Hair to stay

After a Scottish teenager went viral with a photo of his terrible haircut, we invited an expert to share a few styling tips to save you from the same nightmare

Let's just say that it was a hair-raising experience, metaphorically at least. A Scottish teenager named Thomas Haggarty recently went viral on social media, after he shared a photo of a botched haircut he’d been given. Haggarty had visited a barber shop with high hopes after they were allowed to reopen for the first time since December. But he left fuming from the ears after the hairdresser shaved off both sides of his scalp, leaving an ungainly mop in the middle. It was in fact such a hellish experience that Haggarty posted a tweet pleading with Scottish PM Nicola Sturgeon to shut down barber shops once more. Well, salons are shut again in Mumbai. But we got hair artiste Fatima Faith Hussain to share tips for different types of hair and face shapes, so that the same misery as Haggarty’s doesn’t befall you once barbers are allowed to work in the city again.

For curly hair

Hussain says that people with curly hair, like Kangana Ranaut, need to first figure out whether they want to add volume or reduce it. “If you have fine hair, you’d want to add volume to curly locks. But for thick hair, you should reduce it,” she says, adding that what angle you want for your haircut depends on your face shape. “If someone has a square face, I would use an angle that is softer and rounder. But if the face is round and oval, I would use a square angle,” Hussain says. One more thing — it’s important to deep-condition your hair every couple of weeks to maintain the curliness.

Thomas Haggarty’s unfortunate haircut. Pic/twitter; Demi Moore. Pic/Facebook; Adam Levine

For straight hair

People with the sort of straight hair that Mila Kunis has can play with a lot of layers. They can choose to keep their hair short, medium-length or long, depending on their preference. But Hussain says that certain precautions need to be taken when applying a mask to maintain the hair. “If your roots tend to get oily, then apply the mask only on that part of your hair that is below the ears. The humid weather we have affects the hair and scalp differently. Applying a mask could lead to stickiness and backfire on you, so you have to be careful about what products you are using,” Hussain explains.

For an oval face

This is one of the most universal face shapes, Hussain says, referring to actor Mandy Moore. That makes it easier for such people to get any kind of haircut. “I’d also refer to it as an almond-shaped face, and you can play around with different angles since it’s versatile. But then again, you have to be careful about how disconnected you keep the hair cut, meaning how much of the hair you leave long, and what part you keep short. You can also opt for a blended cut, where the strands have a similar length.”

Fatima Faith Hussain

A square face

“Keep the angles rounder for a square face; you need to give a softer shape around the face,” Hussain says. She adds, “It also depends on the size of the forehead. Try bangs or a fringe if it’s broad.” Check out the accompanying retro image of Demi Moore.

A lean face     

Hussain tells us about a technique called face framing. “It’s also called forward graduation, where you layer the hair around the jaw line and blend it all the way to the tip,” she explains. This technique is suitable for those with a lean face like singer Adam Levine’s. Hussain adds, “You can also opt for a technique called slicing, where the barber takes the scissor and glides it through the hair, to remove excessive weight of the hair around the face.”

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