The "Friends" layering is thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top,standard layers have the same thickness all the way around,I have long hair and a ton of it,but it is fine in texture,and I prefer my layers shorter on the top and fuller towards the bottom.(kind of like Catherine Zeta Jones style) Having said that,i am a hairdresser(for 16 years) and sometimes even after I explain exactly what I want I still get the "Friends" layering, even though I tell people not to,so I would be sure to bring a good picture and pick one person to go to for at least three visits-it takes 3 visits to get a stylist used to your hair-if they do something not quite right say,'I liked it last time,but the layers were too thin at the bottom,etc,can we do it a little different?'