Sexy Short Cuts

Check out MORE readers’ hairstyle transformations.

by Genevieve Monsma { View Profile }

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Short hair gets a bum rap: "Mom cut" and "helmet head" come to mind. But the truth is, above-the-shoulder- ‘dos can be sultry (think Demi Moore in Ghost, Meg Ryan in the 1990s or Katie Holmes right now). Not sure you can pull it off?? Check out what happened when colorist Rita Hazan and stylist Juan Carlos Maciques helped three MORE readers go cool and cropped.

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Karen Pearson

BEFORE

Lisa Baquero’s hair was thick, straight-and overgrown. Her shoulder-length layers were also lightly peppered with gray. "Lisa is a beautiful woman, but her bone structure was camouflaged by all that heavy hair," says Juan Carlos Maciques, a stylist at the Rita Hazan Salon, in New York City.

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Karen Pearson

AFTER

Maciques cut nearly four inches from Baquero’s strands and shaped them into a clean, swingy bob that shows off her cheekbones and jawline. Then Hazan covered the gray with an allover rich brown and wove in subtle caramel highlights.

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Karen Pearson

BEFORE

Nancy Lee Russell had let her grays grow in to mixed results: Her hair was saltier along her part and much darker underneath. Plus, her too-shaggy cut was doing little to play up her lovely face or the pretty silver of her grays.

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Karen Pearson

AFTER

"To help the silver stand out, I got rid of the dark- hair around Nancy’s neck," Maciques says. He also left the hair on top fairly long (the shorter your hair, the darker it looks). Hazan heightened the gray by applying a clear gloss, then washing with Clairol Shimmer Lights ($7; beauty supply stores).

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Karen Pearson

BEFORE

Trena Banks wore a pony-tail nearly every day and had never touched the gray at her temples. Her hair was long enough to wear down, but that required hot rollers, a time investment Banks wasn’t willing to make daily.

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Karen Pearson

AFTER

"I trimmed Trena’s ends so that the longest layer met the second-longest, just past her jawline. This created an easy to manage, virtually one- length style," Maciques says. "Most days, Trena can just run a flatiron over it." Hazan covered the gray with a warm, allover brown, then added subtle highlights.

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Karen Pearson

What’s your reaction?

Comments

I think the second makeover

Frenchie 06.14.2011

I think the second makeover was great because the stylist chose not to cover her gray. I think gray can be very flattering. I love my salt and pepper look. I get compliments on my "highlights" all the time.

I LOVE this approach to

06.03.2011

I LOVE this approach to stylish hair: real people, real solutions! Terrific. You seem to be getting many requests from "older" women (including me) to give us some attention. Remember, we have disposable income and the will to spend it!