Slick back bangs with hair gel. If you don’t always want to wear a scarf or headband, apply hair gel to the bangs and push them back into your desired style. This works well with ponytails, buns, or short hairstyles.

Use a volumizing or lifting serum or spray to hold your curls in place.

Apply a heat protectant to your hair before straightening it, and a smoothing serum afterward to keep any waves from forming.

To make a bun, apply a smoothing serum to your hair and pull it back into a ponytail. Wrap your hair around the ponytail in a circle to create a bun, and fasten the bun together with a scrunchie. Use smoothing serum and bobby pins to fasten fly-away pieces in place.

Take this idea further by twisting some pieces of hair away from your face and secure them with clips in the front or on the sides. Finish off the look with a touch of hairspray to hold it.

Each time you use your extensions, tease your hair 1 inch (2. 5 cm) below where you’re going to clip them in and use some hairspray to get them to stay in place.

See your stylist, or a new stylist, about color options that would look good on you.

Politely say something like, “I don’t think I want all those layers. Can you please soften them so they’re not so noticeable?” Don’t be afraid of hurting your stylist’s feelings, especially if you feel you clearly expressed what you wanted. Try giving a more detailed explanation including how much length to take off and pointing to places where you want layers or fades.

Try to avoid asking for opinions from your friends or partner right away if you’re not sure you like your haircut. Allow your hair, and yourself, time to calm down before deciding to ask others what they think. After a week, if your haircut is still unsatisfactory to you, you can take more steps toward getting it fixed.

Say, “I don’t think the stylist really understood what I wanted. I can explain how I want it to look if someone can fix it free of charge. ” Try to be as specific as possible about what you want done differently. Seeing the same stylist can be beneficial because they know your hair and have recent experience with it. You may also want to try a new stylist (or even visiting a new salon) to see if someone else can give you a haircut more in line with what you are expecting. [11] X Expert Source Yan KandkhorovHair Stylist Expert Interview. 8 January 2020.

Say, “The overall length is good, but it looks so flat. Can we shape it more to add more bounce to it?”

If your hair looks like there’s too much hair in the back to match the front, ask your stylist for “internal thinning. ” This will take some of the thickness out from the inside without removing length and help the front and back match better.

A haircut that’s already too short overall has only 1 option – to let it grow back. Fortunately, there are easy ways you can hide what you don’t like in a too-short haircut.

If a friend, family member, or coworker recently had their hair done in a way that you love, ask them who they went to. [16] X Expert Source Yan KandkhorovHair Stylist Expert Interview. 8 January 2020. They may even get a referral discount for sending you to a certain salon. If you can’t find anybody to give you recommendations, look at reviews online for local salons.

The stylist will be able to tell you about cuts that look best with your hair type and facial features, and what you can expect about styling commitments based on the type of cut that you want.

A good stylist will tell you based on the picture how the cut may look different on you than it does on the person in the picture, based on facial features and hair types. [18] X Research source Having this conversation will help to avoid any surprises if the cut doesn’t look exactly the same on you as it did on the person in the picture.

If styling time and effort isn’t an issue for you, you have more options for the cut you want. Be sure to get exact instructions from the stylist about styling steps as they are styling your hair after the cut.