Draw Attention away from Your Teeth

Stylish pixie cut
Photo: StockLite/Shutterstock
Q: I’m a 20-year-old woman and I’m not proud of my mouth. My teeth are crooked and look awful. I read that sometimes with a hairstyle you can take attention away from unflattering features.
 
How can I, with a haircut, draw attention away from my mouth and teeth? What elements do I need in the cut to focus on other parts of my face? My hair is shoulder length now and straight. I’m ready for anything: long, medium and even short hair.
 
A: The key to using a hairstyle to deflect focus from other features is making the hairstyle the focus of attention.
 
You can choose a dramatic cut (asymmetrical lines or perhaps extreme length-variance and texturing), bold color effects (all-over or fashion accents) or intricate an ornate styling (short spiky layers, closely clipper cut zones).
 
Many often choose combinations of these elements. You use these cutting, coloring and styling techniques to force the viewer to maintain his or her attention on a part of your face away from the feature you want to downplay.
 
The specifics of the look depend on your personality and preferences. Someone who is already very self-conscious about her appearance would probably be reticent to adopt a hairstyle that is too far “out there”.
 
But the look doesn’t have to be shocking to be effective. It could be ultra-chic and glamorous – such as a stick-straight bob cut with an angled line, given a subtle tint of color and a cellophane treatment to make the hair truly glossy and shiny.
 
Remember, back in the 80s, two of the most popular stars in music were Cyndi Lauper and Annie Lennox. Both confessed in interviews to being less than happy with their looks. Yet they both had bold personalities and used hairstyles (Cyndi’s bright-colored, asymmetrical cut with tartan-carved clipper-cut zones, and Annie’s usually androgynously short crops) to play up startlingly expressive eyes and make the focus of their presences really memorable. Neither was conventionally beautiful, but neither will ever be overlooked.
 
Your goal should be a similar effect in your choices.
 
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See also:
 
Ideas for short hairstyles with fashion accents
 
Hair coloring techniques for special effects
 
Hairstyle to draw attention to the eyes
 
Hairstyles to draw attention away from your chin