Face shape, face shape, face shape

I can't say it often enough. The reason why choosing a hair style from a magazine doesn't work . . . is because you are looking at a hairstyle that was designed for a face shape different from your own.

Form and texture

Trying to make a hairstyle do things that it just naturally won't do? See my tips on form and texture.

You don’t really know yourself!

Do you remember the first time you heard yourself on an audio recording? Didn't sound like you, did it? A similar distortion happens when you look into the mirror. You can't see yourself as others see you. Your best friend knows what you really look like—you should depend on her opinion.

I test this theory in my classes and never fail to demonstrate how distorted our image of ourselves is. The bottom line is, you do not see the real image when you look into the mirror—you need to get an objective outside opinion.

Our internal tape recorder

Our sensory acuity antenna is constantly alert for reactions about who we are and how we look. Our memory stores any reaction, good or bad about what looks good on us. We pick up the slightest of non-verbal cues. Over your lifetime you have stored millions of bits of information about how you look. Much of it is contradictory, misread and wrong.

Bad input carries a heavier weight in our memory banks. That's why we run out of ideas for hair style choices as we age. Is it any wonder we are confused when we arrive at the hair styling salon? One reason an outside party can be objective about your hairstyle is that their internal tape recorder is blank.

Our hairstyle biases

That's right, we all have hair style biases. How often I hear a woman tell me that she would never wear a certain hair style. When I ask her why, I get an answer like, "I just think that hair style looks terrible on me." That is almost always a hairstyle bias talking. Maybe in the fourth grade she had a run-in with "Betty the Bully" and Betty wore a similar hair style. From that moment on, she is likely to carry around in her brain a bias against that hair style. She won't even consider it, even if it makes her look fabulous.

You may have the wrong hair stylist!

Maybe it's time to end a long running relationship that has run out of creativity and ideas for your hairstyles. You may have been sold on so many hair styles that didn't work, that you are left in a rut.  See how to choose a new hairstylist.

You're listening to the wrong people!

Mainly yourself . . . remember you do not see the real "you in the mirror". If you are determined to look your best and can't order a hairstyle makeover, what should you do? Seek input on new hair styles from others, but when you do, keep your own hair opinions to yourself or you will not get honest feedback. Don't pre-frame others by telling them what you like and dislike before hearing what they like. Then suppress that part of you that judges, and just LISTEN! You will learn things about your hair that you have never even thought of.

Who should you listen to?

• Your best girlfriend.
• Your hair stylist.
• Close girlfriends.
• Co-workers you trust.
• Neighbors who know you well.
• Any stylish woman.

Who you should not listen to! 

• Yourself.
• Your husband or significant other.
• Men (they don't have a clue).
• Your mother.
• Your sister.
• Your children.
• Any one who lives with you.

Questions you should ask them!

• Will you be honest with me?
• What do you think my face shape is?
• What do you think is my strongest facial strength?
• What is my weakest facial feature?
• What color best describes my eyes?
• What is my skin tone?
• What color best describes my hair?
• Am I warm or cool?
• Should my hair style be longer?
• Should my hair style be shorter?
• Should I color my hair?
• Should I perm my hair?
• If you were me, and going to make a hair style change . . . what would you do?

• What does your hair style say about you
• Ask a friend before a new hair style
• Hair styles and your Lifestyle
• Matching a hair style to your face shape
• Hair style & face shapes, now body shapes too
• Hair style change . . . or lifestyle change?
• Finding a hair stylist, it shouldn’t be this hard
• Trying to find a hair stylist? I know how you feel!
• How to get the best from your hair stylist
• Hair stylist creativity–Are you having difficulty finding a creative hair stylist?

Read Barb's Daily Hairstyle Blog