Growing Out A Pixie Cut: 10 Tips for Styling Short Hair

With new wisps, bangs, cowlicks, and an ever-changing length, growing out a pixie cut can be a major hair challenge. We talked to pro hairstylists to find out how to grow out a pixie in style. Read on for 10 tips to keep your hair looking great at every stage of the grow-out.

1. Prevention Control

Minimize the odds of having a bad hair day in the first place. All it takes are a few products and a little forethought. “Use a moisturizing oil to add some shine, then comb your hair in the direction you want it to go and let it dry naturally without touching it,” says Suave celebrity hairstylist Marcus Francis. “Don’t overthink it.” If you usually have a more textured look, Francis recommends using a volumizing mousse like Moroccanoil Volumizing Mousse, which gives hair fullness and structure, and then twisting it into random sections to dry. Let it air-dry and, when it’s nearly there, shake it out.

2. Fight Frizz and Add Texture with Hair Oil

"Rough cuticles and flyaways are often the reason hair doesn’t look quite right after it air-dries," says Marcus. Use a moisturizing oil to manage your growing strands and some shine. After applying the oil, comb your hair in the direction you want it to go and let it dry naturally without touching it,” Marcus says. "Don’t overthink it."

If you usually have a more textured look, Marcus recommends using a volumizing mousse like Moroccanoil Volumizing Mousse, which gives hair fullness and structure, and then twisting it into random sections to dry. Let it air-dry and, when it’s nearly there, shake it out.

3. Water is Your Friend

Taking a second shower — while giving your hair another chance to dry right — is probably not an option in the morning, Plus, washing your hair too much can be damaging. Instead, just re-wet it. “Fill a spritzer bottle with water and spray evenly to get hair wet but not soaked,” says Marcus. “Apply a sea salt spray generously throughout damp hair and let it air dry-for a loose, textured look — no heat or re-washing necessary!” A good one to try: Shu Uemura Depsea Foundation Daily Stle Refresher.

4. Comb Cowlicks Into Submission

Instead of raking your hands through your hair in an attempt to put that weird cowlick out of its misery, use a comb. “Combs provide better tension and control than simply using your hands,” says Kevin Baker, a barber (who cuts women’s hair, too) at Fellow Barber in NYC. “With it, it’s easier to coax hair and roots in the direction you want.”

5. Make Use of Weather-Proofing Cream

Come sleet or rain in all of its frizzy glory, prepping your growing hair before you go outside is key to keeping a good hair day from going downhill. Your best bet, says Francis, is a two-pronged approach: a weather-proofing cream like Suave Professionals Luxe Style Infusion Smoothing Light Weight Weather Proof Cream and an anti-humidity spray such as Oribe Impermeable Anti-Humidity Spray. First, run a dime-sized amount of the weather-proofer through hair while it’s still damp. After your hair dries, mist the anti-humidity spray all over to lock the style in place and prevent flyaways. Marcus says taking both these steps should keep you frizz-free for up to 72 hours — despite what’s happening outside.

6. Add in Layers

You don't want to cut off the bottom of your hair if you're growing it out (obviously), but adding in layers can make the transition easier. To get more natural movement and add life to your hair, talk to your stylist about layering. Layers allow for natural movement and flow, making them more forgiving and easier to style even when they’re growing out, says Marcus.

7. Bobby Pins Can Make All the Difference

While it might take someone with long hair hours to pull off a classy up-do, you can do it minutes. Twist your hair into small sections and secure them with bobby pins and tiny clips to create an overall style. Tease the hair slightly as you pin it to create volume and

8. Rock Scarves and Headbands

An obvious, but nevertheless genius, solution to tricky short hair days is to throw on a headband or scarf. You'll get a pulled-together look that gets your bangs out of your face (no product required!).

9. Use Dry Shampoo to Create Volume

Sometimes it's harder to style freshly shampooed hair than it is to whip slightly oily hair into submission. Skip the traditional shampoo and reach for dry shampoo. Give yourself a few good sprays, than tousle your hair with your fingers. Your hair will come to life with volume and you'll find it stays put once you brushed it into your desired direction. Dry shampoo is also a great starting point for for bouffant and faux hawk styles.

10. Slick It Back

Short hair can look really good slicked back in a way that long hair just can't. Take advantage of your length! Start by spritzing your hair with water, then grab the hair gel and comb it through. The style will stay put all day.

Growing Out a Pixie Cut: One Girl's Story

Want to hear what's it like to grow out a pixie cut from someone who's been there? Jillian Meehan knows what it like. After years of sporting a pixie, she decided it was time to get her length back. Here's her story, in her own words:

The summer after I graduated from high school, I wanted to become a new person. I was finishing one chapter of my life and beginning the next, and I wanted a new hairstyle to reflect that milestone. I cut all my hair off and became “the girl with the pixie cut.” I was in love with my new persona; I felt cuter, more sophisticated and more confident than ever.

Fast-forward to about a year ago, when I decided I had gotten enough wear out of the pixie cut and decided to grow it out. I was looking forward to leaving behind “the girl with the pixie cut” and becoming “the girl with the cute, French-looking bob.” After I made the decision to grow out my hair, I thought that was it — I would just stop getting regular trims and let my hair do its thing. But here’s what no one tells you about growing out your hair: the second it hits that in-between stage of no-longer-a-pixie-cut but not-quite-a-bob, it’s mayhem. One day, you have a pixie cut, and the next, you have a mullet.

For the first few months, my once-chic and easy-to-style pixie cut started to look less Anne Hathaway circa 2013 and more Harry Styles circa 2013, headband and all. It was still closer to a pixie cut than anything else, but a much longer and shaggier version, and more prone to falling in my eyes. Five-minute blowouts were a thing of the past, my natural waves started to reveal themselves, and I took pride in being able to tuck tiny pieces behind my ears.

As even more months flew by, I celebrated first being able to rock a half-up, half-down look and then finally getting all of my hair up in a very ambitious ponytail — with lots of bobby pins involved, for sure. I had made incredible progress, but I still hadn’t gotten past the biggest challenge, the final boss: the mullet.

It will happen. Your hair will be longer in the back than it is in the front, and no amount of bobby pins or styling products can change that. The best thing you can do is get regular trims to even out the length and maintain some semblance of shape while you continue to grow out your hair, but if you can’t make it to a salon every few weeks, you’ll have to do it my way: put on a cute outfit, take some fire selfies, and just own it. After all, the only way out is through.

I’m now on the other side of growing out my pixie cut, but I’m not sure I could have made it here had I not learned to embrace all the weird, in-between styles along the way. Bobby pins, regular trims, and styling products are only half the battle of growing out a pixie cut — the other half is accepting your fate and learning to love your unique, beautiful self.

Hair is just hair; it doesn’t so much matter what it looks like but how you wear it. Guess what? “The girl with the pixie cut” is exactly the same person as “the girl with the cute, French-looking bob.” And she is killing it, no matter the length of her hair.

Here’s the truth: growing out a pixie cut is a struggle, and you might even want to give up halfway through — but by the time you come out on the other side with the gorgeous, grown-out hair you wanted, you’ll be so proud of yourself for making it there. Pinky promise.

Related: 45 Short Hairstyles and Haircuts We're Still Obsessing Over

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