Some Things I’d Wish I’d Known Before I Cut All My Hair Off
I remember the day I cut off all my hair like it was yesterday. It did not, however, happen yesterday. It happened on Boxing Day of 2016.
When I first sat down on the salon chair and told my hairdresser that I’d wanted to cut everything off, he gaped. Of course, I had expected this to happen. Not many women were willing to give up their crowning glory in exchange for a boyish cut that they would be stuck with for probably the entirety of the year.
And yet, there I was, more than determined to make this happen.
“Alright, we can make this work,” Phillip, my hairdresser, finally responded with a smile. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty because then you’ll pull it off.”
(I never trust hairdressers’ compliments — I think they only say things like that to get you to come back.)
After the deed had been done, and I’d made my payment, the receptionist had looked up at me and asked, “New look for the new year?”
And I’d replied, with a shrug, “Yeah. I guess so.”
Even though deep down, I’d known that he’d nailed it. I cut my hair precisely for that reason: I needed a change. By this time, I had been so bogged down with stress, that I’d become almost desperate to be able to rid myself of something. And what better way to achieve that than by cutting my hair?
But there were things that I’d wish I’d known before I’d done it.
I wish I’d known not to freak out.
Before making the big cut, I’d spent hours upon hours looking at examples of hairstyles for women, researching exhaustively about the salons in my area.
I was constantly anxious, going back and forth in my mind, trying to decide if this was really a good idea — was this going to be a mistake? Will I get a good haircut, or a bad one? Because that could mean the difference between ending up looking like Charlize Theron, or Spock.
But in the end, there was no need for the panic at all. I must admit, the research was rather important. It was good to know which salons specialized in the area of short haircuts for women (and which ones had pictorial evidence to back it up). It always helps to be informed.
But worrying as much as I did? Totally overkill.
I wish I’d known that having short hair would relieve stress.
I’d kept my plans to cut my hair to myself. After all, it was just a haircut. I’m not Jennifer Lawrence; my pixie cut doesn’t warrant international news.
So when I’d first walked into my house, my parents had screamed. My poor mother took it the hardest — she couldn’t fathom why I’d gone and done this to myself.
‘You suit it, honey, but why?’
As it turns out, having short hair is a serious stress-reliever. It saves time and money; I wasn’t spending hours in the shower, doing a complicated four-step moisturizing routine using expensive products that burnt a hole in my pocket. It also cuts my prep-time by half, and anything that gets me out the door quicker in the mornings gets an A+ from me.
So, really, I didn’t care what anybody had to say. I do what works for me, and this definitely worked.
I wish I’d known that short hair would give me nothing to hide behind.
This was by far the most difficult thing to reconcile with. I think hair serves as a defence mechanism for many women — we use it a shield, both literally and metaphorically. Some women use their hair to hide their faces, perhaps from blemishes, or to obscure features they are uncomfortable with. Others use it a means to display a curated image of themselves to the world.
But short hair rarely gives you that option, and I found myself having to face my own insecurities head on. With short hair, I often was teased for looking too much like a boy, or had people asking me if I was a lesbian — which, aside from the fact that I am neither, are not inherently wrong things to be.
Having short hair ultimately made me more at ease embracing both my masculine and feminine side, and if other people have anything negative to comment about it, then I’ll just remind them with a dramatic hair-swoop that at least I’m comfortable enough with being myself.
And the final and most important thing that I wish I’d known before I cut my hair was this:
I wish I’d done it sooner.
Getting a pixie cut was genuinely one of the most freeing things that I have ever done in my life, and I have absolutely no regrets. If you are a woman looking for a (potentially drastic) change — be it in style or on outlook — I would highly recommend it.
After all, it’s only hair, isn’t it? It makes sense to change it up once in a while. Because the beauty of hair is that it grows back.
So why not? Take a leap of faith, no matter who you are!
I think you’d make the cut.
