by Marlin Bressi

Created on: October 27, 2009   Last Updated: December 16, 2010

There are many hairstyles that are timeless and classic, and then there are hairstyles that are just plain awful. Awful hairstyles come in two varieties: styles that were trendy and stylish at one time and have since become outdated, and styles that never looked very good to begin with. Here are some examples of bad hairstyles, and what makes them so awful.

1. Spiral perms. I've been a professional hairstylist for over a decade and have given hundreds of spiral perms in that time. One thing that all of those perm clients have in common is this: bad taste! Now, I'm not implying that every woman with a spiral perm is a walking fashion catastrophe, but let's just say that the odds of a woman with a spiral perm being the next great supermodel or the next cover model for Vogue are pretty slim. The problem with spiral perms is that all the hair has the same curl pattern and formation, which makes it look very unnatural and outdated. The remedy for this is to have your stylist perm the hair using a variety of perm rod sizes and wrapping techniques, not just one.

2. Poofy bangs. Whether your bangs are blunt or jagged or heavy or wispy, they should never be poofy. Until they invent a time machine that takes you back to 1986, leave the bangs unteased and unsprayed.

3. Stripper hair. This is a vague term, since there are many different ways to achieve stripper hair, which is a term I use to describe any hairstyle that makes one look trashy. One trait of stripper hair is that the hair is often over-processed. There is blonde, and then there is stripper hair blonde. There are curly perms, and then there is the stripper hair frizzy perm. There is a fine line between tasteful and tacky, and those with stripper hair often do not know where that line is.

4. Beehive. Even back in the 60s, the beehive looked bad. Proof of the beehive's awfulness is that the only two women in modern history who have embraced this hairstyle are Marge Simpson and Amy Winehouse, neither of whom should be a woman's idea of taste and style. There is nothing wrong with big hair (just ask any woman from Texas), but the beehive is just plain over the top.

5. Dreadlocks. They're fine if you're Jamaican, but not so much if you're a white chick from Omaha.

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