How to Tell if You Should Cut Your Hair Wet or Dry
As someone with naturally curly hair, I never trust hair dressers. In fact, up until recently, my own mother was the only one I let touch my hair.
Every time I got my hair professionally cut, I would tell them not to chop too much off (my hair grows painfully slowly). They would cut my hair, blow it dry, and I’d look amazing leaving the salon…Until the next day when I would wear my hair natural instead of blowing my hair out and I’d realize how horrifyingly short my hair was.
The thing is, if you wear your hair naturally curly most of the time, your hair stylist should be cutting your hair while it’s dry and curly, according to Pekela Riley, founder of award-winning Salon PK.
Pekela mentions the 80/20 rule, which she believes should be applied depending on how you normally wear your hair.
“If the client typically wears her hair curly 80% of the time, the hair should be cut when near dry and curly,” says Riley. “Cutting the hair while straight when one usually wears it in it’s curly natural state will result in an unappealing outcome, leaving your client with unwanted shrinkage. Each coil or curl has different elasticity, and no two coily heads are alike”
Aww, no two coily heads are like, doesn’t that make you feel like your curls are special instead of knotty nuisances?
As for the girls who wear their hair straight, Riley says that the opposite should be applied.
“Cutting hair while wet to style straight will produce shape, but will create variations and lack visual precision,” says Riley.
Basically, if you feared going to the hairdresser like I did, it’s not because you hate haircuts. You just need a stylist who knows how to cut your hair for the way you like to style it. One haircut size does not fit all.
Next time you go for a trim, make sure to tell your stylist that you normally wear your hair curly, and you want your hair cut while dry. If they’re not going for it, tell them you’ll take your business elsewhere. Sure, you might burn some bridges, but it’s way better than getting a haircut that you hate.
