Getting a good haircut makes us feel confident and empowered. Things can be easy when you have already found the salon and hairstylist you can entrust your tresses to. However, if you are not satisfied with your do or contemplate change, you might be asking yourself lots of questions.
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• How should I cut my hair?
• How do I find a good hairstylist for a cut?
• What hair length will suit me best?
• How to get a haircut consultation and what questions to ask?

You will find the answers to these questions below, as we are sharing 10 commandments of getting a perfect haircut.

If you have not found a good stylist yet, it is high time to do it. It’s always a significant risk to entrust your hair to a new hairdresser, especially if you need a consultation, want to change your style, or contemplate cutting your long hair short.

Here are a few ways to find a good specialist for a hair job:
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• First of all, search for a hair salon with some excellent reviews. A great hair salon will most often showcase their work on Instagram or Facebook, so this is where you should go to see the samples of the salon hair cutting and know what kind of hair treatments they specialize in. Good salons carefully select experts they employ and will definitely recommend a professional to cut your hair.
• Mind that if you like a salon, you will be visiting it for a long time for regular trims. This is why a good idea is to start with the places to get a haircut near you. See if they have already earned a good reputation online or ask your neighbors if they have ever had a cut at that place.
• Ask neighbors, relatives, friends, or coworkers, whose cut your like, where they get their hair done. You can even ask a stranger with a lovely salon hairstyle where she gets her hair cut. Still, do not forget that people have different kinds of hair, so it’s better to refer to women whose hair type is similar to yours.

As you are researching the salons’ profiles or asking for a referral, pay attention to whether professionals give haircare and haircut advice and if they pay attention to long-term health of your locks. Needless to say, choose the ones that do.

Thinking about a new haircut, you would definitely like to know what hairstyle suits you. Experts believe that the shape of your face is a crucial point here. To understand what shape your face is, look at the mirror and outline your face’s contour on it with a piece of soap or lipstick. Take your hair off your face and make sure you do not contour it too. Eventually, you should be able to see whether your face is round, prolonged, square, or heart-shaped and thus focus on how to choose a haircut for your face shape.
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The overarching rule is to go for a cut that will make it look more oval. For example, you might want to go for edgy side bands to elongate your round face and get rid of its excessive softness. Or, get a shaggy layered bob recommended for square faces.

The right haircut can change the impression you make, as the way our haircut looks, how it is set and its overall condition can tell a lot about us. Would you like to look serious, a bit edgy, or maybe 10 years younger? You should take into account that every haircut has its own character that will influence your image for sure. If you are a low-key kind of girl, the daring super-short pixie cut is not your style; you won’t feel comfortable with it.
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When choosing a haircut, it’s also essential to find the one that fits your lifestyle. The best haircut for you will differ depending on whether you are a mom on maternity leave, a bank officer that has to follow a strict dress code or a creative designer people look up to for style inspiration. Be sure to tell your stylist more about yourself before getting a trim.

If you don’t know what haircut to get, start by browsing the best haircuts for women of your age, hair type or face shape. This is what The Right Hairstyles can really help you with. Pin all the styles that click for you to compare the variants or show them to your stylist to know if this cut will look the right way on you.
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Another idea is to try one of the free online questionnaires. All you will have to do is to upload your photo and fill out the online form, answering simple questions about your face shape, complexion, eye color, hair color, texture, density, current and desired length, and other points. After the questionnaire is done, you will be suggested several female haircuts that suit you best. You might be able to choose the hairstyle you like from among the suggested options.

Sometimes, the ability to communicate well is the best way to get a haircut you want. Unfortunately, many women don’t know how to describe hairstyles they like to their stylists. So, before you go to cut hair in a salon, learn some important haircut terms that will help you “speak one language” with your hairdresser and get ready to show images of the cuts that you like.
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Mind that your hairdo can turn ugly not because it was cut the wrong way, but because you do not style it right. This is why it is imperative to ask your stylist what to do with your hair at home. A new haircut may leave you at a loss, so better make a list of what you want to ask when getting a haircut. Also, don’t take product advice as the way to sell you something: the impact of using the right hair products on your hairstyle cannot be overestimated.

Cutting hair off isn’t enough to look beautiful. A good hairstylist cut demands correct styling. Professional stylists can do sleek-looking strands, blowouts, bouncy curls, and other sophisticated dos. But you don’t have a personal home hairdresser to style hair for you every day, do you?
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Then, before choosing a definite haircut, make sure that you will be able to style your hair and you are ok with making it your daily routine. Consider how much maintenance a haircut requires and be frank about how long you style your hair now. Usually, we don’t have much time to wash and dry hair or create complicated hairdos in the mornings. If you do not use heat tools to set your hair, you’d better choose a haircut that doesn’t demand it.

Hair grows, and your perfect cut may soon look messy and disorderly. Before choosing a haircut, think about how it grows out and how frequently you will have to refresh it.
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Whatever haircut you choose, you should keep in mind that your new look will demand long-term maintenance. Are you planning to get a bang cut and color your hair? We love the idea, but you should be ready for frequent visits to the salon for touch-ups. And if one day you decide to change your hairstyle, it will take your time and patience.

Are you still shilly shallying over which haircut to choose or not sure it will match your appearance? Then don’t make radical changes and opt for longer haircuts. If you don’t like the result, you can easily change your haircut, and the stress won’t be so painful.
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Regrowing or styling your bangs is also easier if you opt for elongated feathered fringes. If you haven’t had any bangs before, better start with this one to be satisfied with your cut. You can always go shorter when you get used to it.

Another thing that will help you get a good haircut is having a professional haircut consultation first. You can ask for one or just order a hair dry to communicate with a stylist and see if you feel comfortable. Bring some photos with a desirable hairstyle to help the hairdresser understand your preferences. But don’t be disappointed if a trendy haircut you have chosen from Pinterest or Instagram will be rejected. Not every trend is suitable for your appearance and some may be already criminally outdated.
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A good stylist will take into account all peculiarities of your appearance and individuality: the shape of your face, age, character, and even job and offer several haircut suggestions.

Don’t be afraid of cutting your hair off. If you feel stressed, your stylist may feel uncomfortable and won’t be able to do his best job. The same thing will happen if you are too assertive. Thus, the main piece of advice for you is to stay positive. You perfectly know that your hair grows back. So, even if something goes wrong, this experiment will help you find your best hairstyle.
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Use these tips to choose the haircut that would suit you the best. We do hope that you find the right hairstyle that will become an essential part of your image, will help you express your inner world, and will favorably emphasize your features.

Despite the effortless look messy bun hairstyles give, creating a decent messy bun to go out anywhere outside your kitchen or bedroom is not that easy. More so if you have fine, straight, middle length hair. In The Right Hairstyles, we believe that no hair mission is impossible; this is why we have prepared a step-by-step messy bun tutorial that will teach you how to put your hair in a bun with minimal effort and head-turning results.

If you are lucky to have long, full hair, give a closer look at the third way: unlike other common ways to make a messy bun with thick hair, this one allows creating a more intricate and elegant updo.
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Watch the video tutorial and scroll down for the list of steps and even more hacks and methods!

The truth is, when you have short, thin hair, you always need some kind of a hack to make a messy bun look good. Otherwise, the bun will be really tiny, which means two things:

• your face will look fuller (that’s why you should be especially wary of smalls buns if you have a full round face);
• your hair will look very thin (and you want to make your thin hair look fuller, don’t you?).

​Thankfully, we know three hacks that will help you create a voluminous messy bun for thin hair.

This method will help you create a messy bun with middle-length hair and even a short lob haircut. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Brush your hair, pull it into a high ponytail, and secure tightly with an elastic. Wrap an elastic tie several times to raise the ponytail and set it away from your head.

Step 2: Pull hair to the front to avoid a smooth ponytail look. For a messy bun, the whole hairstyle should look a bit messy, not only the bun itself.
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Step 3: Tease your ponytail thoroughly (refer to this  teasing guide if need to). Don’t be too hush, as thin hair is prone to damage. If your hair is clean and lacks grease, spray it with dry shampoo for a better grip. You will soon end up with a messy and fluffy ponytail like this:
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Step 4: Now, grab sections of your teased hair and pin it to the base. You do not need to create additional twists or knots. The idea is to get the teased hair pinned at all sides to recreate the form of a bun. You may not hide the tips, as they complement the ‘do very well.

Step 5: Pull out the front pieces. If you have some baby hair, do not smooth it up with hair gel – it is ok to let it fall on your face too. If your hair is too short at the back and cannot be pulled into a ponytail, you may simply clip it with a bobby pin.

Using a donut bun maker might be the easiest way to put thin hair into a bun. The problem is that such buns end up to be slick and smooth ballerina buns – not a hairstyle we aim for here. So, here is what we suggest doing instead:

Step 1: Brush your hair and tie a high ponytail at the top of your head.

Step 2: Pull hair to all sides so that it doesn’t look too smooth.

Step 3: Take a bun maker for your hair color. Find a string that holds a bun maker in its form; this will allow you to unwrap it. Basically, this is the reverse of what you do with your sock making a sock bun. Thus, wrap the unrolled bun maker around the base of your ponytail and secure it with bobby pins.

Step 4: Lay the strands of your hair evenly at all sides. Here is how it looks like:

Step 5: Start pinning the strands to the base. It is better to pin them as they are, without twisting, as you might end up lacking hair to cover some of the areas. Again, leaving the tips visible and pulling your front pieces will only perfect the look.

Another way to create an intricate huge messy bun hairstyle entails using hair extensions. Do not worry, you don’t need any permanent hair extensions here. More than that, even the cheapest clip-ins will do (these are the ones we have used in the video to be sure of what we say). If you go for cheaper extensions, spray them with some dry shampoo to get rid of excessive smoothness. This simple hack will make styling a messy bun much easier.

Step 1: Brush your hair extensions through and unclip the base to be ready to clip it.

Step 2: Section your hair near the temples. Place the upper section on top of your head so that it doesn’t tangle with your extensions. Then, clip in the extensions to the lower section. If you have smooth, straight hair, tease the roots a bit so that the extensions clip better.

Step 3: Lay down the upper section of your hair and brush it through together with the extensions. Then, pull your hair up into a high ponytail. Leave the hair a bit loose or drag it to the front when the ponytail is tied.
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Step 4: Separate the ponytail into two strands. Then, again, split each strand into two and twist them around each other (you may try twisting the stands as they are, without sectioning into two parts, but this step gives a bit more control over your hair). Then, twist two parts of the ponytail around each other. The twists make colors blend perfectly, so even if your extensions didn’t match your hair color very well, the bun can turn out to be even more beautiful, with some great highlights and lowlights.

Step 5: Tug and pull on the sections to make them fluffier; then, wrap the twisted ponytail around the base of your pony. Secure the messy bun with bobby pins and spray some hairspray for a better hold.

​How to Do a Messy Bun with Long or Thick Hair

If you have long, thick hair, messy buns will be less of a challenge. The classical method is to twist your ponytail and wrap it around itself, securing it with a few bobby pins. Key ingredients to add to the hairstyle are making the hair looser by pulling it after the ponytail is tied (or even after the bun is ready), as well as pulling and styling some front pieces.

If the classical method doesn’t work for you and you struggle to make the messy bun stay in place, here are the 3 ways to modify it. Experiment with each way to see which one gives you the most finished yet elegant and effortless look.
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1. Do not pull out all of your hair when creating a ponytail, leaving a medium rainbow bun. Then, twist and wrap the ends around the base of your pony, securing it with bobby pins. Pull and tug at the sections to end up with the look you like most.
2. Create a ponytail. Then, take another elastic; start as if you are doing another pony, but pull only half of your hair through. Twist the elastics and bring it through all the hair that you have now (the partly pulled-through ponytail together with the ends). Make sure the elastic doesn’t go all the way over to the very base of the ponytail. You may use the thirst elastic or bobby pins to secure the messy bun in place.
3. Another way to style a perfect messy bun with long hair is to start with a half ponytail, but then twist and pin smaller sections of the loop to the base. Then, twist and pin the remaining ends where they fit better.

Ready to show off your messy bun?

This section is for the "Follically Challenged".  There are so many conversations and articles on the topic and I want make sure you are getting good information. ​

This month's article is:

 Platelet Rich Plasma for Hair Loss
PRP is an all-natural, minimally invasive treatment option for men and women with hair loss.

Androgenetic alopecia, or AGA, is the most common cause of hair loss among both men and women, affecting up to 40% of women and 70% of men. Visually, it's characterized by decreased hair density, diameter and length as thick, terminal hairs transition into thin, vellus hairs.

These changes often occur in a characteristic, gender-specific pattern. AGA has been associated with negative social implications and psychological conditions affecting quality of life. Current Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment options include oral finasteride for men and minoxidil for men and women, which are associated with potentially irreversible side effects, and linked with low patient compliance and suboptimal results. Due to limited effective therapies for AGA, platelet rich plasma – or PRP – has become an effective alternative treatment. PRP is an all-natural, minimally invasive treatment option for men and women with hair loss.

PRP is an autologous concentration of platelets in plasma with numerous growth factors that contribute to hair regeneration. The growth factors contained within platelets act on stem cells in the hair follicles and stimulate development of new follicles along with growth of new blood vessels. Since the early 2000s, PRP has been used across medical specialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedics and maxillofacial surgery for its wound-healing properties. Orthopedics has had success using PRP in joints after surgery and injuries, where they found there was less pain and faster healing due to its regenerative properties.

PRP is a volume of blood plasma that's concentrated (more than 1 million platelets/μL) with platelets. It's rich in growth factors contained in platelet granules. These growth factors bind to their receptors in the hair follicle, in turn helping to activate the growth phase of the hair follicle. Platelet-rich plasma has multiple actions at the hair follicle, leading to alterations in the hair cycle and improvement in hair growth.

Most of the literature and research supporting PRP for hair loss is with male or female pattern hair loss, or AGA. At the initial consultation, a doctor will discuss personal and family history of hair loss, along with dietary and lifestyle habits. It's important to discuss expectations and expected treatment outcomes with your provider, too.

Ultimately, PRP works best in combination with other therapies, both topical and oral, in order to address all the factors that can cause hair loss. It's also recommended to avoid NSAIDs, blood thinners and herbal supplements (such as garlic, ginko, vitamin E and St John's wort) for two weeks prior to treatment in order to decrease the risk of bruising and ensure the platelets are not affected. And it's advised to not color or dye the hair 48 hours before and after treatment. Hydration is also essential for 24 hours prior to injection, in order to ensure the maximum amount of plasma will be collected for each treatment. The procedure involves drawing blood, spinning it in a centrifuge for 10 to 15 minutes and then separating and preparing the PRP. Once it's prepared, it's injected into the thinning areas of the scalp through numerous injections.

From clinical experience, I recommend the use of PRP as a co-adjuvant treatment for AGA and encourage patients to continue topical and/or oral therapies (such as minoxidil, spironolactone and finasteride), as PRP does not suppress the hormonal component of AGA.
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Overall, our male and female patients have had positive results from PRP injections in AGA in terms of regrowth, increased hair density and improved quality of life. One are athat requires more research is how effective PRP is beyond one year of treatment. While many prospective and randomized controlled trials show benefit at three to six months of treatment, it's unclear when peak hair density is reached, how long treatment effects last and how often treatment must be continued after the short term. Longer-term, controlled studies examining these questions could eventually assist clinicians in establishing standardized treatment protocols.

“If it ends in ‘cone,’ leave it alone.” This and similar “advice” is common with regard to silicones in hair care products, and shampoo & conditioner in particular. Silicone-based ingredients have gotten a bad rap in the hair care industry, said to be harmful because they can:
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• Build up on your hair
• Weigh it down
• Make it look flat
• Lock out moisture

While some of these can be true, a blanket statement that silicones in hair care products are “bad for your hair” simply isn’t accurate. In this article I’ll dive into the science behind these claims and get to the bottom of whether silicones in hair care products are actually bad for your hair. Let’s get into it.
 
What Are Silicones & Their Purpose?

Silicones can be found in shampoos, conditioners, leave-in conditioners, hair serums and masks because of their effectiveness at getting rid of frizz. Silicones are a stronger, organic/inorganic version of hair oil, though much more effective.

They function as powerful emollients and occlusives. Emollients soften and add shine, while occlusives are used to seal and lock in moisture and lock out humidity and frizz. Silicones do both of these really well.

Furthermore, silicones help provide slip so you can run your fingers and brushes through your hair with minimal tangling. All this sounds really good, right? So what’s the problem?

Before we can address the claims outlined above we need a better understanding of silicones.

Silicones 101

The claim “all silicones cause buildup” is false. The more accurate claim should be, some silicones cause build up, while some are water-soluble, and some actually evaporate on their own. It all comes down to chemistry, and with most things in chemistry, it’s never black & white.
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There are many different types of silicones but for simplicity we’ll divide silicone ingredients into three categories: water-soluble, water-insoluble, & evaporating. In the graphic below you’ll see many of the most common silicones.

In the first column we have what’s commonly referred to as PEG silicones. Since water is polar and oils are non-polar, they don’t mix or dissolve in each other, thus the potential for buildup. However by adding a polar substance like polyethylene glycol, you can make it water-soluble.

This doesn’t mean they will rinse out completely, but the PEG attached to it will significantly reduce buildup while still allowing the silicone to perform its job. These silicones will partially rinse out and partially stay on your hair to perform their occlusive magic.

One thing to pay attention to is the number next to the PEG or PPG. The higher the number, the more soluble it is. Anything under PEG-8 is not very soluble, while PEG-12 is more soluble, and PEG-16 even more soluble, and so on.

Next, in column two, we have the water-insoluble silicones which are the original version of the PEG-modified silicones you see in column one. These are the strong ones that will stick to your hair but do a great job of adding slip, shine, and fighting frizz.

You will see I starred amodimethicone in the middle. This one is supposed to be a special case. It’s a polymer-type silicone that binds to damaged parts of your hair and doesn’t accumulate on top of itself. However, other silicones can build up on top of it.

Finally in column three we have a special group of silicones that evaporate on their own. You commonly see these evaporating silicones mixed into products to help spread other ingredients throughout your hair. You might see an evaporating silicone added to a coconut oil serum to help spread it through your hair and then evaporate.
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You will find these in hair serums and leave-in conditioners. They temporarily provide the detangling and slip so you can spread the product through your hair, and then evaporate. Any remaining residue can be removed with any shampoo.

​How Much Silicone Buildup is Bad?
 
How much silicone usage actually causes buildup? Because if silicones are the 15th ingredient vs. the 5th ingredient in a conditioner, is it really causing buildup?

In a 1994 article in Skin Pharmacology and Physiology by Rushton, there were some interesting findings on silicones.

First, silicones from a 2-in-1 shampoo accumulated on the surface of the hair for the first five uses, but after that, there was no more accumulation. There is only so much surface on the hair for silicone to bond to, it does not accumulate indefinitely (1).

Second, 90% of silicone residue was removed with one shampooing with a silicone-free shampoo. The detergents sodium lauryl or sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl or laureth sulfate and cocamidopropyl betaine (possible coco betaine) are most effective in removing silicone residue (1).

Also, I’d say most buildup happens with styling products like hair serums, curl creams, and leave-in conditioners. Many of these products are very silicone-heavy (i.e. silicones are the first or second ingredient). If your shampoo & conditioner have silicones and you combine these with leave-ins with more silicones, you’re likely to see some buildup relatively quickly.

How Do You Get Rid Of Silicone Buildup?

Let’s say you do use silicones or notice silicones in your hair products. How do you get rid of the buildup? There is a common belief that only sulfates are strong enough to get rid of silicone build-up. As the journal said, sulfates are the quickest way to get rid of silicone build-up, but not the only way.
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You can also use milder anionic surfactants that are combined with each other. If you don’t know what that means, here is a chart showing you the ingredients.

In the first column you have the strongest anionic surfactants, which are sulfates. In the third column are sulfonates, which are not as strong as a sulfate, but still strong. Any of these will do the job on their own.

But let’s say you want to get rid of silicones while staying sulfate-free. Then you can look at any of the ingredients from the middle column of mild anionic surfactants combined with each other or with the amphoteric surfactants in column three.

The good news is, most shampoos that are sulfate-free will combine 1-2 surfactants in them to still cleanse, meaning you can remove silicone buildup without sulfates.

The Verdict On Silicones in Hair Care Products

First of all, I think we can put to rest the idea that “if it ends in ‘cone,’ leave it alone.” In my opinion, silicones only become a problem with excessive buildup. One layer of silicones can be really helpful in your weekly hair regimen.

With that said, individuals with certain hair and scalp types or specific preferences might be better off avoiding silicones.

For example, if you have curly hair and follow the curly girl method to a T (which calls for not using any shampoo at all), or if you’re someone who subscribes to, “never use shampoo ever” (“no-poo”), and you only do conditioner washes (“co-wash”), then silicones will be hard to remove and should be avoided.

If you have super fine and thin hair, silicones could weigh your hair down with buildup. And if silicones make your hair look too shiny and you don’t like that, you might be better off without them.

For everyone else, I wouldn’t worry about it. Silicones are amazing at fighting humidity and frizz, they prevent breakage by adding slip, and they will come out easily with almost any silicone-free shampoo.
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Silicone usage is less about harm and more about personal preference. They’re safe! It’s not something to freak out about and they can have tons of benefits.