My hair right now is an angled bob, shorter in the back and longer in the front. Just long enough it can tuck behind the ears but I can't make a pony tail at all. My hair is fine and naturally wavy -- the shorter it is, the more it curls. But has a tendency to frizz, big time!
Here's my routine --
1. Comb it out with a big tooth comb.
2. Apply leave-in conditioner/styling lotion.
3. Allow to air dry for 20-30 minutes. (This is not an essential step, but my hair is so fine AND color treated, I want to minimize hot tools as much as possible, so if I have the time, I let the air do most of the drying magic.)
4. Blow dry next. It is a skill that needs to be learned. Each time I get my hair done, I watch carefully and ask my hairdresser to show me new tricks, and coach me through it. Highly recommend! Basically first I just blast my hair all over, from the back towards the front, scrunching with my hands to encourage volume. Then I use a big round brush and take sections, starting from the bottom. You pull the bottom sections out horizontal to the ground, and point the blow dryer from roots to ends as you pull the brush through the section. When you get to the top sections, you pull the hair straight up if you can. And You want to point the blow dryer DOWN the hair, so you don't wind up with frizz.
Go section by section and work your way around until it's all dry. At this point, your bob is going to be looking ... overly round... and the smaller the round brush, the more curled at the ends it will be. But you should have tons of volume at the top.
5. If it's too much roundness, then you take a flat iron and use it next. You don't need to go overboard with the flat iron. Normally I can just do the tips only, to straighten them, and the face-framing pieces. That said, flat irons remove the last bits of moisture from your hair and this "Sets" it -- which means it will not frizz when you walk out the door. If you are flat ironing and notice steam, that will show you how much moisture is still left, even when you thought you blew it dry thoroughly and it looks dry to you. If I am walking out the door soon, and especially if it's a humid / rainy day, I will do the whole head with the flat iron. Otherwise, frizz central!
6. When my hair is first cut, and overly short, I find I do have to bring out the wax to tame the ends and keep them in place. Just the tips. You don't need a lot. It's been a couple weeks since my last cut, and now I don't need the wax.
When my hair is longer I do all these same steps! The only difference is that I may get lazy and just plop it in a ponytail. My hair is so fine and thin I wind up with a nubbin -- it's not a good look. Which is why I had it chopped off in the first place.
When I've had pixie cuts (in the far distant past) I didn't need to do any of this. It was a true wash-and-go style. Unfortunately, it also made my hair look dreadfully thin and patchy.
And that concludes my novel, "Ode to the Nubbin."
