Haircut questions and ideas (sorry long post!)

It's been awhile since I've been on these forums but I thought I'd stop by to brainstorm about hair ideas....

My hair is fine yet thick, and the top layers are naturally wavy and poofy while the bottom layers are naturally straight with a little flip on the ends. It's hard to wear it naturally, since it always creates a mushroom shape! (Poofy top layers and straight bottom layers.) I can never get the bottom layers to be wavy, and I can never make the top layers straight with just a blowdryer. Plus, one side of my head tends to be wavier than other side, and one side tends to flip under at the ends while the other wants to flip out naturally, which drives me nuts! The only style I've been wearing lately is to just flat iron it all straight (which takes forever), or if I'm in a hurry to quickly blowdry it and put it up. (And only high-end flat irons keep my hair stubborn hair straight -- drugstore ones don't work!)

Right now my hair is several inches past my shoulders, but I am getting tired of this long hair. I experimented with various short- and medium-length hairstyles a few years ago, but could never get anything to work. Back then my only styling tools were a blowdryer, hairspray, and straightening creams (which NEVER worked for me) -- I could rarely get my hair to look good with just a blowdryer, and even if I did hairspray was never enough to make it stay. As soon as I stepped outside on a humid day, it was back to a wavy, poofy mess!

But now I really want a shorter cut that actually has a style. Nothing super trendy, I still want to look professional for the office and age-appropriate for a young professional. However, I am wondering if I could get some sort of short, flippy hairstyle with the help of a flat iron and/or a stronger hold product like a pomade or gel? I'm still pretty clueless about products!

I haven't found a picture that's exactly like what I'm looking for. I'm thinking something between shoulder and chin length, that I can flip out or straighten and curl the ends under a bit. Also, since my hairline is so low on my forehead, I can't do side-swept bangs or face-framing layers since that hair would just hang straight down over my eyes! The hair in the front needs to be long enough to tuck behind my ears.

I really like the short flippy style of this cut, I'd love the back of my hair to look like this (I couldn't find a picture of it from the front though):



This is close the length I want (except for the bangs), but I'm not sure if I like how the hair is flipped in so many different directions -- I usually like it all flipped out or all flipped under:



I probably don't want it any longer than this:



And this is probably too short, chin-length hair emphasizes my square jaw:



And if I straightened my flippy cut, I'm hoping I can get it to look kind of like one of these two (maybe?):





OK, so I guess my questions are:

1. Would these styles fit my weird hair type?

2. How would I style my hair? Keep in mind my hair is very stubborn, so I think I'll need a flat iron and/or something like a pommade. (I already have a Sedu that works wonders!) Can anyone recommend some good products I can use? I don't want my hair greasy like a guy wearing lots of gel, but I do want it to keep its style!

3. Any idea how long this would take to style? I want something that takes less time than my current 25-30 minute blowdry and flatiron routine! Could I get by with just a blowdryer and pommade for a flipped-out style?

Also if anyone has pictures of other hairstyles they think will work on me, please post them!

Thanks so much for reading my rambling post!

Lisa Rhynes - Soap Talk, married to Harry Hamlin, was on the View 16 July. She has a real cute hairstyle similar to the first full faced model.

You might want to have a look at her haircut and see if you'd like something similar. Don't have a picture sorry.

I have had my hair like some of those styles you posted. Its not that short right now. I am growing out. Your hair sounds a lot like mine. I can't just leave my hair without styling it or it looks like a poofy mess. I have to either straighten it or curl it. Sometimes I can get it to look nice wavy if I use a lot of products. If you don't like side swept bang, shorter bangs are in right now and look really good on some people. Keep looking around for pictures you like because you want to make sure you get what you want from your stylist. I like Biolage's texture cream and I use BedHead Superstar (put it in before you blowdry) to give volume. I blow dry my hair upside down too and then I lift up and take my big round brush and pull up at the roots and blow dry. It adds so much more volume that way. Also, talk with the hairstylist and have her give you precise directions in how to style your hair.