Guide · Hairdresser / barber
Six cuts from the bob to the pixie, along with what is actually agreed in the salon: where the line stops, how often it needs upkeep and which cut suits which hair.
These six cover almost everything that gets asked for. The difference between them is not only length but how much morning time each one asks of you.
One length to the jaw or a little below, with the parting wherever you like. The most requested short cut and the safest first step — short enough for the change to register, long enough to still gather into a ponytail.
The same cut, but shorter at the back than at the front. The back lifts and gives volume exactly where the hair falls flattest.
Short all over, with a longer top that gets styled. The boldest cut and the one that depends most on the shape of the head and neck — how much is left on top is agreed in the salon.
Layers through the whole length and a fringe that opens up. A deliberately undone look — the hair is dried with the fingers and asks for no iron.
The back is taken short and stays hidden under the top layer. It takes weight out of thick hair, and from the outside nothing looks cut away.
To the shoulders, a straight line without layers. The step between long and short hair — what people ask for when they are not sure they dare go shorter.
A bob is one length that stops somewhere between the ear and the shoulder. The whole conversation in the salon comes down to a single question — where exactly the line stops. Above the jaw it opens the neck and reads sharper, at the jaw it softens, below the jaw is the safest choice the first time you cut it.
A straight line without layers needs hair that falls. On wavy and thick hair the same line lifts and the cut takes on a triangular shape — hence the graduated bob, which deliberately shortens the back.
Short all over, with a longer top combed to the side or forward. The pixie is the only cut on this list that cannot be tied back, so the decision is not made on how it looks in a photo but on everyday life.
The pixie falls apart faster than anything else — after four weeks the top drops and the cut loses its shape. If a monthly salon visit is not realistic, the bob is the more honest choice.
The same cut on two different heads of hair gives two different results. This is what gets checked in the salon before the scissors.
When you take a photo to the salon, it helps if the profile and the back are visible — from the front almost all short cuts look alike.
In photographs the hair has always just been styled. The honest question to ask is: what does this cut look like dried with the fingers, with no iron — the answer changes the choice more often than you would expect.
A short cut does not grow out evenly. The back grows more slowly than the sides, so after six weeks the shape is gone even though the length is still respectable. That, rather than the length itself, is why short cuts are refreshed more often than long hair.
If you plan to grow it out, arrange to have the layers evened every two months rather than simply waiting. Growing it out without a single salon visit is the longest and ugliest road to long hair.
It depends more on the neck and the jawline than on the face. A longer neck carries almost any short cut; with a shorter neck a bob that stops below the jaw sits better than a pixie that exposes the neck entirely.
The pixie falls apart fastest — every four weeks. A bob holds six to eight, because with one length the regrowth only shows once the line drops below the shoulders.
A bob is one length to the jaw and can still be gathered up. A pixie is short all over, with a longer top, and cannot be tied back — that is the difference you feel most in everyday life.
They do, but you want a cut with layers — a shag or a graduated bob. A straight line on wavy hair lifts and the cut takes on a triangular shape.
Say where exactly you want the line to stop — point at your neck or jaw with a finger. Everyone understands the word “short” differently, and length that is cut off does not come back until next season.
It can, if the layers are evened out every two months instead of simply waiting. The worst part of growing out is the back, which grows more slowly than the sides.
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