There’s nothing I dread more than going to get my hair cut. I’m always scared that she’ll either chop off too much or not enough. On top of that, I can never trust them to do a good job, especially if I’m always switching back and forth to different hairstylists. But even if you’re a skeptical about a certain stylist, there are some things you can do to make sure you get the right kind of hairstyle for your hair. Here’s how:

The first thing to take into consideration is your hair’s texture (fine, medium-smooth, or coarse) as well as shape (straight, wavy or curly). Most people take face shape into consideration first and that’s not the way to do it:  a face shape can suit a number of different styles so don’t base it on that.

Find a picture with the hairstyle that you want and show it to your stylist. Even if the person in the picture has thicker hair than you or a different shape, a good stylist will know how to make that work to your advantage.

Think about what you want from your hairstyle. Whether it is manageability, something trendy but not so easy to maintain, you must take all of these things into consideration so you get what you ultimately need. Here is a little glossary of some haircut tips for different textures and shapes.

Coarse Hair

Go for short, heavily textured cuts. This will help take the weight off your hair as well as give you more manageability to work with. Your hair will look much lighter and healthier.

Medium-Smooth Hair

You’re in luck if you have this type of hair since almost any style will work for you. So find something that you really like and show a picture to your stylist; she should know what to do.

Fine Hair

Since fine hair is so hard to keep up, try a soft cut with soft lines. A geometric cut with strong lines will be very hard to keep up with on fine hair.

Curly Hair

If you have curly hair (not waves, but spirals), a cut that matches the unique natural shape of your curls is what will make your styling super-easy to do.