What Do You Do When You Get a Bad Haircut?

March 11, 2010

I have the same reaction every time I get a horrible haircut: I go to another stylist and cut it off even shorter, so that it at least looks nice. Some of my friends, though, are the exact opposite way. If they get bad haircuts, they just wear ponytails, buns, and hats for months until it's grown out. What do you do in this kind of unfortunate situation? And do you have any tips or tricks for handling a massively bad cut? If you do, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

Source: Getty

25 Comments

vanityx0kills 2 years 46 weeks

I decided to give myself a fringe. It was fine until I decided I wanted it thicker, and cut the fringe from about the middle of my hair. Then my fringe looked horrible. It's growing out now, thankfully. (:

3 years 8 weeks

I just noticed I made a typo - I'm 55, but I should have said that I look 10 years younger instead of 10 years older ;-)

3 years 8 weeks

I'm a 55 year old mum. People are always surprised when they discover this. (They say I took about 10 years older.) I hate it when any stylist gives me an old fashioned "mom" cut or any style that looks like an updated "business" cut that could have come out of the 80's (my teen and 20 something daughters always laugh when that happens). This just happened to me again. I walked in with an modern A-line that had been growing for about 3 months and just wanted it shortened. Apparently, this young stylist had her own ideas (maybe her mom in mind) and told me the back needed to be thicker - that my previous stylist hadn't left enough hair in the back. When I asked her for more specific description, she handed me a magazine to search through while she searched through one herself - which was a total joke. How often do you see the back of a hair style shown in those magazines - almost never! (BTW, I mentioned this to her with a friendly laugh.) At the end of our pow-pow, I thought we were on the same page. We weren't. She took me straightaway from an A-line - which had originally been staked at the back - to a straight around cut that looks like a short round ball. Not one bit of my A-line was left. I didn't realize it because of the way she styled it, because she kept pushing the sides towards the back and other stylistic (cover up) techniques. I paid $40 for what I feel was a total hatchet job. Aren't the beauty schools telling their students that the Baby Boomer generation keeps up on things these days? Or did she just not know what she was doing? This was an Alveda salon which is known for being "with it." Now, if Alveda would only move their philosophy of "sustainability" to more sustainability of the customer's request! Alveda products also don't work for someone with fine hair. My hair goes completely flat with the types of products she advised me to put on it even though my hair is chemically blonded. As far as I'm concerned, either Alveda or the stylist really doesn't know what they're doing. Unfortunately, I have to live with it.

3 years 9 weeks

I pull it all up into a bun and attach a fake hair scrunchie to make it look fuller...these look nice as long as they match your hair. And another thing I do is use the hair banana clip or comb clincher type pony tails...they are longer than my hair and there again as long as it matches the top & sides of your real hair, they look pretty real. The other thing that I do is head to coveryourhair.com. I have several of their products and one more on the way...it's the only thing I can do until it grows back! I am tempted to go have it 'fixed" by another sytlist but then it's gonna take longer to grow out and I am wanting to have an all the same length look.

3 years 9 weeks

When I was 7, someone cut my hair from elbow-length to chin-length when I'd just asked for a trim! I just cried for like a week then got used to it ahahha. One time I got my fringe trimmed and they did it way too short but i just pinned it back till it had grown...

DeviousMuse 3 years 10 weeks

I got a horrible cut when I was trying to find a new stylist in Atlanta. Luckily, I ended up finding someone new to fix it, and not only is she the only person to touch my hair in 6 years, but one of my best friends, too!

ayuninur 3 years 10 weeks

i leave it alone..

ayuninur 3 years 10 weeks

i leave it alone..

chelseacbboyles 3 years 10 weeks

I have pretty long hair so when I get it "cut" it usually isn't that much of a difference. Therefore even if it is not an ideal cut it isn't that noticeable.

themagiccarrot 3 years 10 weeks

i tried a new salon, and i said all i wanted was a trim and they cut 4-5 inches off. Really pissed me off. But nevertheless, I just deal with a bad hair cut and style in a less-horrendous way.

slikkback 3 years 10 weeks

recently my hair dresser cut my bangs UBBER short and I can't style my hair and rock it the way i normally do. I'm still pretty pissed because I could have butchered my bangs for free @ home than spend $10.

BATFgirl 3 years 10 weeks

I won't do anything immediately, I'll just improvise. But I won't go back to the same stylist after that. I had one guy cut my hair for a whole year then royally messed up my bangs once and I didn't go again. I like to make myself a beauty product/stylist guinea pig though..that's just me.

Ellenora 3 years 10 weeks

Well, usually I'll be fine and not show my displeasure...until I get to the car. Then I cry. When I'm calm again, I call the salon and ask if I can have fixed by another stylist, not the one that butchered it. I got a trim once and the stylist made my hair so uneven. One side was three inches longer than the other, and that even applied to my fringe! I was so mad that I still don't use that one stylist.

mamasitamalita 3 years 10 weeks

I love my current stylist, but I'm a complete "haircut"-zilla.... I let them know what I want, ask them questions to make sure we're on the same page, and reiterate what I want... and that if its deviated from I don't pay them. I always get the haircut I want.

bronzebeauty719 3 years 10 weeks

ooofff this hits close to home.. i usually wear my hair long very like way below my shoulders.,,and decided in feb it was time to make a difference (a slight one) and went to get it cut with my usual stylist asked for same shape but to take off a some of the length...six weeks later im finally not embarrassed by my hair (thankfully my hair grows fast!!) it was a mom cut what she gave and im talking what my mom in her late 50s would wear not something for someone in their 20s.. a lot of short layers it tucked in simply horrendous... am debating what to do for my next cut...might go back to my old stylist he always was a good cutter tho never wanted to use permanent hair dye which is why i made the switch... hair can make or break you!

Faylinn 3 years 10 weeks

I try to hide the cut by styling it differently than what the cut was for. Then I let it grow out.

catita85 3 years 10 weeks

I (foolishly) gave myself a very bad haircut 7 years ago. I´ve been letting it grow back to it´s original length since then, except for a few trims in between.

goddessru 3 years 10 weeks

This is the worst feeling in the world. I usually let it grow out. I will be experiencing this again soon since I have to stop going to my stylist I've been with since college. Even though I moved 200 miles away, I still went to her (I had fam/friends in the area). Now that I wont be going to that area anymore, I have to try to find someone to do my hair in my new city... this will take some messing up before I get what I want for the price I want. *Sigh... oh boy...

Girl Jen 3 years 10 weeks

I get it cut again. My bad haircuts have all had to do with shaping problems, and it seems like the stylists at the inexpensive chain salons have problems in that area.Luckily, I found an awesome salon that's relatively inexpensive, and a stylist who's giving me trims and shaping my hair as it grows out from a butchered cut.

Girl Jen 3 years 10 weeks

I get it cut again. My bad haircuts have all had to do with shaping problems, and it seems like the stylists at the inexpensive chain salons have problems in that area. Luckily, I found an awesome salon that's relatively inexpensive, and a stylist who's giving me trims and shaping my hair as it grows out from a butchered cut.

wtf kas 3 years 10 weeks

i mask the mistake, leave it alone, and never cheat on my hairdresser again. i got my bangs "trimmed" on vacation one time and it was horrible.

moonrabbitz 3 years 10 weeks

I change my hair style to try to hid it until it grows out again

socalbeachgal 3 years 10 weeks

It doesn't happen too often but if I don't like the cut, I ask the stylist to try to fix it. I have short hair so I can't go the route of ponytails and bun.

onlysourcherry 3 years 10 weeks

My senior year in college I went in to touch up my roots and trim the damage off the bottoms, and this woman BUTCHERED my hair. It was a $200 haircut/coloring, so it's not like i cheaped out. It took TWO YEARS to grow it out. Sorry for the caps, but I'm still mad about this... four years later!

onlysourcherry 3 years 10 weeks

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25 Comments

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