proficient at cutting non-straight hair, since my hair is NOT straight and I've never had a really good haircut ACKNOWLEDGING that before. There was only one recommended stylist in Honolulu, but when I went to a consultation she gave me an uneasy feeling. I don't want to take any chances, so I looked up salons near where my family lives (I go to visit them for Christmas and summer vacation so I'll be back in just 3 weeks) and found 3 salons with stylists with very good (and recent so they're probably still there) reviews and I just can't choose now!

Here are the 3 reviews:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlsalons/view/2174
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlsalons/view/1706
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlsalons/view/571

They all sound promising, but since it will be my mom driving me to get my haircut, I know I can't expect her to drive me to a consultation to all of them, so outside of calling or emailing with questions, I will probably have to pick one and go to them only for when I get the actual cut. All 3 of these are within 30 minutes of my house. Two seem to be priced in the 40 dollar range, one in the 60 dollar range, but at this point I'm willing to pay for a good haircut, you know? It'd be worth it.

But I just don't know! What do you guys think? Any one of these REALLY stand out or do they just all seem really good? I think I deserve a good haircut for once, so I'm determined to get one, darn it!

Hi, my daughter is visiting for Thanksgiving and I just asked her to look at your post. Her curls are very similar to yours (you've got beautiful hair) and she's been going to a curly hair specialist in Houston.

Her message to you:
I found my stylist on naturallycurly.com. There were several in Houston but she had several good reviews, everyone was happy with her. I did look her up on other websites, too (google and yelp.com) and she had some pictures of her work up so that was why I went with her. naturallycurly.com is a pretty active site so if a stylist only has positive reviews I'd take that as a good sign.

Good luck to you!

You do have gorgeous hair--so shiney and curly! I could definitely see you in a Taylor Swift type style. The naturallycurly.com website looks like a great idea and going to one of those stylists would at least be better than picking a name out of a hat (or going to your mom's stylist......shudder. Only do that if you want your hair to look like your Mom's!).

Something that I've done is approach women who have cool hair and ask them who does their cut. I've had women ask me that, too, and it never insults me. I'm always glad to share the name of my stylist because she is awesome!

Good luck--post a pic when after it's cut so we can all admire your new 'do!

In general I have had my best haircuts and best styling by men hair stylists. I also recommend checking with other friends that have curly hair and ask them where they go . My son has naturally curly hair and always looked like he had a bush growing on top of his head. I sent him to my hairstylist, ( a man ) and he was happy. My stylist explained that some people just don't know how to cut curly hair. Check around, and good luck !

I don't have any advice except that I really like your hair.

Your hair is beautiful, I hope you find a good stylist

My mom's hair is naturally curly and I used to cut it (I'm a teacher not a hairdresser) but it always looked great, so people said.

Layers are a good idea to help with the weight, I have layers in my long hair (stick straight I might add) but thick.

Don't forget to post up after pictures

I'm a hairstylist. My best advice to you is find someone with hair you like and ask them where they get their's done and go there. Maybe even go with him/her to an appointment when they're getting their hair done and see if you like the stylist. A LOT can be said for chemistry with your stylist. Ask the stylist questions, etc and see if you feel comfortable.

My 2 cents! Good luck!

Well I researched them... apparently all three are recommended but only two are mentioned on the nc boards enough to get a more detailed review... LuAnn apparently gives a good cut but is less knowledgable about hair care in general, while Marni seems to be a treasure trove of information, so I think I'm going to go with Marni. I should be getting it cut shortly before or after Christmas and will post pictures then!

Okay wow... I did find before and after pictures of some of Marni's cuts online... I'm feeling confident now... what fantastic transformations! I realize a lot of that is her styling too, but you can tell that her cuts REALLY reshape the hair and make it look good! (Befores are on the left and afters on the right, obviously).






I called the salon yesterday and made an appointment for the 23rd, so hopefully I'll be looking fabulous this Christmas!!!!

Wow, those look great. It looks like she also knows alot about what kind of product to put on curly hair to beat the frizz without the hair looking crispy or stiff or oily.

I can't WAIT to see your pics!

I'm so glad you're feeling confident about your choice of stylist. Good luck - I'll be watching for your pics!

I think it would be wise to take a picture of what you want with you and show it to the stylist. A lot of mishaps happen in salon because of communication breakdowns. I'm sure you'll look amazing...you already look great with your current hair, so I can only imagine....and I hope you will post your pics too!

UPDATE!!!!!!!
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I got me a haircut today!!! She was really nice and had beautiful curly hair herself! She cut my hair dry and then washed it and styled it. The true test will be how it looks after I take a shower and wash it, but it looks good, I think. Also, on a random sidenote, I had warned her that my hair takes a long time to dry, but even she was very surprised after she had diffused for a while and it was still wet. I wonder what characteristic about the hair causes it to take so long to dry... it's not even that long now.
Anyway....

Pictures:

Very cute style on you, your hair is gorgeous.

Wow, really nice haircut! That style looks great on you. My hair has the same structure as yours, though the colour differs, and it can take me up to 6 hours to air-dry it. As it does some really ugly stuff when I try to blow-dry it (it poofs up like poodle hair) I have just had to learn to live with that.
Great that you have found a stylist that really knows her business.