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Short To Long Hair - Surviving The Growing Pains

Introduction

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz did it, Gwyenth Paltrow made the process famous, Jennifer Anniston did in right in front of television audiences. What all these celebrities did was grow out their hair from short to long right before our very eyes.

One of the hardest steps to take from a shattered bob, short layered or pixie cut is to grow it longer.

Many people craving the beauty of long sensuous locks cringe at the growing out stages that can catapult them into prolonged hair hell. Is there an easy way to morph a short shaggy crop into a long luscious mane?

Although easy is probably not the right description, if you now the tricks that you can utilize to get through limbo-locks your growing out phase can be infinitely less painful.

The shorter your hair when you start, the longer the growth cycle. Have a plan to get your hair ready to happily survive the growth cycle.

Shattered Bob Transformations

Cameron Diaz

Gwyenth stunned the world when she shed fiance Brad Pitt and her long blonde locks at the same time. Reports of her hair chop speculated that the heartbroken star made a hair change to symbolize a new beginning in her life. Whatever her reasons. Gwyenth's short do triggered a public bob craze almost immediately.

As Gwyenth grew her hair from her short post-Brad period to her long Shakespheare In Love style, the world watched her graceful transition.

Incorporating styling tips that included use of strategically placed barrettes headbands and tiny claw clips, she keep her bob trimmed and healthy as it inched down her head to shoulder-length.

Bobs Are Easiest Styles To Grow Out

Bobs are actually the easiest short style to grow out. Although it can take six to ten months to grow hair to the shoulders, it is relatively painless. The less layers you have the easier it is to grow your hair.

A bob that is all one length is the easiest to maintain. Since the bob will also your hair to keep a simple shape as you hair grows, you can appear to have a focused style rather than you are in a growing out phase.

Use barrettes or other hair accessories to keep hair neat and away from your face. Try taking a 1/2 to 1 inch section of har near your hairline, twist it 2-3 times and clip it with a claw clip. Jeweled booby pins work great near the hairline as well.

Layer Survival Tips

Cameron Diaz

Depending on how many different layers you have and how short your hair is when you begin, you may want to consider a couple of different options.

Leave Hair "As Is"

You can leave you hair "as is" but have the longer section of hair trimmed every 10-12 weeks while you let the shorter sections of your hair catch up to the longer lengths. The trick to this option is to balance the ends of both parts.

If your shorter strands are growing in with split or straggly ends, you may need to get those layered shorter ends trimmed which can slow down your growth spurt but will guarantee that you have very healthy hair.

Cut It Shorter To Grow It Longer

Get it over with at the beginning of your growth cycle and get all your strands cut to match the length of the shortest sections. This will allow your hair to grow out at the same length although some people prefer not to go shorter before they go longer.

Have Hair Angled

Have shorter sections of your hair angled so that they blend into the body of the hair.

Cameron Diaz

Use accessories to help you manage your hair. Adjustable headbands that allow you to place the band at various positions on your head from right at the hairline to midway back, allows you to control renegade strands.

Use gels, hair paste and waxes to smooth down pop-up hairs. Consider wearing tiny accent braids or twists and just letting the shorter layers hang out.

Bangs That Hang

Since bangs can take ten months to a year to reach your shoulders depending on how short your bangs were at the beginning, bangs can be a definite challenge.

If you have bangs that are shorter in the center, wait until you can pull them below your eyelashes, then get a trim (1/16th of an inch) Ask your stylist to angle the sides into your hair and touch the center.

With straight across bangs, just let them grow, trimming only if you get split ends.

Cameron Diaz

To hide longer bangs brush them to the side and clip with a tiny barrette, bobby pin or a row of tiny claw clips. You can also try working bangs into your hair as you blow-dry, pulling them straight back with a round brush.

One option is to part bangs in the middle, pull back two sections (twisting them once or twice if desired) and secure with mini-barrettes two to three inches behind the hairline.

To hide longer bangs, hold them to one side with a bobby pin and let the bulk of your hair hang over the sides. You can also work bangs into hair as you blow-dry, pulling them straight back with a round brush.

Pixies Or Short Shaggy Cuts

Super short cuts can take the longest to grow out because they are the shortest. In some cases you may be looking at as long as a year to grow your hair to your shoulder.

The best strategy is to let your hair grow until the longest parts in the back touch your shoulder. Then have it blunt-cut at the shoulders once every three to four months. If the back of your hair is cut any shorter than shoulder length, the effect might be more matronly than you have in mind.

Cameron Diaz

Styling tips are somewhat limited but be creative. Twist a chunk off your face and hold with a mini-barrette (or you can do this in several places). If you don't like accessories, work in a nickel size blob of styling cream and shake your hair as you blow-dry. When it's almost dry, add more styling cream. The layers will look tousled and not droopy.

How is it that some celebrities and stars bounce from one appearance to another with different hair lengths and we never saw the change?

Sometimes celebrities head for the hair extension expert and lengthen or fatten their locks with instant hair. In other cases they use all the little tricks in the book to morph from one style to the next without looking bedraggled.

Some of your best friends are adjustable headbands. The accordion headbands that were made so popular by Jenny McCarthy are definitely hard core hair growing helped. Bra bands and elastic headbands serve the same purpose.

Cameron Diaz

An assortment of barrettes, hairclips and claw clips work wonders. Flashy pins, hair snaps and hair magnets work wonders.

If your bob, pixies or shag is much shorter in the back or shaved at the neck, you will have a longer growth cycle.

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- Revised Date: 01/24/11

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Social Media Network Information

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