DORÉ

Everything you ever wanted to know about short hair…

There is no better short hair expert than Clyde, owner of The Drawing Room where Garance got her beloved chop. After talking with him, I’m getting in the mood for a short cut myself…

How can you tell if short hair is going to look good on someone?

Two elements are very important: face structure and hair texture. Then obviously, lifestyle is very important. Certain people have lifestyles that don’t allow them to have short hair. From my point of view, there are no rules. It’s always about creating a good balance.

What do you tell someone who is thinking about going short?

You don’t have to go drastic and wake up one morning thinking “Who am I?” You can start it gradually, have a plan. It’s the best way. Unless you’ve made the decision and you want to go really short. It’s something very personal, we carry our hair with us every single moment of our lives. It’s understandable to feel attached but if you are in good hands, no problem. In over 16 years, I’ve never heard, “I hate this change.” I’ll hear, “I miss my long hair but I love this.” If it’s well designed, its a success.

What is the best way to communicate what you want to a stylist?

The best thing is to have a well-trained, experienced professional that can really make suggestions. A picture is helpful because most of the time a client has an image but can’t translate it into simple words.

What I notice is that a lot of people post a question on their Facebook for instance, “Should I cut my hair? Should I color my hair?” Now you are asking a hundred or a million people and as individuals we all have different points of view and judge based on our preference. I think that it should be left to the professional. It’s like me wanting to have a new suit, I’d rather go to the tailor and have him tell me what is best for my body shape then have my friend tell me based on his preference.

Is short hair more maintenance?

No, not at all. From a professionals point of view, it’s the easiest. It just doesn’t give you as much flexibility. With short hair you can do just a little bit less. The style itself is so strong and makes a statement.

Short hair is less prone to damage. Essentially, you clean up all the ends and there are no natural factors to beat it. With long hair you have the wind, the sun, salt water, chlorine all penetrate the hair. With short hair you’re constantly cutting it, it’s fresh hair growing on the roots. It’s the best quality you could possibly find.

How often should you be getting a trim?

It depends on the shape. The way we design shapes, there shouldn’t be an expiration date. If it’s well designed, it grows out beautifully. If it’s really short, tapered around the ears, it might require a trim every 4 weeks. You could go from a pixie, to graduated to a bob and then it is long. It depends on balance. It definitely requires more frequent visits than long hair. I would say as a general rule, 4 to 6 weeks.

What about washing short hair? How often should you do it?

We normally suggest at least every other day, but not everyday. Preserving some of the natural oils is a good choice for the hair overall. With our experience, we’ve discovered that second day hair always behaves better. If it is someone with medium or high density hair, second day hair is always better. For someone with fine hair, it requires more frequent shampoos. It really comes down to the density and the texture.

Do you have any styling tips for short hair?

It’s very simple. We ask clients if they have a paddle brush and we suggest a wrap dry. You wrap your hair right to left and left to right and it directs your roots into the natural position. If the roots are not in the right spot, the ends won’t respond. Just 10 minutes of a wrap dry and then some products to finish. Use high or medium heat. If it’s really short like a pixie, use medium because you are close to the scalp.

What are some essential products?

It’s a big variety. If its a sleek silhouette, we suggest a heavier product. If it’s a pixie, we suggest a finishing product like a wax or a cream to create more separation at the ends. With curly hair it depends on how you want to wear it, curly or straight. I judge products based on hair texture, quality of the hair and the shape. I can have 30 products in front of me, and yet for one individual none of them might work. I might have to mix and make a cocktail.

What’s the difference between when a man gets a short hair cut and a woman?

There isn’t really a difference. If I create a really short shape, I make sure it is feminine enough so we aren’t going to extreme levels. A softer look.

Any advice for coloring short hair?

This is a big thing: avoid highlights. Highlights are often a disaster on short hair. Highlights in the classic sense. You get stripes, you get lines. Most of the time it’s better to do a single color or a fashion color [two colors are mixed for more dimension] but almost never highlights.

How can you dress up a short cut?

It can be more polished. Say I have an event and everyday I wear my hair kind of messy, for a special event I might make it more slick, more polished. That creates a feeling of being dressed up. Again it depends on the shape, if it’s a long fringe, you can curl it up and create volume. If it’s very, very short and you can’t use any hot tools, shine will translate to dressed up.

How can you create volume with short hair?

Not all short hair needs volume. Sometimes when you add volume to short hair, it turns out classic and most likely reminds you of your grandma. We suggest natural fall, not much volume on short hair. If you really want an extra lift, a good light volumizer applied on the roots can leave you with some volume.

How do Keratin treatments work with short hair?

The Keratin is designed to control frizz and unruly hair. The results of the treatment can be implemented on all types of hair, long, medium, or short. Keratin penetrates the hair improving and repairing the quality.

If someone has wavy medium length hair and they are looking to go for a hair cut like Jennifer Lawrence, a keratin can make the look effortless. Without the Keratin, we can still design the look but the individual would have to blowdry and flat iron their hair to maintain that look. With the Keratin, the client can have the look with a minimal amount of blowdrying time, no flatiron needed.

What style is best for curly hair?

It’s hard to generalize, but most of the time it would be suggested to have disconnected curls. It means different sizes of curls. With the right product you can make it look big or make it look small and sleek. You’re basically creating a mix of short and long curls, rather than cutting the curls all the same. It’s edgier, more modern, playful.

And for fine hair?

It can be tricky to go short. If it’s really fine, you might run into the problem of scalp exposure. If the shape is designed right, you can even create extra volume. I have clients with really fine hair and we got short and it looks great. Most of the time we don’t recommend anything really short. The shortest I would recommend is something like what Jennifer Lawrence has now. It’s a graduation where with a pixie you’re working with layers and that means you lose a little bit of weight from the hair.

Who does a pixie work for?

Medium density, any texture. Any type of hair. It’s really about density.