You sit down in the salon chair, the snipping begins, and you wind up with something that’s so not what you had in mind.

Got a bad haircut? Like a really bad haircut?

Unfortunately, we’ve all been there. But luckily, we’re here to help with all the best tips and tricks for how to deal with a bad haircut! From braids to buns to headbands, we’ll give you all the right tools to bid that bad haircut anxiety farewell and keep you looking and feeling great from the inside out. And if you instead decide to go straight back to the salon to fix it, we’ll help your book your haircut online with a 5-star StyleSeat professional!

First Off, Don’t Sweat It Too Much

Before we dive into how to deal with a bad haircut, let’s first acknowledge the facts. Many of us have been down the road of a terrible haircut before. We know the feeling of sitting in the hair salon seat, looking into the reflection, and wondering why me and why my hair?

It might be baby bangs gone wrong, a dye job that just doesn’t work, or a shag that’s been too heavily chopped. Whatever the hair issue may be, the truth is, you’re still beautiful!

The good news is a bad haircut will eventually grow out. You may experience some growing pains down the line as that not-so-picture-perfect pixie eventually becomes a cute bob. Or those too-short-of-bangs grow out into a lovely set of curtain bangs you’ve never had before, the kind that so wonderfully frame your face shape.

Now that you know there may be a silver lining in the future of your unfortunate haircut, let’s move on to how to hide a bad haircut.

9 Ways to Hide a Bad Haircut

Hair grows fast. So fast that the answer to the question “how often should you get a haircut” is usually every couple of weeks. So after you’re done wallowing in the misery of that bad quarantine haircut, it’s time to get proactive. 

The most important part of what to do when you get a bad haircut is to get creative. Thinking back to your childhood, you might recall a very bad haircut that someone gave you (raise your hand if your parents ever tried to cut your bangs). 

Maybe mom or dad used a bobby pin to pin the hair back or some styling product to disguise the dreadful new do. Whatever it was, your grown-ups got innovative and creative and you survived the horrible haircut and still carried on with your daily life. 

From hats to hair extensions, here are some tips for how to deal with a bad haircut.

1. Wear a Hat

Hats aren’t just for sunbathing and sporting events. The same way you use a baseball cap to hide your hair when it’s gone one too many days without a wash, you can use it to hide your bad haircut. 

Toss that long hair back in a ponytail or let your choppy short hair peek from underneath your hat and move on with the day ahead. Better yet, take yourself on a little hat shopping trip and find some cute ones to help you accessorize your new, not-so-loved haircut.

2. Hide it With a Headband

By nature, putting a headband over your hair helps to hide it. They’re a good option for yoga, running, working from home, and of course — they’re an ideal hair accessory to hide bad hair.

The best part about a headband is that if you’re not feeling your hair, all you have to do is throw on your headband, and you’ll be good to go. 

3. Pull it Back With Clips

Did your hairstylist go a little too crazy with the front layers or the bangs? Although it may initially feel like the end of the world  — we understand your pain — we promise you’ll get through it. 

Purchase a couple of sets of stylish hair clips and start pinning your wild and uneven haircut back. Before you know it, you’ll have healthy hair that’s grown back and is ready for a new haircut and a new hairstyle. 

4. Try Hair Extensions

If you’ve tried different options of what to do with a bad haircut and you’re just not getting the results you want, look into hair extensions. Although they’re a more drastic choice than say, tossing on a baseball cap, extensions can last you for the next handful of months if you have a really bad cut.

For those of our readers interested in going the route of hair extensions, take a look at some of our StyleSeat profiles. We have tons of professional stylists who specialize in hair extensions and will be ready and waiting to help turn your hair nightmare around.

5. Put Your Hair in Braids

Because braids are already so lovely, they’re one of our favorite options for how to hide a bad haircut. If you’ve never treated yourself to a set of head-turning braids, now’s your chance. 

Depending on how you look at it, your bad haircut turned braids just might be the best thing that’s happened in your hair care world. (After all, being a glass-half-full type when it comes to hair is always beneficial.)

6. Throw Your Hair into Buns

Whether it’s a ballerina bun for those of us with longer hair or a short bun at the nape of the neck for us short-haired folks, a bun is your best friend. Throw that bad haircut up into a bun — messy or neat — and wait it out! 

We promise this is the stress-free, low-maintenance way of turning an awful haircut into something that’s not so bad after all. 

7. Get the Hair Product Ready

Looking for the ultimate solution for how to deal with a bad haircut? Enter: hair products! Hair products range from things like ginger root texture spray (for a little extra volume in that too-thin-too-short haircut) to styling gel for men’s haircuts gone wrong. 

Unless you’re looking to fix a bad buzz cut, chances are hair products can help. Again, tap into the mind of a new stylist to see if they have any suggestions to help you out. 

8. Hide it All With a Wig

Wigs can be wildly fun as is, but especially if they’re used as a tool to hide that hideous haircut you can’t stand. Again, it’s important to remember that we are our own harshest critics. While you may look in the mirror and see a hair mess, someone else may look at you and see something edgy or cool. 

In any event, if you can’t stand the hair and need some immediate relief, grab some best buds and venture to the wig store. Trying on wigs in wild colors and different lengths can not only be fun — it can actually be liberating.

9. Look for a New Hairdresser or Barber

Chances are if you’re looking for advice on how to hide a bad haircut, you’re probably searching for another hairdresser, too. If wearing a baseball cap or caking on the styling gel isn’t going to cut it, you might have to move on to the next step. 

Look for hairdressers or barbers with 5-star, rave reviews. When you reach out, let them know a bit about your problem and see if they have any immediate suggestions. From there, you can discuss the details and figure out whether or not they’re the stylist for the fix-it job! Although it can be hard to see the bright side in the beginning days of a very bad haircut, hope is on the horizon. 

In some circumstances, people’s favorite cuts have eventually come out of a bad haircut. Maybe it makes you take the leap to go shorter or turn toward a more creative style like a full head of braids. In any case, you can never go wrong with these popular types of haircuts for women and the freshest types of haircuts for men.

Be sure to tip your new hairstylist because fix-it jobs are not easy! Check out our post about how much to tip for a haircut for more details. 

Never Suffer From a Bad Haircut Again With StyleSeat

If you need some help on your path to finding an incredible stylist with high ratings, browse through our StyleSeat profiles. From Los Angeles to New York City — our stylists are experts at what they do and they’re here to help share their passion with their clients. A good stylist will use the magic of their scissors as a force for good and help turn your negative hair situation into a positive one.

We know that figuring out how to deal with a bad haircut can be overwhelming at first. We hope that with little tips, like clips, hair extensions, and a new expert stylist, you feel ready to take on that terrible haircut and turn it into something new. And remember, even the worst of bad cuts grow out eventually. 

That’s the beauty of hair, after all.

If you have any questions about our online platform or need any help along the way, feel free to reach out to our team. We’re always here to help guide you along on your hair journey!