To Cut, or Not to Cut?

Did you have "the Rachel"? (via hairstyleschat.com) I've been growing my hair out for the last six months or so. And I...

Did you have "the Rachel"?
(via hairstyleschat.com)

I've been growing my hair out for the last six months or so.
And I'm totally ready to hack it off again.

Why have I been growing it out? Because I'm afraid if it's short I'll look "old." Or "butchy" (as opposed to what?). Yea Or I won't "fit in" with all my long-haired friends. Or because my teenage boys pester me about how "girls look better with long hair."

Why did I cut it off the first time? Because my hair is straighter than a ruler and fine-textured. The only way to get it to do anything without applying a heating implement is to cut it short. Because the only thing it does on its own is stick straight up. 

Katie Holmes' pixie cut. (via worldhairstyles.com)
It's a painfully superficial example of accepting what you are naturally designed to do. When it comes to our hair, we fight its natural tendencies down to the last dollars in our wallets. Curly-haired folk straighten their locks. Those of us with straight hair get perms or sear it into place with curling irons. If it's thick, we strip it down with thinning scissors. If it's thin, we buy root-boosters and mousse and volumizing shampoo. And that doesn't even touch the subject of color: covering grays, highlights, and lowlights.

If I had the kind of hair that grew out long and thick and beautiful, I'd like it, but I don't. So shall I cut? Shall I color? Why shouldn't I? It's just hair, and it will grow back.
(via ignorethemess.com)

Why are we so emotionally bound to the dead stuff emerging from our scalps?




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6 Comments

  1. Ugh! I am having the same debate! Grow it out? Cut it short? Perm? Color? Anything but accept what I've got.

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  2. Oh, i am the LAST one to give advice here. As someone near and dear to me once said, "You might have a chance if you had better hair."

    Sigh.
    Mean-sounding but true.
    I wear a rubber band thingie as a bracelet and usually end up gathering the mess in my hands, ponytailing it and being done with it all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The stars cut their hair short, we all think "Yeah, I'm doing it too. It looks great on her!" But then they have a stylist making it look great each day. Three months later, they're in extensions and seem to have long hair again, while the rest of us are crying.

    Sorry, I have hair issues!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I sported the Meg Ryan (from Who's Got Mail?) for a long time. That was a BOLD move for me. But sometimes you just gotta do it. LOL

    Now my hair is long again. And I want to cut it. I have fine hair too so it really doesn't "do" long very well.

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  5. Nikki!! You are gorgeous, young and photogenic!
    You will look great, no matter what you choose.

    But even the Bible mentions hair on a number of occasions... so there you go...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Heather~ I think it's a vicious circle. We just keep going around and around in the hairdresser's chair... maybe men with male-pattern baldness have it easy.

    Patti~ Yep. That's why I cut it off. As soon as it gets long enough to go in a ponytail, that's where it lives, so what's the point?

    Jill~ That IS unfair, isn't it? I played around with falls, wigs, and clip-in extensions for awhile. Kind of fun, but in a small town people look at ya funny when you show up in different hair every day!

    Jennifer~ One time when mine was mid-back length, I spent over an hour with hot rollers and curling iron before church creating that loose, curling waves look that's suddenly popular again. After church we headed to the grocery. Hubby, behind me with the cart and the kids, asks, "Did you curl your hair today?" Grrr.

    Cheryl~ Thank you! You are too kind!

    ReplyDelete

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