In my opinion, your hair is an extension of your personality. The color, the style, all aspects speak to who you are. Throughout my life, I toyed with my hair. I was never sure what style or color fit my personality. In seventh grade, I chopped off all my hair into a short bob. After that traumatizing haircut, I began to let my hair grow out. I tried highlights and dyed my hair dark red (bad decision), but always kept the length generally long. The summer between my junior and senior year of high school I dyed my hair blonde for the role Elle Woods in the musical Legally Blonde, and my life was changed. I finally found a color that fit my sunny disposition! I loved the idea of having long blonde hair; I felt that it perfectly fit who I was.
I kept my hair long and blonde for the remainder of my high school career and well into college. As time went on, I felt like my hair became stringy and straggly. It sort of just hung next to my face and would get greasy extremely fast. I had been seeing photos on Pinterest more and more often of the “lob” (long bob) haircut and always thought it was adorable, but nothing I could pull off. I finally made the decision to chop off my long locks during a weekend trip to Lake Powell. My hair was out of control, it looked unhealthy and was hard to style and deal with on the trip. I made an appointment for a haircut as soon as I got back.
I’m sure you know the feeling of sitting in the chair at the hair salon, looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking, “am I making a great decision, or the worst choice of my life”. A bit mellow dramatic, I know, but I had not cut my hair since seventh grade!!! I was so used to looking at a reflection with hair that hung well past my breasts. As soon as I told the hair stylist that I wanted the majority of it off, she grabbed the bottom of my hair and chopped it all off. “Easier to wash” she said. I watched about half of the length of my hair fall to the floor. I was so nervous that I would regret this decision.
Once my hair was washed, she began to clean it up and took more and more length off. All of my nerves turned to pure bliss though as I felt my hair become lighter and lighter. With each snip my smile grew wider, and once she was done blow drying it and adding the layers, I was practically jumping for joy. Changing up my style made my feel like a new woman, as cliche as that sounds. It was bouncy, it was fun, and it was a little bit edgy. I looked more mature and loved how simple and healthy it was. As scared as I was to begin with, I gained a new level of confidence once it was all finished. If any of you are thinking of changing your hair, DO IT! You might just discover a whole new side to yourself.