Best place to get hair suggestions

[Konstantine]

I was curious if anyone knows of any good ways to determine what to do with their hair.

 

I am trying to grow it out a bit and make it more androgynous but i can't go long for a variety of reasons. I am stuck with a pretty prominent widows peak and curly, rough  hair. I was thinking of something shorter, but i also have a pretty square face and prominent ridge.

 

Any suggestions? I tried googling for ideas but it is hard to tell since most images don't have people with the same facial structure. Most phone apps were pretty bad. Should i just throw myself at the mercy of a hairdresser?

[tracy_j]

A good hairdresser is very helpful with this. They have experience with the full variation of facial shapes and hair types. Mine has made many little suggestions as to hair care as well. Another thing that you could do (if you have not yet) is try searching directly on face shapes (and body shapes as they will affect your ideal hairstyle) on the net. There are pages which deal directly with them.

 

Tracy

[Jani]

A hairdresser would always have ideas.  Take a look in magazines to see the differing styles people have.  Focus on those with facial features similar to yours.  Some styles can mask or de-emphasize those we don't like.   You can go to a bookstore or library to sit and leaf through magazines at your own pace.  You can copy pages that are appealing to you.  Good luck! 

Jani

[VickySGV]

Hair salons at ULTA and Sephora beauty stores are Trans friendly and while they want to sell you stuff, their stylists are well trained.  Your local LGBTQ Center may offer classes in make-up, or better yet support groups where some of the members may actually be hair stylists who are happy to help other Trans people find their looks.  Many wig stores also have no problem with Trans people but may charge a small fee (<$30)  to try on wigs that their personnel think would be good for you. (If  you buy a wig the try-on fee is applied to the price of the wig.)

 

I have my hair done at a salon in an ULTA store salon, and my stylist is the older sister of a Trans woman.  My stylist and I joke about the fact though that my hair is the only straight thing about me. 

[AsTheCrow]

Curly hair, you say? Curly hair is my jam! I'm gonna throw some general advice your way; if you already know this stuff please disregard.

 

If you want to embrace and enhance your curl pattern, read the ingredients on all of your hair products! Make sure they don't include anything with the word sulfate, and anything that ends with -cone, -conol, or -xane. The latter are silicone ingredients; silicone coats the shaft of the hair with an impenetrable barrier that doesn't let any moisture into your hair. Sulfates are the powerful surfactants required to strip the silicones off, and they're super drying.

 

Most people with curly hair only need to shampoo very rarely; the average shower should have conditioner but no shampoo. Shampooing too much will make hair dry and frizzy.

 

I can go on and on about curly hair care, but I think I'll stop here. Let me know if you have any curly questions!

 

As for hair styles, search online to see if there's a Deva-trained stylist in your area. Deva is definitely where it's at for curly folks.

[Kirsten]

31 minutes ago, AsTheCrow said:

Most people with curly hair only need to shampoo very rarely; the average shower should have conditioner but no shampoo. Shampooing too much will make hair dry and frizzy.

Didn’t know that! I have SUPER curly hair!! And it’s so frizzy. I sweat a lot at work so I usually have to wash every day. But I’m gonna try holding off when I can. Thanks! ?

[AsTheCrow]

If my hair just has normal sweat and oil, I do a "co-wash", which is basically just using (silicone-free) conditioner instead of shampoo. Same massaging motion as a shampoo wash, but without the lather and without the drying effect. It's absolutely sufficient for normal cleansing.

 

I do an actual shampoo maybe once a month, and when I do use shampoo I make sure to use a deep treatment/hair masque/leave-in conditioner to counteract the drying effect.

 

It's also important not to comb or brush curly hair except when detangling in the shower. Combs and brushes will just make us FRIZZ!

 

Seriously I recommend curly folks to read Lorraine Massey's "Curly Girl Handbook", it's a game-changer. And finding a Deva-trained stylist is also a great move, although there are none in my area so it becomes expensive for me to go. I've only done it twice in the last seven years.

[AsTheCrow]

I don't have any good recent pictures of my curly hair; I'll try to rectify that over the weekend.

 

Here are a couple of low-quality pics of myself before I knew I was trans. The first was about seven years ago, the second more like 5 years ago. Since then I have chopped it into an asymmetrical undercut, a mohawk, a buzz-cut, another undercut, and now am in the painful and awkward process of growing it out again.

 

 

[Kirsten]

Wow a month!? I would smell awful. I work construction. I get nasty stuff in my hair daily like manhole sludge that smells like poo, spider webs, and god knows what else. And I bet I sweat 1/2 a gal of sweat a day. So that’s not really an option I don’t think. But I am gonna try going at least a day or two. ? I guess it’s good I only have 1/2 a head of hair. Lol. 

[AsTheCrow]

Yeah, with my lifestyle I rarely have stuff in my hair that needs to be washed out, just regular daily sweat and oil. My schedule definitely wouldn't work for everyone.

 

Really the biggest thing is finding hair products without silicones and sulfates; they dry and frizz curly hair like crazy! If you find nice water-soluble products you can wash as often as you need to and it won't be so damaging.

 

I use a cheap Suave conditioner (i forget exactly what it's called but it's coconutty) and a Shea Moisture shampoo. And my styling products are all either Shea Moisture or DevaCurl, unless budget is particularly tight, in which case I make my own gel from flax seeds.

[Konstantine]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions. The pics were definitely helpful?

[Kirsten]

I’ll check mine out. I use the aveda invati system. Thanks again.