3 Tips To Finding Your Perfect Cut and Color

Since going natural a few years back, I often find myself looking for new hairstyles and colors to try just to spice up my look. Because I am so fearless when it comes to new haircuts, I have gotten the short end of the stick a lot of times.

You know the routine: you think your hair is going to come out a beautiful honey* brown but you end up looking like carrot top, or you could’ve sworn that bob would look hot on you because it looked great on someone else, but it wasn’t flattering–at all.

I’ve been there, done that, and I know how frustrating it can be. Luckily, a little trial and error can prove to be beneficial because now I know the styles that work for me and the ones that completely work against me.

I know the process sounds a little scary but there are definitely a few pieces of advice you can take to get the perfect hairstyle on the first try. Below are three tips to finding the perfect cut and color for you!

Determine your face shape

Figuring out your face shape is one of the most important parts of getting a new hair cut because it will ultimately determine if a certain hairstyle is flattering on you or not. I learned the hard way that I have a round face; there’s been a few times that I’ve picked a hairstyle that failed to properly frame or elongate my face and it was absolutely disastrous. However, I fell in love with short cuts and learned to love certain features of my face.

The key is to find out what works for you before completely committing to a hairstyle; there are very few thing worse than cutting your hair into a style that you hate and not being able to reverse it or change it right away.

If you’re looking for a cut that’ll compliment your face shape and structure, pay close attention to your forehead, cheekbones, and jawline because how a hairstyle falls at those points will either make or break your look. For example, if you have a heart shaped face you might rock blended bangs with long layers to minimize your forehead and frame your face.

The bottom line: figure out your face shape and pick a hairstyle that is not only going to minimize your flaws but accentuate the beautiful features as well.

Find colors that work with your skin tone

There is only one thing you need to know before dying your hair: your skin color does not matter as much as your undertones do. Do not be afraid to try a color because you are “too dark” or “too light” to pull it off. The truth is, you can rock any color as long as you find the right variation for you;  always work with what you do have instead of forcing what you don’t.

For example, you don’t like the way you look in bright cherry red hair, so you take it a few notches down and find out you love your kinks and curls in burgundy. Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to try blonde, but your skin seems too cool–try ash blonde (as well as other cool blondes) because it’ll play to the blues and grays of your skin tone.

The easiest way to find out your undertone is to figure out if you look better in gold or silver jewelry; gold suits women with warm undertones better while silver looks great on cool tones. If all else fails, visit your local beauty counter and ask for help!

Assess hair health

Simply put: if your hair is unhealthy or has some sort of damage, please get that taken care of before doing anything drastic to your hair! Cutting and dying damaged hair will only make it worse if you don’t handle the first set of problems correctly.

The two things you need to worry about the most are split ends and fragility. Split ends can not only make the tips of your hair look  raggedy, but they can potentially split all the way up to your roots and damage your hair completely. I know you really want that cute bob or those stylish long layers, but this is definitely not something you’d want to deal with when taking on a new style.

You know what’s even worse? Hair dye and bleach can lead to both split ends and fragile, brittle hair because they tend to damage and dry your hair out if not cared for properly. Make sure your hair health is top notch and your regimen is solid before moving forward with this step.

And if you are planning to style and color a weave*? Yes, you still need to worry about the health of your hair. Whether you are getting a sew in or gluing in tracks, make sure your hair is moisturized, protected against breakage, and prepared for any stress that may come with the hairstyle.