How to manage short curly hair?

The biggest problem with curly hair is controlling those unruly curls and the frizz that comes with it. But it's not as difficult as it sounds.

First, never ever brush your hair while it's dry. This will cause your hair to frizz. Get yourself a big toothcomb to be used when in the shower. After washing your hair, apply conditioner and brush out all knots with the big toothcomb. Leave conditioner in for about two minutes and rinse. Wring excess water from your hair and wrap a towel around it for about two minutes. Take towel off and loosen your curls lightly with your fingers and apply gel. There are a lot of products on the market to control frizz, but I simply use gel and style it. I then let my hair dry naturally (it's short so it doesn't take very long), but you can use a blow drier on low or use a diffuser, then add hairspray to block humidity and add shine. Remember; try not to touch your hair as it causes the curls to frizz and loose shape.

If your hair has a medium curl but seems to flop towards the end of the day you can use a mousse, this will give extra volume to your hair and keep your curls tight all day.

The beauty about curly hair is that you can do so much with it and with all the available tools readily available it's never been easier. Short hair takes a lot less time to style than long hair, so you can have curly hair in the morning using a diffuser, dead straight hair in the afternoon using a flat iron and trendy wisps in the evening using flat iron or curling tong.

Browse through the different galleries on our site and practice those that you like, or simply view the accessories sections for ideas for your own collection.

Combine any of these styles with different hair accessories to change your look completely. Visit our gallery dedicated to hair accessories, some of the hottest ideas in Hollywood for more inspiration as well as our sections on short hair care and what styles will suit your face shape.

So you are thinking of cutting your hair, or you have already done it but you don't know too much about caring for short hair. Short hair can certainly be easy to handle and a lot less time consuming than long hair, but if you don't know what you are doing it can simply drive you crazy.

For starters it's important to know that although short hair can be easier and less time consuming to style, maintaining the shape is difficult. One thing's for sure, having short hair certainly requires more frequent trips to the hairdresser. Short hair is very simple to style as long as the shape is kept. And no, short hair doesn't grow faster than long hair, it just looses it's shape and style a lot quicker than long hair, requiring you to frequent a hairdresser more often which gives the impression that the hair is growing quicker.

With more trips to the hairdresser to maintain your shape or to keep shaping during the grow out phase you really don't have to worry too much about the health of your hair but it's always a good idea to use a good shampoo and conditioner, and protect your hair against UV rays and heat from hairdryers.

What you do need is a few tips on how to keep your hair looking good. My favorite part about having short hair is that it dries so quickly, all I do is apply some gel and I'm off by the time I get to where I'm going my hair is dry. But I do have loads of fun trying on different side partings, tying different strands back with clips or simply slipping on a hair band. And when I have a special function my favorite is adding clip on extensions – cheap and simple.

For great ideas on how to change your short hairstyle from one day to the next browse through the Hair Accessories section.

Remember: short hair is FUN, and yes it's trendy too, just view our Celebrity Section.

Short Hairstyles to suit your face

Short Hairstyles to suit your face shape

This section is a guide about the most popular face shapes and the short hairstyles that suit a particular face shape. This will assist you when deciding what type of short hairstyle to go for. Browse through the Gallery section for further style ideas.

Oval shaped face:
An oval face is the most versatile shape you can have, almost any style or cut, long or short, will suit you. For an oval face layered front sections on any style will definitely highlight your facial features. The best short cut for an oval face is a cute pixie cut with a soft fringe, style can be worn as a straight smooth cut or with soft curls and spikes. Oval shaped faces should try avoiding having extra long hair to avoid giving you a long face.

Long shaped face:
The idea with a long face is to create the perception of width by making your face look fuller. Width is created in a number of different ways, for short hair it’s best to have a chin length bob, softly layered or curled on the sides and a soft side swept bang. Chin length styles give the illusion of width as well as curls and layers. Side swept bang is soft and downplays a long forehead. Avoid short cuts that add volume on the top of the head, as it will give your entire look more length instead of width.

Round shaped face:
Short hairstyles are a little difficult for a round face; the idea is to try elongating the face, for this you will need to keep your hair length just (or longer) past the chin. A long bob is ideal, but avoid too straight a cut or an extremely curly cut, as this will only accentuate the roundness of your face. For a long bob just past the chin add very soft waves or layers (try keep the top part of the hair flat with waves starting past the ears) to add height to the style.

If you do want to go short remember that the growing out phase can be a difficult one as short cuts tend to be voluminous and give the impression of width. A perfect short cut is a very short pixie cut (no curls) with wisps around the face; allow wisps to fall close to the face to de-emphasizing roundness.

Square shaped face:
For a square face the idea is to downplay your strong jaw line. The best short style is to keep the hair very short and spiky. Avoid bob’s and bangs as this will only make your face look squarer.

Heart shaped face:
The heart shaped face is also known as triangular shape because you have a broad forehead and narrow, pointy chin. A short cut should highlight your eyes and cheekbones, use long side swept bangs or brow-grazing fringe to achieve this.

Combine any of these styles with different hair accessories to change your look completely. Visit our gallery dedicated to hair accessories, some of the hottest ideas in Hollywood for more inspiration as well as our sections on short hair care and what styles will suit your face shape.