Minor mystery of the day, inspired by the Grauniad

[tree_and_leaf]

Why do people describe the bob as a low maintenance haircut? It's a great look, but that's blatantly not true.

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

It depends on your hair. if you have dead-straight hair, that doesn't go into a fuzzy fluffball as soon as humidity etc attacks it, then it's probably a low-maintenance cut. I wouldn't know - my hair was bobbed as a child, and then when I tried it as an adult it went into a wavy mess.

[sollers]

My hair is dishwater straight but that style is still high maintenance because hair GROWS and mine used to grow quickly and irregularly. The fringe had to be trimmed every few weeks and the rest of it every month or so.

[tree_and_leaf]

I think perhaps part of the issue is that some people seem to see a haircut that's wash and go but requires regular trips to the hairdresser as still counting as low maintenance - and I really don't.

[forthwritten]

I guess it depends on what you mean by maintenance. In terms of being able to wash, brush and go, it's probably pretty straightforward. However, the shorter the hair, the more frequently you need to cut it - my partner can go nine months without a trim, whereas I need to clip my hair to around 3mm every three weeks otherwise it starts making me look like a pompom.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, I suppose that's it. (Though my memory of having one suggests it really did need to be blow-dried).

[serriadh]

Mine needs blow-drying and some sort of product if it gets above my shoulders, and a cut every six weeks (it grows fast). I also really, really dislike the feeling of it across my face/falling in my eyes, so a bob needs clips as well.

Whereas once it's past my shoulders, the weight seems to keep it fairly straight and I can tie it back in a variety of easy ways that stay in place all day.

[antisoppist]

I had a bob in a fit of being grown up and civilised when I got married and although my hair is thick and as the weight for it, there were always weird curly bits that turned the wrong way if I didn't blow-dry it properly while brushing and it's not got enough proper curl to make it look deliberately casually messy.

Post-divorce, it's now a long plait with a fringe.

[tree_and_leaf]

It sounds like you have very similar hair to me. I love the idea of a bob, but I too always get the weird curly bits going the wrong way.

(Also, I have a minor grudge against the haircut because it will never make me look like Louise Brooks).

[antisoppist]

it will never make me look like Louise Brooks I know! It is very annoying of it. Mine does the casually tousled thing OK when it gets to shoulder length but then I feel like a spaniel. Long works better but I'm not sure how I'll feel about it when it's all gone grey.

[ankaret]

I am enjoying my hair having silver bits in at present in an 'I wonder where this will go next' way, like growing a plant, but judging by the other women in my family if it ever goes completely grey I'll be very surprised. Unless I have to escape from Nazis or something, of course.

[antisoppist]

I got my first grey hair at 19 and confidently expected to be totally grey by about 30 so it's more surprising that it isn't greyer by now, but still gratifying that it is much less grey than my youngest sister's. There is a woman at choir who totally rocks elegance and grey hair in complicated buns and plaits and I aspire to this but even a French plait makes my arms hurt and I can't see I'm going to improve at complicated hair skills suddenly in my 70s or something.

[clanwilliam]

It's not low maintenance if your hair is naturally straight. It's ridiculously low maintenance if your hair is wavy or light to medium curly as it's the right length for self-tidying. Mine was a mess when I was younger and had curlier hair, now I literally comb a parting into damp hair and leave it to air dry giving it a quick brush after it's dried.

[clanwilliam]

Three chops, wash and brush. I've had a DIY one for several years now, although I'm having to be more precise about the cut as the grey and Grümm are straightening my hair! But basically, I've been a DIY Scarlett-Johanssen-in-the-first-Avengers-film since about 2017. Minus the catsuit.

[tree_and_leaf]

I think I might just have Difficult Hair.