Sarah Jessica Parker Is Officially Rocking Sideswept Bangs

Here's How Often You Should Cut Your Hair, According To Professionals

I’ll admit it — it had been eight months since my last haircut. My hair had lost its shape, my layers were nowhere to be found, and my ends were begging for mercy. Life got busy over the last few months and I was neglecting my haircare like never before.

My hairdresser could immediately see that I was beyond due for a cut and said I needed to get more taken off than I was hoping. I was definitely disappointed — I'd been working on growing out my hair for a while now, and it just felt like my hard work had completely gone to waste. He explained that getting consistent haircuts is the key to growing out healthy and strong hair, rather than letting it grow and grow until it eventually breaks. So let's dig into the top three things you can do to avoid this scenario!

1. Just Get The Dang Haircut

Also avoiding a haircut like I was? You might want to schedule one at your nearest salon. Like my stylist said, when you wait too long between trims like I did, you risk your hair becoming heavy, dull, and lifeless. When the hair is dry or even dead, it’s nearly impossible for it to hold a curl or style, essentially collapsing on you and taking on more and more heat damage all the while. I know the pain of spending time on a blowout only for it to fall minutes later — it’s the worst.

According to Jack, getting a haircut every 10-12 weeks is the best time frame or your ends will pay the price. Between blow-drying, curling, straightening, sun, and weather, our ends get dry and start to break without the proper care. Getting consistent haircuts allows hair to bounce back, shine, and perform the way we want in a healthy way.

2. Leave-In Conditioners Are Your Friend

His top piece of advice to keep your hair looking and feeling hydrated between trims? Invest in conditioning treatments. Jack swears by the Olaplex conditioning system, specifically the No 3 Hair Perfector. Made with patented OLAPLEX Bond Building Technology™, this conditioning treatment repairs and prevents damage in as little as three minutes. No 3 promises to reduce breakage and visibly strengthen hair, so it’s the perfect assistance to keep ends fresh between cuts. Another conditioning treatments I’ve used and loved for years is the Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask, which is designed to restore moisture, elasticity, and shine to dry hair.

3. Switch Up Your Shampoos

Switching shampoos frequently is a pretty hot tip that I honestly hadn't thought of. Our hair gets used to the same products and grows tired of them, resulting in lackluster locks. Jack’s advice is to switch brands after finishing every bottle of shampoo to bring life back to your hair. Have two brands that you’re loyal to? Even switching back and forth between them after every bottle should make a big difference in your hair. I’m a huge fan of the R+Co Dallas Biotin Thickening Shampoo, which makes my hair look thick and full, as well as the Moroccanoil Hydrating Shampoo, which is so hydrating and gives so much shine.

In the end, navigating your back-and-forth relationship with haircuts often feels like a rollercoaster ride between wanting that fresh look and cringing at the receipt. Luckily, by using conditioning treatments and switching up your products,, you can keep your locks healthy, shiny, and full of life between trims. But take a newly learned lesson out of my book: don't let your ends pay the price for procrastination and just book the haircut.

1. Long Length Shag with Choppy Layers

Zendaya's longer, slightly wind-swept style makes a nod to the ’90s, making it that much more fashionable. Who doesn't love a throwback? It looks a little more put-together than some of the previous cuts and on Zendaya it looks fab!! This picture was immediately saved on my Pinterest board for inspo the next time I go to the hairdresser. I can't wait to try this classy cut!

2. Grown-Out Roots

The shag cut is known for it’s low-key, high-fashion style, so what better way to rock it than paired with another hair trend: grown-out roots. Like Ellen Pompeo, you’ll look every bit the laid-back, cool girl.

3. Medium Length Shag

We can't do it better than the icon! Just ask for a simple shag with layers and front pieces and voila! You have the classic Alexa look.

In terms of what she asks for, in an interview with Vogue she said, "I visit the salon... I would say every six weeks. That said, I'm quite lucky and have shoots regularly, so I will often get a trim here and there." So the key to maintaining the perfect shag is frequent trims!

4. Swag with Eye-Grazing Bangs

Billie is absolutely killing the shag look here with a bit more heavy bangs and layers. Feel the moodiness with bangs that come close to the eyes. This sweepy haircut is easy to style because of its length and layers. Get a little messy with it – it'll add volume to your shorter strands.

5. Swingy Shag

Jenna Ortega looks absolutely stunning rocking this 70's-inspired shag! I, personally, like this style the best because it's so easy to not style and keep with the "messy-rocker-indie" vibe like Jenna has above. I love that she has the bangs a bit shorter and undone as well.

Talking about her new hairstyle with Teen Vogue Jenna said this, "When I told my hairdresser that I wanted to cut my hair, we were referring to it as a shag. And then people were saying, 'wolf cut.' What the hell is that? It’s kind of cute. It’s cute." We definitely think so!

6. Modern Shag with Ombré

To upgrade your ombré hair color, incorporate a few face-framing strands that are light from root to tip. The haircut will take the older ombré trend and liven it up a bit! We love how this dark-to-light, imperfect shag looks on Suki Waterhouse here! Definitely try this one if you want to look like the ultimate cool girl.

7. Short Retro Shag 

Let’s not forget that the shag is a throwback trend, after all. Opt for a more vintage appeal paired with less obvious layers, like this cut on Florence Pugh above. This simple hairstyle is simple but has a lot of layers going throughout in order to keep it looking natural and not-too-styled. All you need for this looks is some dry shampoo for volume and maybe some texture spray to give it some body.

"I thought [Princess Diaries 2] would be a really fun thing to do and it turned out to be great," she tells Variety. "I always think it's funny now because I'm working with Julie Andrews now on Bridgerton, but I also spent time writing her as a queen in that movie, and so it was kind of great to get to work with her both times. It's also sort of come full circle in a weird way."

Shonda Rhimes goes on to explain one cut scene she remembers really fondly — and how Andrews' expert performance made it even more heartbreaking to cut. "That was pretty much one of my favorite scenes," she says. "It was this moment where Julie Andrews [has] had her heart broken, and some staff comes in and they start to ask her a question and she screams, 'Do I never get a moment to myself?!' and it was such an amazing moment the way she played it, and the elegance with which she did it. It's really about the pain of being a queen."

"She did it so well," Rhimes continues. "But in general, honestly, she's the nicest person you will ever meet and she was so nice to me, I was nervous to meet her, I was shaking, [but she's] so lovely."

After Julie Andrews sent the sweetest graduation gift to a fan, I'm not surprised to hear how incredible she is. I still have my fingers crossed that we'll see Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries 3 — and that Shonda Rhimes will return as screenwriter.