Cut Hair Style Sitemap

INTRODUCTION - The quick and widespread response to my first book, Be Your Own Hair Stylist, confirmed my belief that the American woman wants a common-sense approach to her hair problems. With both my customers and my readers, I have always tried to be as practical, clear and realistic as I can. Much that is said and written about beauty problems, and especially about hair, is sheer eyewash. When, in Be Your Own Hair Stylist, I offered the reader the findings of my years of experi­ence, it met an evident need for more straight talk and less chichi.

01. HEAD-ON - I believe in beautiful hair, not beautiful hairdos. To me the test of a hair style lies not in how much you do to your hair, but how little.

At the start of this book I feel I must make clear that I don't subscribe to most of the popular beliefs, super­stitions, taboos and practices in relation to hairdressing. I say these things not to startle the reader or to present myself as a rebel or an eccentric, but because I sincerely believe that a statement of my basic beliefs about hair styling and hair care is necessary to a thorough understanding of the pages that follow.

02. FASHION - Although fashion is so important to women, the fact is that surprisingly few women understand its workings. Fashions develop, usually with logic, from human na­ture, from the lives people lead, their needs and desires, sometimes unconscious. A wise man once said that if he could have only one book from which to learn about any era in history, he would not choose a serious scientific study but a book of fashion plates.

03. CLASSIC OVAL - People often go on accepting ideas which have lost their validity. A case in point is that of the classic oval face. We have so long taken for granted that the ideal woman's face conforms to the classic oval that most people have not yet noticed that this is so no longer.

The classic oval is regular and symmetrical. The size of the features and their relation to one another accord with those in the statues of ancient Greece and Rome, or with the madonnas in Renaissance paintings.

04. FACES - Though I have written a whole book about shapes of faces and have not mentioned how you can tell what shape your face is, it was done with the sole purpose of making you think first in terms of your hair and then in terms of your face. To tell you how to discover the shape of your own face is practically an impossi­bility, since not only the face but the features within it and the hair around it, the hairline and the neckline, plus necklaces, earrings and makeup, affect the total shape.

05. MOBILES - There is a modern movement in hairdos (literally and figuratively). It allows the hair to ripple with the rhythm of walking, the action of talking. A sudden ges­ture or a quick laugh is accompanied by a staccato movement of the hair. This is the young look— the lithe, quick movements of youth transferred to hair. At the opposite extreme is the old look, hairdos that are static, set, passive, never out of place.

06. CLEANLINESS - Probably the greatest contribution to beauty culture of the past decade is the increase of cleanliness. You may believe that everyone has always had the habit of fre­quent shampoos, but that isn't so. Actually many of the free and casual styles popular today could not have succeeded ten years ago because the average woman did not, or would not, keep her hair clean enough ?o enable her to wear them.

07. PIN-CURL - The preliminary to hair setting, which is the most im­portant step of all, because it gives you the foundation and line to work from, is the direction in which you comb your hair before starting the pin-curls. Examine each picture closely as we proceed step by step, and notice the direction taken by the hair around the crown.

08. LONG OR SHORT - It is a complete fallacy that any person looks best in short hair, long hair, or medium-length hair. Any length can be becoming to you. What you must recognize is the limitations of each hair length, what hair styles can be worn with hair of that length, and if you will be happy within the limitations.

Let us suppose you choose shoulder-length hair. You could probably wear it in a pony tail, a pageboy, a chignon, an upsweep, or almost any kind of back-interest hairdo.

09. TOP SECRET - More than any other factors, the texture, bend and amount of your hair must govern your choice of a hair­do. I emphasize this point because in my experience the failure to understand it is a leading cause of women's dissatisfaction with their hair, and their hairdressers.

The woman who is trying to work against nature must spend endless hours fussing with her hair and gets no better results than the one who has chosen an easily cared-for hairdo.

10. THE TOP - What you no with the top of your head is the most important factor of your hairdo. The methods of arrang­ing the top hair are endless. Pictures of hairdos have been collected from other parts of the book for this chapter to spotlight some of the ways in which the top-of-the-head  hair can  be arranged.

The pictures are classified in three groups: center parts, no part and side parts. I want you to observe carefully how the slight variations either add width or height, and in some cases both.

11. EACH HAIRDO - For any hair style you select, you should have your hair cut specifically for that style. It is possible to have a convertible hairdo, one which can be worn in two or more ways, but I do not recommend it. When the hair is cut to conform to a certain shape, it's illogical to expect it to look right in other shapes as well.

12. ONE YEAR - It is perfectly possible for you to go for a whole year without a haircut, by adopting a style that changes as it grows, but always in a pretty and becoming man­ner.

The style is one that achieves its beauty through simplicity of line and clean, shining hair and the know­ledge that hair grows half an inch a month. The original cut features a short straight pageboy with a very short bang. The bang is actually cut right to the hairline or about a quarter of an inch below.

13. COMBING OUT - The simple act of combing your hair can be done in many different ways. A child will interpret it as starting at the top of the head and running the comb through the strands of hair to their full length, but this does not serve to give shape to the hairdo.

There are as many ways of combing your hair (and I don't mean styling) as there are hairs in your head.

14. COLOR - To give you a quick mental lift, to add sparkle to what you may fear is a drab personality, to play down promi­nent features, or to conceal damage to the hair, one simple remedy is at hand: changing the color of your hair.

Hair color is a cosmetic. Ten years ago, when 1 pointed this out in my first book, it was considered a new idea. Now beauty editors, hairdressers and the general public accept it. Instead of being simply a means of concealing gray hair, as it was once regarded, hair color is now used for many purposes by women of all ages.

15. ROLLER STYLING - Within the past few years rollers have been widely accepted as the best means for setting certain hairdos. Several types of rollers are currently on the market, some made of wire mesh, some of plastic, in several sizes. One kind is made with a brush inside. This type is particularly good for those not really adept at handling their hair, as the brush keeps the ends of the curl from sliding out. If you are just beginning to experiment with rollers, the brush type might be best to start with.

16. HAIRDRESSERS? - A good hairdresser is and always will be a necessity, if you can find one. The importance of a hairdresser in designing a hairdo cannot be overstressed. A hairdress­er's technical knowledge of hair and its ability to retain certain lines and shapes permits him to diagnose and arbitrate with his customer so that she can get a hairdo that is pleasing to her and will involve a minimum of care and upkeep.

THE END