I Chopped Off 10 Inches Of Hair & My Curls Have Never Looked Better

Ask most people with curly hair and they'll tell you: A good haircut makes a huge difference in the overall health and appearance of your curls — even when it comes to the most drastic of chops. Zippy Burman, a Los Angeles-based creative consultant and the star of Hair Me Out's newest episode, can confirm.

Burman has a long history of different looks over the years, including various lengths and colors, but she took the plunge to embrace her real texture with a "big curl chop" by Irinel de León, a celebrity stylist and curl expert in L.A. "I feel like there’s been an increase in the amount of women that go for it," de Léon says. "The most liberating thing you can do is embrace your natural texture."

To help revive Burman's curls, de León chopped ten inches off of her client before customizing her cut. "I created a ponytail and used a clipper to remove a bulk of the length of hair," she explains. Then, she fine-tuned the perimeter of the cut using shears. The final touch was creating layers for a shape specifically tailored to Burman's face and personal style.

Once de León perfected Burman's shape, it was time to style. This, dé Leon says, is where technique becomes especially crucial. "Curly hair is extremely complex, so it's important that you go to someone who knows what they're they're doing and understands the science behind textures," she explains. To style her client, de León used Ouidad's Take Shape Plumping and Defining Cream, ideal for medium to thick hair textures, and Out Of Thin (H)air Volumizing Jelly for volume and hydration.

Burman was left with bouncy, shoulder-length curls and a new perspective after carefully scrunching her ringlets with a microfiber towel and diffusing with low heat. "I definitely think that long hair is a security blanket, and cutting it off was a fresh start," she says. Click play to see her transformation come to life.