The Pixie Cut Is Awesome (Here's Why)

Fighting summer frizz and wind-blown flyaways can be a bit of a struggle. If you are seeking something simple this summer, you just may want to try a Pixie cut for your waves and curls. You can use this styling method any time of year and it looks amazing on any length of hair and hair type.

What does a Pixie cut require?

This cut is a very short, cropped style. With thicker or curly hair, this style doesn’t take as much maintenance as you may think. And, it also doesn’t require a precision cut. “You want to show off the texture and choppiness,” says Ouidad creative director, Morgan Willhite. The bonus of the pixie cut is that you can easily allow hair to air dry and use minimal amount of product to keep it under control. Be sure to have a good idea of the exact pixie cut you’re asking for as you communicate with your stylist. Bring in photos and ideas that you like for your hair type.

The pixie curl style method, however, is just one method in which hair can be dried and styled for better definition, or simply , just something different that can help fight frizz.

What makes the Pixie so great, though?

The best part of Pixie-Styling is that you need all of one tool–your dryer/diffuser! You can use your bowl or sock diffuser (or any of the many other diffusers out there”>, and style with your favorite products. You may want to use a heat protectant like Aveda Brilliant Damage Control or Tresemme Heat Tamer spray. By diffusing you are protecting your hair from direct heat and allowing the heat to , literally, “diffuse” through your hair.

MORE: How to Style a Pixie

Maintaining your pixie at home

• After your shower, prep your hair with your favorite product(s”>–a good gel and leave-in are effective in this method. You can loosely twist sections with your fingers and prep them for drying.
• Set your hairdryer on a higher setting as making it lower and less hot could cause some frizz. Try to cut the amount of heat by setting your dryer a little higher. Many people who use this method find that curls tend to do better with higher heat and less time.
• Flip your hair over (helps with volume”> and take one small section of hair, twist it loosely then place it on the diffuser and dry it with your diffuser by pushing up and working roots to ends and finishing with the dryer close to your head. Then, stop. Literally stop. Shut off your dryer and move to your next section then start again.
• The idea is not to “blow” hair around and move it as little as possible. Do the same for every section of hair. You don’t want to spend more than 1 minute per section. If you’re hair is still wet, then go around a second time. If you’re afraid to use too much heat, do 1 or 2 “rounds” and get your hair 85-90% dry, then let the rest dry on it’s own. Most importantly, do not touch it as it dries – you will get frizz.
• If you have a lot of hair, or it’s longer, you may want to opt for clips–both before and after the Pixie drying method. First, style with the products you normally use, then section, using clips, and begin to dry via the Pixie method. After you are done and the heat is off, you may opt to clip the hair again and pass over with your diffuser one last time.

You may need to experiment with the products you use for your hair type for this method as well as the heat settings and amount of time you need for each section. To help with the amount of time you expose your hair to heat you may want to look for an ionic or tourmaline dryer. These tools help speeding up the drying process yet leave hair shiny and healthy.