Hair imaging or virtual hair styles and makeovers have
rocketed in popularity since people-friendly hairstyle
software became readily and cheaply available on the
Internet. Professional hair salons still pay high prices
to bring their clients the chance to 'try before they
buy' a particular hair style. But a variety of online
hair style software program allows anyone to experiment
on themselves as often as they like, for the cost of a
cup of coffee or two.

Sites such as

Hair Cuts and UpDos allow you to add your own photo,
and then 'try on' up to 4000 different hair styles. Some
use photos or drawings of models wearing the hair styles,
but those that allow you to put your own photo into their
software have much more scope for personalization ... and
fun! Short hair styles, celebrity hair styles, long
hairstyles, curly, straight, punk or celebrity hairstyles,
highlights, layering - you can try 'em all! And how about
hair colors? Certainly ma'am! How many would you like?

It can almost become addictive. You'd be amazed at just
how different a hair style can make you look. From vamp
to vice-president, from carefree to slick ... and
anything in between. And many find the bravado to try
outrageous styles they'd never contemplate in the real
world - and are often surprised and delighted by the
results!

The usual method is to take a digital photo of yourself
or scan a photo print and save it as a .jpg file
(scanning software does that bit for you). Each site is
a little different, but basically, you click a couple
of buttons and your photo magically travels from your
computer to their computer, ready for you to play with.
Most allow you to use several photos, so don't worry if
you mess up the first one. You'll also have 6 months to
a year to use your subscription, so you can play as often
as you want.

To get the best out of your photo, you'll usually benefit
from getting someone else to take a fresh photo of you.
Get them to take it full face-on (although a couple of
softwares will allow more than one angle). When you get
the photo into the software you'll need to remove all
your current hair - in the photo, not off your head! To
make that task easier, it's a good idea to wet your hair
and slick it back before taking the photo so as little
hair as possible shows around your face. An alternative
is to tie it back in a ponytail before you take the photo.
Either way, the aim is to leave your face clear of hair so
you can truly play with the online hair style photos.

So there you go - fun and fruitful research in one easy
game! And no more bad haircut days!