How to Style a Bob Haircut, According to an Editor

Updated on 4/16/2024 at 5:35 PM

POPSUGAR Photography | Kelsey Castañon

Unless you count the occasional pumpkin spice latte or my proclivity for a "Bridgerton" binge, I don't typically succumb to peer pressure for trend's sake. I stuck to my measly four-step skin-care routine despite the K-beauty boom, remained loyal to nude nail polish even with the return of the french manicure, and hadn't once considered hopping on the bob haircut bandwagon — despite nearly every celebrity (and their moms and cousins and . . . ) in the last few years trying out the style.

Yet one day, over the weekend, when I was staring at my long hair in the mirror and wondering if that's what was elongating my oval face to the point of near-aardvark relation, I decided: it's time to cut it all off. Without a second thought, I booked an appointment at The Salon Project in NYC and stomped in two days later on a mission. "I'm dying to try the blunt bob trend," I told salon owner and veteran hairstylist Joel Warren, "But disclaimer: I have to be somewhere in 45 minutes."

I fully anticipated a "GTFO and come back later" with such a request, but instead, he laughed. "This is not a complicated haircut. With fine hair like yours, you'll be out in 30. I'll even show you a new way to style it."

And kids, that's exactly what he did. Six inches to the ground and half an hour later, plus a whole new hair routine punched into my Notes app, I'm a whole new person — and she doesn't look at all like a long-snout animal. See the full transformation (and some embarrassing photos of me for good measure) ahead.

During the Bob Haircut

Like Warren said, the bob haircut isn't exactly complicated if you have fine hair like I do. My problem with having long hair was that it would lose its volume and oomph quickly, and it made my face look smaller in comparison. "When you have long hair, and it's fine, it doesn't really do anything for you — you need movement or texture," he says. (Note: I also don't dye it or have any layers to help on that front.) "The bob adds an element of something."

If you're of a medium or coarser hair texture, and you're not lacking on movement, Warren suggests going the blunt route. "A good stylist will know if layers or no layers work best for you."

How to Style a Bob Haircut

Once we lobbed off six inches of hair — a process that took a whopping three (!) minutes — we moved on to styling. Warren worked in a mousse throughout my damp hair and scrunched, scrunched, scrunched to give it volume and hold. I love and swear by the John Frieda Frizz-Ease Air-Dry Waves Styling Foam ($11).

Then, a wild revelation: "I'm only going to use a diffuser to dry your hair," he says. I clearly looked shocked. "A lot of people with fine hair don't know when they actually have a natural wave to their hair. A diffuser will bring out your curls."

If you're like me and have used a diffuser as often as you have your dentist's flossing recommendation, Warren offered some sage advice: "When you're drying your hair, make sure to use your fingers to pull your roots upward away from your head when the heat is on it, but don't comb all the way through. That'll break your curl pattern."

Finally: hairspray. Listen, I'm the person who asks hairstylists to skip the hairspray even on the most humid of days, but Warren says this is key for making this style work. "Don't be afraid of hairspray," he says as he — and I'm not exaggerating — bathed my hair in it. "Seriously. For this style to hold, especially if you have fine hair, you almost need to drench it."

John Frieda Frizz-Ease Air-Dry Waves Styling Foam

From

$11

After Getting the Bob Haircut

Much to my disbelief, diffusing my new bob haircut completely worked — and the result was perfectly imperfect, disheveled but cool, and exactly the hairstyle I've been wanting. . . but always felt too hesitant to try.

— Additional reporting by Renee Rodriguez

Kelsey Castañon is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and content strategist with more than 13 years of experience in publishing. She is currently the senior content director at PS, where you can find her stockpiling (and reporting on) everything from skin care to wine.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for POPSUGAR. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for POPSUGAR's TikTok and Instagram accounts.