How does one learn to style their hair?

[Fierce Critter]

I'm so sick of my hair. I don't want to cut it, I don't want to perm it. All I want to do is figure out how in hell to style it.

Down, up, whatever. I have NEVER had much luck with styling my own hair.

How do you figure out what your hair CAN do and how to make it do that?

I'm so frustrated.

I wonder if there's a "Hairstyling for dummies" book out there.

Sigh. =(

[Crazed Vampyress]

My personal experience: Trial and Error.

[mallochai]

Make friends with a professional who will teach you. Then, copycat, which also involves trial and error.

Barring step one, skip ahead to step two.

[honeymustard02]

I have taught myself. It takes practice. When you are sitting home with some free time, go get a brush and clips and whatnot. Get a mirror and get to work

You might surprise yourself at what you create.

If you can, take pictures to keep a record or what you like.

[Brenda Starrr]

Practice really does make perfect. Get some different styling products and tools. Do you have a flat iron? A crimper? How about gel, mousse, and even paste? I love hair products. They're fun and they give a lot of versatility and texture.

[Guest Megalicious]

Pretty much like everyone else says ..... it takes years of practice ..... ..... my flat iron with the gold plates and my large curling iron are my best friends .... I can pretty much achive any look with them .. but thats after years of messing with my hair to know how to achive different looks ... every hair is different .... it all depends on what product and or tools that work best with the kind of hair you have ... my hair is retarded ... lol .. its curly as all hell .. dry and frizzy .... it tangels ... gets poofy ... and is just down right hard to work with ... and it took me a long time to know how to get rid of that lol ... just a mixture of the right product and the right tools =) What look are you try to get Fierce .. ??? =) Just anything different in general ?? =)

[Nienna]

My hair does nothing. Period. Nothing. I leave it down and straight or it's up and usually hidden under fake hair. I gave up on it years ago. LOL

[saechalyn]

My hair does nothing. Period. Nothing. I leave it down and straight or it's up and usually hidden under fake hair. I gave up on it years ago. LOL

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto. *sigh*

[Fierce Critter]

What look are you try to get Fierce .. ??? =) Just anything different in general ?? =)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the thing. I have NO clue.

Thing is, I bucked trends for YEARS. I was buying Converse when the only colors they came in were black, red & off-white, then dying them all different colors & adding studs, etc.

Then I started crimping my hair when the only way you could find a crimping iron was special order.

I'm still wearing clothes that are - and I am NOT exaggerating - 15 years old, because I can't stand the new fashions & fabrics being used. My cotton sweaters & blouses are actually disintegrating they've been worn & washed so much.

I've always been some kind of "alternative" dresser. What the average Jill walking down the street was wearing or doing for style just wasn't for me.

I just have never been one to want the "hairstyle" everyone else is wearing. Not that many of them would work on my freakish "lack of hair" anyway. But the result is, I can't just see a hairstyle and say, "hey - THAT'S what I want!" Because I either DON'T want what I see, or know I can't DO what I see.

I can count on one hand the number of hairstyles I've had since I started controlling my own head. I did the Robert Smith shaggy mullet in high school. Went to spiral perms - and kept them until the mid 90's. I took a break from the perms at one point to get this hairdo: , minus the color scheme but complete with rattail in back. I got it cut completely short at one time and nearly cried the whole time it took to grow it back in. Etc.

This is the 'do I've been most happy with in the past 5 years or so:

I don't want that again because I really, really want to stick it out this time and grow my hair out. Once it's super-long, it should look great - the cowlicks I have and natural wave should make it pretty romantic looking. And that style there took SO LONG to do and SO MUCH product, I felt like I was wearing a helmet. It takes a TON of product to give my hair that kind of body, not to mention a TON of shaggy layers.

Right now, this is the first time in almost 20 years I've resisted resorting to a perm to make my hair do something. I'm growing it out, and I don't plan on stopping until it reaches my ass. And I don't want to ruin it's current, healthy condition by perming it again.

But the problem is, my hair is the kind of baby-fine, sparse type that is very, very difficult to do anything with. There's not enough of it to fill most clips & barrettes. I even bought these things from Claire's to help me make a spiked ponytail easier: Vidal Sassoon Fan Tail. I even got them in the tiny, child's version. I can see where they might work for someone who actually has HAIR. But on me, they wouldn't even come CLOSE to working.

For New Year's Eve, I wanted a simple spiky updo. I couldn't figure out how to get my hair to both be UP and spiked. I ended up crimping it, because others have told me how good my hair looks crimped. And Jon likes it that way, too. And I do, too - at least when I'm looking in a mirror. I took a couple pictures of myself before leaving for CC and when I looked at them, I was aghast. Crimped hair looks SO bad in pictures!!!! I refuse to share them here.

I just don't know. There are so many things I've watched others do and figured out how to do myself, including eyebrow waxing, acrylic nails, etc. I'm REALLY good at those. But I have never, ever been able to figure out my own damned hair.

I really think it's due to the material I have to work with. There's just not enough here, and not enough body to hold anything easily.

I really am a candidate for a weave. Seriously. Extensions would benefit me so much. But I can't afford them, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with how they attach to the head anyway.

Gads, sigh and moan. =(