1.) How on earth do you avoid getting those tiny little air bubbles in nail polish? I let the polish dry between layers, but maybe just not enough? I’m also Impatient McGee — if that’s the issue, how do I best speed up the drying?
2.) I loooove my short hair, but I looooooved it more when it was slightly longer on the sides, and as such am growing it out. I know there’s no dignified way to grow out a pixie cut, but how do you guys manage it? Head scarves are the obvious answer, but they accuentuate my already tubular head, and that’d clash with my image as an egghead, so you know, that’s out. Headbands are tricky due to glasses wearing. Any bright ideas, or ways around the tubular head or the many things behind the ears?
I’m no expert in either of those issues, but a friend who grew out a pixie cut said that you can trim the back of the hair to avoid an obvious mullet, but the trick is to let the hair on the side of the head grow long to achieve the bob stats. She also used lots of bobby pins to pin up her back hair when it was looking too mullet-ish…
I trim the back of my hair religiously, and that’s my general plan about the sides. My hair scoffs at bobby pins, though
I find the way around the headband/glasses issue is to wear my headbands angled further back. Imagine a diagonal from your forehead back above your ears, and that works for me.
As for the haircut and growing out, I have hair that hitchhikes to Mulletville every chance it gets, so the rule with my hairstylist is ALWAYS to cut in longer on the sides and front than in the back. I had her do it for my latest cut so that as it grows out, those proportions remain somewhat constant. I agree with RK – get the back trimmed while letting the sides and front continue to grow (called an “inverted bob,” btw).
That’s where I want to go — I had a haircut like that a few months ago before I hacked it off cause it got hot. But it’s turning to fall, so it’s time to start growing it out again… I am really vigilant about the mulletiness (much to A.’s amusement, though he’s good about helping my trim it) because this cut goes mullety in no time flat.
I’ll give that a whirl about the scarves — I want it to work very much!
If you can manage it, how about soft curls or waves? Curls will hide the different lengths and are just plain old fun. Once you figure out how big or small to curl your sections (this can make the difference between looking chic and looking like Orphan Annie) you can tweak it as needed, as your hair grows. Good luck on the grow-out!
My hair’s at most two inches long, so I suspect I’m not going to be able to put in any curl or wave that’ll stay for more than ten minutes. I wish I could!
P.S. I know not of the nail polish bubbles you speak of. Maybe you’re just using shoddy polish?
No dude, this is good stuff! Even my Essie polish does it sometimes, and that stuff goes on like a dream. Hence my confusion (and wondering if it’s a user error that I’m just unaware of)
I have no polish advice since the only polish I wear goes on my toes and is applied by somebody else
As for growing out hair – the sides are slow to grow. I would try to limit heat styling so as not to damage the hair. I’ve had some good luck with new Goody hairbands that are slightly adjustable behind the ear. They’re called no ouch and can work with glasses.
I wear the Claire’s headbands, which are made for people with slightly smaller heads. They have enough flexibility to not pinch right behind my ears, but they also don’t even reach where my glasses frames hit.
(Also, I have a giant head, so I’m not sure this will help you.)
From what I’ve read, the key to avoiding air bubbles is to apply your polish in as few strokes as possible. The more you mess with each coat, the more likely it is to bubble. Letting it dry is key too, but you can get a top coat or spray to speed it up.