The Best Low Maintenance Haircuts for Every Hair Type
As working from home and days in have become more commonplace, we've all become accustomed to letting our hair down, leaving it unstyled, and seeing it become healthier in its natural form. Yet that healthy hair can quickly become fragile, dry, tangled, and susceptible to breakage when using heat and damaging routines. So don't go back to an unhealthy morning hair routine. Low maintenance haircuts help you to achieve a healthy and stylish look.
Low maintenance haircuts are all about letting your hair do what it does best. If your hair is straight, supplement your hair type with a cut that adds some bounce and volume. If your hair is curly, utilise and direct the additional volume into locks that bounce and coil naturally.
First, you'll need to figure out your hair type. There are four different categories of hair: straight, wavy, curly, and coily. Within each, you have three subcategories - A, B, and C. Your hair can sit between categories and is unique in its porosity, strand thickness and density - a hairdresser who's on the same page as you can suggest stylings tailored to your exact hair type.
Generally, every hair type offers a specific texture and shape, requiring certain haircuts to create a low maintenance routine:
Straight hair is often sheen in texture and resists curling.
Wavy hair is a mix between straight and curly, identified by an S-shaped wave of hair rather than curls.
Curly hair is voluminous, usually loose or bouncy, and incorporates curls rather than waves.
Coily hair is exactly as it sounds - curls that look like coils - tight, dense and full of volume.
At Barber Below, we've rounded up the best low maintenance cuts for every hair type and texture. Let your hair do the hard work, so it avoids damaging processes, and you spend less time styling it every day.
Tips for Styling Your Hair Type
We've all had bad hair days, but it's easier to avoid them if you know the correct way to style your hair type. Try to avoid heated appliances such as straighteners and curlers that dry and damage hair strands. Natural-looking hair is becoming more widespread, and better for the condition of your hair.
Styling straight and wavy hair types
Straight and wavy locks are the most challenging to style without heat, especially if you’re wanting to create texture.
For wavy hair, to achieve texture and volume, style your hair with conditioner.
Straight hair is difficult to achieve texture so we would recommend keeping it straight. If you must, use a hairdryer, blow-drying your hair with a brush to straighten it. Investing in a leave-in conditioner will help maintain and manage that frizz.
If you’d like to add texture, sea salt sprays are a great solution for straight and wavy hair.
Sea salt sprays offer plumping and moisturising properties that leave your hair voluminous with a beautiful matte finish.
Begin by spraying a generous amount of sea salt spray into your hair right after washing it. Gradually scrunch and twist the hair to achieve texture and volume.
Styling curly and coily hair types
Curly and coily hair types are much easier to style without heat. The natural texture from these hair types allows you to create more volume without any heat processes.
Shingling is one of the best techniques for styling curly and coily hair to create smooth, defined frizz-free curls. This method works for any curly hair type and texture. For this styling technique, all you'll need is curl cream. Work the cream through your hair with a wide-tooth comb, and gently separate and smooth the product onto every curl. Curl cream prevents coils from interlocking, enhancing the texture and collecting flyaways. Shingling is an excellent technique to give curly and coily hair managed volume and a lasting style.
Low Maintenance Haircuts for Your Hair Type
Getting a fresh cut at the salon is a fantastic feeling, but sometimes hair can become damaged when worked into an unnatural hairstyle daily. To avoid this situation, the Barber Below team have summarised the best low maintenance haircuts for every hair type and texture, so you can look effortlessly fabulous all of the time.
Straight and Thick: Blunt or Textured Bob
Since thick hair can be a nightmare to style, taking ages to wash and dry, opt for a fun and feisty bob.
Short chops add a little attitude to your hair. Bobs look stylish even when messy, and shorter hair results in less weight pulling your hair down - so you will see more texture and flair.
There are many different types of bobs, from textured to blunt - it all depends on which best suits you. Bob haircuts are easy to maintain and look great with straight hair.
Wavy: Shag or Mullet
The mullet is in vogue, and many people are opting for this easy cut that requires minimal styling. This cut is shorter at the front and sides and longer at the back. The team at Barber Below shape mullets with razors, which cut more texture into the hair than traditional scissors, creating a tousled look. It's great for those with wavy locks as it highlights and builds on the natural texture.
The shag haircut is layered in various lengths, feathered at the top and sides. This cut takes the texture of wavy hair and adds layers to create a full looking, voluminous crown.
Curly: Rounded Off
Curly hair has heaps of volume so avoid longer stylings, where the extra length weighs the hair down, making it harder to style.
Show off the volume of your curly hair with a rounded off cut just below the shoulders. This keeps the hair's natural volume without weighing it down, so it's easier to manage.
Coily: All Natural
Embrace your natural afro hair. There’s nothing more powerful than owning who you are. There are plenty of reasons to love it - one of them being volume and body. Afro-textured hair is naturally beautiful, so rock your curls or coils.
You may choose a shaping cut to ensure the style is easy to maintain. Visit a salon that shapes and cuts afros as they are worn, rather than wet or straightened - the former will ensure a more precise form. Styling this with curl cream will leave the hair natural and healthy - a fantastic low maintenance cut.
Something Different Any Hair Type Can Try
If you're feeling bold, why not try a buzz cut?
Buzz cuts are becoming increasingly popular. Less is more!
A buzz cut is where the hair is cut short and the same length all over. It's truly low maintenance and requires minimal effort. The best thing about this cut is that it is suitable for any hair type and colour, so you can't go wrong - it's simple, and it's low maintenance.
Go wild. You could even add a little colour to your cut. Buzz cuts look great, especially with pastel colours.
Rob Czlapka, Head Stylist and Owner of Barber Below: "We’ve had so many customers this year ask for natural haircuts, to continue the natural, healthy hair they started growing out during lockdown. Going natural with your styling is fantastic, it lets your hair speak and look how it should without damaging heat or products.
"Wearing your hair naturally enhances its texture and stimulates growth. After a couple weeks of natural hairstyling you'll start to notice a difference. Your hair will feel much healthier to touch and appear much thicker.
"Along with a good diet, the right products, and avoiding sun and stress, a natural hair routine will help your hair grow quicker than you could ever imagine.
"After opting for a low maintenance style, many clients are shocked at the results. They don't need to get up twice as early to style their hair anymore and their hair looks so much healthier.
"If you’d like to add additional flair to your hair, opt for colour work that will enhance the cut to create dimension and character.
"Our new customers often don’t realise that you can have colour and cutting work without the damage. It's always important to research your hairdresser or barber beforehand. Look at their previous work and client reviews."
For your hair to remain healthy and intact, leaving it natural or opting for a low maintenance style is the answer.
So there we have it - a breakdown of the best low maintenance haircuts and styles for all types and textures. Contact us if you would like to discuss a low maintenance style best suited to your hair.
About Barber Below
Barber Below, established in 2013, is a welcoming, spacious salon situated under RCNQ in Manchester's Northern Quarter.
The salon built its ethos on creating an inclusive and welcoming environment that is an escape from city life and the pressures of looking and behaving a certain way. Barber Below accommodates all styles and provides helpful advice on managing your hair type by suggesting the best cut and products for you.
They strive to be creative, pushing boundaries by using bold colours and patterns to create a statement.